7 of the best Long Weekend Family Holidays in Australia

Megan Arkinstall Megan Arkinstall
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Don’t let the kids stop you from having a weekend break. Megan Arkinstall finds seven supreme long weekend options to keep everyone in the family entertained.

1. Compete in your own amazing race: Swan Valley, WA

The Swan Valley is a great – and very quick – getaway from the city with a premium food and wine trail featuring excellent wineries, breweries, distilleries and a huge range of eateries. So that’s the adults covered for the weekend, but what about the kids? Get them running around and exerting some energy with The Great Valley Rally, aimed at families with children aged from five to 12 years. The race takes three hours and involves hunting for cryptic clues along a route in the valley. They are rewarded at the end with a certificate and a small prize. The Vines Resort is a good accommodation option for families, offering two- and three-bedroom apartments.

 

Location: The Vines Resort is 25 minutes from Perth. Verdehlo Drive, The Vines; 08 9297 3000; vines.com.au

 

Details: Accommodation from $310 per night for a two-bedroom apartment. The Great Valley Rally is free – contact Swan Valley Visitor Information Centre for details; 08 9379 9400; swanvalley.com.au

2. Be a reptile keeper for a day: Central Coast, NSW

A family weekend away where the kids will have a ball and you can have a relaxing day to yourself? Yippee! Head to the Central Coast where The Australian Reptile Park offers a pretty special experience for little and big kids alike. The Kid 2 Keeper program is a fully escorted workshop where kids gain an insight into the life of a keeper, study animal behaviour, learn how to handle the animals and visit some behind-the-scenes areas like the reptile room. Children over six can attend without you – so we recommend treating yourself at the Tea Tree Day Spa at the Crowne Plaza Terrigal while you have some quiet moments.

 

Location: The Crowne Plaza is 1.5 hours north of Sydney. Pine Tree Lane, Terrigal; crowneplazaterrigal.com.au

 

Details: A winter ‘Discover More’ package at the Crowne Plaza starts from $159 per night. The Reptile Park is at Somersby, 30 minutes from Terrigal. Kid 2 Keeper experience is $35 for 3-6 years, $70 for 7-12 years, $105 for 13-18 years; reptilepark.com.au

3. Make your own chocolate: Phillip Island, Vic

Phillip Island is famous for its penguins, but for something a little different we think Panny’s Amazing World of Chocolate is an afternoon that all chocolate lovers, young and old, will enjoy. Learn about the story of chocolate, play games of skill to win chocolate, produce your own chocolate bar filled with any flavour, and see the gallery of vintage advertisements for, you guessed it, chocolate. When you’ve had enough Augustus Gloop fun, Silverwater Resort is a fantastic resort for families – a contemporary retreat for adults, with lots of fun for kids. There is a heated indoor pool, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts, billiard and tennis tables, a children’s playground and hours-of-fun bouncing pillows on their lawn.

 

Location: Silverwater Resort is two hours from Melbourne. 17 Potters Hill Road, San Remo; 03 5671 9300; silverwaterresort.com.au

 

Details: Silverwater Resort, from $305 per night in a two-bedroom apartment. Phillip Island Chocolate Factory, admission $45 for two adults and two children. phillipislandchocolatefactory.com.au

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4. Go on a ZooVenture: Canberra, ACT

Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the National Zoo in Canberra. Feed a 110-kilogram Sumatran tiger, let Brown bears lick honey from your fingers and tickle the scaley skin of a python. A ZooVenture will certainly give you a thrill; experience up-and-close encounters with these beautiful creatures. The simple and modern Clifton Suites on Northbourne offer one- and two-bedroom apartments and several packages suitable for families.

 

Location: Clifton Suites Northbourne is three hours from Sydney. 100 Northbourne Avenue, Canberra; cliftonsuites.com.au

 

Details: Family Breakfast accommodation package from $274 per night. ZooVenture from $145 per person. nationalzoo.com.au

5. Explore Margaret River by horseback: Margaret River, WA

The scenery of Margaret River during the autumn and winter season is certainly a sight for sore eyes – and what better way to enjoy it than on horseback? Losari Retreat, set within 66 acres of stunning landscape, offers a Horsemanship Package that includes accommodation in their lovely villas, gourmet breakfast and a two-hour horse riding experience through the nearby national park – a great package for a family to get outdoors and explore together.

 

Location: Losari Retreat is 3.5 hours from Perth. 498 Osmington Road, Margaret River; losariretreat.com.au

 

Details: From $1665 for a Horsemanship Package for four people.

