Things to do in Tamworth
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Tamworth
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Festival month. Ten days of music, extreme heat, doubled prices and accommodation booked up to a year ahead.
Hot then easing, quiet and cheap after the festival, with the Tamworth Show in autumn.
Best overall weather. April brings Taste Tamworth, May is mild, clear and empty.
Cold frosty nights and clear sunny days. July brings Hats Off to Country and the lowest prices.
A second sweet spot, warm and dry with the clearest walking and golf weather of the year.
Warm to hot with building storm risk. December is a road trip stop, not a month to choose deliberately.
What's on
- Tamworth Country Music Festival mid to late January, 10 days (15 to 24 January 2027)
700 plus artists across 120 plus venues, with free street and park stages and ticketed headline shows.
- Toyota Golden Guitar Awards final Saturday of the festival (23 January 2027)
Australian country music awards night, held on the festival final weekend with the Peel Street cavalcade that morning.
- Taste Tamworth Festival about 10 days in April
Regional food festival anchored by Taste in the Park in Bicentennial Park and closing in Nundle.
- Tamworth Show autumn, typically March
The regional agricultural show, with livestock, produce and family entertainment.
- Hats Off to Country July
A smaller mid year country music festival of locals and regulars, without January scale or prices.
Best things to do in Tamworth
Tamworth Country Music Festival
Ten days in January when the whole city becomes a venue, from free street busking to the Golden Guitar Awards.
The Big Golden Guitar
A 12 metre golden guitar with the visitor centre, a guitar museum and a wax museum inside the complex.
Australian Country Music Hall of Fame
The archive led museum of Australian country music, full of costumes, instruments, lyrics and awards.
Oxley Scenic Lookout
A near 180 degree panorama over the city and Peel River valley, best at sunrise and especially sunset.
Tamworth Marsupial Park
A free native wildlife park with kangaroos, emus and talking cockatoos, plus a large adventure playground.
Tamworth Powerstation Museum
The museum of the first electric street lighting in Australia, with working Fowler steam engines.
Hands of Fame Park
Hand imprints of Australian country artists in Bicentennial Park, read as a quiet honour roll on foot.
Capitol Theatre Tamworth
A 394 seat theatre programming national tours, comedy and local productions in the centre of town.
Where to stay in Tamworth
Central Tamworth / Peel Street
festival and first stay
Walk to the Capitol, galleries, restaurants, Hands of Fame and park stages, with festival noise in January.
East Tamworth
quiet, space and families
Leafy and residential near Oxley Lookout and the Marsupial Park, a short drive from Peel Street dining.
South Tamworth / Armidale Road and Scully Park
proper hotels, sport and equine trips
Home to the Powerhouse and the Mercure by Scully Park, quieter at night but car dependent for dinner.
Goonoo Goonoo
splurge and decompression
A restored pastoral village south of town where the stay itself and the Glasshouse are the experience.
Think twice about
- Highway motel strips on Goonoo Goonoo Road and far Armidale Road
Noisy with trucks, little to walk to, poor footpaths and nothing open nearby at night. Not dangerous, just dead and car trapped.
- Low Peel River flats for camping in summer storm season
The Peel can rise quickly after heavy rain. Camp only on designated high grounds and treat flood warnings as move now instructions.
Best restaurants in Tamworth
Glasshouse Restaurant
A glass walled destination restaurant over the hills, cooking station and regional produce at a high level.
The Workshop Kitchen
Tamworth steakhouse benchmark, with premium beef cooked over local ironbark and a three glass wine list.
Deco Wine Bar & Restaurant
The smart CBD dining room and wine bar inside CH Boutique Hotel, ideal before a Capitol show.
The Pig and Tinder Box
A heritage bank turned gastropub with wood fired pizzas, share plates, cocktails and a balcony.
Hopscotch Restaurant & Bar
Tamworth most reviewed restaurant, a riverside cafe by day that grows into a contemporary bar at night.
Riviera Bar & Grill
The Italian room Tamworth keeps returning to, reliable for mixed groups from grandparents to children.
