If this is your first time visiting Tamworth, or you just need a quick reminder, there are plenty of free activities to be found in and around the country music capital.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Tamworth is so much more than a country music destination, and here's why.
Family friendly
If you are travelling with children wanting to let off some steam, Tamworth has plenty of family-friendly parks, playgrounds and gardens.
The Tamworth Regional Playground is located in the CBD within Bicentennial Park on Kable Avenue and is open 24/7, offering free picnic and barbecue facilities, bike track, fitness circuit and splash pad.
Tamworth Regional Skate Park, located at the northern end of Peel Street, is a state-of-the-art facility unique in the New England North West that caters to all abilities. The modern skate park includes a "learn to ride" space, toilet block, barbecue with sheltered spaces and a car park.
The Victoria Park Precinct, situated at the top end of Piper Street in East Tamworth, is home to the 28-hectare Tamworth Regional Botanic Garden, as well as the 14ha Tamworth Marsupial Park and Adventure Playground.
The marsupial park offers a native animal experience unlike any other in NSW, where children can get close to kangaroos, wallabies, cockatoos and emus, spot the bird species in the free-flight aviary and hand feed the Indian peacocks.
The park's Adventure Playground has two distinct areas: one for under fives and and another for over fives, and also provides barbecue facilities and bathrooms.
For the more active, the Tamworth region has a variety of shared paths, footpaths and on-road cycleways which can be used for cycling. Check the council website for details.
Want some views?
For the best view across Tamworth, follow White Street to the top to reach Oxley Scenic Lookout, which offers a dazzling 180-degree view of the city and Peel River Valley around the clock.
If you want to keep walking, this is the base camp for the Kamilaroi Walking Track, which winds its way through the bushland of Oxley Park linking the Botanic Garden, Marsupial Park, Oxley Lookout and Flagstaff Mountain over a distance of several kilometres.
Interactive learning
For some entertaining education, take a peak inside Tamworth Powerstation Museum, located on the bottom of Peel Street.
Tamworth was the first municipality in Australia to use electricity to light it's streets in 1888, five years before Sydney. This is Australia's only dedicated electrical museum to provide visitors with an exploration of the history of electrical innovation.
The highlight of any visit to the museum are the two John Fowler steam driven engines. These are the only two of their type operating in the world and are working replicas of the 1888 Crompton Pattern No 15 Dynamos which represent the beginnings of electric street lighting in Tamworth.
Galleries
Tamworth Regional Gallery offers a rotating program of touring exhibitions of national significance, alongside curated exhibitions of works by regional artists and exhibitions from our permanent collection.
Weswal Gallery, 192 Brisbane Street, maintains a reputation as a fine art gallery specialising in showcasing works from emerging to established local, regional and national contemporary Australian artists.
If you are looking for a cool and quiet break, duck into Tamworth City Library. The modern, purpose-built facility is arranged in a series of subject rooms and offers wifi connectivity, more than 20 public access computers, printing facilities, author talks, children's activities and more.
Want a short drive?
There's plenty to see and do within a number of short drives from Tamworth - just choose your direction.
The picturesque village of Nundle is just 70 kilometres south-east of Tamworth. Wander around boutique shops, have lunch at the historic Peel Inn, visit the Woollen Mill or the Mount Misery Gold Mine Museum.
Or head north along Peel Street which turns into Fossickers Way for 45km to reach Manilla.
Try the Bridge to Bridge Walk which spans the Namoi River and takes approximately 2.5 to three hours to complete, or visit Manilla Weir, a popular area for fishing and swimming, and picnicking.
Nearby Warraba National Park also offers walking trails and free barbecue and toilet facilities.
Continue a further 45km north along Fossickers Way to Barraba to see the 40-metre-high silo mural, The Water Diviner, created by Sydney-based artist Fintan Magee, which has received worldwide notoriety.
Take the New England Highway north-east out of Tamworth towards Armidale, to stop at Moonbi Lookout for breath-taking vistas of the surrounding landscape. You will also find picnic and toilet facilities.
Continuing north, a further 67km to visit Uralla in Thunderbolt Country. Seven kilometres south of Uralla you will pass Thunderbolt's Rock (on the right), which he reputedly used for many of his robberies. Bushranger Captain Thunderbolt is buried in the local cemetery.
In town, visit McCrossin's Mill Museum to see more information about the bushranger's' life. Known as the 'gentleman bushranger', Captain Thunderbolt was Australia's longest roaming bushranger who met his fate near Uralla in 1870.
The museum also houses a collection of Chinese artefacts from the Rocky River Goldfields that is recognised as being of national significance.
Uralla also offers plenty of boutique shopping and a range regional foods to tempt your palate.
Travelling 80km west of Tamworth, you head into koala country at Gunendah. Check in at the local Visitor Information Centre for the best locations to see these cuddly national treasures.
While in town, make sure to see the silo art tribute to Australian poet Dorothea Mackellar which features lines from her famous poem, My Country. The work was completed in early 2021 by Melbourne-based Mongolian street artist Heesco.
Also in Gunnedah you can see a mural by Jenny McCracken on the Gunnedah Water Tower Museum.
While in town, take a walk through the main CBD area which offers a range of boutique regional shopping opportunities.
Take the Werris Creek Road 70km south out of Tamworth to pass through along the edge of the Liverpool Plains on the way to Quirindi to see one of the most recent silo art attractions.
Artist Peter Ryan has transformed the giant canvas of the local silos to tell the story of Quirindi, its past, present and future by day and by night through the use of an interactive light show.
While you are in Quirindi, don't miss Quirindi Cottage and Museum which houses many local historical collections, including farming, hospital, communications, family histories, sporting events, military memorabilia, local government, clothing from long ago and all of those things that were used in every day living. Quirindi Cottage Museum at 44 Station Street is open Wednesday and Friday 10am to 2pm.