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6. Run away with the circus: Sunshine Coast, Qld

Ever wanted to experience the whimsical world of the circus? (Well, the kids probably have…) As well as offering a fantastic kid’s club with craft and cooking lessons, movie nights, discos, face painting and an outdoor play centre, the Novotel Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast also has circus classes. Kids can learn juggling and balancing acts, the flying trapeze, the bungee trampoline and aerial tricks. But if you are happy to leave the circus tricks up to the children, head into Maroochydore for a long lazy lunch on the waterfront.

 

Location: Novotel Twin Waters is located 1.5 hours from Brisbane. Ocean Drive, Twin Waters, Sunshine Coast; 07 5448 8000; twinwatersresort.com.au

 

Details: Novotel Family Package including breakfast and two kid’s club sessions from $229 per night. Circus Encounter package runs for 2.5 hours for an additional $95 per person; cirqueespace.com

7. Play farmer for the weekend: Robertson, NSW

A tasteful farmstay both the parents and kids will enjoy – who’d’ve thought? Accommodating up to 16 people across three dwellings, this farmstay combines nature, activity and elegance well. The farmhouse is full of character with an open brick fire place, large church doors and windows, spacious kitchen and luxury bed linen. Kids will enjoy the large trampoline, collecting eggs, interacting with the alpacas, canoe rides and roasting marshmallows on the open fire-pit. Parents will love relaxing on the sun-drenched verandah, soaking in the bath, a picnic on the property or a glass of wine by the fire.

 

Location: Royalla Farmstay is just over one hour from Sydney. 375 Pearsons Lane, Robertson; 0409 294 929.

 

Details: Farmhouse from $1700 for the weekend, sleeps up to 10; $600 for the Om Barn, sleeps two (or four with extra bedding); $500 for the Loveshack, sleeps two

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Megan Arkinstall
Megan Arkinstall is a freelance travel writer who you’ll often find at the beach, bushwalking or boating with her young family. She loves reliving travel memories through writing, whether that be sipping limoncello in a sun-drenched courtyard of Monterosso or swimming with green turtles in the aquamarine waters of Tropical North Queensland.
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Discovering Bendigo’s unique heritage through incredible foodie experiences

    Kate Bettes Kate Bettes
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    Tuck your napkin firmly in place and get ready to dive into Bendigo’s history.

    It’s an internationally recognised fact that Bendigo food experiences prove this region knows how to wine and dine. After all, its shiraz-laden landscape was named Australia’s first UNESCO Creative City and Region of Gastronomy. But what visitors lured in by this shiny label might not know is how deeply its culinary scene sits within the gold-rush town’s colourful past.

    Whether you’re eating in a grand colonial bank or nibbling through a gold miner’s garden, grab a big plate. In Bendigo, every meal is served with a huge helping of heritage.

    Take a food tour

    foodie walking tour in bendigo at Ms Batterhams restaurant Bendigo foodie experiences
    Join a Foodie Walking Tour to local highlights like Ms Batterhams.

    Start in the capable hands of Bendigo Guided Tours. Named as the 2025 Victorian Best New Tourism Business, they run two 12-person options. A Taste of Bendigo – Foodie Walking Tour will see you tasting seasonal dishes and sipping wine, craft beer and cocktails made with regional spirits over two-and-a-half hours, with stops at Ms Batterhams, Wine Bank on View, The Dispensary and Bendigo Brewing.

    You can up the ante a notch or two with the Four Hats of Bendigo – a night of fine-dine hopping with the experts across Terrae, Le Foyer, Alium Dining and The Woodhouse.

    Book a table

    Terrae restaurant in bendigo victoria
    Dine at Terrae.

    Alternatively, see Bendigo’s stars under your own steam. There’s Terrae, where produce from the owners’ own farm kitchen garden and orchard is plated up inside what was once a bank, while cocktails are poured in the underground bar below. For something special, book a private table in old bank vault. Rather less wholesome? The bullet hole in the window – a throwback to Victoria’s wild gold rush era.

    Another former bank-turned-eatery, Alium Dining, goes full art nouveau inside a 1908 building overlooking the Alexandra Fountain in the heart of Bendigo. Here, Alium’s Asian-meets-European flavours run all the way from duck leg croquettes with mandarin marmalade to raw trevally with coconut and nước chấm, to pork milanese with anchovy and stout mustard.

