In this celebrity-obsessed age, it's hardly surprising that Madame Tussauds' hyperrealistic waxwork dummies are just as popular now as when the eponymous madame lugged her macabre haul of French Revolution death masks to London in 1803. Where else do mere mortals get to strike a pose with Hugh Jackman and cosy up to Kylie? There are various combination entrance deals with the adjacent zoo and aquarium; book online for best rates.
Madame Tussauds
Darling Harbour & Pyrmont
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
4.59 MILES
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…
1.24 MILES
Sydneysiders love their giant 'coathanger', which opened in 1932. The best way to experience this majestic structure is on foot. Stairs and lifts ascend…
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
15.96 MILES
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…
5.05 MILES
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…
2.92 MILES
A 12-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay, this forested harbour hillside is full of kangaroos, koalas and similarly hirsute Australians, plus numerous…
1.16 MILES
Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, this magnificent building is Australia's most famous landmark. Visually referencing a yacht's sails, it's a…
6.58 MILES
About 3km south of central Manly, spectacular North Head offers dramatic cliffs, lookouts, secluded beaches, pretty paths through the native scrub, and…
20.98 MILES
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…
Nearby Darling Harbour & Pyrmont attractions
0.01 MILES
As well as regular tanks, this impressive complex has large pools that you can walk through – safely enclosed in Perspex tunnels – as an intimidating…
0.01 MILES
Complementing its sister and neighbour, Sea Life, this surprisingly capacious complex houses an impressive collection of Australian native reptiles,…
0.14 MILES
The showpiece of the innovative redevelopment of the southeastern corner of Darling Harbour in the late 1990s, this bar and restaurant precinct occupies…
0.16 MILES
The central one of three major developments along the east side of Darling Harbour, this is a modern metallic affair in three sections. Below plush…
5. Australian National Maritime Museum
0.17 MILES
Beneath a soaring roof, the Maritime Museum sails through Australia’s inextricable relationship with the sea. Exhibitions range from Indigenous canoes to…
0.21 MILES
The first major Darling Harbour development, Harbourside shopping centre is like that nightclub guy still wearing a pirate shirt and an unreconstructed…
0.27 MILES
Due to open in 2020, this striking building will incorporate the current Western Distributor flyover and add office space, a sizeable business hotel and…
0.31 MILES
Unbelievably, this High Victorian Gothic masterpiece (1898) was repeatedly slated for demolition before it was restored in the mid-1980s. Occupying an…