Looking for a group stay where there’s always something fun to do? Activities at Berrima Retreat are built for exactly that.

From pool days and outdoor games to pizza nights, fire pit evenings, table tennis, bikes, kayaks and animal feeding, this Southern Highlands property gives families, schools, teams and retreat groups plenty of ways to connect, without ever needing to leave the gate.

This guide walks through every onsite activity at Berrima Retreat, plus a few highlights nearby, so you can picture exactly what your group stay will look like before you book.

Whether you’re planning a school camp, a corporate retreat, a family reunion or a weekend with friends, you’ll find practical detail here to help you plan with confidence.

Why Activities Matter for Large Group Accommodation

When you’re booking group accommodation in NSW, the venue matters just as much as the location. A big house with nowhere to play leaves teenagers bored and adults scrambling for ideas by day two.

That’s the gap Berrima Retreat fills. The whole property is exclusive hire, which means it’s yours alone for the length of your stay, pool, games area, pizza ovens, fire pit and grounds included. No other guests arriving partway through, no shared timetables to negotiate around.

That’s also what makes a stay like this so useful for organisers. You’re not bussing everyone offsite every afternoon just to find something to do. The activities are already on the property, ready whenever your group wants them, whether that’s an early swim, a pizza night, or a game of table tennis once dinner’s done.

For school groups, corporate teams, sports clubs and big families, having everything onsite also makes the whole trip easier to run. Nobody’s splitting off to a different venue, and nobody’s driving back late from somewhere else.

Everyone stays on the one property, so group leaders can keep an eye on things without chasing people across town or coordinating transport between activities.

It cuts down the logistics side of things considerably, which usually means more energy left over for actually enjoying the stay, rather than spending it on planning and ferrying people around. For most groups, that’s the real difference between a venue that just provides a bed and one that’s genuinely built around a group stay.

Pool Days and Outdoor Games

The pool at Berrima Retreat is one of the most-used spaces on the property, especially over warmer months. It’s fully fenced for safety, with pool noodles, inflatable goals and water polo gear ready to go.

Around the pool, you’ll often find a casual game of pool volleyball happening on the lawn nearby. It’s an easy way to get a big group moving together, no matter the age range.

This is real accommodation with pool in the Southern Highlands, not just a small plunge pool tacked on as an afterthought. It’s sized for groups, so several guests can swim, float and play games at the same time.

For family accommodation with activities in NSW, the pool area tends to be the heart of the day. Kids cool off after morning bike rides, while parents relax on the poolside loungers nearby.

Quick tip: Pool season generally runs from spring through to early autumn in the Southern Highlands, so plan poolside activities for those months if swimming is a priority for your group.

Pizza Oven Nights for Easy Group Dining

Few things bring a big group together like a wood-fired pizza oven. At Berrima Retreat, guests can fire up the onsite ovens and build their own pizzas as a shared activity, rather than just another meal to organise.

This works particularly well for country retreat activities in NSW, where the goal is relaxed connection over structured entertainment. Everyone gets involved: rolling dough, choosing toppings, watching the oven do its work.

For school camps and corporate groups, pizza nights also simplify catering. Combined with the commercial kitchen onsite, group leaders can plan one big communal dinner without needing outside delivery or restaurant bookings.

It’s a low-stress, high-reward way to end a full day of swimming, bike riding and games, and it consistently ranks as a guest favourite at Berrima Retreat.

Fire Pit Evenings Under the Country Sky

There’s something about a fire pit that slows a group down. At Berrima Retreat, the fire pit area sits away from the main buildings, under wide, clear country sky.

As the sun goes down over the Southern Highlands, groups gather around the flames with marshmallows, blankets and conversation. It’s often the quietest, most memorable part of a stay, long after the pool and games have wound down for the day.

This is where the magic of a weekend group getaway with pool and games in NSW really shows itself. The day is full of activity, but the evening offers stillness. Stars overhead, gum trees in silhouette, and a group that’s spent the day together now winding down together too.

For corporate retreats, this is often where the best conversations happen, away from meeting rooms, screens and agendas. For families and school groups, it’s where stories get told and friendships deepen.

