Royal connection and NSW’s best hotel: 11 highlights of Orange

You’ve heard of its food and wine credentials, but in the lead-up to Orange F.O.O.D Week we zero in on nine of the region’s lesser known, but tantalisingly good, histories and highlights.

It’s known for apples – not oranges

The Orange region grows hundreds of varieties of apples.Credit: Orange360

Surely, we’re not the first to wonder why the town was dubbed Orange, and not Apple, given its apple-growing chops. Orange was the biggest apple producer in the state by the first half of the 20th century, with more than 1620 hectares of apples planted by 1945. Today, you can visit cideries or go apple picking at orchards, farm gates and even cellar doors (we’re looking at you, Borrodell and Printhie Wines). Ironically, the climate is too cool to grow oranges.

It’s known for wine – just not orange wine

Local, fun and funky pours ... Hey Rosey.Credit: Monique Lovick

Adding to the name confusion, the Orange wine region doesn’t do too much in the way of “orange” style wine (i.e. macerated or skin-contact wine, named for its orange or amber hue – the result of contact with white grape skins during fermentation). Now, just imagine the joy of trying to order an orange wine from a drinks list heavy with Orange producers … yeah. Incidentally, Hey Rosey, an excellent 20-seater wine bar on Orange’s main drag, is a safe bet for both Orange and orange drops.

The name has a royal link

No, not for the citrus fruit, nor the city’s flaming orange autumnal foliage … but there may be a surprising Dutch royal connection behind the name. Scottish surveyor Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, who mapped much of inland NSW during the 19th century, is said to have renamed the then-village in honour of William, Prince of Orange, later king of the Netherlands. (The “Prince of Orange” was a title associated with the Netherlands’ sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France.) Before the name change, the town was called Blackman’s Swamp.

Australia’s longest-running regional food festival lives here

The Sampson Street Long Lunch is one of the big-ticket events of the festival.Credit: Monique Lovick Photography

Orange F.O.O.D Week (March 28 to April 6, 2025) turns 34 this year. It’s been a staple feature of the autumn events calendar since 1991, making it Australia’s longest-running regional food festival. This year’s festival, themed “Elevate Your Plate”, features almost 50 events over 10 days, spearheaded by the signature Sampson Street Long Lunch, alongside a program of vineyard-roaming experiences, hands-on masterclasses, markets, intimate dinners and more. See orangefoodweek.com.au

Big-name comedians like to visit

Locally owned coffee house Factory Espresso – which, as the name hints, does an excellent brew – also moonlights as the town’s laugh factory, with regular stand-up comedy nights (perhaps it’s no coincidence the former owner’s brother is Aussie comedian Tom Gleeson). Among the coming touring acts are Rhys Nicholson and Pete Helliar.

It’s home to a hatted restaurant in a former schoolhouse

Get a lesson in a cracking long lunch at a former schoolhouse.Credit:

As well as occupying one of the most swoon-worthy buildings in town – an 1858-built bank-turned-schoolhouse, with walls of creeping ivy, exposed red brick and elegant pitched ceilings – Schoolhouse at Union Bank has cemented its standing as an innovator on the local food scene, banking a Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide hat for its efforts. Staff are attentive, and the menu has a terrific sense of adventure, from the outrageously fluffy and crisp Calloway potato scallops, to bone marrow that smacks of fermented jalapenos and cumin, or a sirloin slab, dabbed with deeply flavoured miso bagna cauda. The formula is the stuff of long-lunch dreams.

It’s home to Tripadvisor’s best hotel in NSW

Quest Orange was voted the top NSW hotel in the 2024 Tripadvisor Awards.Credit:

For better or worse, Quest Orange sticks out against the heritage fray – then again, it’s hard to argue with supremely modern amenities, spacious apartment-style rooms and a location in the historic centre. Add to that access to an in-house gym, washer and dryer facilities, a sunny rooftop terrace and barbecue area and EV chargers, and it’s suddenly clear why the four-star property was voted the best hotel in NSW by Tripadvisor in 2024. Studios from $224 a night; one-bedroom apartments from $269. See questapartments.com.au

You can hike to an epic secret waterfall

Take the loop track to the 15-metre Federal Falls.Credit: Kurt Tilse

The four-kilometre loop to Federal Falls in Mount Canobolas State Conservation Area requires a good level of fitness and agility – it’s rated a Grade-3 hike, with enough sharply pitched terrain to warrant guardrails in parts. However, it’s all worth it to feel the mist on your face under the majestic 15-metre falls – easily one of the most spectacular sights in the region. See nationalparks.nsw.gov.au

Home to one of Australia’s most luxurious farm stays

Luxury bed linen, heated floors, and designer kitchenettes. Pictured: Guest house two.Credit:

When a former Belle style director-at-large snaps up a 49-hectare country estate and tastefully reimagines its historic workers’ quarters into two luxury farmstay apartments, then you know you’re on to something special. With a blizzard of style and luxe touches from owner and interior stylist Steve Cordony, Rosedale Farm Estate’s one-bedroom lodgings have a price tag to reflect (from $1200 a night, with a minimum two-night stay). Luckily, comforts run deep – think smart gadgets, heated floors, Frette linen, sumptuous produce hampers and more. See rosedalefarm.net.au

You don’t need a car!

Taste your way around Orange in one spot at Ferment’s cosy cellar door.Credit:

Did you know both QantasLink and Regional Express operate flights into Orange Regional Airport from major cities? Add to that the very excellent Ferment wine bar in town, offering a taste of all the region’s best wines and brews in one central hub. And yes, no designated driver necessary.

It’s not all about wine

With more than 80 vineyards and 30 cellar doors, oenophiles are obviously well catered for – but there’s something for all tastes. Work through the deep drinks list at cosy whiskey bolthole Washington & Co, pick up a bottle of the native botanical-infused Bushman’s Gin at Parrot Distilling Co, sample locally made mead at The Beekeepers Inn, order a tasting paddle at Badlands Brewery taproom, or venture out to Small Acres Cyder’s pastoral cellar door for a tasting and pulled pork and cider pie.

The writer was a guest of Orange360. See orange360.com.au