Tucked behind the Blue Mountains and just 2.5 hours from Sydney is a place that’s easy to find yet full of experiences you’ll want to lose yourself in.

Packed with gastronomic delights, magnificent landscapes and a rich cultural heritage, Central NSW almost seems custom-made for those travellers looking for a genuine, high quality escape that is close to home.

Orange and Cowra will of course live up to their foodie reputations. But this culinary passion runs deep through an entire region that has many more equally amazing experiences for you to unearth – from Bathurst’s Legall Patisserie, one of Australia’s most authentic French bakeries, to a sophisticated meal of fine local produce with a seasonal focus at Tonic in Millthorpe.

A few days of food and wine hunting in Central NSW will take you through classic, beautifully preserved Aussie towns steeped in history and folklore. Outlaw bushrangers like Captain Thunderbolt and the formidable Jessie Hickman rode these trails. It’s the birthplace of Banjo Paterson, the traditional land of the Wiradjuri people and the site of a major Japanese POW breakout during WWII.

The people here keep this heritage very much alive through contemporary displays of art and history, like Gulgong’s Symbol Trail – 70 tiles laid in the pavement showing the secret street language of ‘swaggers’ from years ago.

So bring your boots, appetite and curiosity and unearth something special in Central NSW.