Day Trips from Byron: Brunswick Heads, Lennox Head and Ballina

Byron Bay makes a brilliant base, but some of the region’s best days happen when you point the car ten minutes up or down the coast. Three coastal towns — Brunswick Heads, Lennox Head and Ballina — each offer their own take on Northern Rivers life, with quieter beaches, river swims and seafood that tastes like it came off the boat that morning (because it did).

Brunswick Heads — 15 Minutes North

“Simple pleasures” is Bruns’ official motto and an accurate one. This old-school fishing village at the mouth of the Brunswick River resists every trend that passes through Byron, and is loved for exactly that.

Do: swim the crystal-clear river at Torakina Beach (perfect for kids), walk the breakwall, hire a stand-up paddleboard for a river drift, and time your visit for the famous old-style pub or fish and chips by the bridge. The river at dusk is one of the area’s quiet wonders.

Lennox Head — 20 Minutes South

A surf town with a world-class wave and a main street that has kept its village feel. The point at Lennox is one of Australia’s great right-handers (experienced surfers only), while Seven Mile Beach gives everyone else room to spread out.

Do: climb to the Pat Morton Lookout on Lennox Point for whale watching in season and hang gliders year-round, swim the tea-tree Lake Ainsworth (its waters famously tinted by the surrounding paperbarks), and finish with a main-street meal as the surfers trail home.

Ballina — 30 Minutes South

The region’s relaxed river city, where the Richmond River meets the sea. Ballina serves up big skies, long shared paths and the Northern Rivers’ best-value seafood.

Do: eat prawns at the co-op on the wharf, cycle the coastal path from Lighthouse Beach toward Lennox, visit the Big Prawn (obligatory photo), and swim the patrolled stretches of Lighthouse and Shelly beaches. Families rate the calm river beaches and rock pools.

Making a Day (or a Base) of It

String all three together for a classic coast day: Bruns for breakfast and a river swim, back through Byron for lunch, then Lennox lookout and Lake Ainsworth before prawns in Ballina at sunset. Every leg is an easy, pretty drive.

Staying near the coast road makes all of it effortless. Bluewater on the Beach offers standalone one, two and three-bedroom cottages right on Belongil Beach — perfect for groups planning coastal explorations — while Byron Lux Beach Houses puts a tropical hideaway with pool three minutes from Belongil sand. Browse more on our accommodation page or search all stays in the region here.