Yass

Before the Yass Bypass was complete, the Hume Highway used to pass straight down the main street of town. The high street consisted of service stations, take-aways and motels. There are now highway services on the freeway, and little passing traffic through the town.

• Yass Valley Shire Council
• Tourism in Yass Valley Shire
• Yass Community Portal

By car

Yass is 3 hours drive from Sydney and 6 hours drive from Melbourne on the Hume Highway. Yass is approximately a 40-50 minute drive from Canberra, the national capital.

By train

Because of an historical curiosity, the train service from Sydney to Melbourne does not pass through Yass. It was linked by a spur line that has long since closed. Accordingly, you will need to be picked up or get a taxi from Yass Junction to Yass.
Train services run from Sydney and Melbourne to Yass Junction and are provided by NSW Trainlink (tel 13 22 32). Trains run run twice a day in both directions. It is approximately 4 hours from Sydney by train ($45 economy) and 7.5 hours from Melbourne ($90 economy).

By bus

Bus services are provided by:

• NSW Trainlink from Cootamundra and, in the other direction, from Queanbeyan (the service passes through Canberra but does not pick up passengers).
• Transborder Express (tel +61 2 6241 0033) weekdays to and from Canberra (see timetable
• Greyhound (tel 13 14 99 within Australia or +61 7 4690 9950 internationally) from Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney.
• Fearnes (tel 1800 029918 free call within Australia or +61 2 6921 2316) from Canberra.

• Cooma Cottage

  phone: +61 2 6226 1470
  address: 756 Yass Valley Way
  Gift shop, parking, spacious picnic grounds. Conserved by the National Trust since 1970, this single-storied colonial cottage was built by pioneering pastoralist Cornelius O'Brien in 1835. Between 1839-1873 Cooma was home to one of colonial Australia's great overland explorers, Hamilton Hume (whose name was given to nearby highway), who added his version of Palladian-style wings and a Greek Revival portico. Set in a pastoral landscape the house represents an unusual mix of building techniques and styles and includes a fine, mid-19th century stables outbuilding. A museum to the life and accomplishments of Hamilton Hume is to be found at the house.

• Crisp Galleries"Gap Range", Hume Highway, Yass Valley (west of Yass past the Cowra and Harden turn offs). The Crisp Galleries are a permanent exhibit of the glassware works of Peter Crisp.

• Country Stuff. It's not exactly the most thrilling town in the world, but its great for photographers and historians!

If you are passing through on the Hume, there is a major set of services at Yass, that don't require you to venture more than a few hundred metres from the freeway. Fuel and fast food available 24 hours.

• Liberty Cafe

  address: 171 Comur St

• Corona Grove Bed & Breakfast

  address: 28 Mount Street

• Hamilton Hume Motor Inn

  phone: +61 2 6226 1722
  address: 9 Laidlaw Street

• Hi-Way Motor Inn

  address: Hume Highway

• Kerrowgair Bed & Breakfast

  address: 24 Grampian Street

• Swaggers Motor Inn

  phone: +61 2 6226 9900
  address: Cnr Laidlaw & Castor Streets
  Free continental buffet breakfast.

• Thunderbird Motel

  address: 264 Comur Street

• Continue south along the Hume Highway to Gundagai and the Victorian border.
• Go south (40 minute drive) via the Barton/Federal Highways to Canberra
• Continue east along the Hume Highway to the inland town of Goulburn (50 minutes) and then Sydney (3 hours)