City Centre & Haymarket
Built for a staggering £32,000 in 1893 as part of the Adams Hotel on Pitt St, this ornate underground bar is one of the best places in town for putting on…
Must-see nightlife in New South Wales
Surry Hills & Darlinghurst
Once a small corner pub, until it expanded into two neighbouring houses, the Dolphin's striking designer makeover means it deliberately looks like the…
Sydney
This classic old Australian pub once stood virtually alone, wide verandah providing the shade for contemplating another slow-paced north-of-the-harbour…
Darling Harbour & Pyrmont
Roomy industrial decor, book-lined walls, killer cocktails (the espresso martini is legendary) and great deals at happy hour (4pm to 7pm Tuesday to Friday…
Sydney
This dingy, small, graffiti-strewn bar deliberately plays up its downbeat location at a corner of a multistorey carpark. The drinks, however, are very…
Manly
This two-level bar-restaurant is an atmospheric spot for a great night-time cocktail – if you can read the menu in the low-lit speakeasy ambience. Sweet…
Darling Harbour & Pyrmont
Welcome to the pleasuredome: a three-level, 2100-capacity timber-and-glass ‘prow’ that’s home to a dance floor, countless bars, outdoor balconies and…
Newtown & the Inner West
The Bank didn't always sport the artful heritage-wood look that it has now, but it has consistently been a Newtown classic in its central railway-side…
Surry Hills & Darlinghurst
Something of a locals' lounge room, the Darlo’s triangular retro space is a magnet for urban bohemians, fluoro-clad ditch diggers and architects with a…
New South Wales
The sleepy hamlet of Kentucky, 40km southwest of Armidale, is home to this quirky winery, distillery and restaurant. The gins are particularly well…
Mid-North Coast
Oh that every town could have a Flow Bar. It's a cafe, a restaurant and a beer garden during the day (with very decent food and coffee) and on weekends it…
Newtown & the Inner West
A curious semi-underground layout, offbeat decor and an appealingly louche ambience have put this spot firmly on many Inner Westies' favourites list. DJs…
South Coast NSW
If you're hard-pressed to choose between the joys of sipping coffee and those of leafing through literature, this bookshop and cafe combines both…
Surry Hills & Darlinghurst
Sardined into a Darlinghurst terrace, this cute wine bar offers a small but well-curated selection of beverages, with punchy rosemary negroni as the house…
Surry Hills & Darlinghurst
Coffee is a serious business in Sydney, and this corridor's dark industrial decor and cell-block lighting cage combines with cartoon-noir wall…
Kings Cross & Potts Point
Once the dank domain of burly sailors and salty ne’er-do-wells, the Tilbury now sparkles. An upmarket crowd of Potts Pointers and yachties populate the…
Surry Hills & Darlinghurst
A stalwart of the Oxford St LGBTIQ+ strip, Stonewall has three levels of bars and dance floors. Cabaret, karaoke and quiz nights spice things up; there's…
City Centre & Haymarket
A self-consciously hip member of Sydney's speakeasy brigade, this 'legitimate importer of bracing tonics and fortifying liquid' attracts a cashed-up,…
City Centre & Haymarket
The cocktails at this 47th-floor revolving bar aren't cheap, but they're still substantially cheaper than admission to Sydney Tower – and it's…
Byron Bay
Head upstairs to the breezy laid-back coastal vibes at this upmarket spot, with its whitewashed walls and big windows overlooking the main strip. The…
Circular Quay & The Rocks
This historic and invigorated Millers Point pub preserves its tea-coloured tiles, faded brick and nostalgia-tinted downstairs bar. On top of the venerable…
Southern NSW & The Murray
Six taps are featured at this cool craft brewery, just enough to showcase Eden Brewery's concise menu of interesting beers. Try them all with a tasting…
Newtown & the Inner West
What Chippendale does best is a real feeling of neighbourhood despite its proximity to central Sydney. This backstreet pub takes food and drink seriously…
Surry Hills & Darlinghurst
Beautifully situated in the leafy grounds of a historic water reservoir, behind the Pieno restaurant, this oasis serves dozens of wines by the glass to…
Newtown & the Inner West
There's something rather magical about the baroque, Italianate courtyard out the back of this pub, a great venue on a sunny afternoon or for candlelit…
South Coast NSW
Locals pour in to join day-trippers in the grassy rear beer garden and sunny verandah for people-watching or just checking in on the Kangaroo Valley vibes…
City Centre & Haymarket
Billing itself as a 'retrosexual haven of cosmopolitan kitsch and faded granny glamour', Grandma's hits the mark. A stag's head greets you on the stairs…
New South Wales
A cosy, couch-equipped cafe that morphs into a wine bar with excellent food at night, Our Place is great for a drop-in most hours of the day. An…
Southern NSW & The Murray
A popular spot for visiting backpackers and farm workers, the Area Hotel combines a friendly front bar with a rear beer garden that's often used for live…
Kings Cross & Potts Point
With origami in mind rather than the construction that is so rapidly gentrifying the Cross, Crane is a likeably different creature. The visual highlight…
Newtown & the Inner West
Hidden away by the bulk of the Broadway shopping centre, this small microbrewery has hanging tankards and the industrial paraphernalia of kettle, mash tun…
South Coast NSW
The coffee's as good as the view at casual Bermi's, which also serves hangover-curing breakfasts like avocado and Vegemite on toast and pancakes with…
City Centre & Haymarket
Seemingly designed for one-time grungsters turned stockbrokers, this pleasant covered rooftop bar – it gains substantially when they retract the roof on…
Newtown & the Inner West
Right on the most pleasant stretch of Norton Street, surrounded by Mediterranean restaurants, this handsome old pub has a fairly uninspiring (but late…
Kings Cross & Potts Point
This grand old brick building guards the entrance to the Cross and is one of the area's best pubs, with several levels of boozy entertainment. The balcony…
City Centre & Haymarket
Don’t worry, this bar doesn’t sell wine to actual bambini – it’s a very grown-up, European affair. The tiny, dark-wood-panelled room is the sort of place…
Surry Hills & Darlinghurst
This breezy, humorous, faux-Spanish colonial fitout of the former Macquarie Hotel doesn't take itself (or the Spanish language) too seriously. It's an…
Snowy Mountains
A good all-rounder with views of the lake, the Banjo Paterson has a faux-historic stone exterior, a wood-lined bar and an adjoining brasserie serving…
Southern NSW & The Murray
Combining a bohemian kilim-bedecked front bar and a sunny garden out the back, Yazzbar is a great place to try wines from the nearby cool-climate Yass…
Circular Quay & The Rocks
With its wide awning shading lots of outdoor seating, this handsome early-20th-century pub is a favoured pit stop for a cooling ale; it was doing…
