MITTAGONG Mittagong is the next community in the mix of heritage of towns that hover above the Sydney basin. The freeway, that opened in early eighties, plus regular rail brought Mittagong within 90 minutes of the Sydney CBD. This area of NSW was forever changed. Country to semi burb literally on the opening day of that freeway. This was more good than bad. Mittagong is still a country town. Just. Mittagong is the gateway to the Southern Highlands when coming from Sydney. Mittagong is colloquially known as Mitta. Previously, the original name of Mittagong was New Sheffield, and the lower portion of Mittagong toward Welby was named Nattai. The first permanent settler though in the Mittagong district was William Chalker (1775–1823) (also known as Charker), a former convict transported from England, who arrived in the area on 10 May 1821. The hotels in Mittagong are century old buildings. The Churches are also turn of century structures. The Mittagong War Memorial is at the junction of the two main highways in the cbd. Mittagong is a town with all the major services, heritage factors of the area that demand an extended stay. If you plan to explore Mittagong could be your base.