Top Things to do in Bairnsdale
What to do and see in Bairnsdale, Australia: The Best Places and Tips
Discover the best top things to do in Bairnsdale, Australia including St Mary's Catholic Church, Bairnsdale Archery, Mini Golf and Games Park, East Gippsland Rail Trail, East Gippsland All Abilities Playground, Anderson Inlet, Krowathunkooloong Keeping Place, Howitt Park Playground, Mitchell river walk, East Gippsland Art Gallery.
Restaurants in Bairnsdale
1. St Mary's Catholic Church
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 168 reviews
2. Bairnsdale Archery, Mini Golf and Games Park
Overall Ratings
4 based on 23 reviews
We are an amusement park with a sporting edge and since with a range of attractions. These include: Archery, Mini Golf, Laser Tag, Combat Archery, Hoverball, Golf Driving Range, Bungee Trampoline, Batting Cage, Go Karts, Merry-go-round, Space Ball, Jumping Castle, Skittles, Sand Art, Swimming Pool, Sumo Wrestling, Virtual Reality, Karaoke and Novelty Games. The park provides unique access to activities that generally aren't accessible to the public without being part of a club or paying high prices for specialist venues. The attractions hosted by the park are spread over 13 acres of landscaped grounds and Gardens which include a pool, shop/cafeteria, playground, sand pit, picnic areas, BBQ’s and all-access toilet facilities. Guests of the park are able to be self-catering or purchase from a range of food from the shop cafeteria. The park is open 7 days a week from 9.30am to 5.00pm. Entry to the park is free with affordable pay-as-you-go prices or excellent value package options for all attractions. The Park is ideally located on the Princes Highway, the main thoroughfare between Bairnsdale and Lakes Entrance, 4km east of the Bairnsdale Township, the main gateway to East Gippsland. The park has stood the “test of time” from the humble small beginnings of a family-run Archery and Mini Golf attraction to the unique multi-activity tourist attraction it is today through original vision, name and nature.THERE'S NOWHERE LIKE IT
Reviewed By Allbreeds - Halifax, United Kingdom
Make sure you check out the packages otherwise it costs you a lot more. Very little here for young children under 5 which is a shame? Archery was good , go karts were ok but a bigger track is needed. Parts of the park is looking a bit tired now but the grandchildren aged from 14 weeks to 14 years managed to spend about 3 hours there before they'd had enough
3. East Gippsland Rail Trail
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 43 reviews
Experience the diversity of East Gippsland as this well maintained rail trail weaves over 100km past undulating farmland, tall Forests, creeks, rivers and flood plains. Cross the historic timber railway Bridges and enjoys views of the Gippsland Lakes before arriving at Orbost and the Snowy River.
Reviewed By NorrieCarol912 - Brisbane, Australia
I really liked this trail even though its a bit rougher than some of the other Victorian trails. Many of the sections (eg Bruthen to Nowa Nowa) are well away from roads and are in the middle of Forests, so they have a natural feel. My favourite was Nicholson to Bruthen - good track surface, varied scenery of forest, river valley and farms. The section from Nowa Nowa to Orbost was my least favourite - scenery was fine but the track surface and lack of maintenance made it a long day there and back.
The iconic wooden trestle Bridges are spectacular - just a shame that they are closed to riders. Picnic tables and toilets are sporadic and not evenly spaced, but they are marked on the excellent trail map so its a good idea to plan ahead.
Also worth taking the side trips which are excellent - I tried the Gippsland Lakes discovery trail, Mitchell River ride at Bainsdale, Nowa Nowa waterways, Boggy creek gorge - but there are many more including mountain bike parks.
Most days, I was riding in perfect weather but there were hardly any other riders, which was great for me but not so good for the local economy!
4. East Gippsland All Abilities Playground
Overall Ratings
5 based on 12 reviews
Reviewed By Susan G - Bairnsdale, Australia
I took my grandchildren here on the school holidays. The playground is well maintained and fully fenced with great facilities. There are bbq’s and tables with undercover Seating for family picnics, toilets and shade areas for the kids. I would definitely recommend it if you kids need to stretch their legs when passing through Bairnsdale.
5. Anderson Inlet
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 23 reviews
Reviewed By Crystalline4u - Traralgon, Australia
Breathe in... breathe out .... it's perfect ... the day was sunny, a slight breeze.... the azure water contrasted and yet blended, with the beautiful sky. You can lose yourself looking out across Anderson Inlet... it's breathtakingly beautiful. And if you watch the water dance, you will notice the differences in it's surface ... as though a spell is being cast beneath that surface.
6. Krowathunkooloong Keeping Place
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 13 reviews
Reviewed By Rob S - Welt
The Keeping place has a nice little exhibition about the Australian indigenous people in the Gippsland area. It's a must-do for everyone interested and/or willing to learn about the early days before the Europeans came until recently with lots of exhibits from their everyday life. Staff is very friendly and helpful, explaining if you want to learn more than is on display.
7. Howitt Park Playground
Overall Ratings
4 based on 9 reviews
Reviewed By MeMock - Australia
Was driving through Bairnsdale and the kids were asking the 'how much further now Dad? How much more to go?" questions when bam! Right in front of us we saw this huge yellow slide. Pulled over and had a great 45 minute break here. The kids loved it.
Huge slide, flying fox and other smaller things. My kids are aged 5/9/11 and all enjoyed it.
Porta loos are on site and beware of the mozzies.
8. Mitchell river walk
Overall Ratings
4 based on 8 reviews
9. East Gippsland Art Gallery
Overall Ratings
4 based on 2 reviews
Reviewed By Boxing_Kangaroo - Melbourne, Australia
The East Gippsland Art Gallery, established in 1992, is a vibrant little gallery located in the heart of Bairnsdale. Housed in a historic building beside the stunning Bairnsdale Court House (opposite the Coles carpark), it chiefly features rotating Exhibitions focussing on the work of local artists in two main gallery spaces. The artists featured are not solely those from Bairnsdale, but come from throughout East Gippsland. As the Exhibitions seem to cycle through on a fairly regular basis, often as little as a month, return visits are rewarded.
Most of the artworks displayed in the Exhibitions are also available for sale, and while the main works exhibited are typically paintings, sketches, etc, it is not unusual to get a range of other types of artwork as well. There is also a small gift shop offering a variety of artworks and other knick-knacks from local artists for sale. Entry to the gallery is free, and pleasantly you do not really feel any pressure to be obliged to buy anything as can sometimes be the case in places like this. Staff I have encountered have been friendly and informative. The gallery space is not big and in most cases you could comfortably look through it in around half-an-hour.
Not too much to complain about here. As mentioned it is fairly small, but it now pretty much fills the century-and-a-half-old former Council Chambers building, so without major work on an historic building it is unlikely to expand any time soon. My main issue is the opening hours, particularly on the weekend. The Bairnsdale area is sadly in need of some of these types of cultural attractions to help give visitors a reason to come and spend a weekend, and to return again, but a majority of them seem to have very restricted weekend access. The gallery here for example is only open for a few hours early on Saturday and not at all on Sunday. Personally I would forgo a day open during the week to get some more weekend opening hours. Nonetheless, if you can get here during the opening hours, it's well worth dropping by for a look.
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