Looking for your next road trip destination? We may have just found it.

Just over a three-hour drive from Canberra, the heritage village of Millthorpe in the Orange region has boutique shopping, cafes, cellar doors, a hatted restaurant, a museum and art galleries, together with sweeping views towards Mt Canobolas.

In November it’s also home to one of the largest garden rambles in regional New South Wales, attracting more than 2000 people each year.

Whether you’re a green thumb or not, the festival is worth the trip: this year’s event will see 12 properties opening45 their gardens to curious garden lovers, from a smaller garden attached to a historic boutique bed and breakfast to a large 15 hectare iris farm with masses of colour, roses, water features, deciduous trees and a huge aviary.

Millthorpe Garden Ramble Committee member Lyndall Harrison says the event provides people with ideas and inspiration for their own outdoor spaces.

“It’s a rare opportunity to go beyond the garden fences and gates and have a peek at what the local gardeners are achieving,” she says.

“People love the range of gardens, but mostly they love the vibe and charm they experience. They also enjoy meeting the owners and the friendly gatekeepers on each garden. The range in the 12 gardens ensures you will experience sweeping landscapes; creative outdoor living areas; veggie plots; small nooks; garden rooms; special places for children or just the right plant in the right place.

“Our gardens offer a wide variety of large and small, mature and recently established, in and out of town, some gardens that wrap around heritage homes and their outbuildings, and some that spill out onto the verge to enhance the streetscape.”

The event also includes a popular art trail featuring work from local artists and a range of stalls available in the larger gardens, with everything from plants, garden sculptures and ornaments, art/craft, jewelry and handcrafted chocolate on sale. A “hop on hop off” bus will also be available to take people to each garden.

All proceeds to the event will go to myriad Millthorpe village projects, such as the ongoing upgrade of facilities, street plantings, an—most recently—a drought relief get together for locals who have been affected by the recent drought.

Lyndall says Millthorpe’s cool climate and altitude of 960+ metres means you’ll see plenty of diverse plants including irises, roses, crab apples and olive groves.

“The strong garden culture that exists in Millthorpe is demonstrated in the fact that over the 14 years of the annual Garden Ramble we have had over 100 different gardens on show,” she says.

“We hope the gardens will continue to inspire the people who visit them.”

the essentials

What: Millthorpe Garden Ramble
Where: Millthorpe Village
When: 10am – 4pm, 3 and 4 November 2018
How much: 10 gardens for $25, children free
Web: trybooking.com/book/event?eid=370599