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Things to do and see

Taronga Western Plains Zoo

Taronga Western Plains Zoo

With over 300 hectares, the Western Plains Zoo is a must see while you are visiting Dubbo. It is home to hundreds of endangered animals and provides a sanctuary for black rhinos, meerkats, giraffes, elephants, zebras, lions and ring-tailed lemurs.With 5km of sealed road and plenty of walking trails, you can hire push bikes or electric carts, bring your own bike, walk, or drive your own car. Open 7 days a week. 

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Old Dubbo Gaol

Old Dubbo Gaol

  • Old Dubbo Gaol, Macquarie Street, Dubbo NSW, Australia
  • (02) 6801 4460

Built in 1847, the old gaol is a great place to spend an hour or two and learn about escape attempts, Nosey Bob and other colourful prison characters that spent some time here as “Guests of her Majesty’. The gaol is centrally located on Dubbo’s main street and offers a unique collection of 19th century buildings, artefacts and engaging stories of early prison life. Open 7 days a week. 

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Royal Flying Doctor Visitor Experience

Royal Flying Doctor Visitor Experience

This recently opened visitor centre at the airport is a must see while you are in Dubbo. Highly interactive with live operation control screens and augmented reality displays, the exhibition covers a broad range of topics including aviation, healthcare and communication. Touch down into the world of heroic doctors, nurses, pilots and outback communities. Open 7 days a week. 

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Dubbo Observatory

Dubbo Observatory

Explore the night sky and view planets, stars and galaxies with passionate Astronomer Peter Starr (yes that is his real name!) who was a former site manager of the Sliding Spring Observatory. Bring your DSLR camera and take astrophotographs, observe sunspots and solar prominences, and become an astronomer for a night. Open 7 nights a week, bookings are essential.

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Western Plains Cultural Centre

Western Plains Cultural Centre

Dubbo’s state-of-the-art cultural centre offers a museum, a gallery and an excellent alfresco café. Uncover the city’s history and see Australia’s largest and best preserved wool wagon, a carved tree of great significance to the local Wiradjuri people, and exhibitions and installations by local and visiting artists. FREE admission, open 7 days a week. 

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Regional Botanic Garden

Regional Botanic Garden

Explore four distinctive garden spaces. Most popular is the Japanese Shoyoen or ‘strolling’ garden which features authentic Japanese architecture and horticulture. The Biodiversity Garden showcases local native plants, the Sensory Garden is about smell, sight, sound, touch and taste. Oasis Valley exhibits dry rainforest species demonstrating how local bushland evolved from the cool forests of Gondwanaland. Open daily 9.30am - 4.00pm, free entry.

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Regional Adventure Playground

Regional Adventure Playground

Let your kids go wild at the Dubbo Adventure Playground and explore around 40 play elements. Soar on the flying fox, speed down the giant slide and fly high on the basket swing! With BBQs, toilets and accessible elements including a wheelchair friendly Liberty Swing, plus a senior’s fitness area this is the ultimate playground for all ages and abilities. Open daily 7.30am - 6.00pm, free entry. 

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Dundullimal Homestead

Dundullimal Homestead

A historic homestead of great historic significance and believed to be the oldest surviving slab house in Australia. Built in the early 1840s as the head station of a 6,500 hectare squatting run, the homestead and its sandstone stables, timber church, and shed are a living illustration of rural life on an isolated property, established before Dubbo existed as a settlement. Open Tuesday to Saturday 11am-3pm. 

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Wellington Caves

Wellington Caves

Come as a visitor and leave as a scientist! Daily guided tours explore the Cathedral and Gaden Caves with 15m tall crystal formations and intricate cave corals. Take a step back in time on the Phosphate and Fossil tour, explore a 100-year-old gold mine and uncover fossils from megafauna that roamed the earth eons ago. Café, discovery lab, fossil store and interactive displays on site. Open daily 9.00am – 4:30pm, bookings essential. 

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