My suggested tours once in Sydney

• Best Tours and activities in the CBD: The Harbour Bridge Climb is the most unique experience in Australia I think, right in front of the Opera House. Just imagine yourself doing that climb to the peak of the bridge, one of the best viewpoints. The Sydney Opera Tour is a one hour guided visit to the most iconic site in Sydney, unmissable.  And to close the day, Dine above Sydney, book your dinner at the Sydney Tower 360, a rotating restaurant and bar with a unique view of the city

Book the Bridge Climb  Opera Tour  Dinner at the Tower

• Best Tours and Activities around Sydney: If you are in the city for a few days it makes sense to save some $$ with a Sydney Attraction Pass, buy the pass in advance and save some money. If you plan to visit the beautiful Sydney Bay then I suggest this 3 hours Lunch Cruise in the Harbour with live music, a great experience. And finally plan a trip to the Blue Mountains, really unmissable, especially because you will have the possibility to finally experience the native Australian animals

Buy Sydney Attractions Pass  Harbour Lunch  Blue Mountains

Are you still looking for a place to stay? Check out my Sydney Areas Guide with my favourite hotels.

Bondi

Major attractions

• Surfing and time at the beach: this is the main activity here, as easy as that
• Bondi to Coogee Walk, a 6km walk that you will remember for a long long while. The coastal scenery is just amazing. Have a rest and a swim in one of the many small coves along the walk
• Watson Bay: it’s a 20-minute ride by direct bus. A beautiful area to explore with some nice beaches overlooking the bay area
• Walking around the Bondi Pavilion, there are always some interesting characters around 🙂

Eating and drinking

• Funky Pies: away from the touristy area. Good food, lovely service and an honest price too.
• Bondi Beach Hardware: really a nice place for a night out. It stands out from the Bondi crowd for both the food and the interior design

Darlinghurst & Kings Cross

Major attractions

• Sydney Jewish Museum: an interesting place to discover the history of the Jews from the first fleet, which included few Jews, to nowadays, going through some of the darkest years of our past. At 12pm they organise a free 40-minute guided tour, not to be missed.
• National Art School: an interesting building to visit, the formal jail of Darlinghurst. The students have also organised an area where they show their own work. It can actually be quite interesting and you could come across some of the future names in the art world.
• Artspace: it’s the centre for experimentation and contemporary art. It’s admission-free.
• Elizabeth Bay House: It was known as the finest house in the colony. It has been refurbished and taken back to its splendour. I loved both the interior and the view of the bay

Eating and drinking

Here is great news, most of my favourite spots are in the same area, almost in the same street actually.

• Buffalo Dining Club: think fresh buffalo mozzarella flown from Italy together with a great range of prosciutto and jamon serrano from Spain. Pasta is also available if you still have space 🙂
• Una’s Restaurant: real German food with German beers of course. Plenty of schnitzels at a reasonable price served with great service. One of my favourite Teutonic places outside Germany
• Kings Cross Hotel: a great local pub on 4 levels. Walk up to the rooftop in summer. Live bands are also common, especially at the weekend.

Surry Hills

Major attractions

You will find more galleries in Surry Hills, Waterloo and Alexandria than in any other area of Sydney.

Most of the openings are on Thursdays. There is usually a talk from the artist(s) and sometimes drinks and appetisers are offered.

I love the openings as you end up always meeting interesting people, mostly locals.

You should not feel any kind of pressure to actually buy anything unless you love the piece of art of course.

When and if you see something interesting, then move in, otherwise just have an “arty” chat

This is just a small list of galleries. You can have a look at an extensive directory on ArtGuide.

• Brett Whiteley Studio
• Multiple Box in Danks Street
• Home@735 Art Gallery
• m2 Gallery

If you need free internet access or you just want to have some reading time, you can visit the local library on Crown Street.

Eating and drinking

It’s always a hard choice, even more so in Surry Hills.