Local tip: Southern Highlands nights can get cool even in the warmer months, so pack a jacket or two for fire pit evenings, especially in autumn and winter.

Table Tennis, Pool Table and Covered Games Area

For rainy days or simply downtime between bigger activities, the covered games area at Berrima Retreat is a reliable favourite. It houses a full-size pool table and table tennis table, both protected from the weather.

This is exactly the kind of accommodation with a games room in NSW that organisers look for when planning multi-day stays. Activities here work for every age, with young kids on table tennis, teens and adults on the pool table, often running tournaments between groups.

Because the area is covered, it’s one of the few activities at Berrima Retreat that runs rain, hail or shine. Even on the coldest Southern Highlands mornings, the games area stays in use.

It’s also a great equaliser for mixed-age groups. Grandparents, parents and kids can all take a turn, making it ideal for family reunion accommodation with activities near Sydney.

Bikes, Kayaks and Activity Hut Equipment

The activity hut at Berrima Retreat is stocked with bikes, helmets and outdoor sports gear, ready for guests to grab and go. Tracks and open grounds around the property give groups space to ride, explore and burn off energy.

For groups interested in water activities, kayaks are available onsite for guest use on the property’s dam, weather and water levels permitting. It’s worth checking current conditions with the team ahead of your stay, since dam levels can vary with the season.

This combination makes Berrima Retreat genuine accommodation with kayaks and bikes in NSW. It is not a one-off novelty, but an ongoing option across your stay. Bikes in particular suit school camp groups and family stays where kids want freedom to explore safely within the property boundaries.

Helmets are supplied, and the activity hut is generally restocked between bookings, so equipment is ready to use as soon as your group settles in.

Quick fact: Berrima Retreat is less than 90 minutes from both Sydney and Canberra, which makes packing your own gear optional. Most groups simply use what’s already onsite.

Animal Feeding and Country Moments

For many guests, especially the younger ones, feeding the animals ends up being the highlight of the whole trip. Berrima Retreat is home to a small flock of sheep and a few gentle alpacas that graze across the grounds, and guests are welcome to feed them as part of their stay.

It’s a simple, genuine slice of country life. A bucket of feed, a few curious noses pushing closer, and kids learning, often for the first time, how to move slowly and speak softly around an animal that’s bigger than they are. There’s a particular kind of quiet that settles over a group during these moments.

The chatter dies down, shoulders relax, and even the most energetic kids tend to crouch low and go still, waiting to see if a sheep will come close enough to touch.

For city-based families and school groups, this is frequently the first time the children have fed a farm animal up close. You can usually tell.

There’s a moment of hesitation, then a small laugh of surprise when the alpaca’s lips brush against an open palm, then the inevitable request to do it again. It’s a small thing, but it tends to be the moment a child remembers most clearly when someone asks, weeks later, what they did on the trip.

It doesn’t need any equipment, instructions or set-up. Just a parent or teacher standing nearby, a bit of patience, and a few unhurried minutes. Those minutes have a way of becoming the photos everyone ends up keeping, the candid ones with hay in someone’s hair and a sheep mid-chew in the background, far more than any posed shot by the pool ever does.

Long after the pizza nights and pool games have blurred into one another, it’s usually these small countryside touches that guests bring up first. The morning the alpaca followed someone halfway across the paddock. The toddler who refused to leave the fence line.

The teenager who swore they didn’t care about farm animals and then spent twenty minutes feeding the same sheep over and over. These are the moments that make a stay at Berrima Retreat feel less like a booking and more like a memory.

Activities for Families, Schools, Teams and Retreat Groups

Berrima Retreat sleeps 22 to 55 guests, and the activities at Berrima Retreat are designed to flex across very different group types. What works for a school camp of energetic ten-year-olds looks quite different to what a corporate team needs after a day of meetings, and the property is set up to handle both without missing a beat.

