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High tea means a proper spread: a tiered stand of scones, finger sandwiches and petit fours, poured tea, and usually a glass of something sparkling. The range on RedBalloon books it at heritage hotels, art galleries and working wineries rather than just the obvious hotel lobby, so a booking or a gift voucher takes minutes, not a list of phone calls to make.
Gunners' Barracks in Mosman serves its high tea with a 180-degree view of Sydney Harbour. A great start before you experience the foundation of a premium high tea afternoon: a proper three-tiered stand, a glass of something sparkling, and a room worth the trip. The range runs from city hotels and gallery tea rooms to century-old cafes and working wineries, across Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. Book a date yourself, or hand over a voucher and let the other person pick the room.
Sydney carries an impressive range, and the venues use their addresses well. The Tea Room at the Queen Victoria Building runs a 90-minute high tea with more than 40 teas to choose from, while Gunners' Barracks in Mosman pairs the same tiered stand with harbour views instead of city traffic. For something with no fixed seating, the high tea cruise on Sydney Harbour covers the same spread over a two-hour trip on the water, with unlimited sparkling included.
The Hotel Windsor has been serving high tea since 1883, with sparkling wine on arrival and a pastry chef who has clearly done this before. The National Gallery of Victoria pairs its own three-tiered stand with a wander through the collection, and the Yarra River cruise fits the same spread into a two-hour run past Williamstown and Hobson Bay instead of a fixed dining room.
South Australia's range sits mostly in the hills and wine country rather than the city grid. Mount Lofty House in the Adelaide Hills overlooks the Piccadilly Valley from a three-hat dining room, and Kies Family Wines in the Barossa Valley pairs the tiered stand with German-heritage recipes and a glass of its own sparkling, plus live music some afternoons. Both make the drive out of the city part of the occasion, not a detour before it.
Brisbane's oldest cafe, open since 1936, still makes its sandwiches, scones and sweets on the premises and adds a glass of Australian sparkling on arrival. A short walk away, Brisbane Arcade runs its own heritage-listed version with a glass of Veuve d'Argent alongside the tiered stand. Neither has changed the format much since high tea first caught on, which is most of the appeal.
High tea in Perth can be enjoyed at the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle. It serves its spread inside the Harbour Master Restaurant on Sunday afternoons, in the middle of Fremantle rather than out at the edge of it.
High tea works as a gift because it solves the actual problem: you still have to turn up and spend the afternoon with the person, not just hand over a box and leave. It suits the friend who has everything, a mother who would rather not get another candle, or a hen's day that needs somewhere to sit down partway through.
A RedBalloon gift voucher covers the whole range on this page, so the person receiving it books the city, the venue and the date themselves. That matters here more than most experiences, since a Tuesday in the Adelaide Hills and a Saturday at the Hotel Windsor are two different afternoons.
High tea and afternoon tea are used almost interchangeably in Australia, though the original English distinction was the opposite of what the name suggests: afternoon tea was the genteel, early-afternoon version with sandwiches and cake, while high tea referred to a heartier evening meal eaten at a high dining table. The range on this page follows the modern Australian meaning: a mid-afternoon sitting with a tiered stand of sweet and savoury food, tea service, and usually a glass of sparkling wine.
Most bookings include a tiered stand of sandwiches, scones and sweets, a pot or unlimited pours of tea, and a glass of sparkling wine or Prosecco. The details vary by venue: the Sydney Harbour cruise adds unlimited sparkling for the full two hours, while Brisbane's oldest cafe makes its sandwiches, scones and sweets fresh on the premises rather than pre-plating them.
Most high tea bookings include alcohol, so venues generally require guests to be 18 or over, with photo ID sometimes requested. A handful of options are built for mixed ages: the Sydney Harbour cruise sells a separate ticket for under-18s who are accompanied by an adult, and Brisbane's traditional family high tea is built to include both children and adults rather than adults only.
Yes, particularly a venue with a private or semi-private room. The Sydney Harbour cruise works well for a group that wants to keep moving rather than sit still for two hours, and a city hotel like the Tea Room at the Queen Victoria Building suits a smaller group that wants to talk without shouting over a bar.
A day spa package is the better pick for someone who wants to be looked after and not talk much. High tea suits a gift for two, since the point is sitting across a table from someone for a couple of hours, not lying down with your eyes shut.
Yes. A RedBalloon gift voucher covers the whole high tea range, and the recipient chooses the city, venue and date once they're ready to book, which avoids guessing at someone else's diary.
Yes, though unevenly. Adelaide's options cluster in the Adelaide Hills and Barossa Valley rather than the city centre; Brisbane has a cafe running since 1936 as well as a separate high tea inside the heritage-listed Brisbane Arcade; and you can enjoy high tea in Perth at the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle.
High tea is one way to buy someone an afternoon rather than an object. A day spa voucher covers similar ground for someone who would rather be horizontal than holding a teacup, while degustation dining and wine tasting and winery tours suit a gift built around food rather than a set menu of sandwiches and scones. For a gift aimed squarely at a group of friends, a girls day out bundles several of these ideas into one booking.