Where's the closest pick-your-own farm to Sydney?

Bilpin, in the Hawkesbury foothills northwest of the city, is generally the closest established picking district, at around an hour's drive from the Sydney CBD. Farms there include Bilpin Fruit Bowl, Pine Crest Orchard and TNT Produce, picking apples, stone fruit and vegetables from spring through autumn. The Hawkesbury River citrus farms around Laughtondale are a similar drive time to the northwest.

What fruit can you pick near Sydney in winter?

Winter is citrus season around Sydney. Ford's Farm and Watkins Family Farm at Laughtondale, and Meliora Farm on the Central Coast, all pick mandarins, oranges, lemons and limes roughly May to September. Berrylicious Strawberries at Thirlmere also grows greenhouse strawberries through winter. Most summer fruit, including apples and stone fruit, is out of season until spring, so citrus and covered strawberries are your best options in July.

Do you need to book fruit picking near Sydney?

It depends on the farm. Most Hawkesbury River citrus growers, Berrylicious Strawberries and the guided-tour orchards like Cedar Creek and Glenbernie ask you to book ahead, often online. Pine Crest Orchard and Watkins Family Farm don't require it. Booking is worth doing regardless on weekends and school holidays, since popular Bilpin and Illawarra orchards can have their best patches picked out by early afternoon.

How much does fruit picking near Sydney cost?

Prices vary by farm and crop. Expect roughly $4.50 to $5 a kilogram for apples and citrus, around $12 a punnet for blueberries, and $22 per adult for the all-you-can-eat model at Berrylicious Strawberries. Some farms add a car or entry fee on top, typically around $5, while others such as Pine Crest Orchard charge purely for what you pick. Always confirm current pricing when you book.

Is fruit picking near Sydney good for a toddler or preschooler?

Most of the orchards on this list are rated kid-friendly, and flat citrus groves like Watkins Family Farm and Ford's Farm tend to be easier going than sloped apple rows. TNT Produce adds a cafe and farm animals, which helps keep younger kids interested. Southern Highlands Flower Farm is the exception, with a minimum age of 12, so it suits older children and adults better.

Guide

Best fruit picking near Sydney: 11 farms worth the drive

Sydney sits within a couple of hours of half a dozen distinct pick-your-own districts, from Bilpin's apple orchards to winter citrus groves on the Hawkesbury River. Here are eleven real farms worth the drive, grouped by direction, with current prices, seasons and what each is like to visit.

By Pick Your Own Farms editorial team · Reviewed 17 Jul 2026

How we picked these farms

We've included currently active pick-your-own farms within roughly two hours' drive of the Sydney CBD, spread across five distinct districts so you can pick a direction rather than criss-crossing the map. Prices and season windows below come from what each farm has published or told us directly, checked in July 2026. A handful of nearby orchards we know of are still being verified and aren't listed yet — see our editorial policy for how that process works.

Fruit picking near Sydney at a glance

Here's the shape of fruit picking around Sydney in one table: which direction to head, how long the drive takes and what's actually worth picking in each district.

Direction	Region	Drive from Sydney CBD	What's picking	Farms in this guide
Northwest	Bilpin & the Hawkesbury foothills	About 1 hour	Apples, stone fruit, vegetables (spring–autumn)	Bilpin Fruit Bowl, Pine Crest Orchard, TNT Produce
North (river)	Sydney Basin — Hawkesbury River	About 1 hour 15	Mandarins & citrus (May–Sep)	Ford's Farm, Watkins Family Farm
North (coast)	Central Coast hinterland	About 1 hour 15	Citrus (Jun–Sep), blueberries (spring), sunflowers	The Giving Farm, Meliora Farm
Southwest	Sydney Basin — Wollondilly	About 1 hour 30	Apples, stone fruit, greenhouse strawberries	Cedar Creek Orchard, Berrylicious Strawberries
South	Illawarra & Southern Highlands	About 1–2 hours	Apples, stone fruit, flowers	Glenbernie Orchard, Southern Highlands Flower Farm

Northwest: Bilpin and the Hawkesbury foothills

Bilpin, up on the Bells Line of Road toward the Blue Mountains, is the classic Sydney apple-picking day trip and the district most people mean when they say they're going fruit picking near Sydney. Several orchards sit within a few minutes of each other, so it's easy to visit two in one trip.

