Our Recommendations
The small working hinterland town of Maleny has a charm all of its own and has lots of boutique shops and cafes and you could quite easily spend a half to full day browsing and dining.
If you like a good ice cream, then the Maleny Food Co is the go-to place. The Maleny cheesery is worth a visit as well as The Maleny Dairies which are great providers of our local milk.
The Barrel is the local winery and vineyard and Brouhaha brewery is always popular.
The local IGA store is quite the providore of local produce and gourmet foods.
The scenic tourist drives through the hinterland towns are recommended with quaint shops and cafes – this can take up 1-2 days.
If you like wandering around beautiful gardens, then privately owned The Maleny Botanic gardens and Bird World are worth a visit.
Mary Cairncross park is a local favourite and has a great cafe which overlooks the Glasshouse Mountains as well as picnic facilities on the grassy area on the edge of the rainforest.
There are quite a lot of hikes in the area from short easy ones to moderate longer ones. The Obi Obi boardwalk is an easy walk starting in the Maleny township and following the creek out into the countryside.
Mary Cairncross park and Gardners falls have short rainforest walks and Mapleton and Kondalilla National Parks have various grades of walking tracks. Lake Baroon has walks and The Hinterland Great Walk along the Obi Obi gorge is another one. There are some maps and more information in the villas but the Maleny Tourist Information Centre on Maple Street is a very good resource and very helpful.
If you like markets, there are local ones and also the Eumundi Markets are certainly worth the drive which is also close to the iconic Ginger Factory.
The Sunshine Coast beaches are about a 30 minute drive where there are nice walks shops and cafes
We can recommend Monica’s and Shotgun cafes in Maleny for a breakfast or lunch.
For dinner there are a number of recommended local options like the Seafood terrace, Sukhothai, Brouhaha but there are a lot more depending on what cuisine you like. There are more dining options to browse through in the villa.
Figtrees on Watson is on the edge of a ridge overlooking the Connondale Valley, so the afternoons get the cool breeze. It’s worth walking north down the Watson Lane roadside garden and continue past the caretakers Villa to the swing and wooden bench under the big Camphor Laurel tree to watch the beautiful sunsets.