MARYSVILLE is the ideal destination for lovers of nature and the outdoors, and the choices of what to see first are plentiful, each allowing new memories to be made and new adventures to be shared.

Nestled in the picturesque Yarra Valley, Marysville is only 90 minutes from Melbourne and 30 minutes from Lake Mountain and the Alpine Resorts.

Steavenson Falls is only four kilometres to the southeast on the Steavenson River and is one of the tallest waterfalls in Victoria, with five cascades and a total descent of 122 metres.

Take a picnic and enjoy it beside the rushing river where the power of the falls will make your heart beat that bit faster.

MiRA (Marysville Information + Regional Artspace) offers friendly tourist information, the Phoenix Museum (exhibition about the 2009 fires) and a retail space stocking locally made artisan wares and produce.

The family–run Tower Motel in could not be better placed for your getaway this autumn and features a bar and rooftop garden.

There are 14 guest rooms with private bathrooms and views of the mountains to wake up to.

The Marysville Golf Course is only a two minute drive from the motel and there are plenty of boutique shops to explore in Marysville itself and the nearby towns of Taggerty, Narbethong and Buxton.

If you want to explore a little further afield, why not head to Alexandra?

The prosperous town of Alexandra commenced life as a mining camp and settlement starting with Richard Vining's Red Gate Shanty (on the site of the present library), adjacent to Ultima Thule Creek.

As was the case in Victoria in the 1850s and 1860s the discovery of gold was a catalyst for permanent towns to be created across the countryside.

The Alexandra Bushland Reserve, and the McKenzie Flora Reserve are located opposite each other on Mt Pleasant Rd on the south–eastern edge of town.

They not only highlight traces of the gold mining activity, but there is also a lookout over Alexandra located on the Bushland Reserve and remnants of indigenous vegetation can be found in the Flora Reserve.

There is so much to do in this vibrant area, that once you arrive you realise you will need to come back again soon or extend your current trip.

So make Marysville and its idyllic surrounds your destination this autumn.