Why We Love Bowral – And What We’d Do With a Day in the Southern Highlands

We spend a lot of time in Bowral now because of Dirty Janes, but the truth is we were always going to like the Southern Highlands.

Give me good food, beautiful old things, a proper garden, a decent coffee and somewhere I can lose an hour looking at glass, crystal and china, and I am very easily entertained.

So if someone asks us what we would actually do with a day in Bowral, this is probably it. It is not a definitive guide to every café, shop or restaurant in town. It is simply the places we genuinely know, the things we actually order and the bits of Bowral we keep going back to.

Start at Dirty Janes

You really do need to allow some time for Dirty Janes Bowral, because this is not somewhere I can nip into for ten minutes.

There are antiques, vintage furniture, homewares, clothing, handmade pieces and all sorts of treasures tucked through the building, and it is very easy to lose a couple of hours without noticing. I am particularly hopeless around the glass, crystal and china.

Those old serving pieces and rows of beautiful stemware always take me straight back to my Nan, Isabella Jane, and the sort of afternoon teas where things were actually served properly. These days I am just as likely to look at a lovely old crystal glass and think it would be perfect filled with a good Canberra red, but the connection is still there.

And yes, this is also where you will find The Village Providore. Our shelves at Dirty Janes are filled with handmade fudge, soft artisan nougat, bottled pantry favourites and gifts, so please do come and find us while you are wandering.

Coffee and a rose-scented scone at Highlands Tea Company

Before you go too far, stop at Highlands Tea Company inside Dirty Janes.

The coffee is excellent, but if you have time, the high tea is the thing. Their teas are blended on site and the scones are baked fresh each day. The rose-scented scones are my favourite, and they are one of those things I fully intend to eat politely and slowly right up until they arrive.

If you are making a proper day of Bowral rather than racing through it, this is a very good place to settle in for a while before you start wandering again.

Wander through Green Lane

One of the things I like about this little part of Bowral is that you can move from Dirty Janes straight into Green Lane without getting back in the car.

And at the end of Green Lane is Suzie Anderson Home, which is dangerous territory if you like interiors.

The Bowral store is in an old mechanic's workshop and is full of beautiful homewares, European antiques, rattan furniture, lighting, candles, French-inspired pieces and garden things. It has that relaxed, layered Highlands look that makes you walk in for a browse and come out mentally redecorating rooms you had absolutely no intention of touching.

I can happily wander through there for ages, which will surprise nobody who has ever watched me near old china, linen, glassware or anything vaguely French.

Lunch at Plantation Cafe

By then, lunch is a very good idea, and Plantation Cafe is right there in Green Lane.

My two picks are the house-special butter chicken and the house-made chicken pie. I know there are people who study a menu and deliberately choose something different every time. Once I find something I love, I am not nearly that adventurous.

You can sit inside if the Highlands weather has decided to remind you where you are, or sit outside and people-watch, which is always entertaining around Green Lane.

There are locals meeting for coffee, visitors wandering between the shops, people carrying plants, and people emerging from Dirty Janes with something enormous while clearly trying to work out how it is going to fit into the car. It is excellent lunchtime entertainment.

Walk it off at Corbett Gardens

After lunch, I would head into the centre of Bowral and wander through Corbett Gardens.

It is one of those lovely old town gardens that makes sense in Bowral, and in spring it becomes the centre of Tulip Time, when the whole place fills with colour.

Tulip Time deserves its own story, so I am not going to cram it into this one, but if you are visiting Bowral in spring, Corbett Gardens absolutely belongs on the day. If that is when you are coming, read our Tulip Time 2026 Bowral guide.

A little Mary Poppins detour

If you still have some energy, head over to Glebe Park near the Bradman Museum and find the bronze Mary Poppins statue.

P. L. Travers, who created Mary Poppins, spent part of her childhood in Bowral, and I like that the town has this small connection tucked away in the park. It is exactly the sort of local detail I enjoy because it gives you a little piece of the place beyond the shops and cafés.

Finish at The Bowral Hotel

If we are staying into the evening, we usually finish at The Bowral Hotel, just around the corner from Dirty Janes.

The steaks are great, but my favourite is the steak sandwich. Proper steak, caramelised onion, beetroot, cheese and all the good pub-sandwich bits — exactly what I want after a day spent wandering around Bowral pretending I am not tired.

And that, for us, is a very good day.

Start with old things and beautiful things at Dirty Janes, stop for excellent coffee and a rose-scented scone, wander through homewares you probably do not need but suddenly desperately want, have a good lunch, walk through the gardens, find Mary Poppins and finish with a steak sandwich.

There are plenty more places to eat, drink and explore around Bowral and the Southern Highlands, but these are the ones we can recommend because they are the ones we actually know.

Find The Village Providore in Bowral

You will find us inside Dirty Janes Bowral, with handmade fudge, artisan nougat, gourmet pantry favourites and gifts on our shelves throughout the week.

If you are planning a visit, start with our Dirty Janes Bowral page for location details, or browse more of our stories and guides in Discover.