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Free Things To Do in Sydney With Kids

Family travel guide to Sydney on a budget with kids. Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live but you shouldn’t let that fact put you off visiting the stunning harbour city with your family. There are so many fabulous and free activities to do with kids of all ages. From walking across the coat hanger (a.k.a. the Sydney Harbour Bridge) to visiting one of Sydney’s brilliant museums, you can easily fill in your days without causing too much damage to your wallet! Here’s the suitcases&strollers city guide to Sydney with kids on a budget.

Family Friendly Restaurants in Sydney With Kids

Guide to eating out in Sydney with kids. Sydneysiders are spoilt for choice when it comes to kid friendly places to eat. From delightful little suburban cafes to trendy inner city pubs, families are welcome with open arms in the beautiful harbour city. At breakfast time there are hundreds of cafes all over Sydney that provide excellent food and coffee. (Don’t forget to ask for a babycino for your little ones as babycinos are taken very seriously in Sydney!) At lunch and dinnertime you can dine everywhere from a sushi train to an upmarket restaurant, as most eateries in Sydney are used to have little customers at their tables. Below are only a handful of child friendly places on offer in Sydney and they are all very easy to get to via public transport if you are visiting Sydney with kids.

Road Trips With Kids: From A Kid’s Perspective

What do children really think about family road trips with kids? In June 2014 Tom Ingram (11) and his siblings George (9) and Sophie (7) and his parents went on an epic family road trip around Australia that covered 17,000 kilometres in 70 days. They drove from Kiewa to Adelaide, then up through central Australia to the Flinders Ranges, the Oodnadatta track, Coober Pedy, Uluru (we were here 2 days and that was enough), Kings Canyon (pretty tough but great rim walk views), Alice Springs (awesome nocturnal animal tour), Darwin, Corroborree Billabong (where we stayed on a house boat. AMAZING – watch out for the crocs – we saw heaps!) and Kakadu. Then across to Queensland to Karumba, Atherton Tablelands, Seisia (near the top of Cape York) and down to Cape Tribulation (saw cassowaries at the Discovery Centre), Port Douglas, Magnetic Island and all the way back to Kiewa. Phew! Tom chatted to suitcases&strollers about his family road trip and about whether long drives are actually enjoyable for kids.

3 Best Family Friendly Activities For Kids in Albury

Highlights of family holidays in Albury with kids. The best family holidays in Australia always involve the great outdoors and that is why Albury is such a fantastic family holiday destination. Almost halfway between Sydney and Melbourne, the twin towns of Albury and Wodonga have tons to offer for families traveling with kids who want to stop on a road trip with kids. But perhaps lesser well known is the fact that there is some truly beautiful and awe inspiring scenery to be seen in the region, if only you know where to look. Here, the suitcases&strollers travel tips for some of the best activities to do with kids in Albury (and Wodonga).

Little Globetrotter: Levi Cuthbert

Family holiday destinations should always involve LEGO, says our little friend Levi Cuthbert. At the tender age of 5, Levi is something of a jetsetter travelling regularly to places like Bali, Italy, Malaysia, Thailand and all over Australia with his parents and sister Zoey (3). This precocious preschooler tells suitcases&strollers about his favourite family friendly holidays and what made them so great (hint: coloured bricks may have been involved).

Exercise While Travelling: Fun Runs For Kids in Asia

Active holidays for families are a great way to encourage kids to embrace health and fitness while still having fun. But this doesn’t mean you need to climb a mountain or do extreme sports. Instead, plan your next family vacation around a fun run for kids. Exercise while travelling can make an event seem more exciting or interesting than just doing it at home and gives a chance for that all important family bonding time that happens in foreign environments. Here are some of the most exciting fun runs for kids in Asia and Australia in 2015.

Road Trips With Kids: Driving Between Melbourne and Sydney

Where are the best places to stop on the Hume Highway if you’re planning a road trip with kids between the major Australian cities? The Hume is so flat and well maintained it’s easy to keep bypassing exits without knowing which are the most convenient and interesting pit stops for a bite to eat or a run around a park. Here are the suitcases&strollers travel tips for some of the more memorable sights between Sydney and Melbourne.

Best Family Holidays in Australia: Albury & Wodonga With Kids

If you’re driving between Sydney and Melbourne with kids, the twin towns of Albury and Wodonga have historically been a favourite place to stop and break up the road trip. But these two townships (one on the New South Wales border, the other in Victoria) have much more to offer than just a place to grab a coffee. If all you plan to see are the big cities, it’s definitely worth investing at least a day here to explore the sights and get a glimpse of what rural Australia has to offer.

Best Family Holidays in Australia: Tumbarumba

Set in the pretty New South Wales countryside, Tumbarumba is a tiny town that boasts spectacular scenic roads whether you choose to visit it via Sydney or Melbourne. This is the ideal place to explore some of the prettiest countryside in Australia with kids, venture into the famed Snowy Mountains, view some native wildlife, swim in the Murray River in the summer and ski or snowboard with kids in the winter.

