This church features stunning hand-painted artwork that adds a special touch to the serene atmosphere. Conveniently located next to Subway and McDonald’s, it’s perfect for those who want to grab a quick breakfast or lunch after attending mass. A great spot for both spiritual and practical needs!

We happened to arrive on ANZAC Day, so the main street was blocked off for commemorations, but it didn’t stop us from visiting St Mary’s Catholic Church. The most striking feature of this church is its stunning ceiling and wall murals, painted in vivid colours. The artwork was completed in two stages between 1931 and 1938 by Francesco Floreani, an artist from Venice who had migrated to Australia in 1927. During the Great Depression, a local priest, Fr. Cremin, discovered his artistic talent and commissioned him to decorate the church. The murals, influenced by Renaissance religious art, have earned the church the nickname "the Sistine Chapel of rural Australia" (though maybe a more modest version!).

Wow, it’s like a little piece of Europe in country Victoria. I wasn’t quite prepared for how stunning the interior of this Church in Bairnsdale was. Was a quick stop of my way to Melbourne from Canberra down the coast road. Gorgeous!

Most beautiful church with most peaceful feeling that I've visited in Victoria. If you're in this area or visiting bairnsdale please take the time to step inside and be amazed. Yo won regret it... P.s God will be greatful you taken the time to do so. Amen

Incredible that you can still walk into a place like this for free and be awe-inspired and feel so much peace away from the world. Worth making the suggested donation for continued upkeep so that many more can enjoy for years to come.

Definitely worth a stop. The outside is like many old churches in Australia but the inside makes you feel like you are in a church in Italy. Fabulous paintings adorn the whole ceiling and there is beautiful stained glass windows.

Wow what an amazing church. We had the guided tour and it was very interesting. I highly recommend visiting the church.

Popped in to pick up a map and were overwhelmed by Irene's helpfulness. Thank you for your cheerful, knowledgeable assistance today. We have many additional adventures ahead thanks to you

Friendly and informative staff. 2 of the lady there (4/11/2025 Tuesday) were so lovely and polite, they 100% full with local information. Glad meeting them.

I had a visit to Bairnsdale information centre today and the service given to me by Andrew was excellent. I can see he has old school customer relations skills which are sorely lacking in today's society. Katie was also helpful and friendly. Well done to everyone concerned

So much great information given by such lovely ladies. Loved the art gallery, St Mary’s Church, Mitchell River walk (we scootered), Nicho’s pies and much much more. Picked up a beautiful handmade magnet by a local artist for a great price as a memento of our trip.

Lived up to the reviews we read here. Staff were friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable of the area. We left here armed with information and plenty of ideas for our holiday in Bairnsdale.

What a delightful and refreshing team. We have visited many visitor centres across Australia and the welcome and informative advice we received today was by far the best. The staff obviously love their work, love their region and are amazing ambassador’s for the area. THANKYOU for being so friendly and helpful.

Very very nice group of people who know what they are talking about...thx guys

is a real good place to take children for a fun outing. Bbq and tables are available undercover. Good assortment of child amusements.

Great place for families. I love taking my grandson to the all abilities play ground. I love that it's fenced all round so I know he can't take off and run away. Even though I'm never far from him he is too fast for me to catch and I would worry about him racing off too quick for me if it wasn't for the fences. There's plenty of picnic tables around and great play equipment provided.

5 stars for Activities, 5 star for amenities and 5 stars for environment. Nice park for the kids. It is well designed with multiple zones for different zones. Lots of slides for the kids on two sides of the park. The park is fenced with 3 toilets including a baby change room accessible from inside and 2 from outside. It has ample parking on 2 sides... It also has a skate area for young adults.

Great place to stop and have a break with the kids from a long drive. The playground is great with many things for the kids to do and play on. There is also BBQ's to have some lunch with plenty of seats and tables. And there are toilets as well.

