Best places to see wombats near Sydney
Taralga Wildlife Park
Taralga Wildlife Park offers tickets at $22.50 for adults and $18 for students. Wombats come out at 11:30 AM, 12:30 PM, and 2:10 PM, allowing visitors to cuddle, pet, and take photos with them. The farm is small and also features sheep, ponies, alpacas, and other animals. It is about a three-hour drive from Sydney, and some sections of the road have no signal, so downloading offline maps in advance is recommended.
Kangaroo Valley (Bendeela Recreation Area)
Kangaroo Valley (Bendeela Recreation Area) is free to enter and allows close encounters with wombats and kangaroos around sunset. The animals are wild, so they may be shy and should not be approached directly. The area also offers free camping with options for campervans or tents, where kangaroos may wander close to your campsite.
Featherdale Wildlife Park
Featherdale Wildlife Park is the closest option to Sydney and can be reached by train. Tickets are $42, and the park features wombats, kangaroos, penguins, koalas, and quokkas. Visitors can book a 20-minute close-up encounter with a wombat or quokka for an additional $150, but reservations are required in advance.
Which one is the best?
If you are looking for close up wombat encounters near Sydney, Taralga Wildlife Park might be the best option. This is one of the few places where you can cuddle a wombat. Although it’s a three-hour drive from Sydney, you can easily make a day trip or even extend your journey by driving another hour to Canberra for an overnight stay.
The last wombat cuddling session at Taralga Wildlife Park is at 2 PM (there’s another session at 12 PM). If you’re planning to cuddle a wombat, be sure to leave early to make it on time.
We headed to Taralga Wildlife Park, the perfect place to cuddle wombats! Remember to bring your student ID for a discount. The park feels like a farm and is home to various animals, including alpacas, donkeys, camels, peacocks, kangaroos, and a variety of birds. Guests can grab free feed cones from the front desk to hand-feed the animals, who are friendly and love a good pet. During the designated session times, staff will bring out wombats for everyone to cuddle and take photos with. I got to hold both a big and a small wombat, they’re surprisingly heavy!