Mind-numbing Nimbin

I'll probably be lambasted for this, but in all honesty, unless you want to buy pot, there's not much reason to go to Nimbin. Australia's most famous hippie destination has long-lost its lustre as the countercultural hotspot. The one-time base for the legendary 1970s experimental Aquarius Festival, is today nothing more than a sad collection of faded buildings and spaced-out junkies. If you want artsy and alternative, The Channon and Mullumbimby are both vastly superior.

Mullim

While Mullim, which is just up the track from Byron Bay, is a little too close to the main tourist drag for some, The Channon is a quiet little village tucked away in the rainforest draped hills of the hinterland, around 20km from Lismore. Go there on market day if you can (held on the second Sunday of the month) and fill up on fresh organic produce, have your tarot cards read or your chakra realigned. It's also a good base to explore Nightcap National Park and, in particular, Protestors Falls, so named because it was saved from logging by protestors.

Byron Bay at Christmas? Forget it!

Unless your idea of fun in the sun is heaving crowds, traffic jams and drunken louts, whatever you do don't be tempted to visit Byron Bay during the summer holidays (or the Easter long weekend, for that matter!). The town literally bursts at the seams with kombi loads of surfers, schoolies, backpackers, hippies, ferals, trendies, yuppies, yobbos and any other kinds of blow-ins clogging up the streets and overrunning the beaches.

The long line of traffic entering Byron from Ewingsdale Road often comes to a grinding halt during the peak summer period (tip: to avoid bursting your boiler, enter Byron via St Helena/Bangalow Road). With so many people pulling into town, you'll find it hard to score a bed and even if you do the prices are absolutely insane. So do what the locals do and stay clear. Mind you, if you visit Byron at any other time of year, you'll think you've found your own personal patch of paradise.

The not-so-artsy Arts Factory

More a state of mind, than a state of being the Arts Factory Backpacker's Lodge in Byron Bay relies on its overinflated past reputation to draw in the crowds. Instead of the promised "experience of a lifetime", this one-time old piggery which lays claim to being the "birthplace" of the "fame" and "spirit" of Byron, delivers overpriced, overhyped, cramped accommodation and an experience that is anything but groovy.

Don't get me wrong, the facilities are good — there's a restaurant/nightclub, spa, cinema, table tennis, basketball, volleyball as well as a heated pool and sauna — but the obsessive requests for IDs and deposits for everything from sheets and blankets to pots, pans and even for a mug so you can have a cup of coffee is really irritating (not to mention the newly reopened Buddha Bar/Restaurant is a haven for families with screaming children). A much more laid-back place to stay is Atlantic Guesthouse. Less than a 10-minute walk from Main Beach, it's a much more chilled experience.

Got any more places to avoid? Have your say using the comments form below.

Next: Near the beaten track