Platinum Three Day Margaret River

Your guide meets you at your Perth hotel and helps with the luggage. Heading south, the city gives way to open paddocks, woodland and coastal plain — a couple of easy hours to settle in, meet the people you will be travelling with, and watch the landscape change.

A first stop on the Mandurah estuary, where the boardwalk runs along the water. Dolphins live here year round and black swans are common — both worth watching for while you stretch your legs.

Coffee is at Todd’s Cafe on the water’s edge. A quiet half hour before the drive continues south.

Busselton Jetty runs 1.84km into Geographe Bay — the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. The train takes you to the end and back, with the bay open on both sides.

If you would rather stay ashore, the foreshore precinct is a short walk: coffee at The Goose, or a tasting paddle at Shelter Brewing Co. across the road.

The Underwater Observatory is not included, as it adds about an hour to the stop. On a private departure we can build the time in — just ask.

The Goose sits on the sand at the foot of the jetty. The kitchen works with local produce — crispy-skin barramundi, grilled lamb cutlets, seafood linguine — alongside lighter salads and share plates.

The wine and beer list is regional. Eat inside or out on the deck, looking back along the bay.

Into the working side of a Margaret River winery, guided by the people who make the wine. Where the season allows you may taste straight from the barrel and compare it with the finished vintage in the bottle — patience and craft side by side in the glass.

The host winery suits the day and is confirmed when you book.

Smiths Beach Resort sits behind the dunes at Smiths Beach, a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World. The buildings are low and architectural, built around light and space rather than grandeur.

The rest of the afternoon is yours. The infinity pool looks over the beach, the Cape to Cape Track runs from the property, and the sand is a two-minute walk.

Lamont’s is on site, a short walk from your room. The family has been cooking in Western Australia for more than forty years, and the kitchen leans on what is in season locally rather than on ceremony.

The menu moves with the catch and the weather — wild-caught local fish, duck ragu with handmade pasta, Margaret River venison — on a wine list Kate Lamont curates herself. The Shark Bay tempura whiting travels well if you would rather eat in your room.

Next door the deli has cheese, charcuterie and provisions for a hamper. Dinner is at your own expense.

Breakfast from 7.00am, a short walk from the sand: barista coffee, pastries, and a seasonal menu of Australian breakfast cooking.

Your guide meets you at reception at 8.30am.

Surfers Point is one of Australia’s best-known breaks and the site of the Margaret River Pro, a World Surf League event. Jack Robinson and John John Florence have both surfed this lineup.

Below the headland the Margaret River meets the ocean — still water on one side, open swell on the other.

Mammoth Cave is a limestone chamber beneath the Leeuwin-Naturaliste ridge, holding crystal formations and the fossilised remains of megafauna dating back more than 35,000 years.

Your McLeod Tours guide takes you through it personally — the geology, the excavations, and what the cave means culturally.

Boranup is karri forest, some of the trees over sixty metres, and the road runs beneath a closed canopy for several kilometres.

We stop in the forest to taste three honeys — Jarrah, Karri and Marri — each from these South West forests, and each quite different from the others.

Leeuwin Estate is one of Margaret River’s founding wineries and home of the Art Series, among the most collected wines in the country.

A hosted tasting comes first, then three courses in the restaurant looking out over the vines, matched to Leeuwin wines. Lunch runs long here, and it is meant to.

Time in town, which is small enough to walk end to end. Mai Tardi makes gelato in small batches — pistachio, tiramisu, blood orange. The Margaret River Bookshop is independent and strong on Australian writing, and the Artisan Store carries work from makers across the South West.

Beyond that it is galleries, wine stores and cafes, and an hour to spend as you like.

Back at the resort mid-afternoon: the beach, the pool, or a chair facing the ocean.

After a lunch like Leeuwin’s most guests want something light in the evening, or nothing at all. Lamont’s is open, and the deli has fish and chips, chef-prepared meals and wine to take back to your room. At your own expense.

Breakfast again from 7.00am — the same coffee, the same view, and no particular hurry on your last morning.

Your guide meets you at 9.15am.

Check out before you join the vehicle. We will not return to the resort today, so bring everything with you.

Your guide will be at the vehicle to help with luggage.

Ten minutes from Smiths Beach, the Indian Ocean has cut channels straight through a granite headland, and a timber boardwalk crosses them. The water moves through the gaps with real force.

The morning light is the best of it.

Yallingup Galleries has shown Australian art on Caves Road for more than thirty years — painting, sculpture, glass, ceramics and bespoke timber furniture, from established and emerging artists.

A sculpture walk runs through the bush behind the gallery. Exhibitions rotate through the year, and the gallery supports youth mentorship programmes in the region.

Vasse Virgin began when one family wanted gentler skincare for their children and started making it from olive oil. It has grown into a working soap and skincare factory with a produce range alongside, all made without synthetic additives.

While you are there you can:

A good place to pick up something to take home.

Vasse Felix was the first vineyard planted in Margaret River, in 1967, and remains one of the country’s most respected estates — particularly for Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

A hosted tasting of the icon wines comes first, then three courses in the restaurant above the vines, looking across the Wilyabrup Valley. The last long lunch of the trip.

From Vasse Felix the road turns north. Your guide will stop once or twice along the way — coffee, an ice cream, a chance to stand up — and the timing is unhurried.

You should be back at your Perth hotel by around 6.00pm.