Bilpin Fruit Bowl

Bilpin Fruit Bowl stands out on this list for growing an unusually wide spread of pick-your-own vegetables alongside its fruit — 1.6 hectares of beans, corn, tomatoes, capsicums and more sit beside the apple, peach, nectarine and persimmon rows. The farm runs a simple pay-for-what-you-pick model from roughly mid-November through to the end of May, with no separate entry fee published. It's rated kid-friendly and easy to combine with the other Bilpin orchards further down this list, since they're all on the same short stretch of road. Call ahead to check which patches are open before you drive up.

Pine Crest Orchard

Pine Crest Orchard charges no entrance fee at all, so you only pay for what ends up in your bag — a good option if you're not sure how much picking your family actually wants to do. Its season is the longest and broadest in Bilpin, running January to May across apples, stone fruit, plums, pears, raspberries and mixed berries, plus walnuts and chestnuts later in autumn. Booking isn't required, which makes it an easy last-minute addition to a Bilpin day trip. It's rated kid-friendly, though like most Bilpin orchards, the rows sit on sloped ground, so prams can be a squeeze.

TNT Produce

TNT Produce is the most set-up-for-a-day-out of the Bilpin farms, with an onsite cafe serving burgers, fish and chips and apple pies, farm animals to visit, and leashed dogs welcome. Picking runs roughly January to June across apples, persimmons and strawberries, with bookings and the entry fee handled online through the farm's own booking site before you arrive; what you pick is paid for separately on the day. Because it books out on weekends in season, it's worth reserving a slot a few days ahead rather than just turning up.

North: the Hawkesbury River citrus run

A little further northwest, the Hawkesbury River farms around Laughtondale and Sackville grow the district's best-known winter citrus, with several 2026 seasons already open as this guide is being written in July.

Ford's Farm

Ford's Farm sits on the Hawkesbury River at Laughtondale, and its winter citrus season is the reason to make the drive right now — the 2026 season opened 9 June and typically runs into July, picking mandarins, oranges, lemons, limes and cumquats. Entry is $5 per car, then $5 a kilogram for mandarins, limes, lemons and oranges, or $12 a kilogram for cumquats. There are picnic tables by the shed with coffee and cakes for sale, and booking is required — the farm takes visitors by session rather than an open gate, so book online before you head out.

Watkins Family Farm

A short drive from Ford's Farm on the same stretch of the Hawkesbury River, Watkins Family Farm picks mandarins, lemons, cumquats and limes from roughly May to September, with no booking required. Picking works on a minimum $12.50 per bucket, and kids can pay $2 a bag to feed the farm's lambs and sheep, which makes it a good pairing with the citrus for younger children. There's a BYO picnic area but no cafe on site, so bring your own food if you're planning to make a morning of it.

North: Central Coast hinterland

Further north again, the Central Coast hinterland around Peats Ridge, Somersby and Jilliby mixes winter citrus with spring blueberries and flower fields, depending on the month you visit.

The Giving Farm

The Giving Farm at Jilliby grows blueberries alongside sunflowers, zinnias, dahlias, gladiolus and lilies, so depending on when you visit you might be picking berries or cutting a bunch of flowers rather than fruit. Blueberries run from around October, at roughly $12 a punnet, while the flower season shifts through the year as different varieties bloom. The farm also runs animal interactions and is rated kid-friendly. As with most flower and berry farms, exact opening days move with the weather, so check current picking status before driving out.

