Central West (New South Wales)

The Central West is an inland region in the Australian state of New South Wales.

Regions

• Warrumbungle Shire.

Cities

The Central West of New South Wales has four small cities:

• Bathurst
• Dubbo
• Lithgow
• Orange

The Central West also contains a number of smaller townships:

• Blayney
• Coolah
• Coonabarabran
• Coonamble
• Cowra
• Canowindra
• Forbes
• Gilgandra
• Grenfell
• Hill End
• Mudgee
• Narromine
• Parkes
• Tooraweenah
• Wellington
• West Wyalong

Understand

The Central West of New South Wales contains some of the oldest cities on the inland side of the Blue Mountains. The area is known for its produce, including cold climate fruits and wines. It contains some of the best restaurants in New South Wales outside of Sydney.

The region is mainly farmland, and the main agricultural products are lamb, beef, and wheat.

Get in

Lithgow is at the foot of the Blue Mountains west of Sydney and is accessible via either the Bells Line of road from Windsor or the Great Western Highway from Penrith. All drivers from Sydney to the area would take one of these two roads, and then travel west on the Great Western Highway and the Mitchell Highway to the other towns.

Lithgow, Orange, Bathurst and Blayney are all stops on the Countrylink [2] XPT train to Dubbo, and several flights from Sydney to the area operate every day.

Get around

The area has some public transport connecting most of the cities and towns. Several buses run between Lithgow, Bathurst, Orange and Dubbo every day, with a lesser number to the smaller towns. However, the only way to reach the many out-of-town attractions like orchards and wineries is by car.

See

Cowra Japanese Gardens

• The Western Plains Zoo [3] in Dubbo.
• Mount Canobolas west of Orange. Mount Canobolas is the remnant of a volcanic plug, and is the highest point in the district. There are several quarter- and half-day walks on the slopes.
• The Japanese Gardens [4] in Cowra

Eat

The area surrounding Orange is home to many orchards. The area produces cherries in summer and apples in autumn. It is the largest apple growing region in Australia. Many orchards have road-side stalls which sell in season fruit extremely cheaply. Locals buy apples by the bucket load and cherries by the crate.

In addition, because the area has much beef, many restaurants have particularly good meat dishes.

Drink

• Bathurst is a university city and has a very active pub scene populated mainly by university students
• The area surrounding Orange is known for its wineries.

Sleep

• Quality Inn Dubbo International, 165 Whylandra St Dubbo, ☎ 0268824777, [1]. checkin: 2.00PM; checkout: 10.00AM. The Quality Inn Dubbo International hotel provides accommodation with easy access to many local points of interest. Historic landmarks like the Dundullimal Homestead and Old Dubbo Gaol are nearby. This Dubbo, Australia hotel is minutes from popular attractions like: • Taronga Western Plains Zoo • Charles Sturt University • Dubbo Observatory • Dubbo Airport • NSW Government Offices A variety of recreations areas, entertainment venues and shopping districts can be found in the surrounding area. The Quality Inn Dubbo International hotel features two restaurants: the Pool Bar and Cafe and Reflections Restaurant. Room service is also available. 109.  edit

Get out

Visitors to the Central West can travel easily to Canberra or Sydney, both of which are three or four hours away by car. Alternatively, visitors could travel further west into the Far West of the state. The transcontinental Indian Pacific train travels through the region.

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