10 of the most entertaining things to do with kids in Ballarat

Chloe CannBy Chloe Cann
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Make friends with a meerkat or deep dive a sensory garden – this list of the best things to do in Ballarat with kids is your key to beautiful family memories. 

Whether you need to fill an hour or want to dedicate an entire day to kid-friendly activities, Ballarat has a few tricks up its sleeve. From fun yet educational experiences to pure recreation, the best things to do in Ballarat with kids are made to busy budding brains and little limbs. 

1. Sovereign Hill 

hanging out at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat with kids
Make new memories with your kids at Sovereign Hill. (IImage: Tourism Midwest Victoria)

You may have your own childhood memories from Sovereign Hill as it’s been around since the 1970s, but the magic is even grander nowadays. Transporting visitors straight to the 1850s, the multi-award-winning open-air museum still earns plaudits from adults as it does little ones. The immersive attraction is set across a 25-hectare site (equivalent to the size of some 13 MCGs) and plays host to more than 60 historically recreated brick and timber buildings decked out with antiques, artwork, books and papers. It’s also staffed by costumed actors who can answer your historical questions and pose for photos. 

Kids will adore every inch of the time warp with many of the venue’s activity costs included in your ticket entry. Pick up your licence and pan for real gold in a meandering creek, be awed by the Wizard Jacobs Magic Show, try your hand at old-fashioned boiled sweet making or candle dipping, go bowling, pay a visit to one of the workshops that spotlight older trades such as blacksmith and coachbuilder, or journey below the ground with a Red Hill Mine Tour and get a glimpse into what life was like for intrepid miners that descended upon Victoria’s goldfields in the 1800s. 

Even the snacks are on brand with wood-fired and oven-baked pies, pasties and sausage rolls available. There’s also a bar serving up its own homebrew and the fancier New York Bakery restaurant to keep grownups satisfied. It’s worth putting aside an entire day to tick everything off, and it’s well worth noting that Sovereign Hill can accommodate those with additional accessibility needs. 

Cost: Adult $52.50, child $33, family of four (2 adults and 2 children) $145.50, family of three (1 adult and 2 children) $103, additional child $28.50

2. Ballarat Tramway Museum 

Visiting Ballarat Tramway Museum with kids
Let the young ones experience history in century-old trams. (Image: Tourism Midwest Victoria)

While we’re exploring Ballarat’s unique roots, consider the Ballarat Tramway Museum in the Ballarat Botanic Gardens as a source of inspiration for young minds. Yet another interactive thing to do with kids, the hot spot invites you to jump aboard 100-year-old trams that roll you around Lake Wendouree. Luring crowds since 1971, the museum also boasts seven tramcars to stickybeak, plus a handful of separate exhibitions and experiences. There’s also a gift shop selling miniature replicas and other toys, and the attraction is fully accessible with a tram (No. 1029) that’s tailored to welcome those with access needs. 

Cost: Adults cost $15, children cost $7 and families cost $40 

3. Ballarat Wildlife Park 

visiting Ballarat Wildlife Park with kids
This park is a must-visit for wildlife lovers. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Set among 15 hectares of natural bushland and flowing with interactive activity, the family-run Ballarat Wildlife Park is bound to kill more than a few hours. Home to more than 100 free-roaming kangaroos, this popular activity will see your littlies discovering exotic creatures (hello tigers, penguins and meerkats) in addition to cuddling up to our famed native critters. And it’s not just those sleepy roos stealing your gaze. Wombats, dingoes, koalas, crocodiles, snakes and Tasmanian devils are all residents, so check out the day’s events schedule to help you learn more about your favourites. Delight your kids one step further with an animal encounter, providing them with one-on-one time with a giant tortoise, koala, cassowary and more. 

Cost: Adults cost $40, children aged 5-15 cost $20 and families of two adults and up to four children cost $100 

4. Tuki Trout Farm 

catching fish with kids at Tuki Trout Farm, Ballarat
A kid’s first catch is a memorable moment. (Image: Tourism Midwest Victoria)

Jump in the car early to smash out the 40-odd minutes it’ll take you to find Tuki Trout Farm just out of Ballarat proper. Ambitious anglers will delight in the attraction’s trout-filled pond where all your supplied gear (think rods, bait and nets) will help even the inexperienced attract a nibble or few. The odds are so good that visitors are encouraged to bring their own cooler box and containers to help carry catches back to the accommodation with ease. Best of all, once you do reel a sucker in, the team clean and package it up for you. How easy is that? 

