Getting out of the city on a long weekend is a great way to have a break without travelling further than a couple of hours from your front door.

If sky diving, mountain biking and skiing aren’t your cup of tea, then check out our top picks for a more restful, but still beautiful weekend soaking up what Melbourne’s east has to offer.

1. Get to know some native wildlife at Healesville Sanctuary

Get a chance to learn more about the amazing wildlife that call the surrounding ancient forests home, cared for in beautifully kept 30 hectares of native bush land. The keepers host daily up close encounters with familiar furry and feathered friends.

2. Have a pizza at Innocent Bystander

Enjoy a woodfired oven pizza at the cellar door. Just off the Maroondah highway, the restaurant caters for all dietary requirements! Have in or take away and venture up to the reservoir.

3. Collect fresh spring water from Mont Donna Buang

When the National Association of Testing Authorities rates this the cleanest water ever tested, we’d say it’s a pretty great idea to stock up on some of nature’s nectar. If you feel like a walk to burn off some of that pizza, the hike to the top is pretty beautiful too.

4. Take a gin flight at Four Pillars Gin

The best kind of flight is one where you don’t have to go through security or check your baggage, so we’re big fans of this paddle of four gins by local distillers Four Pillars. If you’re the designated driver, we can highly recommend the negroni marmalade.

5. Visit Tarrawarra Museum of Art

Modern art with nature as its back drop all housed in a building just as striking as its contents.  A well curated, privately-owned collection that also hosts travelling artists exhibitions. A perfect dose of nature and culture in one.