Travelling to Sydney?
Sydney lives around its harbour, and the harbour is for sailing: the Manly ferry is public transport and the city’s best sightseeing cruise at once. The Opera House is even better up close than in photos, and Bondi is half an hour away.
SYD
What to see in Sydney
8 ROUTESOur routes, not a list of everything. Places that have been there for centuries: no opening times or prices, which go stale.
- 01
Sydney in a day
9 hThe Opera House’s architect left Australia in 1966 and never came back: he died without seeing his building finished. That story is the city’s best guide.The Opera House, up close · The Manly ferry · The bridge and The Rocks · Bondi, and the walk to CoogeeRead the full guide - 02
A weekend in Sydney
20 hThe harbour is in charge and it pays to surrender early: here ferries are buses, and the city reads better from the water than from any street.Saturday: the harbour, all of it · Saturday night: the inner west · Sunday: the Blue Mountains · Sunday afternoon: the fish marketRead the full guide - 03
What to see in Sydney
8 hA million Swedish tiles, a bridge painted without pause and a penal colony from 1788. Almost everything to see is on the water’s edge.The Opera House · The Harbour Bridge · The Rocks · The country that was here firstRead the full guide - 04
Where to eat in Sydney
3 hStarbucks tried to conquer Australia and had to shut nearly everything. It wasn’t chance: coffee got here first, and it came from Italy and Greece.Coffee, and how to order it · Breakfast as a serious meal · The Pacific on the plate · Asia, which isn’t exotic hereRead the full guide - 05
Sydney’s neighbourhoods
5 hNewtown, Surry Hills and Marrickville appear on no harbour postcard, and they’re where the city actually lives. Water decides everything else.Newtown and the inner west · Surry Hills and Paddington · The eastern beaches · The north, across the bridgeRead the full guide - 06
Day trips from Sydney
9 hThe blue of the Blue Mountains is literal: eucalyptus oil scattering light produces it. And you get there on a suburban train.The Blue Mountains · The Royal National Park · The Hunter Valley · The whales, and the northern cliffsRead the full guide - 07
From Sydney airport to the city
1 hThe airport stations are privately owned and charge a fee several times the fare itself. There’s a legal way out, and it’s called Mascot.The train, and the fee · Mascot: the legal way out · The taxi: nine kilometres · The card, and the capsRead the full guide - 08
Sydney: practical tips
1 hAustralia has the world’s highest skin cancer rates and here the sun isn’t negotiable. That, and tipping doesn’t exist: the law pays instead.The sun, which here is another thing · The flags on the beach · Tipping, which doesn’t exist · The calendar upside downRead the full guide
Airport to city centre
2 OPTIONSThe real options, with what actually decides it: which terminal it leaves from and where it drops you. Fares and timetables live with the operator, who keeps them current.
- TrainT8 Airport LinkCentral · CBDThe suburban train reaches the centre in minutes, but beware the price: the airport stations are privately owned and charge an access fee several times the actual fare. Known trick: use Mascot, the first station outside the airport boundary, and cover the last leg on the 420 bus. No fee there.·Fares and timesSydney Trains
- TaxiCBD (~9 km)A short hop to the CBD. At rush hour, the train always wins.·Fares and timesAeropuerto de Sídney
VIP lounges in Sydney
3Before you fly, or on the layover. Pay per visit, whatever airline.