Orange
A cool-climate food and wine city on the slopes of an extinct volcano, with autumn colour and apple orchards.
Updated 18 October 2026
AI illustration
Orange sits at around eight hundred and sixty metres on the slopes of Mount Canobolas, an extinct volcano whose basalt soils and altitude give the district a genuinely cool climate, unusual in inland Australia. The result is a wine region built on chardonnay, pinot noir and cool-climate shiraz, orchards of apples and cherries, and a restaurant scene that has drawn attention well beyond the region. The city itself was laid out with wide streets and public gardens and is planted heavily with deciduous trees, which turn in April and May. Mount Canobolas above town is a reserve with walking tracks and a summit road, and the F.O.O.D Week festival each April is the district's showcase.
History
The Wiradjuri, the people of the three rivers, have lived in this country for at least 60,000 years, and in 1822 Captain Percy Simpson set up a convict settlement called Blackman's Swamp after his guide James Blackman. Thomas Mitchell named the parish Orange after the Prince of Orange, with whom he had served as an aide to the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War, graziers arrived from late 1829, and in 1844 the surveyor Davidson was sent to choose the site of a township (Wikipedia, Orange, New South Wales).
Highlights
- The cool-climate wineries - chardonnay and pinot on volcanic soils.
- The autumn streets - deciduous planting turning through April and May.
- Mount Canobolas - the extinct volcano with tracks and a summit road.
- The orchards - apple and cherry country around the city.
When to go
Autumn from March to May for colour and harvest, including the April food festival; spring from September to November for blossom. Winter is cold with occasional snow on Canobolas. Summer is warm but drier and less interesting for the district's appeal.
What to expect
Wineries are scattered around the district and many open only at weekends, so a car and some planning are needed. Restaurant bookings are essential on festival weekends. Winter here is genuinely cold, and visitors expecting mild Australian weather are caught out.
Nearby
Millthorpe and Carcoar are preserved villages nearby; Bathurst lies east.
Key facts
Source: Wikidata, item Q580973, read on 18 October 2026.
What to pack for Orange
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
- Warm base layers - Merino or synthetic against the skin - never cotton, which chills when damp. Find on Amazon
- Comfortable walking shoes - Sightseeing means kilometres of pavement and cobbles daily. Find on Amazon
- An insulated + windproof jacket - A down or synthetic layer under a hard shell handles most cold. Find on Amazon
- A slim anti-theft daypack - Zips that close properly; keep it in front in crowds and on transit. Find on Amazon
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Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.