Cost: Adults cost $14, children cost $10 and families cost $55 

5. Kryal Castle 

visiting Kryal Castle with kids
The enchanting castle will let the kids’ imagination run wild. (Image: Visit Victoria)

The kooky attraction you never knew you needed, Kryal Castle is a replica medieval castle with various activities on offer. Kids can try their hand at archery at the indoor range, find their way through the stone maze, watch on as knights in full armour face off in trials of jousting on horseback, explore the Torture Museum (if they’re 13 or over), go axe throwing, tiptoe around the Dragon Garden and Dragon Labyrinth, climb the Wizard’s Tower and even more. You can also stay overnight in one of the castle suites or a cabin, tiny house or camping site if you prefer. 

Cost: Adult $42, concession $37.50, child (3-15 years) $31.30, family of four (2 adults and 2 children) $124.

6. Eureka Aquatic Centre 

fun with kids at Eureka Aquatic Centre in Ballarat
Keep the kids cool and entertained with water activities.

Wear out little bodies at the Eureka Aquatic Centre , where warm days are best spent splashing around the venue’s three outdoor pools: a heated 50-metre pool, a learn to swim pool, and a shaded toddlers’ pool. There’s also an outdoor water play park as big and epic as those typically found in BIG4s (giant drop bucket included) and an outdoor playground and barbecue facilities. Post-swim, laze about the shaded areas that line the pool. 

Cost: Adults cost $7.20, children aged 5-15 cost $6.30 and families cost $18.90 

7. Lake Wendouree Adventure Playground

Lake Wendouree playground at Ballarat
Pass by a fun adventure playground as you stroll around the lake. (Image: Tourism Midwest Victoria)

Located on the banks of lovely Lake Wendouree, and just across the road from the Ballarat Botanical Gardens (more on that shortly), lies the Lake Wendouree Adventure Playground. A castle-like structure, it features slides, several different kinds of swings, monkey bars, forts, climbing structures, tunnels, and more. Once you’ve exhausted the playground’s assets, take one of the walking tracks around the lake, which is home to ducks and swans. 

Cost: Free 

8. Ballarat Botanical Gardens 

strolling around Ballarat Botanical Gardens with kids
The gardens are the perfect backdrop for your family photos. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Ballarat’s sprawling green lung, the Ballarat Botanical Gardens , cover some 40 hectares. Added to the Victorian Heritage Register in 2010, it invites ankle biters to run loose across manicured lawns (also a great place for a summer family picnic) or wander among the vivid seasonal floral displays hosted in the Robert Clark Conservatory. Encourage interactive learning within the Sensory Garden, designed to stimulate sight, sound, smell and touch with its diverse range of plants, all chosen for their unique texture, colour or scent. The website even has its own Garden Explorer guide to all the species you might encounter along the way. 

Cost: Free 

9. Inclusive Play-Space 

Inclusive Playspace at Ballarat
This playground enables children and adults of all abilities to socialise and play. (Image: City of Ballarat)

More commonly known as Livvi’s Place Ballarat, the brilliant Inclusive Play-Space offers all abilities access to very cool play equipment. Think a splash zone, flying foxes, sand play equipment and even musical instruments. The park’s amenities are naturally inclusive, too, such as the Adult Changing Place, plus the entire space is fenced so you can take a well-deserved load off. (Kind of, for a bit, anyway.) 

Cost: Free 

1o. Gold Rush Mini Golf 

Gold Rush Mini Golf in Ballarat
The outdoor and indoor courses offer fun for the whole family.

Home to two themed (and licensed) 18-hole courses, Gold Rush Mini Golf is a good spot to mop up free time together as a family. There’s both an indoor and an outdoor course. The former is named ‘Lost World’ and is an eclectic mishmash of the Jurassic period and the Middle Ages, while the latter is modelled on Ballarat’s gold rush history and features worn timber facades, props and Ballarat streetscapes. There’s also arcade games on site. 

