Royal connection and NSW’s best hotel: 11 highlights of Orange

Orange F.O.O.D Week (March 28 to April 6, 2025) turns 34 this year. It’s been a staple feature of the autumn events calendar since 1991, making it Australia’s longest-running regional food festival. This year’s festival, themed ‘Elevate Your Plate’, features almost 50 events over 10 days, spearheaded by the signature Sampson Street Long Lunch, alongside a program of vineyard-roaming experiences, hands-on masterclasses, markets, intimate dinners and more. See orangefoodweek.com.au

Big-name comedians like to visit

Locally owned coffee house Factory Espresso – which, as the name hints, does an excellent brew – also moonlights as the town’s laugh factory, with regular stand-up comedy nights (perhaps it’s no coincidence the former owner’s brother is Aussie comedian Tom Gleeson). Among the upcoming touring acts are Rhys Nicholson and Pete Helliar.

It’s home to a hatted restaurant in a former schoolhouse

As well as occupying one of the most swoon-worthy buildings in town – an 1858-built bank-turned-schoolhouse, with walls of creeping ivy, exposed red brick and elegant pitched ceilings – Schoolhouse at Union Bank has cemented its standing as an innovator on the local food scene, banking a Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide hat for its efforts. Staff are attentive, and the menu has a terrific sense of adventure, from the outrageously fluffy and crisp Calloway potato scallops, to bone marrow that smacks of fermented jalapenos and cumin, or a sirloin slab, dabbed with deeply flavoured miso bagna cauda. The formula is the stuff of long-lunch dreams.

It’s home to Tripadvisor’s best hotel in NSW

For better or worse, Quest Orange sticks out against the heritage fray – then again, it’s hard to argue with supremely modern amenities, spacious apartment-style rooms and a location in the historic centre. Add to that access to an in-house gym, washer and dryer facilities, a sunny rooftop terrace and barbecue area and EV chargers, and it’s suddenly clear why the four-star property was voted the best hotel in NSW by Tripadvisor in 2024. Studios from $224 a night; one-bedroom apartments from $269. See questapartments.com.au

You can hike to an epic secret waterfall

The four-kilometre loop to Federal Falls in Mount Canobolas State Conservation Area requires a good level of fitness and agility – it’s rated a Grade-3 hike, with enough sharply pitched terrain to warrant guardrails in parts. However, it’s all worth it to feel the mist on your face under the majestic 15-metre falls – easily one of the most spectacular sights in the region. See nationalparks.nsw.gov.au

Home to one of Australia’s most luxurious farm stays

When a former Belle style director at-large snaps up a 49-hectare country estate and tastefully reimagines its historic workers’ quarters into two luxury farmstay apartments, then you know you’re on to something special. With a blizzard of style and luxe touches from owner and interior stylist Steve Cordony, Rosedale Farm Estate’s one-bedroom lodgings have a price tag to reflect (from $1200 a night, with a minimum two-night stay). Luckily, comforts run deep – think smart gadgets, heated floors, Frette linen, sumptuous produce hampers and more. See rosedalefarm.net.au

You don’t need a car!

Did you know both QantasLink and Regional Express operate flights into Orange Regional Airport from major cities? Add to that the very excellent Ferment wine bar in town, offering a taste of all the region’s best wines and brews in one central hub. And yes, no designated driver necessary.

It’s not all about wine

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With more than 80 vineyards and 30 cellar doors, oenophiles are obviously well catered for – but there’s something for all tastes. Work through the deep drinks list at cosy whiskey bolthole Washington & Co, pick up a bottle of the native botanical-infused Bushman’s Gin at Parrot Distilling Co, sample locally made mead at The Beekeepers Inn, order a tasting paddle at Badlands Brewery taproom, or venture out to Small Acres Cyder’s pastoral cellar door for a tasting and pulled pork and cider pie.

The writer was a guest of Orange360. See orange360.com.au