All Bridge & Wickers holidays are tailor-made and no two are the same. We have made some accommodation suggestions, however we will tailor your quote to your preferred standard and style of accommodation.

An unbeatable marriage for any lover of good food and wine: a stunningly located city packed with celebrated restaurants, and one of Australia’s most highly acclaimed wine producing regions right on the doorstep.

Days 1, 2 and 3: SYDNEY

Apart from the odd backyard cultivation, Sydney doesn’t have any vineyards, but it does have umpteen restaurants where you can combine fine wines with menus created by a number of the country’s big name chefs. You could so easily spend half your time in a delicious dream of long lazy lunches and slap up dinners. Everyone has their personal favourites: among ours are the Bathers’ Pavilion in Balmoral, bang on a premier league beach; Icebergs in Bondi, overlooking the seawater baths, the surfers and the beach; Guillaume at Bennelong in the Opera House, especially if you’ve got tickets for a performance; and Café Sydney, on the roof of the old customs building with tables on the terrace. For a more adventurous treat, consider taking a flight by a seaplane, lifting off from the Harbour, with stunning eagle-eye views of the Bridge and Opera House, and touching town at the remote Cottage Point riverside restaurant on the Hawkesbury, where you’ll be served a gourmet lunch while you debate whether you should bother catching the flight home. Your two nights in town will be spent at the Shangri-La, in the historic Rocks district between the Opera House and the Bridge.

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Days 4 and 5 THE HUNTER VALLEY  

Collect your hire car and head to the Valley, a two-hour drive from the city. Although the oldest (since 1830) and arguably best known of Australia’s wine regions, the Hunter produces only one in twenty bottles of Australia’s wine. With as much woodland as vineland, the area is also a fully qualified destination in its own right. Defined by a horseshoe of mountains, with the third side open to the sea, it offers a wide spectrum of activities, from golf courses to spas. In fact, it’s almost as famous for its stud farms; the number one thoroughbred breeding centre in the world is no longer Kentucky but the meadowlands around the town of Scone. You’ll be bedding down at Peppers Convent, which used to house an order of nuns. The original wooden building was literally sawn into four and transported on huge lorries from Coonamble, 400 miles away. For your last supper Down Under we recommend Robert’s restaurant, where food is cooked on a wood-fired oven fuelled by vine clippings.

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SUGGESTED ADD ON

You could add a night or two on the coast at Bells of Killcare, a boutique hotel famous for its restaurant. You could also consider combining this itinerary with some of the other food and wine suggestions, perhaps one of our scenery and wildlife modules or even add a stay on one of Australia’s islands featured in our hotel, islands section.