Circular Quay & The Rocks
Built in 1816 for Superintendent of Government Boats John Cadman (a former convict with a commuted death sentence for horse theft), this is the inner city…
Must-see attractions in Sydney
Sydney
Arguably the most beautiful beach in Kamay Botany Bay National Park, serene Congwong faces the bay rather than the open ocean, making it great for…
Sydney
This brightly coloured circular walkway is supported by what look like metal chopsticks, lifting it 18m above the water filling an abandoned brickworks…
Sydney
Australia’s oldest villa (1824), this restored Georgian mansion was built by Robert Cooper with profits from his gin business (he named it after the…
Sydney
About 50m offshore at La Perouse is the strange Bare Island, a decaying, grass-tussocked concrete fort built in 1885 to discourage a feared Russian…
Sydney
This suburban park is a little unkempt but allows you to get to know some native animals. Petting and feeding kangaroos and wallabies is a highlight, as…
Sydney
A short walk (or swim) from Congwong Beach will land you at Little Congwong, a secluded, unofficially clothing-optional beach.
Sydney
In colonial times this small fortified harbour island was a sorry site of suffering, used to isolate recalcitrant convicts and nicknamed ‘Pinchgut’ for…
Sydney
The Sydney residences of Australia’s governor general and prime minister are located on Kirribilli Point, east of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. When in town,…
Kings Cross & Potts Point
It’s testimony to the ‘cleaning up’ of the Cross that this once-dodgy park is now a reasonably safe place to hang out (probably helped by the austere…
Surry Hills & Darlinghurst
Once the residence of Alexander Green, hangman of Darlinghurst Gaol, Green Park is a cheery space during the day, but as the many syringe-disposal bins…
City Centre & Haymarket
Originally the Rum Hospital, built by two Sydney merchants in return for a monopoly on the rum trade, Australia’s oldest hospital has a grand Victorian…
Circular Quay & The Rocks
This Catholic sandstone church (1844) was built on land donated by William Davis, who was transported to Australia from Ireland without trial due to his…
City Centre & Haymarket
As iconic in its time as the Opera House, this beautiful colonnaded sandstone Victorian palazzo (built 1874) was once Sydney’s General Post Office. It has…
Circular Quay & The Rocks
Beneath some shady Moreton Bay fig trees is this historic triangle. Look for the cannon and anchor from the First Fleet flagship (HMS Sirius), an ornate…
Sydney
Part of the broader Centennial Parklands (a huge green swathe that cuts from Surry Hills to Bondi), Moore Park covers 115 hectares south of Paddington…
Sydney
Built in a blended Mediterranean/Georgian Revival style in 1929, ‘The Pav’ is more a cultural centre than a changing shed, although it does have changing…
Newtown & the Inner West
This humble backstreet temple was opened in 1898 by immigrants from the Sze Yup area of China. It’s dedicated to 3rd-century folk hero Kwan Ti, whose…
Sydney
This grassy tract at Coogee Beach’s northern end has superb ocean views and the Giles Baths ocean pool. A sobering shrine commemorates the 2002 Bali…
City Centre & Haymarket
A swathe of splendid sandstone colonial buildings graces this street, defining the central city's eastern edge. Many of these buildings were commissioned…
Newtown & the Inner West
The green gateway to the Inner West and the University of Sydney, Victoria Park is a 9-hectare grassy wedge revolving around pondlike Lake Northam and…
City Centre & Haymarket
Sydney’s main railway station was built in 1906 on top of an old convent and cemetery (watch out for ghosts). The 75m Gothic clock tower was added 15…
Circular Quay & The Rocks
Before the outbreak of bubonic plague in the early 20th century and the subsequent slum clearances, this section of the Rocks was a warren of houses…
Sydney
Scruffy, bushy Balls Head Reserve not only has great views of the harbour, the city skyline and the industrial relics on Goat Island, it also has a wiggly…
Sydney
Sydney has produced many famous sinners but this museum tells the life story of St Mary of the Cross (aka Mary MacKillop), Australia’s only Catholic saint…
Sydney
If we were feeling cynical, we might say that the purpose-built Entertainment Quarter is a vacuous, self-perpetuating specimen of lightweight global…
Sydney
If Balmain’s historic cuteness doesn’t float your boat, head to Elkington Park, named in 1883 after a local politician. It slopes down towards the water,…
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Circular Quay & The Rocks
The castellated ‘Con’ was designed in 1817 by convict architect Francis Greenway as the stables and servants’ quarters of Governor Macquarie’s new house…
Sydney
Little Shark Island, off Rose Bay, makes a great picnic getaway. There's not a lot here except for toilets and drinking water – and at 250m by 100m, you…
Surry Hills & Darlinghurst
Unveiled just in time to celebrate 2019's Mardi Gras, Sydney’s proud arching rainbow crossing is the result of a six-year global campaign to reinstate the…
Darling Harbour & Pyrmont
The latest product of Sydney's port redevelopment is this extension of the CBD's officeland. There are three rather lofty skyscrapers and pedestrian…
Manly
Southeast of Manly’s centre, this enormous Gothic Revival college (1889) lords over the rooftops from its hillside position. It used to be a seminary but…
Sydney
Despite its status as the premier antique-shopping strip in Australia (the first shop opened in 1957), tree-lined Queen St retains a village vibe, with…
Circular Quay & The Rocks
One of few remaining such lanes, the Suez Canal tapers downhill until less than a metre wide (hence the name, also a pun on the word 'sewers')…
Surry Hills & Darlinghurst
You know it’s been a rough night if you wake up in Taylor Sq – a vaguely defined paved area straddling the gay hub of Oxford St. The rainbow flag flies…
Manly
The quickest route from the Manly ferry terminal to Manly’s ocean beach is along the Corso, a part-pedestrian mall lined with surf shops, pubs and sushi…
Sydney
On the clifftop fairways of Bondi Golf & Diggers Club, a short walk north from Bondi Beach, lies a flat patch of rock carved by the Eora Aboriginal people…
Sydney
Among the wide formal avenues of Centennial Park is the domed Federation Pavilion – the spot where Australia was officially proclaimed a nation (on 1…
Sydney
Manicured Double Bay, an emblem of Sydney's wealthy Eastern Suburbs, is a bastion of blue-rinse ladies and flashy, nouveau-riche types. There's a lively…
City Centre & Haymarket
Sporting beautiful stained glass and twin spires inspired by England’s York Minster, squat St Andrew’s Anglican is the oldest cathedral in Australia (1868…
