Family Fun: Where To Eat, Stay and Play When Visiting Sydney With the Kids

Travelling to Sydney with children is easy if you know where to go. Whether you have little ones under five or you’re adventuring with tweens, there are kid-friendly cafes, pubs with playgrounds, free family exhibitions, and a new museum that promises loads of opportunities for silly selfies. Here’s how to spend a weekend in the city with kids, including where to sleep, eat and play, without too many tantrums.

Eat

Traipsing around the city is hungry work for kids. When you need a quick feed and everyone wants something different to eat, Spice Alley in Chippendale is the solution. Think barbeque pork buns, char kway teow, dan dan noodles, ramen, mango and sticky rice, and more. Grab a table outdoors beside the Shepard Fairey street art, or settle in under cover inside one of the historic terraces. Visiting during the school holidays? Kids eat free on weekends between 11.30am and 6pm.

An inner west family favourite, Public House Petersham is a haven for thirsty parents with little ones in tow. Its outdoor courtyard is fitted with shaded picnic tables and plenty of highchairs, while inside there’s a play area with a cubbyhouse and colouring tables. Woodfired pizzas are pumping out of the kitchen, and the kids’ menu has familiar options like dino nuggets, cheeseburgers and spaghetti meatballs, plus $8 milkshakes and $6 ice-cream.

If everyone eats better when you’re the chef, pack a packet of snags or a block of haloumi and head to the Art Gallery of NSW. Its underground space is home to a riotous, summery indoor installation by New Zealand-born artist Mike Hewson, complete with free barbeques. Kids can burn energy on swings and monkey bars while you cook, and there’s a pop-up cafe on site selling Pure Pops iceblocks and coffee. While you're there, get wet in the water bucket and sauna area – don't worry, there are change rooms, and you can even borrow towels, shorts, slides and T-shirts – all free of charge.

Stay

If you’re travelling with under-fives, the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney has a thoughtfully designed family setup, where children can sleep in their own bunting-lined tents within your room. They’ll also get kid-sized bathrobes, free activity kits on arrival, and they can eat for free when dining with a paying adult at their Mode Kitchen and Bar. When you need a quiet 90 minutes, the hotel’s family fun package also includes a complimentary kids’ movie with room-service snacks.

For a memorable way to start the day, wake up to watch the sunrise at one of the coolest camping spots in the city. Unesco World Heritage-listed Cockatoo Island has permanent tents that sleep two adults and two small children. You can also BYO tent from $55 per night or opt for a luxe glamping experience with a double bed inside a domed tent for $335 per night. You’ll be in prime position to explore the largest island in the harbour that was once a convict jail, then a dockyard and more recently a big-budget film location. Plus, kids love the ferry trips to and from the island.

With its rooftop pool, infrared sauna and complimentary yoga classes, Manly Pacific Hotel doesn’t scream kid-friendly. But the beachfront spot is an excellent base for an active family getaway. It offers 50 per cent off adjoining oceanfront rooms, giving everyone their own space with easy access between. Kids get free brekkie, and if you’re travelling during the school holidays there’s often free gelato in the lobby in the afternoons – that is, if you’re not too busy kayaking, bushwalking or making sandcastles.

Play

Step inside Museum of Illusions for a series of mind-bending immersive rooms. You won’t know if the room is moving or you are, if the chair is giant or if you’ve had a rapid growth spurt. There are more than 80 interactive exhibits, plus installations that’ll make you want to take a thousand photos. Pose as a severed head on a platter, play cards with your clone, or stand on the ceiling in an upside-down pub. Family tickets (two adults with two children) are $124, and children under four are free of charge. 

When you need to run, jump, climb and splash about, there’s a mega playground in Darling Harbour with huge climbing nets, swings, water pumps and streams – and a 21-metre flying fox. It’s designed for all ages, and there are toilets with baby change rooms nearby, as well as cafes, restaurants and open grassy spots for throwing down a picnic blanket.

On rainy days – or when it’s too hot to be outside – head to the Australian Museum. Entry is free for all, and on level two you’ll find Burra, an educational play space designed especially for younger children. Inside are interactive screens, boats to clamber in and out of, and soft play areas. The museum is fully pram-friendly, and the changing facilities are spacious. If you’re with older kids, check out the museum’s permanent exhibition on Australia’s wildest creatures – from redback spiders to giant wombats, or size up to massive dino skeletons in its Mesozoic era exhibition.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Museum of Illusions.