South Head

The narrow peninsula heading out to South Head is one of Sydney’s most sublime spots. Approaching from Bondi, as Old South Head Rd leaves the sheer ocean cliffs to descend to Watsons Bay, the view of Sydney Harbour is breathtaking.

On the harbour side, Watsons Bay was once a small fishing village, evidenced by the tiny heritage cottages that pepper the suburb’s narrow streets (and now cost a fortune). While you’re here, tradition demands that you sit in the beer garden at Watsons Bay Hotel at sunset and watch the sun fall behind the disembodied Harbour Bridge, jutting up above Bradley’s Head.

On the ocean side of the peninsula, opposite Watsons Bay, The Gap is a dramatic cliff-top lookout where proposals and suicides happen with similar frequency.

Past Watsons Bay is the small swimming beach Camp Cove. At its northern end the South Head Heritage Trail kicks off, leading into yet another section of Sydney Harbour National Park. It passes old battlements and a path heading down to the little nudist and gay beach Lady Bay, before continuing on to the candy-striped Hornby Lighthouse and Lightkeepers’ Cottages (1858) on South Head itself.