What an amazing park there was so much to do there my daughter loved it I would recommend anyone to take there kids here and there is BBQ's and picnic tables in the park so can have a bday party and cook your own food.

My son saw this park and asked for a stop on our way to Mel. Turned out to be a great place to take a break with facilities . Liked the timber mill and boat shaped structure.

Nice and big playground. Very safe - fenced up with child safe gate. Clean BBQ area and plenty of parking spaces.

The tour here is a must. It was self guided and gave us time to read and immerse ourselves in what is incumbent on everyone to know the history of the area. Whether you're passing through, staying a while or living in Gippsland, it's important to know where you're standing. A big thank you Lana for spending time with us.

A clear timeline was depicted at the museum with an array of well organised and labelled artifacts. Entry was $6 pp, but we were able to pick Rob's brains with several questions and were warmly welcomed. It's a moving and insightful depiction of important history.

The Krowathunkooloong Keeping Place is one of the best museums I have ever been to. Rob and Keith were welcoming, spoke to our group in depth, and were open and willing to answer any questions we had. The objects inside were well organised and the written material to match was interesting and insightful. We loved our visit and would recommend this stop to anyone passing through Gunaikurnai Country in Bairnsdale.

It's a place of great cultural significance for the local indigenous people as it houses many artefacts from their history. It is sadly lacking Government funding so it is nowhere near as good as it could be. It deserves funding. The guy running it on a shoestring budget is doing a great job.

Beautiful exhibit of aboriginal culture and history. The guy present ´Rob´ was very kind and answered any questiins we had. Definitly worth your time.

Wonderful collection of local indigenous artefacts and story of the Gunai (Kunai) people. Very informative and patient staff. Thank you for all of your work

Was looking forward to visiting but seems like it is closed due to Covid (?) That is an assumption as there's not much signage and the phone numbers are ringing through. Will have to return another time 👍

First stop on our way back from Lakes Entrance to Melbourne. We went to Howitt Park for a relaxed riverside picnic — the perfect recharge before our next two hours on the road. The park sits along the Mitchell River, with plenty of boat ramps for launching private craft. It’s a peaceful and scenic spot, clearly a favourite among local fishing folk. At the top of the park stands a memorial stone for an early colonial officer — now marked with a bold, black-painted “MURDERER.” A quiet reminder of the complex layers of local history.

Good stop over stop, the community have done an excellent job of shower area, toilets spotless, power available, dump spot, it rained flat out, but the local Cafe was a treat with tea and cake! ☕🍰

Super clean toilet! Very entertaining for the kids with great views! Must stop if you have kids.

Lovely grass park with easy access and parking. Swing bridge over the creek takes you to the botanical gardens and they have a Sunday market every 4th week.

Great market at Howitt Park on the 4th Sunday in the month. Very impressed with the children's play area & the open area for walking & for having a picnic.

Nice park with play area for kids by a creek. Play area has swings, bbq, zip line and an amazing tunnel shaped slide.

Good park with lots of wheelchair friendly access. Note that it's very hilly and doesn't have the all ability access that is across the road in the all ability playground. However the slide is good fun. Dogs allowed on leash only. Water isn't safe for drinking. Overall a good place to stop if travelling long distances

A fantastic spot for a morning walk or an evening stroll. During our evening visit in March, we caught sight of a massive camp of flying foxes—a truly mesmerizing experience. Along the river, we also came across wild fennel bushes and edible berries, adding to the charm of the walk.

Very nice easy walk along the river. Easy gradient and well maintained path.

Good walking track along the river banks. Water n washroom facilities. Locals also fancy a swim. Water was very tempting on a 30+day but did not have change cloths with me. Great place to just relax and appreciate mother nature.

Did a short walk on this easy flat trail recently on a wintry bright Sunday - towards Princes Hwy. Ibises were basking in the warmth & the river boat humming along made for a nice walk. Limited carpark at loop of Mitchell Port Rd with covered Bbq, toilet & launching pontoon. The trail towards A1 Princes Highwy bridge is 15 mins return same way - goes through a green "tunnel". The view overlooking the river from this higher bridge is scenic - just blot out the buzz of traffic.