    Beneath an old school hall at Mackenzie Quarters, Ms Batterhams serves southern European-inspired dishes inside a 19th-century basement bar and restaurant. Beyond its sourdough crumpets (smeared with taramasalata, paprika and parsley oil, if you must know) is the origin of the restaurant’s name: Winifred Batterham, the owners’ mother’s former kindergarten teacher. Honour her properly with a ‘Winifred’ cocktail.

    Alium Dining in bendigo victoria
    Alium Dining offers a unique setting inside a 1908 building.

    Carnivores, get ready to bang your sharpest knives on the table. Bendigo’s only dedicated steakhouse, The Woodhouse, specialises in Wagyu sourced from surrounding farms. They’ve got beef every which way – from tartare topped with Giaveri Oscietra caviar and wagyu toast to porterhouse dry-aged and grilled over redgum.

    Your next bank stop on the food circuit is Bunja Thai. Housed inside the former Colonial Bank, it’s all Victorian-era Australian grandeur, from the enormous arched ceilings to the detailing overhead. Thai Singha and local craft beer jostle for attention – but both are perfect quenchers when you’re sharing barramundi baked in banana leaf beneath all that old-world opulence.

    If your trip through Australia isn’t complete without a country pub stop, make it The Bridgewater Hotel on the Loddon River. Renovated since its 1942 beginnings, but the establishment still retains its Art Deco charm. It’s the kind of place where steak burgers come stacked with bacon, egg, cheese and dripping beetroot relish, and are best handled in the riverside beer garden.

    Pour a glass

    Heathcote Wine Hub bendigo food experiences
    Find over 180 local wines at Heathcote Wine Hub.

    Your plate’s been stacked. Now it’s the glass’s turn – ideally with the famously bold shiraz and cab sav grown here. Early settlers in Bendigo and Heathcote were onto something when they first planted vines in the area’s mineral-rich soil, and their legacy still pours strong across more than 60 cellar doors today. Start big at the Heathcote Wine Hub, where more than 180 wines from nearby vineyards sit beneath the rafters of a restored former wooden church, with 16 available to taste by the glass.

    Heathcote Winery might have become one of the area’s first commercial wineries in the seventies, but its story started way before its courtyard tastings. Back in 1854, it operated as a miners’ produce store during the gold-rush years. Other cellar doors aren’t immune to reinvention under the wine wave either. At Munari Wines in Heathcote, charcuterie boards are presented in their newly renovated cellar, originally the stables of the former sheep station.

    Discover local events

    the Heritage and Hidden Spaces Wine Walk in bendigo
    Time your trip for the Heritage and Hidden Spaces Wine Walk

    Time your trip right and watch the parks, gardens and buildings fill with food and drink. Fans of the malt: mark 29 August  2026 for Bendigo On The Hop, when craft breweries take over venues throughout the CBD. Brews make way for history at the Heritage and Hidden Spaces Wine Walk (17 October 2026), where bottles are opened inside some of the city’s most interesting buildings – including rarely opened spaces. In November, the Regional Gin Gala raises spirits in Mackenzie Quarters with a boozy celebration of its homegrown distilleries, including Noble Bootleggers, Envy Distilling and In Good Spirits. Explore wine, food and live music at Heathcote on Show (6 – 8 June 2026).

    Take it all in

    bendigo tram cafe Bendigo foodie experiences
    Tram meets tasty at Bendigo Tram Cafe.

    Takeaway means something different in Bendigo. At Australia’s oldest operating Tram Depot, the Tram Cafe sits aboard an out-of-service 1916 N-Class Tram that serves tea and scones. Once you’ve polished off the last crumb, you can even pop into the driver’s cab and try the controls yourself.

    Peppergreen Farm continues Bendigo’s long connection to Chinese market gardens, first established here by immigrants in the 1850s. Today, the not-for-profit farm invites visitors to pick up organic produce, alongside jars of honey harvested from its own hives.

    Indulge in retail therapy

    Bendigo Pottery
    Elevate your at-home dining experience after a trip to Bendigo Pottery.

    If there’s still room in your bag among the clanking jars and bottles, stop by Uniquely Bendigo inside the Old Post Office. Sharing space with the Bendigo Visitor Centre, it’s a one-stop shop for favourites like Bendigo Brittle, Bridgeward Grove and Tea Associates.

    If you’d rather leave your fingerprints on your Bendigo souvenir, there’s a place for that too. At Bendigo Pottery, visitors can try their hand at shaping clay while taking part in another tradition of evolving old spaces – creating works of art within Australia’s oldest working pottery.

    Start planning your Bendigo adventure at bendigotourism.com.