Family Activities
For Kids & Parents
The best family activities in Goolwa
The horse-drawn tram at Victor Harbor, steam trains at Goolwa, calm bays for swimming, farm animal experiences and playgrounds - the Fleurieu is a family holiday legend.
The Fleurieu Peninsula is a brilliant place to travel with children, with a stack of things to do that work for all ages and most weather. The classic family day out is at Victor Harbor: ride the heritage horse-drawn tram across the causeway to Granite Island, then hop aboard the Cockle Train, a historic steam-and-heritage railway that runs along the coast to Goolwa.
There's plenty more to keep kids busy. Think mini golf and foreshore playgrounds, the trout farm at Tooperang where you can catch your own, wildlife parks, and gentle, swimmable beaches up and down the Gulf St Vincent coast. Markets, farm gates and pick-your-own orchards turn a simple drive into an adventure, and the region's many short, flat walks and rail trails are easy going for little legs and prams.
Rainy days are well covered too, with museums, galleries, indoor play and family-friendly cafés in the larger towns. Most attractions are close together and easy to string into a single outing, and lots of beaches, walks and parks are free. For the most popular activities and the Cockle Train, check seasonal timetables and book ahead during school holidays.
Browse family activities by area
19 places
Bristow Smith Reserve
A riverside nature playground with a wooden boat
Goolwa's premier riverside park features an award-winning nature playspace built around a 10-metre restored wooden fishing boat, right on the Murray River with BBQs, shelters and a shallow swimming beach.
Canoe the Coorong
Kayak tours into the Coorong wetlands
Guided kayak tours from Hindmarsh Island into the Coorong National Park - a Ramsar-listed wetland system of lagoons, sand dunes and waterbirds.
Currency Creek Township
A historic township once considered by William Light as the capital of South Australia, with a Lions Park picnic area beside the spring-fed creek and an 1913 Institute building.
Fleurieu E-Bike Hire
Electric bike rental along the 31km Encounter Bikeway with pickup at Goolwa, Middleton or Port Elliot - self-guided coastal cycling.
Goolwa Beach
Eighteen kilometres of open Southern Ocean sand
Goolwa Beach is the southern end of an 18-kilometre stretch of wave-pounded Southern Ocean sand running all the way to the Murray Mouth, with a patrolled swimming area and a legendary (and legal) 4WD beach drive.
Goolwa Beach Dune Boardwalk
A 170 m timber boardwalk over the Goolwa dunes to a lookout with panoramas of Sir Richard Peninsula, the Hindmarsh Island Bridge and the Coorong.
Goolwa Wharf Precinct
A State Heritage Area covering 19 historic sites along the Goolwa wharf - paddle steamer, railway, goods sheds, hotels and Little Scotland - the best-preserved 19th-century river port in Australia.
Goolwa Wharf Rotary Market
Riverside market on the Goolwa Wharf
A community market on the Goolwa Wharf with over 80 stalls of fresh produce, crafts, food and music - held on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month.
Kingosurfing
A Goolwa-based surf school running lessons across the Fleurieu - Goolwa Beach, Middleton, Port Elliot and Victor Harbor - run by experienced surf coach Kingo with private and group options year-round.
Kool Tours (Mark Koolmatrie)
Hall-of-Fame Ngarrindjeri cultural tours led by elder Mark Koolmatrie - Coorong cruises, dune walks, smoke ceremonies and Nurrunderi Creation Story storytelling.
Narnu Aboriginal Cultural Tours
Family-friendly Aboriginal walking tours from Narnu Farm covering bush food, traditional tools and Ngarrindjeri culture along the Coorong fringe.
Narnu Farm
A heritage Hindmarsh Island farm with twice-daily animal feeding (deer, pigs, emu, lambs, chicks), a nature playspace, sports arena and farm-stay cottages.
PS Oscar W
$$A 1908 wood-fired paddle steamer still steaming
One of only a handful of original Murray River paddle steamers still in regular operation, the wood-fired PS Oscar W offers one-hour heritage cruises from Goolwa Wharf on weekends.
Signal Point Gallery
Contemporary gallery on the Goolwa Wharf
A contemporary and touring exhibition gallery housed in a landmark building on the Goolwa Wharf, looking out over the Murray River.
Spirit of the Coorong Cruises
Daily 2, 3.5 and 6-hour cruises from Goolwa Wharf through the barrage and into the Coorong - the only operator running scheduled cruises through the Murray Mouth.
SteamRanger Cockle Train
$Heritage steam trains along the coast since 1887
The historic Cockle Train follows the coast from Goolwa to Victor Harbor on tracks laid in 1887, run by SteamRanger Heritage Railway.
The Sanctuary Forest Bathing Yundi
Guided forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku) sessions in pristine riverine bush at Yundi - less than an hour from Adelaide.
Tooperang Observing Site
A dark-sky astronomy site run by the Astronomical Society of South Australia, with public observing nights in the rural Tooperang hamlet.
Yundi Cultural Walk
A guided walk with a Ngarrindjeri or Kaurna Tribal Elder through Yundi bushland, with a meal of local produce afterward.