Really nice walk! Very smoothing and relaxing, there are ample of sitting spots where you can sit down and enjoy nature. Lots of dustbins too, so you can do your picnic and not worry about disposal

Lovely, mostly flat walk with easy access. Toilets block at the beginning of the walk and drinking water spouts at various intervals during the walk. Bat migration was lovely to see as well.

Great place to walk with many different starting points. There are tables and benches along the track, with toilets at the Port of Bairnsdale and Howitt Park (on the hill near the playground). The Port of Bairnsdale also has a shelter with tables and two public bbqs. There is generally plenty of birdlife and usually fruit bats although they sometimes leave in the winter months.

Gorgeous gallery in Bairnsdale and you won't be disappointed attending. I was lucky to visit during NAIDOC week and having opportunity to see Aboriginal artwork. They change artists every 6weeks so you get experience diverse range of artists regularly

Supporting local artists. Well curated in a beautiful old building. Cute little area to purchase products from other local creatives & makers.

A small, but active, regional art gallery, with three exhibition spaces. The day we went, the first and largest two exhibitions had little to recommend them. The largest one in particular had very large pieces of canvas, with various additions of holes, stitchings and patches, and what look like mud affixed to them. The artist has chosen not to explain the individual pieces, merely numbering each piece. The results appear to have been put together by someone with an idea of expression, but no perceivable artistic talent. Others may disagree, but to me, there was not a single thing of merit in the entire exhibition. The second space was more interesting, and involved more effort and talent, though no piece really stood out for me. The pieces that were there were daubed with different colours to represent landscapes, but not very effectively. The final exhibition of seven pieces in a very small windowless room was a lot more interesting, involving augmented reality via the viewer’s mobile phone and a very striking piece, showing a cockatoo with overlaid visual image projected from a projector. Well done, Lee Nickless.

Art gallery had an amazing display by Lee Nickless. Some of the best art I’ve seen and we have just finished browsing Melbourne’s finest and it was free. All stars for Lee!

Fantastic regional art gallery, with some amazing artworks on display (when I visited). Well worth a look! The staff were friendly & helpful, too.

What a beautiful space! Went to see the exhibition of Sue Fraser and Klara Jones last week. Was beautiful, confronting, stirring, interesting, and thought provoking - everything great art works are. Then there was the surprise of Julia Tresize's amazing ENT - Into the Woods exhibition. Just enchanting! Julia's work is loving and soul - touching. It is a lovely art space for the whole community to enjoy and displays local artists' work. Children are welcome. Would highly recommend a visit. :)

The current exhibition by Leigh Hobbs is terrific fun. The original drawings of Old Tom the cat and Mr Chicken goes to Paris are so funny. A nice surprises of art work in the old vault. I also became mesmirised by the large pastel oil paintings by Owen Piggot from his white light series. The more I thought about why the colour palette may have been chosen and the abstraction, the more I loved them. The gallery attendant was helpful and informative. Thankyou. Small selection of quality local art and craft work suitable for gifts is available.

Nice winery. Excellent wines and nice atmosphere - including a nice view other the surrounding landscape. We stopped for a short wine tasting and some snacks on our road tour from Melbourne to Sydney. Loved the wine and took some along.

Great wine and food, but the service was disappointing. We waited about an hour for our food, only to find out it had been given to the wrong table. The staff apologised and said it was being prepared again, which we understood — it was a human error, and it was a busy bistro day. We didn’t complain. However, the staff’s attitude afterward made it feel like they were avoiding us, possibly out of fear that we might complain. We wanted to order more drinks and asked for a menu, which was brought to us, but no one came back to take our order. Despite trying to get their attention, we felt invisible. Eventually, we had to go inside to ask for drinks and the additional items we wanted — even though it was meant to be table service. We understand mistakes happen, but the way we were treated left us feeling like we don’t want to come back — which is a real shame.

