Circular Quay & The Rocks
Lording it over the Rocks, but strangely tucked away, Observatory Hill is great for a picnic. Studded with huge Moreton Bay fig trees, the grassy hilltop buzzes with sweaty hill-climbing joggers, lunchtime CBD escapees and travellers taking time out or visiting the Observatory. There are brilliant harbour views.
The hill was the site of the colony’s first windmill (1796), which ground wheat until someone stole its canvas sails, the machinery was storm-damaged and the structure collapsed.
4.71 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…
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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
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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…
4.66 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…
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A 12-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay, this forested harbour hillside is full of kangaroos, koalas and similarly hirsute Australians, plus numerous…
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Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, this magnificent building is Australia's most famous landmark. Visually referencing a yacht's sails, it's a…
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About 3km south of central Manly, spectacular North Head offers dramatic cliffs, lookouts, secluded beaches, pretty paths through the native scrub, and…
20.23 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…
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Built in the 1850s, Sydney’s copper-domed, Italianate sandstone observatory squats atop Observatory Hill, overlooking the harbour. Inside is an intriguing…
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A quiet, English-style village green lined with terraced houses, Argyle Place offers the sacred appeal of Garrison Church and the more secular delights of…
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Also known as Holy Trinity (1843), this pretty sandstone Anglican church at the western end of the Argyle Cut was the colony’s first military church…
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Convict labourers excavated this canyon-like section of road clear through the sandstone ridge that gave the Rocks its name. The work began in 1843 with…
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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…
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High on the hill inside the old Fort St School (1856), the SH Ervin Gallery, though surrounded by freeway, is a pleasing oasis that exhibits invariably…
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Dating from 1844, this diminutive terrace of four houses and a shop is a fascinating time capsule of life in the Rocks. A personable guide takes you…
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Thought-provoking Foundation Park is set among the preserved ruins of 1870s houses, built against the cliff face. The oversized furniture by artist Peter…