Things to do with kids in Launceston & Northern Tasmania

First Basin has an outdoor pool, a children's playspace, picnic grounds and a café. The pool usually opens from November to March, with lifeguards daily in Tasmanian school holidays and 11am to 4pm on other weekends. The Gorge Scenic Chairlift takes 10 minutes each way, and children under 3 ride free.

A troop of Japanese macaques has lived in City Park since 1981, a gift from Launceston's sister city of Ikeda. The park also has a playground, barbecues, a duck pond and the John Hart Conservatory. It is an easy add-on to a city walk, about 600m from the centre.

The Museum at Inveresk is free and opens 10am to 4pm daily, with displays on the Tasmanian tiger, bugs and old blacksmith and signwriters' workshops. Prams can go everywhere, and there is a parenting room. The Launceston Planetarium, open since 1968, runs ticketed shows here from Tuesday to Sunday.

Penny Royal sits at the mouth of Cataract Gorge, on the edge of the city, and entry to the complex is free. You pay per adventure, from a 14-bridge cliff walk and zip lines to a gold and gemstone mine and a dark ride. Adventures run on weekends all year, and every day in school holidays and summer.

Guided tours of this working seahorse farm end with a chance to hold a seahorse in your hand. Tours take about 50 minutes and, from May to November, leave on the hour from 10am to 3pm. Seahorse World is 45 minutes' drive north of Launceston; one family ticket covers up to two adults and six kids.

This mining museum has 30 interactive displays where kids push buttons, pull levers, crawl through a tunnel and pan for hidden treasures. It also tells the story of the 2006 mine rescue. It opens 10am to 4pm daily with no booking needed; set aside 1 to 1.5 hours.

The 45-minute Underground Rivers and Glow Worms tour suits all ages. It runs daily at 10am, 12pm and 2pm, with a 4pm tour from October to April. Book by phone up to 14 days ahead, and leave the pram behind: the cave is 9 degrees, with stairs and narrow passages.

Tours at 11am, 1pm and 3pm come with entry: kids meet a wombat and a Tasmanian devil, then watch the devils feed. Kangaroos roam free across the sanctuary's 70 acres near Mole Creek. There's no café, so pack lunch; a family pass for two adults and two kids was $99 in October 2026.

From the upper car park, a 2km return track through tall, wet forest reaches the falls in about 45 minutes. Detour a few minutes to the Big Tree, a 50m stringybark more than 3m across. The reserve is about an hour from Launceston on steep gravel roads, has free gas barbecues and needs no parks pass.

Tasmania Zoo at Riverside is about 20 minutes from Launceston's CBD and opens 10am to 4pm daily. Its Jurassic Swamp walk has over 40 life-size dinosaurs, from a velociraptor to a tyrannosaurus rex, at no extra cost. A family pass for two adults and two kids is $125, and scooters and bikes must stay outside.