Long-established Melbourne Travel Club has a range of day and accommodated tours throughout the year.
Day tours include a variety of destinations from wineries to historic homes and beautiful gardens. They include The Big Bouquet and Fergusson Winery, Post Office Farm Nursery in Woodend, The Briars and Mulberry Hill, Live Country Music and Peonies in Erica, and Beleura House and Garden.
Show and event tickets are a new addition, with tickets to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in February (Docklands Stadium), including transport to and from Sunbury.
The choice for extended tours is just as varied. In NSW, the new seven-day Wisemans Ferry and Hawkesbury River tour has already proved popular, with the September dates booked out. A repeat tour will be run in March, 2016. Highlights include Scenic World Katoomba, Mount Panorama Racing Circuit and the River Postman Cruise.
The Grampians is always a popular tour destination, especially in spring, when the wildflowers are at their most spectacular. The club’s four-day tour in October is based in Halls Gap and includes the Pomonal Native Flower Show, Halls Gap wildflower display, Halls Gap Zoo and more.
Then there's the three-day Foodies Trail in November, which travels to the glorious Rutherglen district and has a taste of everything – cheese, chocolate, wine, honey, mustards, butter, olives and even pumpkin seeds.
The Christmas tour will be a seven-day getaway in the NSW Southern Highlands. There will be visits to Eden, Fitzroy Falls, Bundanoon, a dolphin cruise on Jervis Bay, the Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk, and Nan Tien Temple in the Illawarra.
- The Melbourne Travel Club, (03) 9740-8411, www.melbtc.com.au