Best Family Holidays in Australia: Coffs Harbour Insider

Rose Jacobs wears many hats including being the travel expert on FOXTEL’s The Lifestyle Channel, mother to Isabella (3) and Frenchie (1) and wife of TODAY weather presenter Steve Jacobs. She grew up in the Coffs Harbour area in eastern Australia and still loves the favoured local family holiday destination. From swimming in the Rosewood River to soaking up the sun on the stunning beaches, Rose tells suitcases&strollers why travel with kids in Coffs Harbour is absolutely perfect.

The Ultimate Barbie Experiences

If your little girls can’t get enough of the blonde bombshell that is Barbie, perhaps it’s time to embrace their love of hot pink and seek out these fantasy-like experiences. Whether it’s just an afternoon in a mall to dedicating an entire island holiday to Barbie, here are some of the most memorable kids holiday ideas for Barbie fans.

Bringing Food Into Australia

Australian quarantine laws seem bizarre and confusing to the rest of the world. They are extremely strict about bringing food into the country – including snacks, purees and milks for babies and kids. As laughable as these laws sound, the Aussies take them pretty seriously. Here are the suitcases&strollers travel tips for foods you can (and cannot) bring into Australia.

Profile: Australian Idol Winner Damien Leith

Australia Idol, winner of multiple ARIA award, television host and finalist on Dancing With The Stars Damien Leith travels nearly every other week interstate in Australia (he lives in Sydney) or overseas to the US. He has been almost everywhere in Europe, lived in Africa and boasts a huge list of countries visited including Hong Kong, Kenya, Spain, Nepal, Namibia, Singapore…the list goes on. Still, the travel bug hasn’t been satiated and he makes it a point to make sure Jarvis (8), Jagger (6) and Kikki (3) – his kids – will love travel too. Damien tells suitcases&strollers his travel tips for successful family holiday and how to survive long haul flights with kids.

Sydney Insider, With Wiggle Sam Moran

Former yellow Wiggle, Sam Moran, lives in Sydney, Australia with his wife and four-year-old daughter, Eloise. When he’s not recording catchy tunes to entertain kids all over the world, he’s enjoys riding his bike around his city with Eloise in tow. He gives suitcases&strollers his travel guide to a holiday with kids in Sydney.

Little Globetrotter: Sean Pizel

Sean Pizel (7) lives with his brothers Alex (10) and Joshua (5) in Singapore. The family travels multiple times a year and makes a particular effort to organise staycations where they rent a hotel on the island and all bunk in together for the weekend – a fun way to do a quick family holiday. He tells suitcases&strollers about travelling to places like Vietnam, Australia and Malaysia with kids…from a child’s perspective.

Family Beach Safety Tips, with Bondi Rescue

Lifeguard Dean “Deano” Gladstone has been associated with surf lifesaving since the age of 5 and a professional since 2000. On the hit television series Bondi Rescue and the beaches of Bondi in Sydney, Australia, the father of two (Lucy, 2, and Gus, 1 month) regularly saves lives and he loves helping people. He gives suitcases&strollers his tips for a safe day at the beach with kids.

The Permanent Travellers, Part 4

For some people, traveling with kids is not a family holiday; it is a way of life. In 2000 Pampa Zapp’s parents (Herman and Candelaria) started out on their dream to travel permanently around the globe. Pampa was born on their long journey between Argentina and Alaska. He is now 11 years old and has 3 younger siblings including his brother Tehue (8), born in Argentina. The family has traversed the world almost non-stop in their vintage Graham-Paige 1928 car from New Zealand to Asia, all over Australia and now in Zimbabwe, Africa on their way to Mozambique. Pampa and Tehue tell suitcases&strollers the best places to travel round the globe…from a kid’s perspective.

Little Globetrotter: Mia Cole

At the tender age of ten-years-old Mia Cole has travelled the world; she and her siblings Angus (7) and Annabel (3) currently live in Sydney, Australia, but the family has been all over Europe from England to Spain, France to Poland as well as Singapore and Hong Kong. Mia would love to go to the USA, she tells suitcases&strollers, if only those pesky customs queues weren’t so long. Here are her tips for how to travel with kids and have the perfect family holiday, from a child’s perspective.

The Permanent Travellers, Part 3

Herman Zapp and his wife Candelaria are fulfilling their lifelong dream to explore the world and have been travelling since 2000. Apart from a few months here and there, they have been on the road in their 7-seater Graham-Paige 1928 from Alaska to Argentina, all around Australia and around 13 countries in Asia. Their four children are truly global citizens and were born in the course of their parents’ travels – Pampa (11 in the USA), Tehue (8 in Argentina), Paloma (6 in Canada) and Wallaby (4 in Australia). Herman (currently in Zimbabwe) tells suitcases&strollers about the joys of permanently traveling with kids and why their life is so much more than just an extended family holiday.

Thank You From Christmas Island

Last year suitcases&strollers put out a call for help for the many families incarcerated on Christmas Island as asylum seekers by asking you to donate to not-for-profit organisation Books For New Arrivals. Your generous support was converted into quantities of English language books and dictionaries for the families – including women and children – detained on Christmas Island in Australia indefinitely waiting to be official approved (or not) as refugees. The books arrived…to overwhelming response.

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