Enjoyed a lovely afternoon at Lightfoot Wines this weekend with family. Loved the wine options and the view is beautiful. Would definitely recommend. The lady that served us was extremely knowledgeable on the wines and the service was excellent. We will be coming back here for sure. The only tiny thing I would amend would be to have another option for snacks/food perhaps. Thank you again guys!

Great wines and sparkling wines, it has a very nice view, green areas where you can have a picnic, the appetizers that we ordered were not what we expected, since they present it as "the best of Gippsland " it is good to hang out and have a good time conversation, the day we went it was very windy on the terrace and the wind knocked over the glasses. We also did not receive any explanation of the wines.

If you're into wines this cellar door is a must visit in the Gippsland east region. As soon as we pulled up we were greeted by 'Bear' the dog, who happily accepted pats and led us to the winery. The cellar door appears relatively new, and the views are amazing. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable of the wines which are unique to the region with their own character of which there were approximately 10 on the tasting list. There are tables outside and plenty of parking. One big potential would be to provide light meals which are currently not available.

This beautiful winery is nicely positioned above the Lindenow flats and visitors benefit from some sensational views from the deck. The Vintage Sparkling is to die for and the Darkfoot (fortified) is not to be missed. The food and wine matching brings the best of some regional delicacies and the best of Lightfoot. Certainly a place to go when you’re in the area and a beautiful insight into Gippsland’s gorgeous food and wine.

We stopped by here on our way to Wilsons Promotory. We were met with a big smile and we were asked if we would like to do a wine tasting. Since we came with three children, we only wanted to taste some few wines and then have their tapas plate. We could choose between two different cheeses and chose the aged Gouda, which was really nice. We had some white wine and the kids some apple cider and enjoyed the great view. Unfortunately a lot of bees around this time of year so we had to move inside. All in all a great experience and some nice staff and the wine tasted great, so we bought a bottle with us.

First time visiting the Bairnsdale Outdoor pool. Generally speaking, this is a great facility and I'm grateful that the East Gippsland Shire Council have opened it up to the public this summer. There is a huge 50m pool with swimming lanes and recreational swimming area plus a smaller kids pool, changing rooms and public toilets, a kiosk and benches. There's also several large shady trees around the edges and plenty of space on the lawns. Having said all that, there's definitely room for improvement. Not opening the pool until early January was pretty ridiculous considering we had several hot days over 30 degrees in December. The condition of the pools themselves could use some TLC with peeled/cracked painted surfaces and the line markings in the pools are very faded. Other facilities such as the entry kiosk building are very old and outdated. Perhaps having plastic lounge chairs for people to use could be another great idea.

Great little facility and the staff are awesome, can't wait for next season

Great place to cool off on a hot day. Lane swimming and free swimming. Has a couple of pools for small kids, and a kiosk. Lovely grassed areas to relax on too. An oldie but a goodie!

This was the pool growing up in Bairnsdale in the 80s, just seeing the photos of it that someone posted brought a tear to my eye, i remember my mum throwing me in as a toddler, all the swimming lessons with the primary school, the fear of hitting your head while backflipping off the diving blocks, the bombs we learnt, lay back was my fave, the waterslide they had and I even had my first kiss there haha

Locals will whinge about how cold the pool is. I'll give you a heads up, google ‘H2O- thermal mass’. Everything else is how an outdoor pool should be, a low level of supervision and lots of slip hazards.

It’s a seminal part of Bairnsdale culture and needs to be cherished and looked after in a long term way . It’s location is convenient for all of the community. With a few basic upgrades and potentially some heating to extend the season a couple of months a great way to include more happy swimmers

Much prefer the Outdoor pool over the BARC in the summer. It's a shame about the restricted hours though. It has the potential to be such an amazing facility, but there has been little time/effort put in to do any more than just maintain it over the years.