Orientation
Neighbourhoods
Central Sydney grips Sydney Harbour (aka Port Jackson) in a passionate embrace. The harbour runs east–west, dividing the city in two – the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Harbour Tunnel connect the south and north shores. The city centre and most of the action is south of the harbour.
Downtown Sydney’s flooded with bistros, shops and cool bars that go bump in the night, but the city centre is largely abandoned to the skateboarders on weekends. North of the centre, The Rocks and Circular Quay are tourist meccas with superb restaurants, the Sydney Opera House sitting just northeast of Circular Quay. Southwest of the centre is Chinatown where paper dragons and fireworks temper the shameless restaurant spruikers on Dixon St.
Northwest of here is Darling Harbour, an architecturally psychotic tourist haven where boardwalks, museums, restaurants, bars, hotel monoliths and freeway flyovers distract the masses.
The Inner West begins just west of Darling Harbour. Cafés and bookshops tangle with dreadlocked bohemia in Glebe, while grungy Newtown is King of the Inner West – tattoos, tofu and students rule on King St.
South of the city centre, Surry Hills brims with great places to eat and drink and bears absolutely no resemblance to Surrey, England. In Darlinghurst, east of the centre, cafés bulge with cinematographers, thespians and gym-junkies buffing up for Mardi Gras. Infamous Kings Cross stews in its own sleazy, strangely hypnotic brand of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.
South and west of here, Paddington and Woollahra set Sydney’s social high-water mark with avant-garde galleries, gorgeous terrace houses and fabulous boutiques, while everything’s pretty in pink along Oxford St, Sydney’s gay hub.
Sydney’s quintessential ocean suburb is Bondi (surfboards, sushi, internet, beer – take your pick). The eastern beaches track south from Bondi, including family-friendly Bronte and backpacker Coogee. Across the bridge from The Rocks is the North Shore, the jewel of which is Manly, a beachy, affable ‘burb where the surf's as good as the kebabs.
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