Hunter

• - largest settlement in the Hunter region, and a former steel industry centre. Beaches and coffee shops.
• - coastal community to the south of Newcastle
• - a town immediately west of Newcastle
• - the "horse capital of Australia"
• - a mining town inland from Newcastle

• is a small town near Maitland famous for its many murals
• is a popular rural coastal area north of Newcastle, with beaches, sand dunes and dolphin spotting
• - small historical village
• - Home of the rediscovered prehistoric Wollemi pine
• -

The Hunter is a popular region to the north of Sydney that provide rest and relaxation away from the big city. It is famous for both its vineyards and its coastal areas.
The Hunter Valley is well known rest and relaxation destination for weekends away from Sydney. The Hunter Region is one of Australia's most famous wine-growing regions, known for both its red and white wine varieties. It is a good destination for tourists who want a change of scenery from Australia's largest city. The main industries in the Hunter Region are coal mining, agriculture, viticulture and wine making, tourism, horse breeding, electricity production, dairy farming and beef cattle farming.

By train

Newcastle Interchange is about 2.5 hours from Sydney Central station. Outside of central Newcastle, most of the region is difficult to tour without a car.

By plane

Newcastle has its own domestic airport, with regular flights from other Australian destinations. There are flight connections to Sydney, although the time spent getting to Sydney airport, checking in and flying rarely makes this an attractive option except if you are travelling on another flight.

There are suburban train services from Newcastle Interchange up through the Hunter Valley as far as Scone or Dungog. Regional (booked) services run from Sydney and Broadmeadow as far as Scone and Dungog.

Wineries in the Hunter Valley

. Tours generally visit multiple destinations in the Hunter Valley region, and hence they are listed here:
The Hunter Valley is a major wine growing region in Australia. Tours of vineyards and wine tasting tours are a huge industry. A number of local operators run tours of wineries:

• Gone Walkabout Safaris

  phone: +61 2 49158515
  Gone Walkabout Safaris operate 7 days a week with guaranteed departures every day, picking up participants from their accommodation in Newcastle and Hunter Valley.

• Boutique Wine ToursBoutique Wine Tours run luxury (14 person max) day tours of the Hunter Valley wineries, picking up participants from their accommodation in Sydney.

• Aussie Wine ToursThis Cessnock based tour company offers wine tours.

• Cheers BusThis Cessnock based tour company offers wine tours. Half day tours are available, as are full day tours including lunch.

• Hunter Valley Day Tours

  phone: +61 2 49 51 4574
  Hunter Valley Tourism offers full day wine and cheese tasting Tours. Pickup is available from most Hunter Valley towns.

• Wine Country Limousines

  address: 193 Bimbadeen Road
  Mount View. Up to seven people can share a limousine for a wine tour from 10AM to 5PM.

In addition, there are several tours that set off from Sydney for day trips or weekend-long visits to the Hunter Valley wineries:

• Red Carpet Tours

  address: 2 Windsor Road, Willoughby
  Red Carpet Tours run 18 person day tours of Hunter Valley wineries, including morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. Participants are picked up from their accommodation in Sydney.

• Wine Country ToursWine Country Tours offer 8 person wine tours hosted by a winemaker with 25 years experience. The tour includes private cellar inspections, as well as morning tea and lunch. Participants are picked up from their accommodation in Sydney.

Natural Attractions

• Mt Royal National Park, part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage area

Most wineries offer excellent restaurants to go with your wine tasting