Bellingen's main street — Hyde Street — is a genuinely pleasant place to spend a morning. The buildings are mostly Federation-era timber and brick with wide verandahs, and the shops are a reflection of the town's alternative lifestyle identity: independent bookshops, galleries, organic food stores, herbal medicine practitioners, and small cafes. It is one of the few main streets in regional NSW that has not been hollowed out by supermarkets and chain stores.
The Old Butter Factory on the eastern edge of town has been converted into a complex of galleries, studios, and eateries — it is worth a stop. The covered markets held on the third Saturday of each month bring the whole valley into town and are a good opportunity to see the local community in action.