• School camps
  • Bikes, the activity hut, table tennis and animal feeding suit a structured camp schedule well. Teachers and group leaders can rotate students through stations across a full day, alternating active outdoor time with quieter activities so energy levels stay manageable.
  • The variety also helps keep things fresh over a multi-day stay, since no single activity has to carry the whole itinerary. Everyone stays supervised, everyone stays engaged, and nobody is left standing around wondering what to do next.
• Corporate retreats
  • Pool, fire pit evenings and the covered games area give corporate retreat activities in NSW a relaxed, team-building edge. Activities double as informal bonding time between sessions, without needing a dedicated facilitator.
• Family reunion
  • The mix of pool, pizza nights and animal feeding suits all ages at once, making this strong family reunion accommodation with activities near Sydney. Grandparents can relax poolside while kids ride bikes or feed the alpacas nearby.
• Sports teams
  • Open grounds, the pool and games area give teams space to recover, socialise and unwind between training sessions or matches, all without leaving the property.
• Birthday groups and weddings
  • Pool days, pizza nights and fire pit evenings create a natural rhythm for celebration weekends, blending structured fun with relaxed downtime.

Across every group type, the activities at Berrima Retreat are what turn a simple booking into a stay people actually look forward to.

Things to Do Near Berrima Retreat

While most groups find plenty to do onsite, the wider Southern Highlands region adds extra options for groups wanting a day trip.

Berrima village itself is a short drive away, known for its well-preserved colonial buildings, cafés and local shops, a pleasant stroll for groups wanting a change of pace.

Bowral, also nearby, is known for attractions including the Bradman Museum, Corbett Gardens and a good spread of cafés, making it a popular half-day option for retreat groups.

For groups who enjoy the outdoors, Fitzroy Falls offers lookouts and bushwalking trails in the wider Southern Highlands region, generally suited to a few hours away from the property.

Harper’s Mansion, a heritage property in Berrima, is another option for groups interested in local history alongside their stay.

These nearby spots work well as optional add-ons rather than core itinerary items. Most groups find the onsite activities at Berrima Retreat are enough to fill a full multi-day stay on their own.

Plan a Group Stay With Activities Built In

If your group is searching for Berrima group accommodation with activities that doesn’t require constant offsite planning, Berrima Retreat is worth a closer look. Pool, pizza ovens, fire pit, games area, bikes, kayaks and animal feeding are all included as part of your exclusive stay.

This is group accommodation near Sydney with onsite activities built for families, schools, corporate teams, sports clubs and celebration groups alike. Get in touch with Berrima Retreat to check availability for your dates and group size.

FAQs About Activities at Berrima Retreat

• What activities are included at Berrima Retreat?
  • Activities at Berrima Retreat include a swimming pool, pool volleyball, wood-fired pizza ovens, a fire pit, a covered games area with pool table and table tennis, an activity hut with bikes and sports equipment, kayaks on the dam, and animal feeding with sheep and alpacas.
• Is Berrima Retreat suitable for kids?
  • Yes. Things to do at Berrima Retreat with kids include the fenced pool, bike riding, table tennis and animal feeding, all of which suit a wide range of ages within a family or school group.
• Are the activities at Berrima Retreat included in the booking, or do they cost extra?
  • Onsite activities and equipment such as the pool, games area, activity hut and animal feeding are part of the exclusive-hire stay. It’s best to confirm current inclusions directly with Berrima Retreat when booking.
• Can corporate groups use Berrima Retreat for team-building activities?
  • Yes. Corporate retreat activities at Berrima Retreat in NSW work well for informal team bonding, with the pool, fire pit and games area supporting downtime between meetings or structured sessions.
• Are kayaks always available at Berrima Retreat?
  • Kayaks are available onsite for guest use on the property’s dam, though availability can depend on water levels and the season. It’s worth checking current conditions with the team before your stay.

Conclusion

Activities at Berrima Retreat cover everything from pool days and pizza nights to fire pit evenings, table tennis, bikes, kayaks and animal feeding, all included within one exclusive-hire property in the Southern Highlands.

Whether you’re planning a school camp, corporate retreat, family reunion or weekend with friends, the mix of onsite activities means there’s always something to do, for every age in your group.

Ready to plan your stay? Visit berrimaretreat.com.au to check availability and start planning your group’s activity-filled escape to the Southern Highlands.