BELLINGEN is a gorgeous, relaxed little town with a strong alternative bent, full of arts-and-crafts outlets and workshops, cafés and thriving small businesses. Just before town, the Old Butter Factory (tel 02/6655 9599), a renovated dairy, holds a complex of several craft shops where you can check out the work of local artisans, plus a chilled-out café and a massage and float tank centre ($45 for a 2hr combo pamper). In town there's a Historical Museum at Hyde Street (Mon & Wed-Fri 10am-noon, Tues 10am-3pm, or by appointment on 02/6655 0289; $2.20) containing local memorabilia which charts the development of the district from 1860. Also on Hyde Street, The Yellow Shed (daily 9am-5pm) is a crafts outlet worth a peek, although it sells some of the Old Butter Factory products at an inflated price. Bellingen also has an interesting monthly market , held on the third Saturday of the month (7am-2pm) in Bellingen Park, with buskers, crafts and organic food stalls. There's more shopping at the Hammond and Wheatley Emporium on Hyde Street, a glorious old restored department store with an Aladdin's cave of locally-produced jewellery, artefacts and artworks. Each year Bellingen hosts a lively jazz festival (tel 02/6655 9345, fax 6655 1053, www.midcoast.com.au/belljazz ) over the third weekend in August, followed by the newly launched three-day Global Festival of world music over the October long weekend. For a cooling break from crafts and culture, you can swim in the waterholes of the Bellinger and Never Never rivers.

More information on the town and surrounding area is available at Traveland on Hyde St (tel 02/6653 3500), which has details of rafting, bushwalking and other tours, and acts as an agent for Countrylink. The creekfront Bellingen YHA Backpackers , 2 Short St (tel 02/6655 1116, fax 6655 1358, belloyha@midcoast.com.au ; rooms $35-50, dorms under $20), is one of the best hostels around, a beautiful two-storey building with a huge balcony facing a rainforest island full of jacaranda trees that come alive at dusk with the stirrings of fruit bats; you can even sleep outdoors under a gazebo, or camp out the back if you prefer. Free pick-ups from Urunga railway station are available, as are weekly trips to Bundagen and lifts to Dorrigo for $10. They also offer canoes and bikes for rent, plus BBQs and frequent shenanigans round the campfire. Otherwise, there's the gay-friendly Rivendell Bed and Breakfast , centrally located at 10 Hyde St (tel & fax 02/6655 0060, www.midcoast.com/~rivendell ; $90-115) with a pool and breakfast included. The Bellinger Valley Inn (tel 02/6655 1599, fax 6655 1824; $90-150) is also in a green expanse on the way to Dorrigo, but only 1km out of town, with room service, a swimming pool, spa, playground and barbecue. You can camp at the Bellingen Caravan Park on Dowle Street, North Bellingen (tel 02/6655 1338).

The town is full of great cafés . Lodge 241 , an art gallery-cum-café on Short Street serves some of the best coffee in town and delicious, wholesome lunches. The light and airy Carriageway Cafe , 75 Hyde St, serves wholesome and affordable city fare - melts, burgers and gourmet sandwiches, plus dinner at the weekend; at the back, a polished wooden staircase heads upstairs to an art gallery. On Church Street, the spacious Cool Creek Cafe (closed Tues & Wed) has a folksy ambience and an extensive veggie menu, as well as live music and poetry readings. Next door on one side you'll find the early-opening Swiss Patisserie & Bakery , on the other The Good Food Shop , a real find for wholefood picnic supplies; it also serves good lunches. Finally, there's McNally House on Hyde Street (Tues-Sat eve only; tel 02/6655 0344), a BYO restaurant in a cute cottage, with a distinctly European menu, and Bare Nature (daily except Wed; tel 02/6655 1551), which serves pizza, pasta and crepes, and a champagne brunch on Sunday mornings. The town has only one pub : the animated heritage-listed Federal Hotel on Hyde Street, with live music (usually free) from Thursday to Sunday.

Interstate buses do not detour into Bellingen; the nearest drop-off point is Urunga or Coffs Harbour, from where Jessups Bus Service (tel 02/6653 4552) runs here on schooldays. You can also reach Bellingen on Kings Bus Service (tel 02/6562 4724), which operates three times a week between Port Macquarie and Tamworth.