Cost: Adults cost $16 for one course, children aged between 3-13 cost $10 for one course and families cost $46 for one course 

Discover the best restaurants in Ballarat for a family feed

Chloe Cann
Chloe Cann is an award-winning freelance travel and food writer, born in England, based in Melbourne and Roman by adoption. Since honing her skills at City St George's, University of London with a master's degree in journalism, she's been writing almost exclusively about travel for more than a decade, and has worked in-house at newspapers and travel magazines in London, Phnom Penh, Sydney and Melbourne. Through a mixture of work and pleasure, she's been fortunate enough to visit 80 countries to date, though there are many more that she is itching to reach. While the strength of a region's food scene tends to dictate the location of her next trip, she can be equally swayed by the promise of interesting landscapes and offbeat experiences. And with a small person now in tow, travel looks a little different these days, but it remains at the front of her mind.
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From coast to bush: these are Gippsland’s best hikes

    Michael TurtleBy Michael Turtle
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    Video credit: Tourism Australia

    From coast to mountains, hiking in Gippsland offers a stunning array of landscapes, with trails that take you deep into the region’s heritage.

    I step out onto the sand and it cries out underfoot. Kweek! I take another step and there’s another little yelp. Screet! Picking up the pace, the sounds follow me like my shadow, all the way down to the water. It’s obvious how this spot got its name – Squeaky Beach – from the rounded grains of quartz that make the distinctive sounds under pressure.

    For many, Wilsons Promontory National Park is the gateway to Gippsland , and the best way to explore it is by walking its network of hiking trails, from coastal gems such as Squeaky Beach through to the bushland, among the wildlife. But it’s still just a taste of what you’ll find on foot in the region.

    Venture a bit further into Gippsland and you’ll discover the lakes, the rainforest, and the alpine peaks, each changing with the season and offering summer strolls or winter walks. Just like that squeaky sand, each step along these trails has something to tell you: perhaps a story about an ancient spirit or a pioneering search for fortune.

    The best coastal hikes in Gippsland

    sunset at Wilsons Promontory National Park
    Wilsons Promontory National Park is a sprawling wilderness with many coastal bushland trails. (Image: Mark Watson)

    Wilsons Promontory National Park (or ‘The Prom’, as you’ll end up calling it) is an easy three-hour drive from Melbourne, but you might ditch the car when you arrive, with much of the park’s 50,000 hectares accessible only by foot. From the inky water of Tidal River (dyed dark purple by abundant tea trees), I like the easy walks along the coast, among lichen-laden granite boulders, to golden beaches and bays.

    a couple on Mount Oberon
    Panoramic views from the summit of Mount Oberon. (Image: Everyday Nicky)

    The trail to the panoramic views at the summit of Mount Oberon is a bit harder, up steep timber and granite steps, but it’s a popular 6.8-kilometre return. The more remote hikes are found through the open banksia and stringybark woodland of the park’s north, or along the multi-day Southern Circuit , which ranges from about 35 to 52 kilometres, with sunrises and sunsets, kangaroos and cockatoos, and maybe even whales.

    a golden sand beach at Wilsons Promontory National Park
    Walk ‘The Prom’s’ golden sand beaches. (Image: Tourism Australia/Time Out Australia)

    You might also see whales on the George Bass Coastal Walk , even closer to Melbourne on the western edge of Gippsland. This dramatic seven-kilometre trail along the clifftops takes in sweeping views of the wild ocean, occasionally dipping down from grassy green hills to coastal gullies and a secluded beach. It also now links into the Bass Coast Rail Trail for an extra 14 kilometres.

    the George Bass Coastal Walk
    George Bass Coastal Walk trails for seven kilometres along clifftops. (Image: Visit Victoria/Time Out Australia)

    Over at the eastern edge of Gippsland, in Croajingolong National Park, you can wander along the lakeshores beneath koalas and around goannas (I keep my distance since one chased me here!). For those who are even more adventurous, the park is also the starting point for the 100-kilometre Wilderness Coast Walk , usually done over seven days.

    the Croajingolong National Park, Gippsland
    Wander along the lakeshores in Croajingolong National Park. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    The best bush hikes in Gippsland

    the Baw Baw National Park
    The alpine heath of Baw Baw National Park. (Image: Everyday Nicky)

    Deep in the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine at Walhalla, mining guide Richard tells me how this small town in the mountains east of Melbourne boomed when prospectors found gold here in 1862. These days, you’ll find most of the town’s treasure – its heritage – above ground, with the Walhalla Tramline Walk a wonderful way to explore it.

