The 9 best things to do in Tamworth

Giddy up and get on down to the largest and longest-running country music festival in the Southern Hemisphere. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people flock to Tamworth for a ten-day celebration featuring many of the world’s most celebrated country music stars. The pinnacle event is the Golden Guitar Awards, with other highlights including the music parade, busking championships and free concerts on the main stage.

Australia is home to more than 150 ‘big things,’ and of course, Tamworth’s comes in the form of a 12-metre-high Golden Guitar. Unveiled by Slim Dusty, the ‘king of country music,’ in 1988 on the New England Highway, this towering tribute mirrors the trophies awarded at Tamworth’s famous Golden Guitar Awards and has become a symbol of the town. After snapping a selfie with the renowned landmark, pop into the Tamworth Visitor Information Centre, where you can explore the National Guitar Museum and Country Music Wax Museum. 

If Tamworth were to award a golden spoon, the Glasshouse would easily take home the prize. This luxury restaurant is the crown jewel of Goonoo Goonoo Station, a heritage-listed homestead featuring seven beautifully restored cottages. You can swing by for baked Turkish eggs and smoked salmon bagels in the morning, or relax over a leisurely lunch featuring the region’s finest seasonal produce, such as handmade wagyu agnolotti, slow-cooked Angus tri-tip and roasted New England pork with crackle. True to its name, the Glasshouse offers panoramic vistas of the rolling hills and Liverpool Range through its expansive glass windows.

It’s worth driving 50 minutes from Tamworth city to Quirindi, where you can admire Australia’s first large-scale silo mural, Quirindi Silo Art. Created by local resident Ian Carter in collaboration with the Indigenous community, this colourful artwork won top honours at Australia’s Street Art Awards in 2023. At night, the mural truly comes alive with Dreamtime stories from the Gamilaroi and Ngunnawal people, featuring 30-minute light and sound shows starting at 7.30pm daily and at 8.30pm during Daylight Saving time. You can find out more here.

As the sun begins to set, jump in the car and drive two kilometres from the centre of town to Oxley Scenic Lookout. Also reachable by a steep hike up White Street, this viewpoint offers spectacular views of the city and Peel River Valley. Oxley Lookout also marks the start of the 5.5-kilometre Kamilaroi Walking Track, which takes you to the top of Flagstaff Mountain for equally impressive views. Once you return to Oxley Lookout, you can sprawl out on the spacious lawns for a relaxing picnic. 

Head to the Hall of Fame to walk side-by-side with Australia’s greatest country music stars. You can peruse an impressive collection of clothing, instruments, memorabilia and music from early icons, like Smoky Dawson, Buddy Williams and Tex Morton, through to modern artists, including Keith Urban, Beccy Cole and Adam Harvey.

Camping out for your morning coffee might sound a bit wild, but it’s well worth it for a cup of joe at this snazzy café on Peel Street. Owners Matt and Mon opened Camp Grounds in 2019 to bring a touch of specialty coffee sophistication to Tamworth’s country crowd. Their baristas rotate between cool independent Aussie roasters, with house coffee from their friends at Floozy Coffee in Newcastle. You can also pick up daily baked goodies and bagels smooshed with avo or cream cheese. Take that, coffee snobs.

Founded in 1919, Tamworth Regional Gallery is one of NSW’s oldest regional galleries and is completely free to explore for locals and visitors alike. Carve out an hour or two to explore its two main galleries, which feature touring exhibitions, like the Tamworth Textile Triennial, considered Australia’s premier textile art showcase. You’ll also find collections dedicated to the Country Music Festival and an impressive display of Indigenous textiles from Aboriginal artists living in Utopia. 

Before earning its fame as Australia’s country music capital, Tamworth was known as the ‘first city of lights.’ It was the pioneering place in the country to install electric street lights back in 1888 – a whole 15 years before Sydney. Today, the Powerstation, the country’s only dedicated electrical museum, showcases the evolution of power usage through a collection that includes vintage household appliances, like kitchen appliances and hair dryers. Train enthusiasts will also want to check out the museum’s rare pair of John Fowler steam engines, the only two still in operation worldwide.