9 Best Things to Do Near Echuca Moama, Australia, On Your First Visit

Located just 3 hours from Melbourne, Echuca-Moama is known as "the paddle steamer capital" as it sits along the banks of the Murray River. With endless adventures like wildlife viewing, river water sports, and family friendly attractions, not to mention the unique finds in the area like the Silo Art Trail, you definitely won't be bored during your visit. We recommend heading to the area for a long weekend or spending a few nights there during the week, this way you can take advantage of all 9 of our best things to do in the area. Plus, the Echuca Moama Tourism Board makes a visit to the area super easy with their all-in-one 2 night packages!

Our Essential Travel Resources :
​There are a lot of travel companies out there, but some are better than others. These are our favorite websites and resources to help you plan an incredible trip.

For flights, we recommend using WayAway or Hopper to compare the cheapest dates to travel to your destination.

Car rentals comparisons are best through Discover Cars - just make sure to bring your international driver's permit with you if you're heading somewhere international!

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To keep cell phone service if you're traveling internationally, we always use Airalo’s easy to purchase eSIM’s (no installation required), and always use NordVPN to stay safe while connecting to different wifi connections.

For fun things to do, we always recommend Viator to find the best tours in the area, otherwise Klook also does the trick, especially for tours in Asia.

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Lastly, my packing list for your international or domestic travels.

Getting to Echuca Moama & Where to Stay

Although there are plenty of places to stay in the Echuca Moama area, we stayed at the Paddock at Ulupna, and highly recommend. Not only did we have our own private self contained cabin on the property, but the area is also known for having Koala's right onsite thanks to it's proximity to the Barmah Wildlife Park! While there we literally woke up one morning to find a Koala perched in the tree right next to us! You can see photos below, but incase you're looking for something a little closer to town, or something unique like a house boat, you can search all accredited accommodations in the area on the Echuca Moama site.

Book your stay at The Paddock here!

Our Favorite Tour near Echuca Moama : 
- Half Day E-Bike Rental

9 Best Things to Do on Your Visit to Echuca Moama

1. Silo Art Trail
The Silo Art Trail in Victoria is a 700 km trail that brings you to various "silo art" throughout the area. From giant depictions of local farming life and even local wildlife, you'll be amazed by what you find. The entire trail takes a minimum of 4 hours to drive, so we recommend planning to spend a full day if you want to take advantage of this trail, plus it'll bring you through plenty of small towns with unique things to do.You can download a map and see the full itinerary here.

2. Search for Wildlife
The Echuca-Moama area is filled with natural landscapes and wilderness along the Murray River, making it the perfect spot to search for wildlife. With parks like the Kanyapella Wildlife Reserve, Barmah National Park and Murray Valley National Park all within 1 hour from the Echuca Moama townships, there's plenty of space to explore. You can expect to see Kangaroos, Koalas, and plenty of Cockatoos among other animals.

3. Canoeing/Kayaking
​Echuca-Moama is located right along the banks of the Murray River, making it a great spot to get in some canoeing and kayaking! Because the river might be a little busy with paddle steamers in town, a great spot to heads towards is Ulupna Island and Peppertree Beach! We were able to head out right from our private beach/riverbanks at the Paddock at Ulupna!

4. DIY Food Tour
Even though we visited a bit in the off season and many places were closed, there's plenty of places to check out if you're looking to do a bit of a DIY food tour! Our favorites were The Port for yummy ice cream and Antonio's Restaurant for delicious pizza and salad! Some other places we were recommended include The Mill for a fancy sit down dinner, 1895 The Royal for a nice lunch that's still on the cheaper side, St. Anne's Winery for some drinks, and the Odd Captain Cafe and Bar for some quick bites.

5. Cruise the Murray River
If you want to experience the Murray River but don't feel like kayaking or canoeing, a great option is joining a paddle steamer cruise! Echuca is known as the Paddle Steamer Capital of the World, so either way this is a great excursion you probably don't want to miss out on, plus you'll see a truly incredible amount of cockatoos soaring above you or near the banks of the river, in addition to the beautiful views surrounding you! We recommend joining this 3 night tour, the most popular length, which includes all meals and stops as places like the historic Perricoota Station, St Anne’s Winery and UNESCO heritage site Barmah Wetlands. 

​6. The Great Aussie Beer Shed
This museum is one of the quirkiest things you could do in Echuca, and houses a collection of over 20,000 beer cans from Australia and beyond in addition to other brewing items. If you're looking for a unique thing to do, then this is it. Boasting 4 museums in one, entry is $15 per adult.

7. Cactus Country
One of our favorite stops in the Echuca area, Cactus Country is a great way to learn about plants from around the world - especially since it's Australia's largest cactus farm. Not only can you visit for the day, but there's so many photogenic spots that weddings and photoshoots are also often held here! This dog friendly attraction is something the whole family can enjoy, and their restaurant onsite serves up some great nachos and frozen margaritas. ;) Tickets are $22.50 per adult.

8. Kyabram Fauna Park
According to their website, the Kyabram Fauna Park is a "zoo-based conservation organization." Although their main goals are to fight wildlife extinction, you can visit and learn about the animals and habitats they have onsite. In addition to free roaming kangaroos and emus, they have various kinds of reptiles and birds, koalas, wombats, dingos, meerkats, tasmanian devils, and wallabies. For a single day pass admission is $30 per adult.

9. Barmah National Park
Sitting along the banks of the Murray River, there's a reason we specifically chose to highlight this national park in our top things to do. During our stay at the Paddock at Ulupna, we were right next to this park - and we saw SO MANY koalas!! So, of course we couldn't not recommend a stop here.

Watch our Echuca Moama Adventures here!

Other Australia Blog Posts :

• Cairns, Best Places to Eat​
• Echuca Moama, 9 Best Things to Do
• ​Melbourne, A Guide

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