A NSW Top Tourism Town Finalist
Welcome to Carcoar
Category: population under 5,000 residents.
Voting open from 09:00 Friday 7 May 2021 till 17:00 Friday 14 May 2021 AEST.
Members of the public may only lodge one vote for one town in each category.
See full Terms & Conditions
VOTING NOW CLOSED
A truly authentic experience of life in a village.
You may never want to leave.
Almost everybody who's been here has thought it. Thought it as they pulled into the perfectly preserved Victorian-era village, just as the sun slipped behind endless hills. As they unfurled weary driving legs and heaved themselves up into the crisp autumn air of central west New South Wales. Breathed deeply and caught wood smoke, early wattle and…was that…stout pie? Thought it as church bells announced it’s 6 o’clock. As they pushed open the pub doors, letting a shout of hearty laughter escape into the evening, before finding a seat at the bar. As lanes of gridlocked traffic, the crush of the commuter train home, conversations about real estate prices at weekend BBQ’s and the race to get to after-school care before it shuts….just..faded away. Almost everybody’s arrived in Carcoar and thought; ‘Maybe, I could live here?’
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Carcoar does that.In a fertile valley, on the banks of the burbling Belubula River, lies the most intact 19th century village in all of Australia. Big call, but we’ll prove it.
Carcoar was once the third largest settlement west of the Blue Mountains and for a while, touted as the obvious choice for the nation’s capital. Which explains our ethereal Edmund Beckitt church and rectory, our pompous, thick-set court house, our grand post office and residence with her sweeping veranda, our late Georgian bank and our gingerbread house looking Victorian hospital.
The sweetest little school, with her bell still in her tower. But it doesn’t explain why it’s all still here exactly as it was the day it was built. As though time has simply stopped. The saddlery. The printers press. The convict-built carriage house, with its carriages on pause, waiting for their horses to return. The bank that the Ben Hall bushranger gang held up.
For those of us who have stayed, we do know that we wake up to the garrulous calls of galahs, gliding between the gullys.We get a perfect flat white from the Village Grocer on our way to work and spend our sunlit Sundays surrounded by neighbours and lavender in the local pub’s backyard. That a candle from the village’s Instagram-famous boutique Tomolly, warmly perfumes some of our hallways.
We know our Saturday nights are best spent huddled around someone’s bonfire, somewhere on the river, BYO local wine. We know the only way to tell time is by the church bell’s chime. Not everybody who lives here drove the three hours, twenty minutes from Sydney. Unfurled weary legs, heaved themselves up into the clear autumn air and inhaled deeply into the cool quiet and thought, ‘Maybe, I could live here. ’But the ones that did? We live here now. Carcoar does that. Visit and you just might too.
Voting open from 9:00 AEST, Friday 7 May 2021
to 17:00, Friday 14 May 2021.
Members of the public may only lodge one vote for one town in each category. Subsequent votes by the same voter will be excluded from consideration. See full Terms & Conditions
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Three days in Carcoar!
An authentic experience of life in one of Australia’s most perfectly preserved 19th century villages.
The picture-perfect village of Carcoar is nestled in a small sheltered valley beside the meandering Belubula River. A true historic gem, it is the third oldest settlement west of the Blue Mountains. One of the most perfectly preserved 19th century villages in Australia, the entire village of Carcoar is classified by the National Trust.
Carcoar is a 3 hour drive from Canberra, and a 4 hour drive from Sydney. It’s a 45 minute drive from Orange, Bathurst and Cowra
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