5 Best Sights in Yarra Valley and Healesville, Victoria

Established by French champagne house Moët & Chandon, this vineyard has one of the most spectacular settings in the Yarra Valley; its Chandon tasting bar has enormous floor-to-ceiling windows providing fantastic views over the vineyards and the Yarra Ranges. Apart from sparkling wines, the winery produces Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Meunier, and Chardonnay. Take a free self-guided tour of the winery's history and production methods from 10:30 to 4:30 daily, or sign up for a wine discovery class on Sunday with a maximum of 12 people (bookings essential) to get a closer look at wine appreciation. The restaurant's three-course gathering-style menu is designed to share, and changes seasonally (A$85 per person).  The French-inspired menu starts with charcuterie and dips, then onto small bites followed by heartier mains including market fish and a lamb rump. A vegetarian option is available. Otherwise, the lounge menu has build-your-own platters of pâtés, olives, dips, and cured fish and meats, A$8 per item. 

A family-owned winery for four generations, De Bortoli was established (in New South Wales) in 1928, four years after the founder, Vittorio De Bortoli, and his wife, Giuseppina, migrated to Australia from northern Italy. Today, this Yarra Valley winery specializes in Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Shiraz, along with a changing array of less famous wines including Gamay, Pinot Blanc, and Nebbiolo. Wine tastings start from A$10 and can include the famous Noble One Botrytis Semillon, De Bortoli’s most awarded wine since its release in 1982. Choose from Trophy Room premium wine tastings or cheese and wine tastings (for a minimum of two people) with prices on application. The restaurant, which has stunning views of the surrounding vines, landscaped gardens, and mountains, serves Italian dishes using Yarra Valley produce; the fixed-price two-course lunch is A$70 a head and the three-course option is A$85.

Come face-to-face with wedge-tailed eagles, grumpy wombats, nimble sugar gliders, and shy platypuses at Healesville Sanctuary, a lovely, leafy, native wildlife sanctuary. Don't miss the twice-daily Spirits of the Sky show, during which raptors and parrots fly close overhead. You can get up close and personal with a koala, kangaroo, or echidna on a Close-Up Encounter (from A$31 extra), or for A$102, take a two-hour VIP tour with a ranger. Another highlight is the Land of Parrots aviary, where you can feed and interact with colorful birds. You can also view the animal hospital to see wildlife recovering from injury or illness. The Future Vets play space lets kids—and their parents—dress up as vets and role-play caring for animals, and kids can also join the Sanctuary Food Tour to see what it takes to feed over 1,400 animals. Take a break and refuel at the zoo's three cafés, including the largest, Sanctuary Harvest café, which serves full meals made with Yarra Valley's seasonal produce.

This winery occupies a striking-looking property; its cellar door building crafted almost entirely of glass overlooks the vineyards and rolling green paddocks. The family-owned winery produces renowned Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and its huge amphitheater plays host to international and local performers during the annual A Day on the Green concert series (acts have included Alicia Keys and Elton John). Isabella's fine-dining restaurant serves French Mediterranean meals and light platters 11:30–4, seven days a week, and pizzeria Il Vigneto is open for lunch and dinner on weekends and lunch only on Monday. Rochford has also teamed up with a group of distillers to create a range of gins, which you can weave into cocktails at its on-site gin bar, and its cellar door is open seven days.

Victoria's first vineyard still has plenty of rustic charm, and it's a delightful place to eat, drink, and stay. An 1859 redbrick building is home to the busy cellar door, where you can taste its renowned Pinot Noirs and Shiraz Vioginers, or take a guided tasting, from A$10. The property's architectural and gastronomical pièce de résistance is the winery building, which houses the Wine Bar Restaurant. It's a sweeping, hand-hewn stone building with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking spectacular valley scenery. Yering hosts an annual sculpture exhibition from October to December, and a farmers' market takes place on the third Sunday of the month.