An Insider’s Guide to the Best of Tamworth

Tamworth is famous for country music but it’s not just Golden Guitars and Slim Dusty statues that make this New England city sing.

Things to do

We just have to say it: country music diehard or not, every Australian should experience the Tamworth Country Music Festival once in their lives and in 2023 it's on between 13 and 22 January. Regardless of when you visit Tamworth, gateway to New South Wales’s north-west, you’ll find a rural hub with a cosmopolitan edge evident in its polished eateries, pretty boutiques and excellent sporting and entertainment facilities. 

Tree-lined Peel Street is the main urban artery, a thriving thoroughfare lined with outdoor cafés and shops. Follow your nose to The Other Shop, where a vanilla-caramel candle perpetually burns. Here you’ll find high-end Australian fashion labels and cool seasonal one-offs. Once you’ve donned your Camilla caftan, head to Tarnished Interiors for new and vintage homewares and furniture. 

Nearby, the city’s cutting-edge playgrounds are a drawcard for children of all ages. The Tamworth Regional Playground, a $2.2 million development in Bicentennial Park, includes the nine-metre-high Skywalk, a flying fox and bike track. While the kids play, grown-ups can pick up coffee and brownies from the on-site Hopscotch Restaurant & Bar.

For less bustle and more view, head up the hill to the Tamworth Marsupial Park, where close encounters with kangaroos, emus and cockatoos await. 

Alternatively, you might want to hit the nature trails nearby. The Kamilaroi Track will take you on a ramble to Flagstaff Mountain and further on to the Oxley Lookout for a panoramic view of the city

If you’re not in Tamworth during festival time, get your country fix at Tamworth Visitor Information Centre at the Big Golden Guitar, which houses wax figures of Chad Morgan, Jean Stafford, Johnny Chester and the like in the Gallery of Stars Wax Museum, inside the building alongside the New National Guitar Museum. The Australian Country Music Hall of Fame is run by volunteers and is bursting with memorabilia, from spangled stage costumes to the well-strummed guitars of Australia’s country music greats.

Daytrips from Tamworth

To get the most out of this region, having a car is a must. Forty minutes out of town is the picturesque village of Nundle, at the foot of the Great Dividing Range. Some 600 metres above sea level, it’s a refuge in summer from the sometimes brutal heat of Tamworth and was originally a goldmining encampment in the late 19th century. Its heritage endures in antiques shops and the Nundle Woollen Mill, where fleece is spun on vintage machinery and the resulting yarn is for sale in the mill shop.

For lunch, grab picnic supplies and head to Hanging Rock Lookout for views of the Nundle Valley. Or dine on hearty pub grub (the herb-and-parmesan-crusted schnitzel is our pick) in the leafy beer garden at The Peel Inn. 

An hour’s drive from Tamworth, up the New England Highway, is the outstanding Eastview Estate. Drop in for an afternoon tasting at the estate’s retro Speakeasy saloon and sip your way through an extensive list of homemade gins, vodkas and craft beers. Stephen Dobson, the co-owner of this distillery/brewery/restaurant, is happy to share stories about his previous life as a Hollywood cinematographer-director. 

Drive about 40 minutes north-west of Tamworth on the Oxley Highway through undulating farmland to Lake Keepit State Park. At three-quarters the size of Sydney Harbour, this shimmering expanse of water is a magnet for locals trying to escape the summer heat. If you have the time, camp or hire a cabin here and spend a couple of days canoeing and fishing for yellowbelly and Murray cod. The excellent facilities include barbecues, a skate bowl, a water park and tennis courts. It’s hard to beat water skiing in the golden last hours of the day as cockatoos take to the sky in a white plume above you.

SEE ALSO: A Guide to Wining and Dining in Mudgee

Where to eat

• The Post Office Hotel, at 8 Fitzroy Street, has decent and well-priced pub fare – we’re talking chicken schnitzel and rump steaks for under $30.
  
• The busy Ruby’s Cafe & Gift Store is a local favourite – the garden setting offers an escape from the crowds during festival time.
• At Teamo Teahouse, take your pick from more than 50 loose-leaf teas, all of which can be served iced; try a tea-based cocktail for a little more kick.
• Across the Peel River, Le Pruneau is a touch of France in Tamworth. As well as hosting an organic market every Saturday, the restaurant makes everything on site, from pastries and cakes to house-cured meats and preserves. 
• If you want to spot a real cowboy any time of year, head to The Longyard Hotel, next door to the 12-metre-high Big Golden Guitar. The hotel is only a stone’s throw from the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre, and the bistro pumps out flavoursome steaks with admirable speed.
• The Pig & Tinder Box serves terrific tapas, as well as wood-fired pizza and elegant cocktails. 
• For espresso made by baristas with big-city CVs, head to Addimi, a family-owned café that’s a pre-work favourite for busy locals.
• For a long lunch, head to Graze at the Willow Tree Inn, a 45-minute drive south of Tamworth. The restaurant and bistro produces its own beef and lamb on Colly Creek Station, within cooee down the road. The steaks, dry-aged for five weeks on the premises, are worth the drive alone.
  

Places to stay

At leafy Paradise Tourist Park on the Peel River, a few minutes’ amble from the CBD, you can book a cabin, pull up with a caravan or pitch a tent. Its meticulously-kept facilities include a communal kitchen and – the best thing during a Tamworth summer – a swimming pool. 

For a quiet night in the countryside, McNevins Tamworth Motel is 10 minutes out of town with a rural outlook. While it has run-of-the-mill décor, the motel welcomes pets and there are even facilities for a horse or two.

The heritage-listed CH Boutique Hotel, right in the heart of the city centre, was transformed from a pub into an Art Deco hotel in 2014. You can still enjoy a beer or a glass of wine in the bar downstairs while watching the world go by on Peel Street. 

Overlooking town on the east side, the Powerhouse Hotel Tamworth by Rydges is popular with corporate crowds but apartments and bunk suites mean it’s good for families, too.

The only five-star accommodation in Tamworth, The Retreat at Froog-Moore Park is a boutique hotel on the periphery of town. Each of the five rooms has a theme, including Moroccan Fantasy and Maeda Japanese. Reserve a table for dinner – owners Peter and Sandy Moore are passionate about food and grow the limes, plums, figs and vegies that end up on their guests’ dinner table. Sandy describes herself as a “flavour cook”; you’ll know what she means when you try her Moroccan lamb tagine.

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