Golden hour light across the Caoura Cliffs escarpment and the Shoalhaven gorge

Plan your visit · Southern Highlands

Make a weekend of it.

Come and see Caoura Cliffs for yourselves, then let the Southern Highlands look after the rest. Here's how we'd plan the trip.

Book a site visit

The Caoura Cliffs escarpment falling away into the Shoalhaven gorge

Why come in person

Some places don't fit on a screen.

We can send you every photo we have, and none of them will do what standing on the escarpment does. The scale of it, and the way the light moves across the gorge in the late afternoon: that part you have to feel.

Walk the Pavilion, stand where the ceremony happens, wander the Homestead. Most couples tell us the drive home is when it all clicks. They spend it planning the weekend.

Your site visit

One unhurried hour, entirely yours.

Meet at the gate
We meet you at the entrance on Caoura Road and head in together. The drive through the property is an arrival in itself.
Step inside the Pavilion
The floor-to-ceiling glass, the green marble bar, the fireplace, and the escarpment beyond all of it.
Walk the ceremony sites
The clifftop above the gorge, or the lawns at the Pavilion. Stand in each and see which one feels right.
Tour the Homestead
Where you and your closest people stay for the weekend, so you can picture the whole of it.
Talk it all through
Dates, numbers, logistics, cost. Ask us anything. There's no rush, and there's certainly no hard sell.

More about how tours work →

Umbrellas on the terrace at Caoura Cliffs on a bright afternoon

Make a weekend of it

You're driving two hours. Don't drive straight back.

Caoura sits on the quiet southern edge of the Southern Highlands, two hours from Sydney and a little over one from Canberra, surrounded by villages, gardens, gorge country and some of the best lookouts in New South Wales.

So if you're already making the trip, make it a weekend. Book somewhere lovely, eat well, walk the escarpment country, and let the tour be the centrepiece rather than the errand.

Our local guide

Where we'd send you.

The Highlands does slow weekends properly. These are the places we send friends and family: no paid listings, just spots we actually go.

Breakfast

The What If Society
Moss Vale
A zero-waste food co-op where breakfast changes with whatever the farms sent that week. You order by plate size and trust the kitchen with the rest, which is exactly the right way to start a slow Saturday. About forty minutes up the highway from our gate.
Directions →

Scenic lookouts

Badgerys Lookout
Tallong
Minutes from our gate, straight out over the Shoalhaven gorge. Go after your tour while the light's still good.
Directions →
Long Point Lookout
Tallong
Tallong's other great lookout: a different angle on the same wild country, and usually all yours.
Directions →

Walks & waterfalls

Fitzroy Falls
Morton National Park
An eighty-metre waterfall with easy boardwalk tracks along the escarpment rim. Worth the detour on your way home.
Directions →

Villages

Berrima
Historic village
A beautifully preserved Georgian village: galleries, antiques and slow lunches under old trees.
Directions →
Bowral
The Highlands' main town
Boutiques, bookshops and the Saturday-morning bustle. The biggest of the villages, and the easiest to lose an afternoon in.
Directions →
Bundanoon
Edge of Morton National Park
The closest village to the national park country south of us: quiet, green and good for a slow morning.
Directions →

Hidden gems

Burradoo Park Farm
Burradoo
A working regenerative farm you can actually wander: farm walks, a proper sourdough bakehouse and a farmhouse produce store. Make a morning of it.
Directions →
Bowral Honey Farm
Retford Park, Bowral
Suit up, meet the hives, then taste your way through six honeys over morning tea on the terrace. Minutes from Bowral's main street and completely charming.
Directions →

More food, wine and stay picks are on their way, and the up-to-date list always travels with your tour confirmation. In the meantime, ask us anything. We live here.

A weekend, sketched

Friday to Sunday, the way we'd do it.

Friday

The drive down

Afternoon
Leave Sydney after lunch. It's two hours, most of it easy highway. From Canberra it's a little over one.
Evening
Check in around Bundanoon, Moss Vale or Bowral, keep dinner easy and local, and have an early night ahead of your tour.

Saturday

Tour day

Morning
A slow breakfast at The What If Society in Moss Vale, then make your way down to Tallong.
Late morning
Your site visit to Caoura Cliffs. An hour, one couple at a time, no rush.
Afternoon
Stop at Badgerys or Long Point lookout on your way out (both minutes from our gate), then wander Berrima or Bowral.
Evening
A long dinner back in the village to talk it all over.

Sunday

The slow way home

Morning
A bakery run or the markets if they're on, then Fitzroy Falls as you head north.
Afternoon
Take the scenic route home through the villages. There's no need to rush back to the highway.

Book a site visit

Find your way

Everything in this guide, within easy reach.

Caoura Cliffs is at 1450 Caoura Road, Tallong, on the southern edge of the Highlands, above the Shoalhaven gorge. Tap any place below for directions.

1450 Caoura RoadTallong NSW 2579Australia

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Before you come

The small print, minus the print.

How long does a tour take?

Around an hour, though nobody's watching the clock. Allow a little extra to linger at the lookout on your way out.

Can we bring family or friends along?

Please do. Parents, planners, the friend whose taste you trust. Bring whoever's helping you decide.

Will it just be us, or a group of couples?

Just you. Tours run one couple at a time, by appointment, so you'll have the property and our full attention to yourselves.

What should we wear, and what's the terrain like?

Comfortable shoes and a jacket. We cover the property by vehicle and on foot, and the fresh Highlands air is part of the experience: crisp, clear and best enjoyed standing at the cliff edge with the whole gorge in front of you.

Should we book accommodation before we book the tour?

Lock in your tour date first, then book your stay around it. Highlands weekends do fill up, especially in spring and autumn, so don't leave it too late.

Can we bring the dog?

We're a working farm with cattle, so please check with us before bringing pets along, and we'll let you know what's possible for your visit.

See all general FAQs →

Getting here

How your guests will arrive.

Worth knowing before you book. Two of these shape your budget, and one of them shapes how you seat people.

Guests come by coach

A condition of our event licence rather than a preference: the road in is unsealed in sections and unlit. You book the coaches directly with one of our nominated operators, so the timings and the cost stay in your hands. Coach hire isn't part of venue hire.

Twenty car spaces, arranged in advance

Ten for your day guests and ten for vendors. They're allocated with us beforehand rather than first-come, and they're meant for guests with a genuine need to drive. Everyone else is collected from the car park by the bus.

The Pavilion is step-free; The Cliffs isn't

The Pavilion has level entry throughout, an accessible bathroom and vehicle drop-off at the door. The ceremony site is reached by vehicle, but the ground there is natural earth, uneven in places, and its toilet isn't wheelchair-accessible. Tell us about mobility needs early and we'll plan the arrival around them.

Once you've booked we take you through the whole transport plan: the guest journey step by step, the operators we'd recommend, a sample quote and the dates we need things by.

Ask us about transport →

Book your tour

The weekend starts with a date.

Tell us a little about your day and when you'd like to come, and we'll be in touch personally to find a time. The rest of the weekend will plan itself.