Griffith Spring Festival

Flight Details: Brisbane/Melbourne/Adelaide/Canberra - Sydney (flight details to be advised)

After our flight into Sydney, we transfer to our accommodation to check in, unwind, and enjoy dinner in preparation for our exciting Griffith Spring Festival tour.

Overnight Sydney: Crown Plaza Sydney Airport

Daily: Dinner

Today we begin our drive across to Griffith, situated in the Riverina region, heart of Australia’s “Food Bowl”. The Rollonin Cafe in Bowning, home of Mac the Clydesdale, provides the perfect setting for lunch and another stop will be at the Temora Aviation Museum, a world class attraction which has arguably the finest collection of flying historic aircraft in the world. On our arrival into Griffith we head straight to our accommodation, our base for the next five nights as we take in the colours of the annual Spring Festival, and explore this part of the delightful Riverina. After settling into our rooms we gather for dinner in the motel restaurant.

Overnight Griffith: Kidman Wayside Inn

Daily: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After breakfast, our first visit for the day is to the Sunday Rotary Markets. Here, we get to meet the local growers and makers. Seasonal fruit and vegetables, bread, cakes, Italian biscuits, jams, relish, olive oil, eggs, honey, plants and much more are what we will find when here. Next, we visit the Griffith Tourist Hub, which provides a wonderful display area that captures some of the local history, the water story and the agriculture. A short video showcases what the town of Griffith is all about. Our local guide joins us here before taking us on an informative 90 minute highlights tour which includes stops at Hermit’s Cave Lookout. Griffith is also home to several open gardens which form part of the Griffith Fest. One of these open gardens will be our next stop where we meet the creators, take a stroll and enjoy lunch. Our last stop for the day is at another beautiful open garden where we will have time to chat to the owners and swap our gardening knowledge. At the end of our day we head back to our motel to rest up before dinner.

Overnight Griffith: Kidman Wayside Inn

Daily: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Our tour of the Griffith region begins as we experience life on the Catania Fruit Salad Farm with Sharon and Joe, where more than 60 types of fruit and nut trees are grown on this family block. Our journey begins with a look at the original mud brick home built in 1912, then on-board the rustic mini bus for our tour around the orchard. After this tour, we visit three magnificent gardens and take a wander amongst the stunning Citrus Sculptures. (Please note the open gardens for 2026 are yet to be listed). Some of the gardens that have been part of the festival in the past and maybe included in this year’s festival are: The stunning ‘Rosewood Park on Stokes’ Hanwood, set within vineyards and orange trees, this three acre garden is hedged in by a wall of roses and many flowering trees and shrubs. Small garden rooms provide cool shaded areas for tropical and shade loving plants including a 40 year old Liquid Amber. A third is ‘Davit Farm’ Widgelli, a constantly evolving, gracious three acre garden divided into large spans with French and Italian influences. The main delights are formal lily pond, a Monet lake and bridge, a white trunked forest in which a huge sculpture “Irony” resides, a May and Mulberry walk, species rose garden and spectacular dry stone work. A light lunch will be provided at our second garden visit of the day! The Griffith CBD comes alive with an amazing display of more than 70, larger than life, three dimensional Citrus Sculptures. The wacky and creative Citrus Sculptures line the main street of Griffith, creating a spectacular gateway to the city across two weeks. The sculptures are unique to Australia and are based on the famous lemon sculptures of Menton, France. Following our last garden visit, we then make our way to the Griffith Regional Theatre to view the amazing Soft Sculptured Curtain, one of Griffith’s major tourist attractions. (Visit is subject to theatre availability). After a spectacular and colourful day out we head back to our motel to rest and freshen up before dinner.

Overnight Griffith: Kidman Wayside Inn

Dinner: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Today we set off to discover more of Griffith, starting at the Pioneer Park Museum, set amongst 11 hectares of picturesque bush land, it’s dedicated to preserving the history of Griffith and its surrounds. Within the Pioneer Park we also discover Todd Shed, Bagtown, and the Italian Museum which houses an incredible collection of artefacts from the earliest Italian settlers. Around midday we enjoy a break for lunch along Banna Avenue, Griffith’s main street which is dominated by Italian cuisine and of course great coffee and delicious treats. After lunch we take a look through the Griffith Regional Art Gallery and also the Griffith War Memorial Museum which owes its existence to the returned servicemen from WWI who became soldier-settlers in Griffith. No visit to Griffith and the Riverina would be complete without tasting the magnificent wines that are produced in this region. The Tuscan-style cellar door of Calabria Family Wines Riverina offers warm Italian hospitality and is the perfect place for our tasting experience. This evening we enjoy a taste of Italy dining at Giuseppe’s Restaurant.

Overnight Griffith: Kidman Wayside Inn

Daily: Breakfast & Dinner

Wildlife and cotton are on our agenda today, starting with a ‘Wildlife Safari’ at the 207 hectare Altina Wildlife Park! With our guide we meet the animals up close and personal during their daily feed times, while travelling in style, on a horse-drawn cart. Our next stop is at Whitton Malt House for lunch before touring the state-of-the-art Southern Cotton Gin facility. Our engaging tour is all about the local cotton industry, as well as the cotton ginning process, the Southern Cotton’s specially-built observation walkways allow us to witness these stages first-hand in a safe environment. On completion of our tour we make our way back into Griffith to freshen up before dinner down the road at the Southside Leagues Club.

Overnight Griffith: Kidman Wayside Inn

Daily: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

This morning after check out, we depart Griffith and begin our drive back across New South Wales to Sydney. Our drive home takes us across through Grenfell, Cowra, Bathurst and through the Blue Mountains. After a comfort stop in Barmedman and again in Grenfell, to view the Silo Art Mural, we arrive in Cowra for lunch at the Rose Garden Coffee House situated next door to the Cowra Tourist Information Centre. After lunch we step inside the centre to the POW Hologram Theatre and watch a 9-minute hologram recount the tragic story of the Cowra Breakout in 1944. The last leg of our journey back to Sydney takes us across through the Blue Mountains before arriving at our hotel for check-in and dinner.

Overnight Sydney: Crown Plaza Sydney Airport

Daily: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

This morning we are transferred to the Sydney airport for our flight back home after a delightful few days across in the Riverina celebrating the Griffith Spring Festival with Trade Travel.

Flight Details: Sydney - Brisbane/Melbourne/Adelaide/Canberra (flight details to be advised)

Daily: Breakfast