From beachside wine bars and safari tents in the bush to Georgian villages and coastal walks, NSW has no shortage of romantic getaways. Here are our picks for couples escapes across coastal and country NSW. All destinations are within driving distance of Sydney.
Top five destinations for romantic getaways
While any of the destinations below will work well for a couple’s weekend away, our top five picks are:
- Killcare: Around 90 minutes from Sydney, Killcare offers fine dining at Bells at Killcare, a gorgeous beach, boutique hotel and national park walks.
- Bowral: Offering country town atmosphere in the Southern Highlands, Bowral is known for its boutiques, dining, autumn leaves, gardens and wineries. Only 90 minutes from Sydney it’s an easy weekend getaway destination.
- Hunter Valley: One of the best known Australian wine regions, Hunter Valley has over 150 wineries, brilliant restaurants and luxury accommodation.
- Kangaroo Valley: A perfect destination for couples who love outdoor activities, Kangaroo Valley works well for couples who want bush walks, river swimming, kayaking and wildlife.
- Mollymook: A smaller and quieter beachside destination, Mollymook is around 3 to 3.5 hours from Sydney. Although it’s small, there’s excellent regional dining at Bannisters, a 2 km stretch of beach and boutique accommodation perfect for couples.
Destinations
Romantic road trips
We have two ready-made suggested road trip itineraries that work well for couples heading off from Sydney. Both are on the NSW South Coast:
- South Coast 4-day road trip: this is an easy loop with fairly minimal driving (300 km in total), from Sydney to Kiama, Gerringong and Berry, then back to Sydney.
- South Coast 6-day road trip: this longer trip (total 732 km) with more driving each day takes you south from Sydney to Kiama, Mollymook, Narooma then back north via Huskisson to Sydney.