Get up close to koalas and pythons, gaze in awe at big crocs, and watch funnel-web spiders being milked (for the production of antivenom) and a Galapagos tortoise being fed. There are wonderful tours for kids. It's signposted off the M1 Pacific Motorway, or you could get a cab from Gosford Station.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Brisbane Water National Park

3.98 MILES

Bordering the Hawkesbury River, 9km southwest of Gosford, this park, despite its name, is mostly sandstone outcrops and forest, with only a short Brisbane…

2. Pearl Beach

8.61 MILES

This secluded beach is perhaps the Central Coast's most beautiful; a seductive curve of sand lapped by gentle waves with a lovely outlook across the bay…

3. Bouddi National Park

10.16 MILES

At this spectacular park, short walking trails lead to isolated beaches and dramatic lookouts from where you can experience the annual whale migration…

4. West Head

11.11 MILES

This central section of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a spectacular wilderness, with awe-inspiring vistas over Pittwater and Broken Bay, hidden beach…

5. Barrenjoey Lighthouse

11.43 MILES

This historic sandstone lighthouse (1881) sits at the northern tip of the Northern Beaches in an annexe of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. You've got two…

6. Currawong Beach

12.19 MILES

You will have to take the ferry at Palm Beach to reach this sheltered, carless beach suburb on the shores of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. There…

7. Palm Beach

12.22 MILES

Long, lovely Palm Beach is a crescent of bliss that's famous as the setting for cheesy TV soap Home and Away. The 1881 Barrenjoey Lighthouse punctuates…

8. Whale Beach

13.57 MILES

Sleepy Whale Beach, 3km south of Palm Beach, is well worth seeking out – a paradisiacal slice of deep, orange-tinted sand backed by pines and flanked by…