It’s best known for its annual Country Music Festival – held each January – but Tamworth has so many fun activities and attractions for families, it’s worth a visit anytime.
Tamworth is one of the top destinations in the NSW countryside – and the state’s largest inland city. Known by many as the ‘Capital of Country’, Tamworth is the place to enjoy everything that’s great about regional Australia: unique experiences, rich landscapes and world-class events.
Discover the best things to do with kids in Tamworth, as well as the best family-friendly places to stay and eat.
14 things to do in Tamworth with kids
1. Tamworth Country Music Festival
Tamworth boasts a fantastic calendar of events, including the largest Country Music Festival in the Southern Hemisphere. This amazing festival runs in January each year and has something for everyone, from the famous ‘Golden Guitar’ awards through to a family-friendly carnival precinct. The kids will love the dodgems, teacup ride, and Ferris wheel – and that’s just for starters! Free outdoor concerts are a cost-effective way to experience Tamworth’s country music magic.
2. Tamworth Country Music Trail
Start by discovering the inland NSW city’s indelible connection with the genre by following the Tamworth Country Music Trail. It takes you to some of Tamworth’s key sites, including the Big Golden Guitar, the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame and the National Guitar Museum, which showcases guitars that once belonged to Keith Urban and Troy Cassar-Daley.
The Country Music Wax Museum is also worth checking out, and you can see where some of the biggest names in the industry have cast their hands in concrete at the Country Music Hands of Fame Park.
3. Tamworth Regional Playground
Tamworth Regional Playground has a skywalk, three giant slides, four towers, a bike track, a dual flying fox and a waterfall with a three-metre sway bridge. It’s right beside Bicentennial Park, where you can ride bikes or scooters along the extensive paths and feed ducks in the ponds.
For littlies there’s also sandpits, a soft fall area, and a splash pad wet zone to cool off on hot summer days. Parents can grab a coffee at the neighbouring Hopscotch Restaurant and Bar.
4. Tamworth Adventure Playground
With a native animal theme, the Tamworth Adventure Playground is divided into two age-appropriate areas designed by local children: one under-fives and an older children’s area. Activities aim to encourage integrated fine-motor skill play as well as gross-motor skill play and imaginative play. There are BBQ facilities and bathrooms on site, as well as popular Tamworth Marsupial Park.
5. Tamworth Marsupial Park
Tamworth Marsupial Park is a great place to see kangaroos, wallabies and emus. Walk through the kangaroo enclosure, and the free-flight aviary to spot the native birds. A ‘muddle’ of guinea pigs is also in residence in their own tiny house. Best of all, it’s free to visit.
6. Tamworth Mountain Bike Park
For the more adventurous Tamworth Mountain Bike Park offers a range of riding tracks from the very easy through to extreme black runs. As well as 14 kilometres of international-standard trails, there’s a skills park, pump track and 5 kilometres of adaptive cycling trails. The park connects to Tamworth’s cycleway and includes a Cultural Walking Trail to explore on foot.
7. Tamworth Regional Skate Park
The whole family can bring their skateboards, scooters and bikes to tackle Tamworth’s super-cool skate park. It includes a great beginners’ area and there are toilets, BBQs and shelters on-site, along with a playground and café.
8. Tamworth Botanical Gardens
Enjoy a ride on one of the miniature trains at the Tamworth Miniature Railway. The tunnels were built from reclaimed grain silo steel.
9. Go horse riding at Swamp Oak Station
Explore the magnificent Cockburn Ranges on horseback – no riding experience needed! Just 20 minutes’ drive outside of town, Tamworth Kootingal Horse Riding Adventures offers two-hour trail rides and tours of Swamp Oak Station. Pony rides are also available for younger children.
10. Tamworth Regional Gallery
If country music isn’t your thing, never fear! Tamworth has more cultural attractions to discover. Don’t miss a visit to the Tamworth Regional Gallery (one of the oldest galleries in NSW) where the public art trail will engage little ones. The whole family can get creative on Sunday Fundays with a range of hands-on activities including painting, drawing and print-making.
11. Tamworth Powerstation Museum
Check out the massive steam engines at the Tamsworth Powerstation Museum. The heritage space celebrates the city as the first in the Southern Hemisphere to be lit by municipal street lighting back in 1888 – 15 years before Sydney. Kids can learn all about how electricity is made and how the switch from gas to electric transformed life in Australia.