Meliora Farm

Meliora Farm at Peats Ridge picks lemons, oranges, mandarins, limes and avocados across selected winter weekends, roughly June to December depending on the crop, with online booking required for the pick-your-own experience. It's one of several Central Coast citrus growers that open through winter, when most of the rest of the Sydney basin's fruit season is finished, so it's a solid option if you're reading this in July and want fresh citrus rather than waiting for spring berries. Book your session before you drive up, as the farm doesn't take casual walk-ins.

Southwest: Wollondilly orchards

Southwest of the city, the Wollondilly district around Thirlmere grows apples and stone fruit alongside a year-round greenhouse strawberry operation, making it a reliable option whatever the season.

Cedar Creek Orchard

Cedar Creek Orchard at Thirlmere has been run by the same family since the 1940s across 100 acres, and pairs picking with a guided farm tour and juice tasting. Apples run January to May, stone fruit from around November to January, and persimmons in April and May, with fruit priced from $4.50 a kilogram. The onsite shop sells fruit, juice, honey and cider vinegar to take home, and booking is required for a picking slot. It's rated kid-friendly and makes an easy stop on the way to or from the Southern Highlands.

Berrylicious Strawberries

Just down the road from Cedar Creek, Berrylicious Strawberries grows its berries in greenhouses with the plants suspended from the ceiling, which means no bending down, and a season that runs almost year-round rather than a short spring window, peaking September to June. Entry is $22 for adults on an eat-as-much-as-you-like basis, $11 for children, with under-twos free, or $25 a kilogram if you'd rather take fruit home instead. Booking is required, and the covered picking area means a visit isn't ruined by a hot day or a shower of rain.

South: Illawarra and Southern Highlands

South of the city, the Illawarra escarpment and Southern Highlands are the furthest options in this guide, but they cover the widest range — from a six-generation cider orchard to a boutique flower farm.

Glenbernie Orchard

Glenbernie Orchard, home of Darkes Cider, has been run by the same family for six generations across roughly 100 acres and 22,500 fruit trees on the northern Illawarra escarpment near Dharawal National Park. Peaches and nectarines start from around mid-November, with apples following from late January through April or May. The farm pairs picking with cider and mead tastings, a tractor-train tour and a lunch service, and is rated kid-friendly with a cafe on site. Bookings are essential for a picking tour, so lock in a time before you drive down.

Southern Highlands Flower Farm

Southern Highlands Flower Farm at Penrose is a different kind of pick-your-own to everything else on this list — a boutique, strictly ticketed five-acre flower farm rather than a casual drop-in orchard. Its 'Golden Hour' pick-your-own bouquet experience runs around $100 a person, with a longer flower farm tour and dahlia harvest experience closer to $175. Flowering season runs roughly September to April, with dahlias peaking March-April and ranunculus, anemones and poppies earlier in spring. Bookings are essential, capacity is capped at 50 guests, and the minimum age is 12, so it suits older kids and adults rather than a toddler outing.

What to bring and how to book

Most of these farms ask you to book ahead, especially the citrus growers north of Sydney and the guided-tour orchards in the Illawarra — a quick call or online booking the day before saves a wasted trip if a patch has been picked out or a farm has closed early for weather. Cash is still worth carrying: several of the smaller citrus and berry farms are cash-only or have patchy card reception this far out of town.

Closed shoes and old clothes — orchard rows and citrus groves can be muddy, especially after winter rain.
A jumper or jacket for anywhere at altitude — Bilpin, the Southern Highlands and the Illawarra escarpment all sit cooler than the city.
Cash as a backup, particularly for the smaller Hawkesbury River and Central Coast farms.
A box or crate in the boot so citrus and stone fruit don't bruise on the drive home.
Sunscreen and a hat even in winter — there's little shade in an open orchard or citrus grove.
A booking confirmation or the farm's phone number, since several of these properties are on unsealed roads with patchy mobile reception.

For a general packing list see our what to bring fruit picking guide, and if you're taking young kids, our fruit picking with kids guide has age-by-age advice. Seasons shift with the weather. Always call the farm to confirm what's ripe and that they're open before you drive out.