Dubbo is the Central West city that makes the inland road west of the Blue Mountains feel like it has properly opened out. It is big enough to work as a base, but its best attractions are not generic country-town fillers: the open-range zoo, the preserved gaol, the Royal Flying Doctor visitor centre, and the old homestead west of town each tell a different part of inland New South Wales.
The Taronga Western Plains Zoo is the headline. It spreads animals through large paddocks and asks visitors to move around by bike, cart, car, or long walk, which suits the flat country. In town, Old Dubbo Gaol gives a sharp, compact look at punishment and policing from 1859 to 1966.
Dubbo also works as a practical stop between Sydney and the outback. The Macquarie River runs through the city, the Tracker Riley Cycleway links the centre with the zoo side of town, and the airport-side Royal Flying Doctor Visitor Experience explains how remote Australia gets medical care across huge distances.
Give Dubbo a full day if you can. The zoo alone can take most of it, and the city is more rewarding when you let the inland scale, river, and working-town feel sit alongside the visitor sights.