12. SPLASH Lake Keepit Water Park
Let the day slip away at the SPLASH Lake Keepit Water Park. Kids can run wild in the enclosed splash zone which features fountains, water cannons, aqua hoops and tipping buckets. There’s also a pontoon and toddlers’ pool to enjoy along with BBQ and picnic facilities. It’s located in Lake Keepit Reflections Holiday Park but you don’t need to stay there to use the facilities.
13. Tamworth Regional Astronomy and Science Centre
See one of the largest privately-owned telescope collections in the country at Tamworth Regional Astronomy and Science Centre. The complex at Victoria Park includes two observatories, a planetarium theatre, interactive science exhibits and a kids’ area.
14. Day trips from Tamworth
With spectacular natural surrounds and quaint historic towns, the New England region is a destination in itself. Visit Barraba, around an hour’s drive north-west of Tamworth, to see the 40-metre high The Water Diviner silo art.
To the south of Tamworth lies the former gold mining town of Nundle where you can try your hand at gold panning, then take a stroll around the waters of nearby Sheba Dams, renowned for its rainbow trout fishing and birdlife.
Go bushwalking along the trails of Warrabah National Park and visit beautiful Horton Falls, or soak up the sweeping views from the Hanging Rock Lookout.
Where to stay in Tamworth with kids
Tamworth has a great selection of family accommodation. Discover some of our favourites below:
Powerhouse Hotel Tamworth by Rydges
Powerhouse Hotel Tamworth by Rydges is a stylish hotel located on the site of an 1888 power station. Kids will love the retro radios in the rooms, and the palm trees outside encircled with twinkling nights at night. Like all good hotels built in the 1980s, there’s a pool just off the car park, as well as a spa, barbecue area, sauna and guest laundry.
The hotel has more than 60 rooms and suites, plus 20 luxurious serviced apartments. Family King Rooms have a king-sized bed in one room and two singles in the adjoining room, which can be converted to another king bed on request. Features include bespoke leather bedheads, marble bedside tables, an ottoman, a smart TV with Foxtel, a coffee pod machine, marble bathroom with walk-in shower, and air-conditioning.
BIG4 Paradise Tamworth
When it comes to family-friendly options, the tranquil setting of BIG4 Paradise Tourist Park, on the Peel River, ticks all the right boxes. With accommodation to suit all budgets and style of travellers – powered caravan sites, cabins, and luxury river view villas – plus a playground, pool, and recreation room, Paradise Tourist Park is just a short walk from Tamworth city centre.
Family-friendly restaurants in Tamworth
The Workshop Kitchen
248 Armidale Rd, East Tamworth
The Powerhouse’s restaurant The Workshop Kitchen is known for its wood-fired grill and mouth-watering steaks. With 800 wine bottles lining the wall at the entrance and sophisticated Coal Bunker Bar, it may not seem that family-friendly at first glance. But it makes up for it with its child-friendly offerings, like serving juice in take-away cups and offering activity books to help keep kids amused over dinner. My four-year-old also enjoys watching the flames of the fire in the open kitchen.
Hopscotch Restaurant & Bar
Kable Ave & Hill St, Tamworth
Hopscotch Restaurant & Bar is located in Bicentennial Park, right next to Tamworth Regional Playground. Its kids’ menu includes fairy bread, pikelets and cheese on toast, and you can also buy an activity book there for $3. Definitely money well spent!
The Courthouse Hotel
232 Peel St, Tamworth
The Courthouse Hotel also has a Family Zone with comfy booth seating and a play area with tables nearby for parents to relax and enjoy their meal while keeping an eye on the kids. Bookings at its bistro are available from 5pm, and all kids’ meals come with free ice-cream and an activity sheet.
Joe Macguire's Pub
148 Peel St, Tamworth
Kids eat free at Joe Maguire’s Pub, which has a lawn with a playground, every Monday night from 5.30pm. Just sign up to be a Mate of Joe’s at the bar to receive the offer of a free kids’ meal with any main meal purchased.
Top tips for visiting Tamworth with kids
How to get there
Tamworth’s location about halfway between Sydney and Brisbane makes it a perfect family road trip destination. Take the inland New England Highway as an alternative to the coastal NSW Pacific Highway on your next interstate drive and discover what the region has to offer.
Best time to visit
The weather in Tamworth is cool in winter and warm in summer. The annual Toyata Country Music Festival is held in January, and even if you’re not a country music fan, there are plenty of activities to enjoy. However, accommodation can be harder to come by (and more expensive) during the festival.
More information
Main image: The Big Golden Guitar Tourist Centre in Tamworth. © Destination NSW
Content contributors: Angela Saurine, Elisa Elwin
The writers were guests of Powerhouse Hotel Tamworth by Rydges
