Berry

Berry grew as a farming service town in the nineteenth century on the rich alluvial flats behind the Shoalhaven coast, and it kept its main street: two blocks of verandahed brick and timber shopfronts, a courthouse, churches and the Great Southern Hotel, now filled with bakeries, cafés, antique dealers and boutiques. The Berry Donut Van, a roadside caravan selling hot cinnamon doughnuts since the 1960s, has become an institution in its own right and usually has a queue. A monthly country markets fills the showground, and the surrounding hills hold dairy farms, vineyards and the road up to Kangaroo Valley. It functions largely as a stop for people driving the coast.

What to look for

• The heritage main street - two blocks of verandahed nineteenth-century shopfronts.
• The Donut Van - the roadside caravan selling cinnamon doughnuts since the 1960s.
• The antique shops - dealers filling the old buildings.
• The dairy hills - green farmland behind the town toward the escarpment.

When to go

Year-round; the monthly markets on the first Sunday fill the showground. Weekends are busy with Sydney traffic and parking is difficult. Weekdays are quiet and pleasant.

Practical notes

Berry is small and can be walked in half an hour, so it is a stop rather than a destination. Prices in the boutiques and cafés are high. The highway traffic through town is heavy at holiday times.

Nearby

Kangaroo Valley lies inland; Gerringong, Seven Mile Beach and Nowra are close along the coast.