Family-Friendly Wineries in the Hunter Valley With Playgrounds

The Hunter Valley has more cellar doors than anywhere else in New South Wales, and most of them will happily seat you with children. Very few give the children anything to do. Kids welcome usually means a lawn and a firm hope. Four venues do better, and all four say so in their own words rather than leaving a directory to claim it for them. One practical thing before you plan anything: three of the four open on limited days, and only one is open all week.

The Short Version

• Only The Valley Brewhouse at Nulkaba is open seven days, so it is the one to lean on.
• Tranquil Vale Vineyard at Luskintyre has the most equipment, and the fewest crowds.
• Whispering Brook at Broke and Elbourne Wines at Pokolbin both pour on limited days, so build the trip around them.

They are spread across the valley rather than clustered, which is a good thing with children in the car: the drives are short and each stop feels like a change of scene. Take them in the order below and the day builds itself.

All 4 are in the free Jedhi app. Mapped, and you can filter for Playground anywhere in the country, so the next one takes a tap rather than 4 websites. Free on iPhone and Android.

1) The Valley Brewhouse (Nulkaba), the one that is always open

Why it works:

• Open seven days, which none of the other three manage
• Their own words: bring your mates, your kids and your dog to enjoy the vast open spaces of our huge venue and outdoor lawn area featuring our new kids playground
• Dogs are welcome as well as children, which is rare in one venue
• It sits on Wine Country Drive at Nulkaba, so it is the first or last stop without a detour

This is a brewery rather than a winery, and that is part of why it works. Brewery venues are built around long tables and open ground, which is exactly the shape a play area needs. The playground is new, out on the lawn, and in view of where you will be sitting. There is a bistro too, open seven days.

If you are arriving on a Sunday or a Monday, when most of the Hunter smaller cellar doors are shut, this is the one that will be open.

2) Tranquil Vale Vineyard (Luskintyre), the most equipment in the valley

Luskintyre sits on the Hunter River west of Maitland, about half an hour from the cellar door strip most people picture. That distance is the point. It is quiet, the view is open, and the play area is the most complete of the four. Their own facilities list reads: outdoor children's playground with cubby house, swings and slide.

Open Friday to Sunday and all public holidays, with weekdays by appointment. It is the one to start with if you have more than one child, or a child who needs twenty minutes of running before anyone can enjoy anything.

3) Whispering Brook (Broke), a cubby house just outside the door

Broke is the far western end of the Hunter and stays quiet even when Pokolbin is heaving. Whispering Brook is a small operation with olive groves as well as vines, and the cellar door is the sort you can actually talk to somebody in.

Their own words: a fantastic cubby house is located just outside to keep children busy. Just outside is the useful part. You can see it from where you are sitting.

Open Thursday to Saturday, 10.30am to 5pm, so it is the only one of the four you can reach on a Thursday.

4) Elbourne Wines (Pokolbin), a large play area in the middle of everything

Elbourne is on Marrowbone Road at Pokolbin, which means it fits into a day built around the better known names without a detour. They put it plainly: we have a large kids play area so your little ones will be entertained too.

The catch is the days. Their tastings run Friday and Saturday only, so Elbourne is a fixed point rather than something you squeeze in.

If None of These Suit

Plenty of Hunter venues are genuinely good with children and have nothing to play on. Two Rivers at Denman offers outdoor lawn games. Talits Estate at Fordwich has outdoor games and petanque. Lawn games are fine, they are just not a playground, and we would rather say so than pad the list.

Two more get named as child friendly in regional roundups and say nothing about play equipment themselves: Moorebank Vineyard, credited with a swing set, and Comyns & Co., with an indoor kids corner. Both claims trace back to a blog run by another cellar door in the same valley. We have left both off rather than send you on somebody else's word.

The Cheat Code: How to Plan the Perfect Hunter Valley Day With Kids

The day depends entirely on which day it is, because only one of these four opens every day. On a Friday or a Saturday you can have all four: start at Tranquil Vale while everyone still has energy to burn, cross to Broke for the middle of the day when Pokolbin is busiest, then finish at Elbourne. The Valley Brewhouse is on your way in and out either way.

Do this:

• Go on a Friday rather than a Saturday, because Saturday is when the buses run
• Put the playground stop in the middle of the day, not at the start
• Build around Elbourne if you want all four, since Friday and Saturday are its only days

Watch for:

• Sunday and Monday, when only The Valley Brewhouse and Tranquil Vale are open
• Tuesday and Wednesday, when only The Valley Brewhouse is open
• Thursday, when it is The Valley Brewhouse and Whispering Brook
• Harvest and event weekends, when the space a play area sits in can become a marquee

Every venue here is on the map in the Jedhi app, along with the rest of the Hunter Valley, so you can see what is open before you drive rather than after you arrive.

More in this series: Margaret River wineries with playgrounds, Swan Valley wineries with playgrounds and Wineries with playgrounds in Australia.

Want to stay the night? See Hunter Valley Wineries Where You Can Stay the Night.