Mittagong

Mittagong is one of the major towns of the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.

Get in

By car

Located 110 km southwest of Sydney, you'll get there via the Hume Motorway. Exits are clearly signposted from the road, and the trip should take around 90 minutes from the city centre. It's an easy stopping point on the Hume Motorway to avoid the highway services if you need a break, or some food.

By train

1 Mittagong Station is a major stop on the Southern Highlands Line, with hourly frequencies on weekdays and 2-hour frequencies on weekends. Except for a single service in peak, a change at Campbelltown is required. You'll need to buy a reloadable Opal Card, single-use Opal ticket, or use a contactless credit card on the Opal gates.

NSW TrainLink Regional runs 3 train services per day from Central Station in Sydney to Mittagong on the way to Canberra (from $16 one-way, Oct 2024). A train from Sydney will take just under 2 hours to reach Mittagong. Mittagong's historic railway station is in the centre of town on Regent Street. NSW TrainLink Regional trains need to be booked in advance.

Get around

The best way to see the local area is by car. Parking and traffic are not a problem, and the roads to most nearby attractions are paved.

The train service on the Southern Highlands Line will take you to the neighbouring Southern Highlands towns every couple of hours, so requires a bit of planning.

There is a very limited bus service on weekdays, and this mostly consists of transport for school children. The bus network does not accept Opal, and you must buy a ticket from the driver.

The local taxi service, Southern Highlands Taxis, also run services 24/7 though they have expensive rates, for example, travel to the next town across, Bowral, usually will cost $20 or more.

See

Located in the Nattai River Valley between two extinct volcanoes, Mt Gibraltar and Mt Alexandra, Mittagong boasts spectacular natural scenery. The view from Mr Gibraltar is pleasant.

The drive up to the lookouts at Mount Gilbraltar is signposted from the town centre, and from the Bowral road. The view is quite nice, and there are a couple of places to admire the view. There is a rim walk, as well as a walk all the way to the top. The picnic areas are somewhat run-down and overgrown, but still worth a visit for the view.

Mittagong is a lovely country setting now by-passed by the Hume Motorway at the entrance to the Southern Highlands. Mittagong is a favourite haunt of Sydney-siders who come to browse the antique shops and second-hand stores, galleries and hobby stores and dine at a range of excellent restaurants.

• Lake Alexandra. A man made lake, with BBQs, walk around the lake, and other walks into bushland nearby. Very popular on a sunny weekend. free. 

Eat

You'll have a choice of cafes during the day, and after dark you can choose from the pubs or the Chinese restaurant.

• 1 Paste Thai Restaurant Australia, 105 Main St, ☏ +61 2 4872 2277. (updated Jun 2021)

Drink

• 1 Mittagong Hotel (Top Pub), 89-91 Main Street, ☏ +61 2 4208 0143. Down to earth, historic pub in the centre of Mittagong. Very friendly to visitors and people passing through. Value food, drinks and accommodation. No glitz, but some glamour with old photographs hanging on the walls. May even find a craft beer or two next to the VB and Tooheys New on tap. Parmigana $17. (updated Jan 2016)
• Lion Rampant Hotel. Slightly larger and a few doors closer to the centre of town than the Mittagong Hotel. 

Sleep

• 1 Poplars Inn (Poplars Motel), 99 Old Hume Highway, ☏ +61 2 4889 4239, toll-free: 1800 656 963, fax: +61 2 4889 5074. Offers ground floor units which open via French doors onto wide verandahs. Set in beautiful English-style gardens. 
• 2 The Fitzroy Inn, 26 Ferguson Crescent, ☏ +61 2 4872 3457. Opened in 1836 as a 'Traveller's Inn', the restored building - remaining intact after almost 170 years - gives visitors a unique window into Australia's colonial past. The original kitchen has been described by some historians as 'the finest example' of a convict-era kitchen remaining in Australia - one feature being the 'water-well' in the middle of the floor, hand cut into the shale below the building, a truly remarkable work of convict masonry and craftsmanship. . 

Go next

Routes via Mittagong

Goulburn ← Berrima ←	SW M31 NE	→ Picton → Sydney
merges with M31 ←	N B73 SE	→ Bowral → Bomaderry
Goulburn ← Bowral ←	SW  SHL  NE	→ Picton → Campbelltown