EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

The small city of ALBURY on the Murray River is a major stopover point on the route between Sydney and Melbourne, being roughly halfway. It's twinned with Wodonga across the river in Victoria, and although Albury is the major centre, the principal information centre is on the Wodonga side - Albury Wodonga Visitor Information Centre on the Hume Highway (daily 9am-5pm; tel 02/6041 3875 or free call 1800 800 743, www.wodonga.vic.gov.au ). You can also pick up tourist information from the Albury Regional Museum (daily 10.30am-4.30pm; free; tel 02/6021 4550) on the Hume Highway in what was once the Turks' Head Hotel - opportunistically sited here when the river was crossed by punt; changing exhibitions now focus on the social history of the region. The museum is set in Noreuil Park , a peaceful spot looking across to a bush-covered riverbank in Victoria. People lie about under the large gum trees - one of which was marked by the explorer Hovell at the point where he and Hume crossed the Murray - and swim in the river. You can also take to the water with a cruise on a replica paddle steamer (mid-Sept to mid-April Wed-Sat, daily during school holidays, 10.30am, 12.30pm & 3pm; $8-9.50; tel 02/6041 5558). Another pleasant place to stretch your legs is in the Albury Botanical Gardens at the Dean Street end of Wodonga Place. Established in 1877, the gardens hold some impressive old trees, including a huge 41-metre Queensland kauri pine; palm trees and flowerbeds fill a small grassy park, and the short fern walk is pleasantly cooling. The Albury Regional Art Centre is at 546 Dean St (daily 10.30am-4.30pm; free), in the decorative old town hall. The gallery's speciality is photography, but it also has a sizeable collection of Russell Drysdale's sketches and studies for paintings; the Australian artist (1912-1981) lived in the area in the 1920s and married into a local family.

Albury has a good range of places to stay for the night, which the tourist office can book for you. There are two hostels : the comfortable, activity-based VIP Albury Backpackers , near the train station at 452 David St (tel 02/6041 1822, fax 6021 6335, thecanoeguy@hotmail.com ; rooms $20-35, dorms under $20), is a slightly shambolic place, reminiscent of a student flat (with the social life to match). The friendly owner rents canoes (half-day $18, full day $25) and arranges overnight canoe trips ($55) down the mighty Murray. He can also help line up fruit-picking and farm work , as well as get you involved with conservation volunteers . The second hostel, the YHA Albury Motor Village, 372 Wagga Rd (Hume Highway), Lowington (tel 02/6040 2999, albury@yhavic.org.au ; rooms $35-50, dorms under $20), is situated at a caravan park with a pool, but it's 5km out of town. If the hostels don't appeal but you're on a tight budget, one of the best-value central motels is The New Albury (tel 02/6021 3599, matthewsheridan@hotmail.com ; $35-70), newly renovated with its own Irish bar, and blissfully situated off the highway at 491 Kiewa St. The most upmarket places to stay are the Carlton Country Comfort , on the corner of Dean and Elizabeth streets (tel 02/6021 5366, fax 6041 2848, ccalbury@dragnet.com.au ; $115-150), with a swimming pool, sauna, gym, spa and room service; or for a little lost grandeur, you could try Gondowring B&B (tel 02/6041 4437, www.gundowringbb.com.au ; $115-150), a restored Federation residence, with full country breakfasts served on the verandah. Campers are catered for at Trek-31 Tourist Park , 8km north on the highway (tel 02/6025 4355, trek31@bigpond.com ; cabins $50-70).

Dean Street is lined with interchangeable, ever-changing cafés and is very much the main street for food : if you are ravenous and broke, The Commercial Club serves up one of the best deals in Australia, with all the pasta, steak, seafood and salad you can eat for $10. For something a little less functional, the retro Electra Cafe on the corner of Dean and Macaley streets serves a variety of internationally-influenced meals on kitsch crockery (Mon-Sat 10am-10pm, Sun 10am-3pm; live music on Tues), while Cafe L'Espresso , opposite the cinema, serves excellent coffee and has internet access. An alternative way of getting a feed is to visit the Hume Weir Trout Farm , a pleasant spot with landscaped gardens and waterfalls off the Riverina Highway (daily 9am-dusk; free; www.humeweirtrout.com.au ), where the entry fee includes rods so that you can catch your own freshwater trout; there are barbecues here to cook the fish, although you must pay for the catch by the kilo. Albury is positioned in prime dairy country and you can try (and buy) some of the area's produce at the Haberfield Dairy , 470-482 Hovell St (Mon-Fri 10am-5.30pm, Sat 9am-1pm; 02/6021 3455), renowned for its Swiss-style cheeses.

About 10km north of Albury on the Hume Highway, the larger-than-life Ettamogah Pub is a parody of an Outback pub, straight out of a sketch by the Aussie cartoonist Maynard, although the precariously askew hotel really does serve drinks. Walk up the slanting staircase to the veering verandah where there are great views of the surrounding countryside. A touristy tin shack in the back flogs souvenirs.