Stretching across 801,150 square kilometres – from the Kosciuszko National Park on NSW's Victorian border to the sun-soaked stretches of sand just north of Byron Bay – the state of New South Wales is home to some pretty exceptional towns, and no two are the same. From outback dust bowls to glittering coastal gems, mountainside ski towns to charming market hubs, the towns of the First State each have something special to offer. And while we all have our personal favourites, some leaderboards carry more weight than others. One particularly well-renowned ranking is that of Business NSW, who release their NSW Top Tourism Towns shortlist every year, granting three key awards to towns across the state based on various factors. This year, 19 towns across NSW are in the running to win one of the three categories – and the finalists have been chosen by the public.
The cutest category in the NSW Top Tourism Towns awards is "Tiny Tourism Town" – an award that goes to the small town (1,500 residents or under) that offers more than its size might suggest. These are the towns we visit to slow down and escape from the city bustle, and are chosen based on the individual nature of their offering. In the running for this year’s Tiny Tourism Town Award are Broke (a small historic town/village in the Hunter Valley), the nearby mountainside town of Wollombi, Huskisson (the coastal town on the Shoalhaven shoreline) and Eugowra – a small in-land town in the Central West.
Not quite so teeny but equally important is the "Small Tourism Town" category, which recognises the remarkable towns with between 1,500 to 5,000 residents. This year, six towns from across NSW made the shortlist. The shortlist for this year features the agricultural hub of Oberon, the quaint Shoalhaven town of Berry, Bulahdelah on the mid-north coast, Gloucester (the closest town to heritage-listed Barrington Tops), the seafood mecca that is Merimbula, and the historic town of Ulmarra.
The final category for this year’s awards is "Top Tourism Town" overall, which seeks to identify the town with a population of over 5,000 that’s offering its visitors the most unique and special experience. This year, nine towns have made the shortlist: including the gourmet haven of Orange (home to one of our Food and Drink Editor’s favourite bars), coastal town Newcastle, which – with its beautiful beaches, excellent foodie scene and easy access from Sydney – is a destination the Time Out team keeps coming back to (and actually, Newcastle took the title last year). The other towns joining Orange and Newcastle on the list are Murwillumbah, Bathurst, Ballina, Grafton, Kiama, Shellharbour and Ulladulla.
The public votes are in, so we’ll need to wait to find out which towns have come out on top. You can check out the shortlist over here.
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