    Just seven kilometres long, the walk takes you through decades of Gold Rush history, following the original rail trail from lush bushland to the mining sites, and through the charming village of just 20 residents with its wooden cottages and old shopfronts adorned with turn-of-the-century advertising posters. Blazing a trail where trailblazers once opened up the region, this is also the starting point for the 650-kilometre Australian Alps Walking Track.

    Nearby, Baw Baw National Park has walks through gnarled snow gums and alpine heaths that show off the colourful wildflowers in summer and the pristine carpet of white in winter. Several trails are perfect for snowshoes, including a 45-minute route from St Gwinear up to vast views across the Latrobe Valley.

    Further up into the mountains, the Toorongo and Amphitheatre Falls Loop Walk is an easy 2.2-kilometre path that serenades you with the sound of flowing water as you pass mossy rocks and tree ferns en route to two sets of waterfalls cascading over boulders in the remote wilderness.

    The best cultural hikes in Gippsland

    the Mitchell River National Park, Gippsland
    Hike the Mitchell River National Park. (Image: Parks Victoria/Grace Lewis)

    Across a pool in a natural sandstone amphitheatre, deep within a cave behind a waterfall, it’s said the Nargun has its lair. A fierce creature, half human and half stone, that abducts children and can’t be harmed by boomerangs or spears, the story of the Nargun has been told around the campfires of the local Gunaikurnai people for generations.

    As a culturally significant place for women, hikers are asked not to go into the Den of Nargun, but a 3.4-kilometre loop walk leads you through a rainforest gully to the entrance where you can feel the powerful atmosphere here in Mitchell River National Park , along Victoria’s largest remaining wild and free-flowing waterway.

    the bee-eaters at Mitchell River National Park
    Bee-eaters at Mitchell River National Park. (Image: Parks Victoria/Grace Lewis)

    The Den of Nargun is part of the Bataluk Cultural Trail , a series of important traditional Gunaikurnai sites through central Gippsland. Another location is Victoria’s largest cave system, Buchan Caves Reserve, with trails to important archaeological sites of human artefacts up to 18,000 years old. The FJ Wilson Interpreted Walk includes the naturally sculpted white limestone steps of the 400-metre-long Federal Cave, while the Granite Pools Walk goes among tall timber and moss-covered gullies.

    the ancient rainforest of Tarra-Bulga National Park
    The ancient rainforest of Tarra-Bulga National Park. (Image: Josie Withers)

    Also important to the Gunaikurnai people is Tarra-Bulga National Park , known for its ancient myrtle beeches and enormous mountain ash trees. Just 40 minutes return, the Tarra Valley Rainforest Walk offers a taste of this verdant landscape, while the Grand Strzelecki Track takes you deep into the lost world of forest giants on an epic 100-kilometre trail rich with tradition.

    A traveller’s checklist

    Staying there

    the WildernessRetreats in The Prom
    Wilderness Retreats in The Prom. (Image: Christian Pearson)

    Wilderness Retreats in Wilsons Promontory offers glamping-style tents with luxurious queen beds. Star Hotel is a reconstruction of a Gold Rush-era hotel from 1863 in the heart of heritage Walhalla. Caves House is a historic three-bedroom house with views over the Buchan River.

    Eating there

    the Carrajung Estate, Gippsland
    Enjoy a post-hike lunch at Carrajung Estate. (Image: Everyday Nicky)

    Kilcunda General Store serves great coffee and meals of local produce at the George Bass Coastal Walk. Alpine Trout Farm is located near Toorongo Falls in Noojee. Fish for your own lunch and barbecue it with the provided cookware.

    Carrajung Estate is a short drive from Tarra-Bulga National Park. The winery’s restaurant offers a seasonal menu of regional ingredients and you can stay at The Lodge.

    a seafood feast at Carrajung Estate, Gippsland
    The table is set for a seafood feast at the estate.

    Video credit: Tourism Australia