Echuca, 2.5 hours from Melbourne on the Victoria - NSW border, is a thriving tourist town situated on the Murray River.

Growing around the site of a river crossing established in the 1850s, Echuca was once the largest...

Echuca, 2.5 hours from Melbourne on the Victoria - NSW border, is a thriving tourist town situated on the Murray River.

Growing around the site of a river crossing established in the 1850s, Echuca was once the largest inland port in Victoria.  Paddlesteamers trading along the Murray and Darling Rivers would deliver their cargoes of wool at the Port of Echuca for transfer to the Port of Melbourne.

It is this trade that has been the basis of the tourism industry in Echuca since the 1970s.  A self guided stroll around the port area will take you past a number of dwellings, hotels and businesses built during the height of the river trade.  Watch out for the local house of ill-repute and the Star and Bridge Hotels.  You are also able to vist the wharf and see a working steam port.  Finally, take a a leisurely one hour cruise on one of the working paddlesteamers along the Murray.

Echuca also offers a mild climate, watersports, wineries and restaurants, galleries and boutiques and is the perfect setting for a houseboat holiday.

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