The green gateway to the Inner West and the University of Sydney, Victoria Park is a 9-hectare grassy wedge revolving around pondlike Lake Northam and Victoria Park Pool.

Each February, 75,000 people descend on the park for the Mardi Gras Fair Day: dog shows, live performances and the ‘Miss Fair Day’ drag competition (no, it doesn’t involve cars). On 26 January (Australia Day and, for Indigenous Australians, Invasion Day), the park is the focus of Yabun, a celebration of Aboriginal culture.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Newtown & the Inner West attractions

1. Chau Chak Wing Museum

0.15 MILES

This new museum at the University of Sydney is scheduled to open in mid-2020. It will combine the three former university museums and greatly expand the…

2. Verge Gallery

0.16 MILES

Part of the University of Sydney, this gallery has two exhibition spaces that show challenging, often avant-garde exhibitions by contemporary artists…

3. Nicholson Museum

0.22 MILES

Within the University of Sydney's quadrangle, this is a great under-the-radar attraction. Combining modern ideas with ancient artefacts, it's an…

4. University of Sydney

0.22 MILES

Australia’s oldest tertiary institution (1850) has around 50,000 students and boasts its own postcode. You don’t need a PhD to grab a free campus map and…

5. White Rabbit

0.44 MILES

In many ways Sydney's best contemporary-art gallery, White Rabbit is tucked away behind the Central Park development in Chippendale. It's the project of…

6. Central Park

0.5 MILES

Occupying the site of an old brewery, this major residential and shopping development is a striking sight. Most impressive is Jean Nouvel's award-winning,…

7. Carriageworks

0.5 MILES

Built between 1880 and 1889, this intriguing group of huge Victorian-era workshops was part of the Eveleigh Railyards. The rail workers chugged out in…

8. Mortuary Station

0.57 MILES

This ornate disused Victorian sandstone station used to be the departure point for funeral trains out to the Rookwood cemetery in Sydney's west. It's a…