family holidays sydney Archives | Little Aussie Travellers

Sydney for Families – Holiday & Activity Ideas

by Loreena Walsh | NSW Destinations & Activities, Sponsored Posts

Welcome to Sydney For Families

Sydney offers families an entire range of activities, eateries, attractions and accommodation styles that truly do offer something for everyone. The Capital City of NSW has won numerous awards for being one of the world’s most favoured cities, the most recent being voted in the Condé Nast readers choice as one of the world’s best cities, coming in at number 6.

It’s not just international travellers who love Sydney, there’s plenty of reasons for families to love Sydney too, so let’s take a look at what you can get up to with the kids in this gorgeous world class city!

Great Sydney Beaches For Families

It wouldn’t be a Sydney travel guide without mentioning the best beaches for families to visit.

Bondi Beach – While Bondi itself can be prone to rips, head to the west side for the Bondi pools. This is a perfect area for kids to splash around in safely and offer peace of mind to parents that the kids can swim in a safe, supervised area.
Whale Beach – This beach also offers a rock pool that is really great for kids. Time your visit, because it generally only fills at high tide. There’s also a playground nearby to burn off some extra energy.
Cronulla – While the main beach is generally not a great family swim beach and is better suited to surfers, Shelly Beach offers another great rock pool and a large picnic area with bbq’s

Great Outdoor Family Activities in Sydney

Sydney Park – This gorgeous 110 acre area in St Peters offers a gorgeous duck pond, gorgeous parks, sculptures, a heritage area, a 360 degree view over the city, playgrounds, and best of all, a bike track for the kids complete with traffic signs.
Iron Cove Bay Walking Area – If getting out and about in nature is something you’re keen to do then this area provides a flat walk that is easy for young children, prams and bikes. During the walk you’ll take in sights like beaches, mangroves, and the harbour.
Ride the Manly Ferry – For 155 years the Manly ferry has been taking people on a journey across the waves. Don’t miss out on this iconic excursion, enjoy the ride and once you get to Manly, treat the kids to a few hours at Oceanworld.
Royal Botanic Gardens – This gorgeous garden area is one that just shouldn’t be missed. When planning your visit to the Botanic Gardens, a little bit of research to see what’s on in the gardens is a good idea, there’s always events, tours and activities taking place.

Great Family Attractions in Sydney

There are so many great attractions available to visitors in Sydney. We’re taking a quick look at some of the best for kids.

The attractions we’ve mentioned here are, for the most part in the city, which makes it easy for those focused on enjoying the city centre, we’ll be covering more around the greater Sydney region shortly:

Luna Park – A true icon, this amusement park was restored and still holds much of it’s 1930’s charm. With something for all ages, from rides to sideshow attractions an experience well worth it.
Taronga Zoo – The best way to get to the Zoo is by experiencing the Circular Quay Ferry. You’ll be amazed and greeted by a wide range of animals, and learn about the conservation initiatives undertaken by and suppported by the Zoo.
Darling Harbour Attractions – You won’t be disappointed with things to do in Darling Harbour with kids. There’s plenty of free play areas, but for a true experience, head to WILD LIFE Sydney, Sydney SEA LIFE Aquarium and Madam Tussaud’s. Check out their websites for all in one passes to save lots of money.

As you can see, we’ve just touched the very tip of the amazing family activities that Sydney has to offer on your next family holiday. For Accommodation Sydneyalso has a great range of options, from caravan parks in the outer suburbs to a range of budget hotels through to family luxury hotels. You can easily take a day trip by train or plane, or within driving distance if you’re lucky enough. If you’re planning to stay, it definitely pays to plan a little in advance and be sure to stay somewhere nice and convenient to the main attractions you’re planning to visit.

Much thanks to Accommodation.com for this great post about the Sydney Region.

What are your favourite family friendly Sydney hot spots?

Sydney Accommodation for Families: Gateway Motel Vineyard

by Loreena Walsh | NSW Accommodation

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay in outer Sydney with kids, the choices can be overwhelming. The choices can also be expensive.

When our little guy was due to have surgery at Westmead Children’s Hospital, we needed affordable Sydney accommodation that was reasonably close, child friendly and affordable. So we did what we always do and headed over to wotif to take a look at the options.

It can be really difficult to figure out if a motel is really worth staying at purely by what you see online, but when you have a family of 5, options are severely reduced as many hotels and motels only allow a maximum of 4 people per room. Paying for 2 rooms just isn’t an option, so we felt pretty happy when we found the Gateway Motel Vineyard on offer for a great nightly price. So when we headed back down to Sydney for the caravan and camping show in April this was the first place we checked for availability to book a room.

Cheap Family Accommodation in Outer Sydney.

The best thing about the Gateway Motel is it’s price. For a family of 5, you can stay in a comfortable, clean room for just over $100 a night. If you’re a family, you’ll know that this is a great price! If you’re after Hilton style, flashy accommodation, then look elsewhere, but for those looking for somewhere to lay their heads for the night, a place the kids can relax and do their thing. A tv, tea and coffee facilities, reverse cycle air conditioning, foxtel and lots of great conveniences, that’s clean and the staff are friendly, then this motel will be all that you need.

Accommodation Close to Dining in Outer Sydney.

The rooms at the Gateway don’t come with a kitchen, but they do offer something even better! Walk next door to the hotel and you can dine in a huge family friendly restaurant area with super yummy meals that are priced well for families, and there’s plenty of variety to suit everyone’s tastes.

The dining area is open for lunch and dinner and you won’t be disappointed. For breakfast, we were always heading off early anyway, and throw a few up and go drinks in the fridge and the kids were happy with that until we could head off and get breakfast elsewhere.

Something nice about having a hotel with dining next door is that it’s just a few metres to stroll next door and have dinner, mum and dad can also have a wine or beer without having to worry about driving, and everyone gets to relax and enjoy the atmosphere.

We threw a few dollars in the juke box, probably much to the dismay of the younger teens who were there, as we pumped out old favourites like The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and others.

Lots of Fun for the Kids.

As mum and dad are kicking back with full bellies from their yummy dinner, and peacefully enjoying a few wines, the kids can play the evening away on the free video games that are provided. There’s also a range of paid racing games, pinball machines and skill testers that will keep them busy.

A Great Place to Stay in Sydney for Families

We have stayed at the Gateway Motel in Vineyard twice now, and we’ll be back again. It’s located in the outer Sydney area, near Windsor, and offers a great outlook as you drive out past paddocks and farms. For those who are looking for a more relaxed option than the hustle and bustle of closer city motels, then this is great.

There is a large service station across the road that’s open for incidentals if you need to buy them, and in the 2 times we’ve stayed there it hasn’t been rowdy or overly busy, although I guess that might change over a busy weekend.

Sydney city is about 45kms away and Parramatta is around 24kms away. Both are easy enough to get to from here.

Would we stay again? YES!

Have you stayed here? Or found a great hotel for kids? Let us know about it in the comments below!