About Tamworth

"…it would be impossible to find a finer or more luxuriant country... no place can afford more advantages to the industrious settler".
John Oxley 1818

Talk about Tamworth these days and you’ll probably immediately think of music.  Tamworth is Australia’s Country Music Capital and the centre of the universe in January for the Tamworth Country Music Festival attracting over 50,000 visitors from all over the world; about 800 artists make up 2500 acts in 120 different venues.
 
Tamworth is a vibrant, friendly and fuss free city.  It is the hub of a regional council of about 55,000 people who live in the city or in the towns of Barraba, Manilla Bendemeer or Nundle.  The Tamworth Regional area is about three times the size of Sydney basin or about the same as Lake Eyre.
 
Tamworth is a beautiful, vibrant and prosperous regional city of approximately 500km north of Sydney and 600km south of Brisbane; the city covers 184 sq km and is home to nearly 36,000 people.   Tamworth is the "capital city" of the New England North West region of NSW, serving around 178,000 people.  The retail industry is one of the larger employers and the range of products and services available compares more than favorably with cities.  There is so much fresh produce supplied by local growers, from market gardeners and hydroponic farms to specialty foods based on fish, berries, wine, and olives - you name it - we grow it!

Outdoors there’s wide open spaces, with some steep slopes coming off the New England Ranges of the Great Dividing Range about 30km north, the fertile floodplains of the Peel and Cockburn Rivers and undulating land to the west.  Indoors Tamworth offers cultural activities with art galleries, a Conservatorium of Music, museums and libraries. There are more than 60 places to stay, from five star hotels to apartments, units, bed and breakfasts, farm stays, and caravan parks and camping grounds. In education we’re top class – with 35 schools and Open Learning, TAFE and university campuses.

Nundle is located 45 minutes east of Tamworth.  The drive will take you past rich farming lands, picturesque picnic spots and some of the best fishing in NSW.  Nundle, Woolomin and Hanging Rock are true country, visit Chaffey Dam outside Woolomin, and head to Nundle for a visit to one of the oldest working woollen mills and onto Hanging Rock.

Bendemeer is situated 42Km to the north of Tamworth at the junction of the New England and Oxley Highways and hugs the banks of the trout-infested McDonald River in the Moombi Ranges. Bendemeer is a convenient stop-over on the inland journey from Sydney to Brisbane. The Bendemeer area is also famed for its fine wool, fat lambs and prime beef. Swimming holes on the McDonald provide refreshing relief from the summer heat.

Manilla is an historic country town at the junction of the Manilla and Namoi rivers. It is situated 44 km north of Tamworth on the Fossickers Way and 456 km north of Sydney. Manilla has a population of 2110 people and is 363 m above sea-level on the North-West Slopes of NSW. It lies between two magnificent lakes – Lake Keepit to the southwest and Split Rock Dam to the north.

Barraba, 90Km`s north of Tamworth, in Northern NSW along the FOSSICKERS WAY is situated on the Manilla River, in the heart of the Nandewar Ranges. The 1510 metre high Extinct Volcano, Mount Kaputar lies to the west, the Geological and  Fossicking area of the Peel Fault to the east,

Tamworth’s in north west NSW, at the junction of the New England and Oxley highways, an easy five hour drive from Sydney and six from Brisbane. We’re ideally situated on the main inland track from Victoria to Queensland. There are five daily return flights between Sydney and Tamworth and Brisbane, with daily train and bus services.  
 
Visitors to this region all year round, not only soak up the music atmosphere, but with landscapes that cover 9,653.25 square kilometres from the Nandewar Range north of Barraba south east to Peel and Great Dividing Ranges Tamworth Region is one of the most progressive and exciting places in inland Australia, combining country living with city style, history, sport and culture.