Port Macquarie: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Port Macquarie began in 1821 not as a holiday town but as a prison, for convicts who had committed new crimes after arriving in New South Wales. The settlement was small and the buildings that survive are few, but they all sit within a few blocks of the river mouth. This walk links them in about two hours, ending on the breakwall where the Hastings meets the sea. Mornings are best: the church and museum keep daytime hours, and the summer sun on the wall is strong.
A short history of Port Macquarie
The explorer John Oxley reached the mouth of the Hastings River in 1818 and named the place after the Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie. In 1821 a penal settlement was set up here for convicts who had committed further crimes after being transported to Australia, and the site was chosen because it was isolated and far from Sydney. St Thomas' Church, built by convicts in the 1820s, still stands and is one of the oldest in Australia. In 1830 the area was opened to free settlers, and the town lived from timber, farming and the port. In 1973 a koala hospital opened here, the first of its kind in the world.
The ten best sights in Port Macquarie
1St Thomas' Anglican ChurchBuilt by convicts; step inside to see the old box pews
2Historic CourthouseOpposite the town green; ten minutes in the old courtroom and cells
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3Port Macquarie Museum
Run by volunteers; the convict years and old shopfronts, about an hour
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4Mid North Coast Maritime Museum
Small museum on the hill above Town Beach; combine with the breakwall walk
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5Glasshouse
Arts centre and theatre in the centre; check what is on tonight
6Lake Innes RuinsBrick ruins of a grand 1830s estate in the bush, 15 minutes south; free
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7Koala Hospital
Free entry with donations; come at feeding time to see the patients awake
8Painted rocks of the breakwallWalk the wall at the river mouth and read the rocks; bring a marker if you want to add your own
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9Town Beach
The start of the coastal walk; patrolled swimming in summer
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10Sea Acres Rainforest Centre
An elevated boardwalk through rainforest that runs down to the sea; an easy hour
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Port Macquarie →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Port Macquarie:
Free walking tours in Port Macquarie
The convict town
Port Macquarie began in 1821 not as a holiday town but as a prison, for convicts who had committed new crimes after arriving in New South Wales. The settlement was small and the buildings that survive are few, but they all sit within a few blocks of the river mouth. This walk links them in about two hours, ending on the breakwall where the Hastings meets the sea. Mornings are best: the church and museum keep daytime hours, and the summer sun on the wall is strong.
- Port Macquarie Museum · The settlement was founded in 1821 by Captain Francis Allman as a place of secondary punishment, for convicts who reoffended in the colony. It was opened to free settlers only in 1830, and the last convicts left in the 1840s.
- St Thomas' Anglican Church · Convicts built the church between 1824 and 1828, and it is among the oldest churches still in use in Australia. Inside are the original box pews, enclosed so each family sat in its own wooden compartment.
- Historic Courthouse · The courthouse was built in 1869 and heard cases for more than a century, until a new court opened in the 1980s. Volunteers keep the courtroom and the holding cells as they were.
- Glasshouse · When the site was dug up to build the arts centre, archaeologists found remains of the convict settlement underneath, including foundations and thousands of objects. Part of the dig is kept on show inside the building.
- Kooloonbung Creek Nature Park · The Birpai people are the traditional owners of the land around the Hastings River. This mangrove creek and its paperbark swamp, a few minutes from the shops, give an idea of what the river edge looked like before the town.
- Painted rocks of the breakwall · Visitors have covered the boulders of the river wall with paintings: names, holiday dates, wedding proposals and memorials to the dead. Some are repainted every year by the same families, and the town now treats the wall as one of its sights.
Koalas and the coast
Port Macquarie has a large wild koala population living right inside the town, and a hospital that has spent half a century patching them up. This route starts with them and then follows the coast south, on foot or hopping by car, through a strip of rainforest to the lighthouse. The full coastal walk is about 9 km from Town Beach, so leave a car at the end or plan a taxi back. Take a hat and water: there is little shade on the headlands.
- Roto House · The timber house was built in 1891 for the surveyor John Flynn and his family, who lived in it for decades. It stands in the Macquarie Nature Reserve, and koalas often sleep in the trees around the garden.
- Koala Hospital · Founded in 1973, it was one of the first hospitals anywhere devoted only to koalas. After the bushfires of 2019, an online appeal it launched raised millions of dollars from around the world, and the hospital treated dozens of burnt koalas.
- Sea Acres Rainforest Centre · The boardwalk runs about 1.3 km at canopy level through one of the largest remaining patches of coastal rainforest in New South Wales. Look for strangler figs, which start life high in a host tree and grow roots down around it.
- Coastal Walk · The coastal walk runs about 9 km from Town Beach to Tacking Point, past beaches, rock pools and headlands. Between June and November humpback whales pass close to shore on their migration north and back south.
- Tacking Point Lighthouse · Matthew Flinders named the point in 1802 after he had to tack his ship here against the wind. The small lighthouse was lit in 1879 and is one of the oldest on the Australian coast.
- Lighthouse Beach · The beach runs south for kilometres toward Lake Cathie, unbroken by headlands. Camel rides along the sand have run here for years, an odd sight on an Australian surf beach.
