Royal Hotel Murgon
Just a short hour’s drive up the road from the Royal Hotel Yarraman is the next stop on the Tour and Royal number 99(!): the Royal Hotel Murgon.
Murgon (pronounced closer to mer-gun rather than mer-gone) is a decent sized town with a couple of big old Queenslander style pubs. The Royal Hotel Murgon is definitely one of those. And just across the road, the Australian Hotel also looked the part (that pub will come up again later).
It took us a minute to find the entrance as the front of the pub has now been converted into cafe (which was unfortunately closed when we were there, but looks like it’s pretty nice).
But before too long, we found our way in. We walked past the free pool table (always a huge plus for a pub) and got us some schooners and headed out to the beer garden.
Well, most of us got schooners. Cam had just received some great news on the drive to Murgon. His purchase of a new house had just settled. So he decided to go a bit over the top with his beverage to celebrate. Somewhat surprisingly for a country pub, the Royal Hotel Murgon had a chalkboard with a fairly extensive cocktail selection. Cam’s selection: a Fruit Tingle.
Not sure that’s the way I would’ve gone with that selection (or if Cam would’ve had he been given the chance to pick again). But he just bought a house, so he can damn well pick whatever he wants off that menu.
Overall, the Royal Hotel Murgon was a pretty decent pub. It looked pretty standard but also pretty good. So after a few schooners we got back on the road and headed for accommodation for the night. But as it turns out, the second car stuck around a bit longer. And while they were hanging around, they were approached by the pub owner/local councilor who had caught wind of the Royal Tour and the reason we were all there.
So those guys (Turner, John, Big Al, and Bull) were treated to a full behind-the-scenes tour of the entire pub including the cafe, the accommodation, the balcony, and the tunnel. Yep, the Royal Hotel Murgon has a tunnel.
Apparently, the tunnel was originally put in to link the Royal to the Australian across the street. They were apparently owned by brothers at the time and the tunnel allowed them to move stock back and forth easily. But it hadn’t been used for a while. In fact the publican said he hadn’t actually been down there. So the only logical move was to sent down Big Al to check out just how murder-y the tunnel actually was.
Turns out it was pretty murder-y.
Eventually after being shown every square meter of the pub, those guys joined us in Gympie to rub in the extensive additional tour they got in Murgon. And, to be fair, the cafe, accommodation, and murder hole all looked pretty damn cool. There is clearly a lot of work going into the place and a lot of pride taken. So I guess I’m saying if there is any bitterness coming through in this post, that’s not an accident.
But we all made it to Gympie eventually. And in the morning, we all headed out for the big milestone: Royal #100!
Royal Stats
- Town/Suburb: Murgon, QLD
- Population: 2,220
- Date Visited: Thursday, February 5, 2026
- Visited By: Cory, John, Bert, Turner, Big Al, Cam, Jon, and Bull
- Beer Sponsorship on Sign: XXXX
- Beer Consumed at Pub: Great Northern
- Price of Schooner of Said Beer: $7.50
- Unique Award: First Royal with a Tunnel
- Tour Progress: 73.9% (99/134)