Towns Near Byron Bay

Mullumbimby

Mullumbimby, on the Brunswick River, lies about twenty kilometres north of Byron Bay along the Pacific Highway.

Mullumbimby is renowned as “Australia’s Biggest Little Town,” and for such a little town, it has a lot to offer.

The beautiful Mt. Chincogan greets you on the route into Mullumbimby. There are several cafés, colourful stores, unique architecture, beautiful parks, a swimming pool, and a museum in the town. Everyone will find something to their liking.

Between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month, a market is held at Summers Park on the corner of Stuart and Myocum Streets. Local vegetables, handcrafted crafts and clothes, jewellery, plants, and fresh food are available for purchase. Explore this modest yet lively market beneath the stars.

The original Mullumbimby post office (1907), which now houses the local museum, is located in the heart of Summers Park. The BVHS Museum, which is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Market Saturdays and every Friday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Fridays, is worth a visit if you wish to learn about the local history of the region.

Heritage Park is located on Mill Street at the other end of town. It is home to approximately 300 types of rainforest trees and plants endemic to the area. A meandering trail winds through the park and along the Brunswick River’s shore. Picnic tables, a children’s playground, log sitting, an information shelter building, and a riverside fishing seat are all available at the park.

A journey up into the Mullumbimby hinterland exposes beautiful rainforest and stunning vistas.

Brunswick Heads

One of the treasures of New South Wales’ far north coast lies just north of Byron Bay, approximately a 20-minute drive up the Pacific Highway. Brunswick Heads is one of those places that has managed to retain the old-fashioned charm of a river- and seaside town reminiscent of the 1950s despite development and the superstardom of its more famous neighbour, Byron Bay.

Lennox Head

Lennox Head is a stunning headland located 17 kilometres south of Cape Byron and Byron Bay. Hang-gliders and surfers frequent the headland, and Lennox village offers a variety of restaurants, cafés, souvenir and resort stores, as well as lodging. Take a picnic up to the headland and take in the views of Cape Byron to the north.

The beach at Lennox north of the Surf Life Saving Club is dog-friendly, and horseback riding is available on the beach. In the summer, the beach in the town centre is safe for children and is monitored.

Lake Ainsworth, a big tea-tree-colored lake on the northern end of town, behind the Surf Life Saving Club, for freshwater swimming and water activities.

Suffolk Park

It is a short drive or 25-minute bike ride to Byron Bay and is an excellent option for families, couples, and singles who want to be close to the famed tourist town yet far enough away to enjoy some additional quiet and private, especially during the busy summer months.

Suffolk Park is well-known and liked for its feeling of community, and it has its own little shopping centre with a supermarket, restaurants, bar, medical offices, bakery, pharmacy, post office, and retail store. On Coogera Circuit, a purpose-built, integrated childcare centre provides a loving environment for local pre-school children.

The skate park, playgrounds, and cycling lanes are popular with children, while Tallow Beach, which spans from Cosy Corner at the Cape to Broken Head in the south, is popular with local surfers, beach lovers, hikers, and bird watchers. There’s also a gorgeous length of beach just for dog owners.

Nimbin

Nimbin has been on visitors’ radars since 1973, when it hosted the Aquarius Festival, and hippiedom was firmly established in Australia. It’s still a hippy mecca today, with a Hemp Embassy and a museum dedicated to Kombi culture. Nimbin is the centre of the Rainbow Region, which embraces anything that isn’t conventional. It’s funky, colourful, and alternative.

Cullen Thoroughfare, the main street, is packed with stores and cafés representing rainbow culture, while the Nimbin Hotel serves lunch and cold beverages on a shaded wooden balcony to thirsty visitors. There are good day trips to Nimbin from Byron Bay, including Happy Coach and Grasshoppers, as well as a shuttle bus many times every week.

Nimbin Community Market is held at the primary school grounds on the third and fifth Sundays of each month. The market sells handcrafted clothing and jewellery, as well as children’s clothing, food, and homewares.

Bangalow

Bangalow is a charming nineteenth-century streetscape of towering, verandah-clad buildings that house a wide selection of stores offering Oriental carpets and rugs, Tibetan artwork, Japanese kimonos and silk garments, exotic homewares, literature, and art. The hamlet also boasts a selection of cafés and restaurants, so you can browse and then refuel with lunch or supper.

Bangalow offers a dog and child-friendly park down by the river, where you can wander beneath massive leafy trees and the kids can paddle in Byron Creek. Generations of Bangalow youngsters have learnt to swim here, and it remains a serene and pleasant getaway from the hustle and bustle of Byron Bay.

The Bangalow Community Market, held on the fourth Sunday of each month at the Bangalow Showground, is a display of local production, including clothing, jewellery, skin care items, fresh food, plants and trees, and other art and craftwork. You may park at the primary school and spend many hours relaxing beneath the camphor laurel trees, having lunch or coffee, getting a massage, and doing all of your shopping.

The Bangalow Farmers Market is held every Saturday morning from 7 to 11 a.m. in the parking lot behind the Bangalow Hotel. Salads, herbs, tomatoes, fruit, vegetables, and plants, as well as eggs, cattle, bread, coffee, sauces, pickles, oils, and jams, are all made locally.

Federal

Federal is a little community around 25 minutes drive from Bangalow featuring a general store and an art gallery. Coolamon Scenic Drive and Coorabell Road will lead you back to Bangalow via Binna Burra Road.

Federal is bordered by macadamia plantations and the beautiful terrain that is synonymous with the Northern Rivers Rainbow Region. Spend a little more time and stay in one of the beautiful guesthouses that dot the countryside, genuinely relax beneath the massive fig trees, and treat yourself and your family to a memorable experience. You’ll establish lifetime friends and return for more out here, away from the hustle and bustle.

Clunes

Clunes, nicknamed “the Holy City” due to the abundance of beautiful early Australian churches in the hamlet, provides good local services such as a convenient general shop that also functions as a post office, liquor store, and sells wonderful take-away pizza.

The Clunes Coffee Inn, located next door, takes pride in providing pleasant and personalised service, as well as wonderful coffee and a huge selection of cakes and slices, many of which are gluten free. There’s also a gas station and an antiques and crafts store. The Old Romantic Shack, a short walk up the street, sells a superb selection of new and old worldly gifts, antiques, and bric a brac.

The region is popular with individuals working in neighbouring Lismore due to the abundance of elegant North Coast federation houses. Clunes is named for Robert Mortimer Clunes, an early engineer in the dairying business, and is also Gaelic meaning ‘good spot.’

Ballina

Ballina is a true beach town, with just enough old-fashioned charm to entice visitors. Ballina, located on a bend in the Pacific Highway on an island in the Richmond River, offers a lot to see and do. The river estuary, for example, is popular with families for fishing, sailing, and swimming, while a journey to the interior will reward you with an unforgettable rainforest experience.

River Street, which runs besides the river, is home to a diverse range of intriguing stores and eateries. Walk to the river through one of the arcades or side streets and enjoy lunch watching the water. Relaxed and unhurried Ballina is a peaceful town that is quiet in the evenings and has a good selection of general stores.