I like to list these below just because they provide something unique in my opinion

• Il Baretto : simple Italian food. In saying simple I mean back to the origin of the real Italian food. No fusion, no Italian tapas etc. Just a few mains on offer based only on fresh ingredients. One of my favourite Italian restaurant in Sydney
• The Carrington: nice local pub off the main road. They offer a good selection of beer and some Mexican/Spanish food which is not probably what you are here for
• Bourke Street Bakery: best pies ever….full stop! It can be very busy
• Dove & Olive: nice gastro pub feeling with one of the biggest selections of beers I have ever seen. Every night they have a special beer and a special main which can save you some dollars however still eating amazing food

Newtown

Major attractions

• The Camperdown Cemetery: this is a unique place in its genre. It’s just behind St. Stephen’s Anglican Church and you will suddenly feel in a Dracula movie, it’s not scary, it’s actually quite interesting. It’s very tiny too….can I see a boutique one LOL
• Sydney Park: this is another big park that you can visit for a rest or for some jogging. It’s right between Newtown and Glebe, another interesting University area.
• Gould’s Book Arcade: this bookshop on King Street is an amazing place to visit just to admire the number of books that the owner was able to amass in a relatively tiny space. There are columns of them and I always have a feeling they are going to collapse on me. Great spot to wander around

Eating and drinking

My first time in Newtown was over 15 years ago. It was difficult to find a cafe.

You go now and there is one every 5 meters and the remaining space is used by restaurants.

The style is more on the Asian side on King Street, till the Newtown station (coming from the CBD).

From there you can keep going on King Street or turn to Enmore Road. In both cases, the style is more Middle Eastern with plenty of Turkish eateries.

My favourites here?

• Corellis Cafe Gallery: a real local cafe with some honest food. I like it and I do not know why :o…. a good sign I guess 🙂
• Lentil As Anything: vegetarian and vegan restaurants run on a voluntary basis. They have just 2-3 mains on offer, based on the fresh food of the day. No price, up to you to leave what you think it is right (they give suggestions on the wall)
• Thai Pothong Restaurant: an institution. Nominated multiple times the best Thai restaurant in Sydney
• Brewtown Newtown: is it a bookshop or a cafe’….probably both…great place for some quiet time
• The Sultan’s Table: amazing Turkish eatery. It is BYO (there is a wine shop next door)

Paddington

Major attractions

• Paddington markets: running on Saturdays, this is the place to spend easily a morning wandering around. Every time I go I find always a new and unusual thing to buy….it may be just me though LOL
• Australian Centre of Photography: a must-see if photography is your thing. There are exhibitions that change on a regular basis and I was never disappointed. Try to match a visit with an opening speech, always interesting
• Centennial Park: the biggest in Sydney. The place for any sport, to do or watch. Few stadiums are also in the area, besides a great playground for kids and an area with cinemas, restaurants and bars.

Manly Beach

Major attractions

• Surfing here is as big as in Bondi, if not more. It’s not as touristy as Bondi which means less crowded overall
• Manly Sea Life Sanctuary: this aquarium has been permanently closed in January 2018. Just in case you have already planned a visit
• The north beaches: rent a bike and ride up to Palm Beach (30km) or anyone between
• Walks in Sydney Harbour National Park

Eating and drinking

I always found it hard to find a good cafe’ in Manly till I walked into Market Place, a parallel to the Corso and I stopped at the Market Lane Cafe.

Two meters from there you can also find Jipang, a place I always go back to for its nice Japanese food.

And next door is Momo Bar, a dumplings and poké bowls eatery, my favourite in the Manly area.

For a good beer head down to the 4 Pines Brewing Company, meters away from the ferry station, on the bayside. Great selection, you can also go for the taste mix

Transportation in Sydney

Let’s start with something practical before going into more juice. 

The transportation system is not probably something Sydney is famous for, especially considering the size of the city (5 million people).

There is a small metro ring with 7 stations in the CBD and that is it. From almost any of these stations, you can catch a train to the outskirts of Sydney.

Sometimes to reach a place, even as famous as Bondi, you need to catch a train and change to a bus paying for two tickets. It has to be said that the transportation cost is low when compared to other Australian cities like Melbourne.

The bus network is actually very good although it may be intimidating for people visiting Sydney for the first time. Bus stops are not always clearly marked. The bus does not provide the name of the next stop and this may be an issue for someone.

My advice here is to run Google Maps and follow where you are. The alternative is to go the old way, sit close to the driver and ask him/her. They are usually super nice and very entertaining. I always have lots of fun

Ferries are probably the best and quickest way of transportation. Very reliable and punctual. A place like Mainly may look far away however it is just 15 minutes by fast ferry.

Here you can find a few maps and timetables for the public transportation system.