Fill the school holidays with fun for the whole family in Sydney and across New South Wales this summer. From educational activities at leading cultural institutions to unforgettable road trips along the coast and adventures through country NSW, here’s some inspiration to help plan your journey.

Revel in Sydney’s summertime diversions

Feel your head spin with the variety of family entertainment options on offer in Sydney during school holidays. Immerse in a magical multimedia show, complete with colourful holograms, at Luna Park Sydney’s recently launched Dream Circus experience. Then emerge from the harbourside amusement park’s Immersive Big Top and step onto one of its signature rides for thrills of a more physical kind.

Give your budding performers and junior theatre buffs a taste of life in the creative arts with school-holiday classes and workshops at the Sydney Opera House. Encourage visual creativity with artmaking sessions in the Kids on deck maker space at the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour, before the whole family explores the museum’s interactive displays and clambers onto the ships docked in the harbour’s waters.

If your kids have expressed an interest in working with animals in the future, they’ll love Taronga Zoo Sydney’s Junior Keepers program – children aged 8 to 11 can join a Taronga Keeper behind the scenes as they go about their day caring for some of the zoo’s native animals.

Burn off energy while learning how to surf in a controlled environment in URBNSurf’s wave pool at Sydney Olympic Park, a 20-minute drive from central Sydney. Bring your bikes to explore Sydney Olympic Park’s massive Bicentennial Park, gaze down into an old quarry filled with frogs on the Brickpit Ring Walk, or survey the ship graveyard hidden in the mangroves from the park’s shipwreck viewing platform.

Watch your younger kids’ faces light up at the incredible Planet Mino indoor play centres in Chatswood and the Northern Beaches suburb of Warringah – each play centre has an array of sensory experiences, including role-play zones and interactive augmented-reality walls. Or enjoy the more down-to-earth sensory experience of milking a cow and riding a tractor at Calmsley Hill City Farm in Abbotsbury, Western Sydney.

Head to the mountains – and beyond

Go west on an epic road trip your family will be talking about long after school has started back again. Begin your western wanderings in the Blue Mountains, an hour’s drive from Sydney’s city centre, following walking trails to scenic outlooks throughout the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains National Park.

Notice how everyone falls silent in awe as you descend into rainforest on Scenic World’s Scenic Railway – the world’s steepest passenger train – or travel high above a bushland valley on the Scenic Skyway outside the main Blue Mountains town of Katoomba.

Venture into the expanses of the plains beyond the Blue Mountains, making your way to the historic town of Bathurst. Imagine you’re in a epic motor race, albeit at a much more sedate pace, on the public road that becomes the Mount Panorama racing circuit a few eventful times each year, before soaking in the lore of the racetrack at the National Motor Racing Museum.

Push on west, stopping for a gourmet lunch in the epicurean haven of Orange, on your way to Dubbo’s safari-style Taronga Western Plains Zoo, home to rare and endangered animals from the African, Asian and Australian continents.

Choose your own northern adventure

Make memories as the miles go by when you embark on a Legendary Pacific Coast road trip, following the Pacific Highway to the tourist hubs of Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay and Tweed Heads on the NSW North Coast.

Or stay closer to Sydney and enjoy a more sedate pace by holidaying on the Central Coast, seeking out aquatic adventures on Lake Macquarie, Australia’s largest coastal saltwater lake, and exploring the sea port of Newcastle, all within a two-hour drive north of Sydney.

Spend the day getting to know native Australian wildlife, from koalas and kangaroos to snakes and lizards, at Australian Reptile Park, on the Pacific Highway near the Central Coast town of Gosford. Slow down and attune to the beauty of the bush with Glenworth Valley Wilderness Adventures, also near Gosford, which offers horse riding, quad biking, kayaking and more in a heavenly wilderness setting.

Plunge into the waves at one of Newcastle’s surf beaches before checking out the military displays at the city’s Fort Scratchley Historical Site or swinging from ropes at Treetops Adventure Newcastle. Or venture north of Newcastle to Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary to meet wild koalas receiving treatment at the Port Stephens Koala Hospital.

Cruise down south for family fun

Take your pick of countless beaches lining the NSW South Coast to make your base for carefree summer days relaxing by the water. In between swims, head inland for unforgettable outdoor adventures and animal encounters.

Get up close to native Australian wildlife and exotic animals at Symbio Wildlife Park in Helensburgh, a 70-minute drive south of Sydney, before following the epic Grand Pacific Drive down the coastline.

Cool off with a dip in the waves at Austinmer Beach or Thirroul, stop in the beachside city of Wollongong for lunch, or drop in to see an amazing collection of heritage aircraft brought back to life by the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society at HARS Aviation Museum, a 20-minute drive south of Wollongong.

Make a splash on the water rides at the Jamberoo Action Park, around a 10-minute drive inland from HARS Aviation Museum, or push on to Kiama to check out the beach town’s famous blowhole.

Feast on experiences in the Riverina

See – and taste – for yourself why the Riverina is called the country’s food bowl when you cruise through the southwest NSW region’s seemingly endless farmland, passing countless citrus groves and fruit trees. Wow the finicky eaters as well as the foodies in your family as you stop in at charming country towns for a memorable meal or an indulgent snack, on your way to an immersive farm stay.

Connect your kids with the produce they usually only see in a supermarket by staying in a farmhouse at Catania Fruit Salad Farm outside of Griffith. And savour a punnet or two of the juicy strawberries you’ve just picked yourself at Bidgee Strawberries and Cream in Wagga Wagga, the Riverina’s largest town, before picking up home-made strawberry ice-cream and jam from the farmgate shop.

Inject a sense of unrestrained joy into the day by visiting Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory, a wonderland of confectionary housed in an old flour mill in Junee, around a 30-minute drive from Wagga Wagga. Take a guided tour of the licorice and chocolate factory and take pride in watching your kids make their own giant chocolate freckle, before or after a hearty lunch at the in-house Millroom café.