Dragon Palace
Tamworth long running Chinese benchmark, with a broad menu, vegetarian options and strong takeaway.
Hissy Fits Cafe
A retro diner vibe cafe with strong coffee, generous cooked breakfasts and gluten free brownies.
Best bars in Tamworth
The Welder's Dog Tamworth
Tamworth craft beer bar, with its own taps, pea blossom lemonade, live music and order in pizza.
Outdoor things to do in Tamworth
Longyard Golf Course
Tamworth championship 18 hole course with water in play, large greens and kangaroos around the dams.
Tamworth Golf Club
The older tree lined 18 hole course with fast greens, a pro shop and a cafe overlooking the course.
Chaffey Dam
A Peel River dam for swimming, boating, fishing and foreshore camping, on the road to Nundle.
Lake Keepit State Park
A huge inland lake for sailing, water skiing, paddling and fishing, with camping and glamping beside it.
Lake Keepit Soaring Club
Trial gliding flights and courses at one of the best known cross country soaring sites in Australia.
Nundle
A gold rush village of about 300 at the foot of the ranges, the hub of Tamworth best day trip.
Hanging Rock Lookout
A lookout above Hanging Rock with views back over the Nundle valley and the ranges beyond.
Sheba Dams
Picnic and barbecue dams in bushland with a short walk, wallabies and pademelons nearby.
Best hotels in Tamworth
Goonoo Goonoo Station
Restored heritage cottages on a working cattle station, with a pool, tennis court and the Glasshouse.
Powerhouse Hotel Tamworth by Rydges
Tamworth only five star hotel, with large king rooms, a pool and spa, and The Workshop Kitchen.
CH Boutique Hotel
A heritage styled boutique hotel in the CBD with renovated rooms, parking and Deco restaurant in house.
Mercure Tamworth
A modern 52 room hotel in Scully Park, connected to West Tamworth Leagues Club and its bistro.
ibis Styles Tamworth
A reliable chain hotel at the north end of the centre, with a pool, restaurant and free parking.
Paradise Tourist Park
A town centre tourist park with riverfront villas, cabins and powered sites, walking distance to town.
Stockmans Motel
A classic well reviewed motel in spacious grounds, with free parking and car at the door convenience.
Is Tamworth expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | A$120 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | A$230 a person |
| Splurge | A$500 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Tamworth Country Music Festival: months ahead
- Capitol Theatre Tamworth: a few days ahead
- Longyard Golf Course: a few days ahead
- Lake Keepit Soaring Club: weeks ahead
- Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre: weeks ahead
- Glasshouse Restaurant: weeks ahead
- The Workshop Kitchen: a few days ahead
- Deco Wine Bar & Restaurant: a few days ahead
- For the January festival, book accommodation up to a year ahead. Four to six months is the absolute latest in festival guides.
- Book Glasshouse and The Workshop Kitchen for weekend dinners, Longyard tee times by phone, and gliding early in a stay.
- Buy Golden Guitar Awards and headline festival tickets as soon as they go on sale.
Is Tamworth safe?
- Emergency number in Australia is 000.
- Heat is the main health risk. Carry water, wear sun protection and take air conditioned breaks in summer.
- In festival crowds, watch valuables and do not leave them visible in cars.
Tamworth travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Pay for the Big Golden Guitar wax museum only if country memorabilia is your thing, as reviewers are divided on the figures.
- Skip highway fast food by the Golden Guitar precinct and eat at a restaurant instead.
- Never book festival accommodation by bank transfer to a social media reseller. Use the venue or a platform.
Getting around Tamworth: public transport and more
- You need a car beyond Peel Street. Sydney is about 5 hours, Nundle 55 minutes, Chaffey Dam 45 minutes and Lake Keepit about 40 minutes.
- During the festival, Festival Express buses loop venues and caravan parks and are the correct way to move.
- Rideshare is thin late at night, so pre book a taxi after a festival gig rather than hoping.
Who Tamworth suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Tamworth your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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