Up the Hastings
Behind the beaches the Hastings River valley runs inland to forested mountains, past farms, vineyards and the ruins of a colonial dream. This is the route for a grey day, or for the morning you leave: it heads west, away from the Pacific Highway, and comes back by a different road. The waterfall at the end is about an hour and a quarter from town on a winding road, so allow a full day if you go that far. Fill up in town; the hinterland villages have few services.
- Lake Innes Ruins · Major Archibald Clunes Innes, a former commandant of the convict settlement, built a grand house here in the 1830s with convict labour, and entertained the colony's elite. The depression of the early 1840s ruined him, and the estate slowly fell to pieces.
- Billabong Zoo · A koala sleeps up to about 20 hours a day. Its diet of eucalyptus leaves is so poor in energy, and so hard to digest, that it has little to spare for moving around.
- Cassegrain Winery · The Hastings valley is warm and wet, which rots many classic grapes. Cassegrain made its name with Chambourcin, a French hybrid grape that resists mould and gives a deep red wine.
- Wauchope Station · The railway between Sydney and Brisbane was completed in 1932, when the bridge at Grafton closed the last gap. Wauchope grew as a timber town on the line, sending hardwood logs down to Sydney.
- Hastings River · John Oxley reached this coast overland in 1818 and named the river after Warren Hastings, the Governor-General of India. On the same trip he named the port after Lachlan Macquarie, the governor who had sent him.
- Ellenborough Falls · The Ellenborough River drops about 200 metres in a single fall here, one of the longest single-drop waterfalls in the Southern Hemisphere. A long staircase leads to the bottom, and the climb back is the real workout.
Getting to Port Macquarie and getting around
- Port Macquarie Airport · About an hour from Sydney by air, ten minutes from town; useful if someone joins or leaves mid-route
- Wauchope Station · The nearest railway station, 20 minutes inland; the Sydney–Brisbane train stops here
- Settlement Point Ferry · A short car ferry across the Hastings to the quiet North Shore beaches
Cheap eats in Port Macquarie
Port Macquarie eats like a beach town: a flat white in a kiosk, fish and chips on the sand, a meat pie from the bakery for the road. The cafés on the waterfront open early for the walkers and surfers and often close mid-afternoon. Prices are in Australian dollars and fairly standard for the coast. Fish here is usually local flathead or snapper; ask what came in.
- Milkbar Town Beach · Café opposite Town Beach; breakfast about A$15-25
- Breakwall HQ Espresso Bar · Coffee at the breakwall before the walk, about A$5-7
- Salty Crew Kiosk · Kiosk on the foreshore; coffee and a toastie about A$10-15
- Off the Hook Fish & Chips · Fish and chips near the river, about A$15-22
- Ridgey Didge Pies · Pies about A$6-9
- Munster Street Bakery · Local bakery; sausage rolls and pies about A$5-8
- Home at Roto House · Café in the 1891 house next to the Koala Hospital, about A$10-20
Museums in Port Macquarie
- Port Macquarie Museum · Convict and pioneer history; about an hour
- Historic Courthouse · The 1869 courtroom and cells; small entry fee
- Mid North Coast Maritime Museum · Shipwrecks and river trade; a short visit above Town Beach
- Port Macquarie Surfing Museum · Old boards and surf history in the centre
- Roto House · Free house museum; koalas in the trees outside
Nature and day trips near Port Macquarie
- Sea Acres Rainforest Centre · Elevated boardwalk; about an hour, entry fee
- Ellenborough Falls · An hour and a quarter inland; winding road
- Coastal Walk · About 9 km from Town Beach to the lighthouse
- Kooloonbung Creek Nature Park · Mangrove boardwalks five minutes from the centre
- Lake Cathie Koala Reserve · Quiet bush with koalas, 15 minutes south
Things to do in Port Macquarie with kids
- Koala Hospital · Free, donations welcome; feeding time is the best time
- Billabong Zoo · Koalas, kangaroos and much more; entry fee
- Bago Maze · Hedge maze near Wauchope; allow an hour to get out
- Town Beach · Patrolled beach right by the centre, with a playground and skate park
- Ricardoes Tomatoes · Pick your own strawberries in season
Where to eat in Port Macquarie
- The Stunned Mullet · Fine dining opposite Town Beach; book ahead
- Bills Fishhouse + Bar · Seafood in the centre; mains about A$35-50
- Zebu Bar + Grill · Grill with river views on Hay Street; mains about A$30-50
- Port Macquarie Hotel · The town pub; a schnitzel and a beer about A$25-35
- Finnian's Irish Tavern · Pub meals and live music; about A$25-35
- Agostina · Italian on William Street; pizza and pasta about A$25-35
Frequently asked questions about Port Macquarie
What is there to see in Port Macquarie?
The top sights in Port Macquarie are St Thomas' Anglican Church, Historic Courthouse and Port Macquarie Museum. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Port Macquarie?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Port Macquarie without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Port Macquarie?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Port Macquarie, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The convict town.
How do you get to Port Macquarie and get around?
The main ways are Port Macquarie Airport, Wauchope Station and Settlement Point Ferry. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Port Macquarie, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Port Macquarie that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Port Macquarie for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.