Sydney

Sydney, spectacularly draped around its glorious harbour and beaches, has visual wow factor like few other cities. Scratch the surface and it only gets better.

On the Wild Side

National parks ring the city and penetrate right into its heart. Large chunks of harbour are still bush-fringed, while parks cut their way through skyscrapers and suburbs. Consequently, native critters turn up in the most surprising places. Clouds of flying foxes pass overhead at twilight and spend the night rustling around in suburban fig trees; oversized spiders stake out corners of lounge-room walls; possums rattle over roofs of terrace houses; and sulphur-crested cockatoos screech from the railings of urban balconies. At times Sydney's concrete jungle seems more like an actual one – and doesn't that just make it all the more exciting?

After Dark

After a lazy Saturday at the beach, urbane Sydneysiders have a disco nap, hit the showers and head out again. There's always a new restaurant to try, undercover bar to hunt down, hip band to check out, sports team to shout at, show to see or crazy party to attend. The city's pretensions to glamour are well balanced by a casualness that means a cool T-shirt and a tidy pair of jeans will get you in most places. But if you want to dress up and show off, there's plenty of opportunity for that among the sparkling harbour lights.

Making a Splash

Defined just as much by its rugged Pacific coastline as its exquisite harbour, Sydney relies on its coastal setting to replenish its reserves of charm; venture too far away from the water and the charm suddenly evaporates. Jump on a ferry and Sydney's your oyster – the harbour prises the city's two halves far enough apart to reveal an abundance of pearls. On the coast, Australia ends abruptly in sheer walls of sandstone punctuated by arcs of golden sand. In summer they're covered with bronzed bodies making the most of a climate that encourages outdoor socialising, exercising, flirting and fun.

Show Pony

Brash is the word that inevitably gets bandied around when it comes to describing the Harbour City, and let's face it, compared to its Australian sister cities, Sydney is loud, uncompromising and in your face. Fireworks displays are more dazzling here, heels are higher, bodies more buffed, contact sports more brutal, starlets shinier, drag queens glitzier and prices higher. Australia’s best musos, foodies, actors, stockbrokers, models, writers and architects flock to the city to make their mark, and the effect is dazzling: a hyperenergetic, ambitious, optimistic and unprincipled marketplace of the soul, where anything goes and everything usually does.

Explore Sydney

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Featured Story

11 essential beaches in Sydney to check out this summer

4 min read — Published October 14th, 2021

Lonely Planet EditorsWriter

Sydney is one of the luckiest cities in the world when it comes to beaches on its doorstep. Here's where to find the best beaches in Sydney.

Latest Stories from Sydney

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Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Sydney.

  • Bridge

    Sydney Harbour Bridge

    Sydneysiders love their giant 'coathanger', which opened in 1932. The best way to experience this majestic structure is on foot. Stairs and lifts ascend…

  • Beach

    Bondi Beach

    Definitively Sydney, Bondi is one of the world’s great beaches. It’s the closest ocean beach to the city centre (8km away), has consistently good (though…

  • National Park

    North Head

    About 3km south of central Manly, spectacular North Head offers dramatic cliffs, lookouts, secluded beaches, pretty paths through the native scrub, and…

  • Notable Building

    Sydney Opera House

    Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, this magnificent building is Australia's most famous landmark. Visually referencing a yacht's sails, it's a…

  • National Park

    West Head

    This central section of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a spectacular wilderness, with awe-inspiring vistas over Pittwater and Broken Bay, hidden beach…

  • Gallery

    Art Gallery of NSW

    With its neoclassical Greek frontage and modern rear, this much-loved institution plays a prominent and gregarious role in Sydney society. Blockbuster…

  • National Park

    Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

    A spectacular mix of sandstone, Australian bushland and tranquil water vistas, this 14,928-hectare park forms Sydney’s northern boundary. It’s located 20…

  • Aquarium

    Sydney Sea Life Aquarium

    As well as regular tanks, this impressive complex has large pools that you can walk through – safely enclosed in Perspex tunnels – as an intimidating…

  • Zoo

    Taronga Zoo Sydney

    A 12-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay, this forested harbour hillside is full of kangaroos, koalas and similarly hirsute Australians, plus numerous…

  • Area

    Chinatown

    Dixon St is the heart of Chinatown: a narrow, shady pedestrian mall with a string of restaurants and insistent spruikers. The ornate dragon gates (paifang…

  • Museum

    Australian National Maritime Museum

    Beneath a soaring roof, the Maritime Museum sails through Australia’s inextricable relationship with the sea. Exhibitions range from Indigenous canoes to…

  • Gardens

    Royal Botanic Garden

    Southeast of the Opera House, this garden was established in 1816 and features plant life from around the world. Within the gardens are hothouses with…

  • Island

    Cockatoo Island

    Studded with photogenic industrial relics, convict architecture and art installations, fascinating Cockatoo Island (Wareamah) opened to the public in 2007…

  • Park

    Centennial Park

    Scratched out of the sand in 1888 in grand Victorian style, Sydney’s biggest park is a rambling 189-hectare expanse full of horse riders, joggers,…

  • Observatory

    Sydney Observatory

    Built in the 1850s, Sydney’s copper-domed, Italianate sandstone observatory squats atop Observatory Hill, overlooking the harbour. Inside is an intriguing…

  • Museum

    Sydney Jewish Museum

    One of Sydney's best museums revolves around a detailed and expertly curated exhibition on the Holocaust, with sobering personal testimonies and moving…

  • Museum

    Hyde Park Barracks Museum

    This noble brick building was designed by the convict architect Francis Greenway to house prisoners arriving in the colony. Now a flagship museum, the…

  • Gallery

    Brett Whiteley Studio

    Acclaimed local artist Brett Whiteley (1939–1992) lived fast and without restraint. Many of his multimillion-dollar paintings were created in this hard-to…

  • Area

    Watsons Bay

    Lovely Watsons Bay, east of the city centre and north of Bondi, was once a small fishing village, as evidenced by the heritage cottages that pepper the…

  • Historic Building

    Elizabeth Bay House

    Now dwarfed by 20th-century apartments, Colonial Secretary Alexander Macleay's elegant Greek Revival mansion was one of the finest houses in the colony…

Top experiences

Whether it’s a guided tour of a historic landmark, private tasting of local delicacies, or an off-road adventure — explore the best experiences in Sydney.

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