
Visit Historic Village Herberton

Set on 16 acres, the Historic Village Herberton is a tin mining town with shops, pub, bank, chemist, grocer, printer, and garage. There are more than 50 restored period buildings making this outdoor museum the most significant in Queensland. Plan to spend the day and take your time taking in thousands of genuine antiques, Australian collectibles, vintage machinery and vehicles, and more. Working exhibits are brought to life during school holidays and on some weekends. The Historic Village Herberton is a 90-minute drive from Cairns and there is plenty of free parking on-site, including space for RVs and caravans.
Here’s what you’ve said about us…
- Spent most of the day wandering around, so much to see. Nice to see all the personal collections in one place, nice job.read moreread lessTerry Killam05/05/25Great day out with interesting history. Give yourself the full day to get through everything!read moreread lessShane Alderton04/05/25
- This is an absolutely amazing place steeped in history. Everyone is so warm and welcoming . Well worth a visit. We will be backread moreread lessSuzanne Milhinch08/04/25Herberton Historic Village exceeded all expectations. The attention to detail in the preservation and presentation of the buildings, tools, machinery, and everyday artifacts is outstanding. It’s not just a collection of old stuff – it genuinely feels like stepping back in time. Staff were passionate and knowledgeable, happy to share stories and answer questions. The blacksmith demonstration was a highlight, as was the old schoolhouse and printing press. You can easily spend several hours here, and still feel like you’ve only scratched the surface. Loved the layout – it’s spacious, well-organised, and easy to navigate. Great signage, and lots of hands-on displays. You can really see the effort and care that’s gone into keeping this history alive. The café onsite was also great – friendly service and good ice-cream to cool us down, which was a nice bonus after a few hours exploring. If you’re even remotely interested in Aussie history or just want a meaningful day out, this place is a must. Worth every cent of the entry fee. Highly recommend.read moreread lessMichael Stamos04/04/25Amazing place to see our history and the way our ancestors lived and made Australia. Beautifully preserved and presented, go get yourself an amazing thick shake and chicken Cesar salad yum O. Staff members were so welcoming and informative. A must see if you are ever here, allow a full day, we went back for a second day, which was great because you noticed things you might have missed on the first day. So much memorabilia to see. Best of all for us was it being dog friendly. Our dogs and our son loved it too. Thanks again.read moreread lessThe Wanderer21/03/25
- 5☆ what a wonderful meander through these impressive grounds. everything about this place is nostalgic of a time without internet and globalisation. we had a superb treat on the Wild River banks - camp-oven Billy Tea, beef stew and fruit cake. A Must Do!read moreread lessNyree Bolton15/03/25Freaking AWESOME! Just amazing! Wow, well done to the guys who had tremendous forsight and money to set this place up. One of the best places in Australia. Just fantastic. Thus is not a kids playground but there is an area for them to play. It is quite simply one of the best museums/private owned establishments with so much historic content that I am in awe of their generosity for generations to come. So very, very well done to not only the founders but the people who maintain the village. This is a the most solid 10 out of 10 ever. P.s. to experience the truely vast village spend the WHOLE day there. We didnt and went back the next day wishing we had allocated a whole day to the experience. The farm machinery is just fantastic.read moreread lessgeoff edwards15/02/25
- Was one of the best moments of a tragic 2024. Didn't have enough Wow's it was that good. Highly recommended please don't go past the camp oven lunch. The couple that run it were warm and infectious and served the best cornered brisket on fresh damper and brewed tea i have ever had. We definitely are going back again. Allow yourself an extra day or 2 to soak up the history of the village. Absolutely incredible . My son is a hard man to please so when he came and told me about it I thought it must be alright... he wasn't wrong. Well worth it.read moreread lessLola Lyons-Thomas04/01/25What a brilliant showcase of history. I’ve been to a few of this type of historical village in Aus - most notably Old Tailem Town in SA near my home is pretty cool, but it has nothing on Herberton! Such a huge range of items on display, and I love that many of the exhibits are still running to this day - I walked into the garage at the right time whilst they were starting many of the vehicles in there, various machinery still running. It’s also reasonably immersive and interactive - most of these places take a hard line approach to not touch ANYTHING (understandably), but Herberton allows you to (respectfully and carefully) handle and try many articles, photo opportunities in