I spent nearly 3 weeks in Sydney. It is like no other city I’ve ever been too. There is so much to do in the city. Coming from an island, I would usually have had enough of the city after a few days but Sydney is totally different and I could see myself living there long term one day.
10 Things to do in Sydney
There is so much to do in Sydney, this list could go on forever. Here, I’ve listed 10 of my most favourite things to do in the city (so far).
Sydney Opera House
Either walk around Circular Quay or through the Royal Botanic Gardens to the Opera House. It’s an incredible sight to see the sails and you know you’re truly in Australia when you see the Opera House. Check out the Opera Bar for great food and a few drinks.
Manly Beach
Jump on the ferry to Manly from Circular Quay. The journey takes around 25 minutes. Walk along the high street, checking out the various shops and market stalls along the way. Chill out on Manly Beach, watching the surfers and the volleyball players while you tan. Highly recommend stopping for lunch at The Hold where you will have the most incredible burger! The staff are super friendly there too.
Bondi to Bronte Walk
Starting at Bondi, walk along the coastal path to Tamarama and then on the Bronte. It’s a relatively easy walk with plenty of lookouts for you to get your photos. The walk from Bondi to Bronte is around 2.5km and takes about an hour (with stopping for photos). Look out for the famous Bondi Lifeguards and the many surfers catching amazing waves. If you want to walk further, you can walk all the way to Coogee. You can also do this walk in reverse, starting at Coogee or Bronte and walking along the path to Bondi. I highly recommend having food at Salty’s in Bondi, the burgers are awesome!
Taronga Zoo
Catch the ferry from Circular Quay over to Taronga Zoo. From the ferry terminal at Taronga, you can jump in a cable car up to the entrance on the Zoo if you have pre-booked tickets (recommended) and you go right over the zoo so look out for the animals. You also get an amazing view of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge when you go up in the cable car. We spent around 4 hours walking round the zoo and saw almost all the animals. It cost around $45 for an adult ticket and the ferry was just a couple of dollars each way.
Barangaroo Culture Walk
This is something I did during my Welcome To Travel tour but it is something you can book at any time. Learn about the first settlers and the aboriginals. Learn about the different uses for different plants and trees. Really fascinating learning about Aboriginal Culture. Highly recommend!
VIVID Sydney
From the end of May to mid-June, Sydney puts on the most amazing light festival called VIVID. For 3 weeks, lights are projected on to various buildings such as the Harbour Bridge, Customs House, and the Opera House. There are also light installations at Barangaroo and elsewhere in the city.
Sea Life Aquarium, Madame Tussauds and WILD LIFE Zoo
Grab your attraction pass (3 attractions pass costs around $70). The 3 attractions are right next to each other so you can easily do them in 1 day (we spent around 4 hours visiting all 3).
The Aquarium was great! They have a lot of native sea life and use water directly from Sydney Harbour to fill the tanks. They also have a rescued dugong which was really cool to see. I also really enjoyed seeing King Penguins.
Madame Tussauds was probably my favourite attraction of the day! Very lifelike wax figures and very interactive exhibits.
WILD LIFE Zoo was pretty cool. Home to only native animals such as the Tasmanian Devil, Platypus and of course, Kangaroos. We had a great time at the Zoo and managed to catch the crocodile talk which was so interesting.
Royal Botanical Gardens
The gardens are vast! It’s lovely to stroll through them and see lots of native plants and, if you’re lucky, wildlife. There are various art installations and gardens within the Royal Botanic Gardens. The gardens are also home to Government House which looks very grand from the outside, sadly we didn’t have time for a guided tour of the inside, maybe next time. The Botanic Garden are just beautiful, you’ll have to see it yourself.
Transport
Sydney is super walkable (although there is a lot of hills and steps) but also has amazing transport links. You can get trains, the tram (light rail) or the bus to get round the city. You can also get ferries to other areas of the city such as from Circular Quay to Manly. All transport is paid for using a tap-on-tap-off system either with a contactless card or an Opal Card (like London Oyster Cards but better).
While I definitely have more to do on my Sydney Bucket List, it’s time to move on to the next place and have more adventures. Sydney, I’ll be back one day.
Thanks for reading!
תגובות