Fun Adventures in Sydney's West

You can get your adrenaline pumping without leaving town. A trip to Western Sydney is all that's required if you want an indoor skydiving experience that's as exhilarating as the real thing or an Olympic-worthy whitewater rafting course. For outdoor thrills, there are mountain biking trails and bushwalking tracks aplenty.

Western Sydney isn’t short of adventurous activities. The area encompasses a large part of the city's outskirts, from Penrith in the north to Campbelltown in the south so the smart thing to do is pick an area and explore it thoroughly rather than do it all in a day, because it'll take you an hour just to get from Penrith to Camden.  

Young girl enjoying the action at TreeTops Adventure Park in Abbotsbury, Sydney West

Things to do in Sydney’s West

Penrith is bordered by the mountains and the Nepean River, giving you a range of options. Moutain-bike the Wylde MTB  trails, whoosh out of the water with Jetpack Adventures,  battle rapids at Penrith Whitewater Stadium or take part in other water activities including cable wakeboarding. Prefer to be airborne? There's indoor skydiving at iFly.

Nearby in Blacktown, launch yourself on one of 30 giant water rides at Raging Waters Sydney or indulge your need for speed at Sydney Motorsport Park. It includes four race circuits, the largest purpose-built, floodable skidplan and a separate figure eight. Abbotsbury, just 15 min away, will have kids covered with soaring zip-lines at TreeTop Adventure Park.

Sydney Olympic Park is between Penrith and Camden. Bring your bicycle and explore Western Sydney Parklands and Bicentennial Park or indulge in childhood Robin Hood fantasies or channel your inner Katniss and sign up to test your aim at the Archery Centre, which also offers laser tag and laser clay pigeon shooting.

Couple enjoying a white water rafting experience at Penrith Whitewater Stadium in Sydney's west.

Head south to Camden where you can enjoy tandem flights in vintage aircraft and sailplanes. The Macarthur district is also home to Thirlmere Lakes National Park where you can go canoeing. The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, the nation’s biggest botanic garden, has more than 20km of mountain bike trails.

The exhilarating 10B cycling trail can be found at the Appin entrance to the magnificent Dharawal National Park. This 15km one-way route on an unsealed road winds through forest along a sandstone ridge. Or join an Aboriginal-guided walking tour of Dharawal and learn about the park’s indigenous heritage.

Man enjoying an indoor skydiving experience with iFLY Downunder, Penrith

Eat and drink in Sydney’s West

Penrith's food scene keeps getting better and better. You have fantastic cafes including High St Depot, Henri Marc and The Brew Lab Café or fine-dining trained chefs dishing up burgers at Burger-Head. Sydney Olympic Park has a range of wonderful restaurants in the precinct. In Campbelltown, make a beeline for Kyubi Modern Asian Dining.

Getting to Sydney’s West  

Public transport will get you from Sydney's CBD to Western Sydney. From Central Station, it will take about an hour to get to Penrith or Campbelltown and about 40 minutes to Sydney Olympic Park. Driving to each destination will take about the same time.