vehicles and on carts, on a vintage rocking horse etc. Give yourself a good couple of hours to wander around (more if you have other people in tow). I recommend taking the scenic route via Gordonvale and with a stop at Lake Eacham if you’re driving and it’s a nice day too - that was beautiful!read moreread lessJason Stewart04/01/25Wow, just wow is what I say to this place. It is truly like stepping back in time. The village is set up as a real town, with each shop being host to its own museum of treasures. E.g. the Newspaper Store is complete with an antique printing press, and the Radio Store houses an impressive collection of transistors that date back to the early days of radio. Then there's a school, butchers, chemist, gaol, camera store, toy store.. just to name a few, with each building being an authentic experience which makes you feel like you're there. Then we also enjoyed fresh damper and Billy tea near the working sawmill display. Also a mention is needed to the huge number of vintage/antique cars, trucks and horse wagons. I could keep showering on the praise because I feel this place totally deserves it. Check it out, and give yourself a MINIMUM of 3 Hours!!!read moreread lessLuke Vitali02/01/25
- It's always a great place to visit. Take water with you. The exhibits are always well maintained, and there are new displays each time we have been. We have visited 3 times and seen something new each time. The reception staff and exhibit staff are friendly and knowledgeable. We will be going againread moreread lessGraham & Gayle Mitchell25/12/24Perfect historic place to visit. You can see cars, machines, equipments and tools which were used centuries ago. Some of the car engines are still working . Amazing place and must visit if you are visiting Cairns. Never miss the steam engine train as well.read moreread lessrajarun0921/12/24
- Incredible museum full of history and hands on experiences. It really is extremely well thought out; each "building" has it's own special exhibit, to include the schoolhouse, a "toy shop", a hospital/war memorabilia, and fully refurbished John Deere tractors. The staff take time to talk to you during the exhibits (we watched the blacksmithing) and you can tell a lot of effort has gone into making this a top-notch slice of Queensland history. The ticket price may seem expensive for a history museum but it is well worth it once you walk the 16 acre park. Definitely a recommended activity!read moreread lessSarah Mancebo28/11/24Si vous passez par Herberton, ne manquez pas ce très joli musée rural chargé d’histoire, profitez de discuter avec les personnes sur place, de visitez ces vieilles maisons complètement refaite, prenez le temps de boire un café au bar. Comptez 2 heures au minimum (nous en avons passé 3 h)… Une jolie histoire minière et un musée très bien aménagéread moreread lessTibor Imrei11/11/24Schön zusammengestellte Anlage. Liebevoll präsentiert. Viele Live-Vorführungen und Funktionsobjekte. Sind mehr zufällig auf die Ausstellung gestoßen und hätten sicherlich mehr als einen halben Tag hier verbringen können. Einen Nachteil gibt es allerdings, Herberton legt die Messlatte derart hoch, dass andere, sicherlich auch schöne Ausstellungen, dagegen stark abfallen.read moreread lessHeinz Michael11/11/24
- What an awesome place, if you haven't been just go,it's history you can view in perfect detail perfectly preserved ,amazing interesting and worth every centread moreread lessDan Parry10/11/24Took my young kids here, they loved it so much and the staff were informative and friendly. So much to see, you can either enjoy a family picnic or eat at the Cafe. The kids loved the playground area. We would definitely go back again. Highly recommendedread moreread lessMelissa Louden01/11/24
- Anita G11/10/24I'll be coming back to enjoy another day here... very informative about our history. The staff are fantastic people.read moreread lessAlan Blood05/10/24Beautifully restored and presented shops. Beautiful grounds. Very interesting. Blacksmith demonstration was greatread moreread lessKaren Sparrow16/09/24Historic Village Herberton is well worth the drive and the entry fee! A true testament to what time, dedication, belief and plenty of hard work can achieve, HVH is an amazing journey into the township's past. You will discover many slices of early Australian life, including the classroom, barber, dentist, policing, military/war, agriculture, automotive, mining, and so much more! There's a treasure trove of amazing artefacts, laid out across 16 acres of property. We wandered around, both learning and reminiscing, for close to three hours. The time flew and we genuinely enjoyed ourselves. I highly recommend HVH to both young and old; there's so much to see and do, and it's great value for money. On an aside, there are also on-site options for meals and drinks, if required. 5 stars all the way!read moreread lessSerge V11/09/24
- This is a gem of a place to visit. It is most definitely a day tour even though your ticket gives you a 3 day pass to come back and finish tour. I highly recommend a visit in history.read moreread lessShauna Wilson26/08/24