Armidale

A thousand metres up on the Northern Tablelands, Armidale is the rare country city that feels collegiate: cathedrals, a university, heritage streetscapes and avenues that turn copper and gold each autumn. Take the heritage walk past its 19th-century churches and grand facades, then trade elegance for edges. Within an hour, the tablelands crack open into Oxley Wild Rivers country, where Wollomombi Falls drops into one of the deepest gorges in Australia and lookouts stare down sheer, wild valleys. Cathedral city by morning, gorge country by lunch.