Tourists flock to Mudgee for the delicious wines, boutique beers and gourmet dining. But there is so much more to do in this picturesque little village 3 1/2 hours drive over the mountains from Sydney.

You had better plan to spend a few days.

If you stay in Mudgee using Ardrossan B and B as your base, you can walk to Honey Haven, watch the bees and sample the many different kinds of honey. You might also like to play miniature golf, perhaps visit the gold fields of Hill End, Hargraves and Gulgong, where you might even find yourself a nugget or two. Gulgong, the historic preserved gold fields town, where the streets wound around the miner’s tents, has Australia's most comprehensive pioneer museum, where you can marvel at the toughness of these early pioneers. When they had a sick family member, an all day trip to the doctor in Mudgee, by horse and cart, took too long. So home remedies were used and the patient either recovered or died.

The world class Gulgong Cudgegong Valley Museum, displays beautiful works of art, paintings and ceramics made from the famous local clay. You can see the artisans at work using the ‘white gold’ as they call it. The Henry Lawson Centre housing the works of Australia’s favourite poet and the Opera House where the famous divas of the 1800s entertained the miners and were showered with nuggets, are well worth visiting.

The charming little villages of Cassilis, Lue, Rylstone and Kandos are worth seeing. The Lue pottery is a must visit and they are happy to show you how they make the beautiful pieces.

Back in Mudgee you can visit fine food makers for jams, chutneys, preserves and the handicraft galleries at Mandurah, in the beautifully restored Victorian train station, where a restaurant will tempt you with meals made from local produce. Unfortunately trains are a very rare occurrence today, but you can take a modern bus to and from the train station in Lithgow.

There are olive, nut and lavender farms, cheese and chocolate makers, spotted fallow deer and elk, award winning sheep, pigs, chooks, pigeons, goats and cattle, alpacas and miniature horses to adore. All can be seen as you drive or cycle around Mudgee’s lovely quiet back roads. There are specially marked cycle tracks that previous 2 wheelers have found enjoyable. The Mudgee Show in March is great fun. There is stiff competition for the best flowers, cakes, scones, jams, photography, dogs, sheep, alpaca, horses, wood chopping, camel racing etc. The kids have great fun on the rides and the parents enjoy the festive atmosphere.

A must attend event at Elliot Rocke Winery, is Mudfest, the small film festival. Bring chairs, a picnic and enjoy with a bottle of wine the talented films from all over the world. The films range from a minute to 5 minutes. Some are funny, some are sad. The locals enter and do very well against foreign competition. When the huge moon comes up over the vineyard the setting really is magical.

Di Lusso Winery often hosts fun, Italian food, wine and film nights at their cellar door.

Other wineries and restaurants host jazz concerts, art and jewellery making, cooking classes, Victorian and modern fashion shows, helicopter rides and even skydiving for the adventurous.

Mudgee has country markets each weekend where you can pick up a bargain, buy produce and meet the locals. The national parks are on our doorstep and at the Goulburn River and at Dunn's Swamp, an awful name for a beautiful spot, there are fabulous pagoda rock formations, bush walks, boat rides, camping, fishing, native birds and animals.

Mudgee boasts lots of boutique shopping and beauty treatment establishments to tempt the ladies while the blokes can play a round of golf or tennis, go 4 wheel driving or fishing.

Mudgee hosts the famous Huntington Classical concerts, Day on the Green concerts and the Mudgee Club provides live entertainment too. You can even boogie in the bush at the Waratah night club until the early hours. Different wineries have entertainment and dinners which are publicised on the www.visitmudgeeregion.com.au

Until you’ve frocked up and attended the 6 Mudgee races, you haven’t had the complete country experience. Put on your best hat, put together a picnic and enjoy putting a few bets on the fastest horses and the best jockeys. Mudgee has the prettiest race course overlooking the town. It’s a delightful way to spend the day.

September/October /is Mudgee’s Wine Festival, so be sure to book your accommodation and enjoy all the festivities at the cellar doors including a long lunch. Also very popular, “ Let's Go Grazing” where they match the different foods to the wines and dinner at the cellar doors where famous chefs create dishes to match the wines.

One of the most popular events occurs after the judges have finished the yearly rating of the hundreds of Mudgee wines. The public is then invited in to sample the wines, including famous museum wines, and nosh on foods made from local produce.

Wings Wheels and Wine at the airport sees guests flying in from all over Australia to admire the fastest cars, sleekest private aircraft and of course, sample Mudgee wine.

Sydney guests like to take advantage of the Airlink or Rex Net service, where they can arrive in Mudgee early Saturday morning, check in early to Ardrossan B&B, have all day to enjoy a wine tour, where they are picked up and returned to Ardrossan. After drinks on the verandah, they are picked up to go to dinner at Blue Wren or the White Monkey restaurants. Or another option, is a cab ride, 4 minutes to the other Mudgee restaurants. Sunday have a lovely lie in, in our super comfortable Memory Foam queen bed rooms with en suite bathrooms, then tuck in to a big country breakfast enjoying good conversation. Read on the verandah, feed the animals, go for a bush walk, swim in the solar heated pool and soak in the spa. There is even a trampoline and a treadmill to walk off the calories. The whole day is yours to enjoy. Then late Sunday afternoon, fly back to Sydney rejuvenated from your weekend in Mudgee.

The Mudgee Small Farm Field Days in July, see the town flooded with guests eager to learn how to make their small acreages productive. This is the place to compare machinery, fencing, tanks, stock, dogs, crops and talk to farmers who are experts. There are fashion shows, stalls and food tents to interest everyone.

What looks like junk to you, can become works of art under the talented artists who amaze everyone at the yearly Waste to Art exhibition. A throne like chair, made from knives, forks and spoons, or a pig made from an old radiator. Who knows what they’ll turn old wine barrels into at the yearly Barrel competition. The best barrels stay at the cellar doors to the delight of visitors.

Expect Mudgee to book out early for the public holiday long weekends, where the opportunity to spend 3 nights away from the city attracts the biggest influx of tourists. But if you can get away midweek for 3 days or on regular weekends, not only are rates less expensive, but you’ll find Mudgee a very relaxing, beautiful l, laid back country experience, where you can chat to the wine makers in a friendly, non pressured way about their passion, making fine wines.

Mudgee has more land under grape cultivation than the Hunter and most visitors say they enjoy the less commercial aspects of a visit to our “nest in the hills.”