City Centre & Haymarket
With its neoclassical Greek frontage and modern rear, this much-loved institution plays a prominent and gregarious role in Sydney society. Blockbuster…
Must-see attractions in City Centre & Haymarket
City Centre & Haymarket
This noble brick building was designed by the convict architect Francis Greenway to house prisoners arriving in the colony. Now a flagship museum, the…
City Centre & Haymarket
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…
City Centre & Haymarket
Formal but much-loved Hyde Park has manicured gardens and a tree-formed tunnel running down its spine, which looks particularly pretty at night,…
City Centre & Haymarket
Among the State Library's over five million tomes are James Cook’s and Joseph Banks’ journals and William Bligh’s log from the mutinous Bounty. It's worth…
City Centre & Haymarket
Unbelievably, this High Victorian Gothic masterpiece (1898) was repeatedly slated for demolition before it was restored in the mid-1980s. Occupying an…
City Centre & Haymarket
The 309m-tall Sydney Tower (still known as Centrepoint by many Sydneysiders) offers unbeatable 360-degree views from the observation level 250m up. The…
City Centre & Haymarket
This dignified art deco memorial commemorates WWI soldiers of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzacs). The interior dome is studded with 120,000…
City Centre & Haymarket
Built on the site of Sydney’s first Government House, the MoS is a fragmented, storytelling museum, which uses installations to explore the city’s history…
City Centre & Haymarket
Studded with imposing edifices, long lean Martin Place was closed to traffic in 1971, forming a terraced pedestrian mall complete with fountains and areas…
City Centre & Haymarket
Sydney has traditionally been quite a Catholic city, and this is the hub of the faith. Built to last, this 106m-long sandstone Gothic Revival–style…
City Centre & Haymarket
Administered by the Royal Botanic Gardens, the Domain is a large grassy tract east of Macquarie St, set aside by Governor Phillip in 1788 for public…
City Centre & Haymarket
Twin of the nearby Mint, the venerable Parliament House (1816) has been home to the Parliament of New South Wales since 1829, making it the world’s oldest…
City Centre & Haymarket
Built from convict-made bricks, Sydney’s oldest church (1819) is widely considered to be architect Francis Greenway's masterpiece. It was originally…
City Centre & Haymarket
The heritage-listed Great Synagogue (1878) is the spiritual home of Sydney’s oldest Jewish congregation, established in 1831. It’s considered the Mother…
City Centre & Haymarket
Mansard roofs, sandstone turrets, wrought-iron trimmings and over-the-top balustrades: the French Second Empire wedding-cake exterior of the Town Hall …
City Centre & Haymarket
The stately Mint building (1816) was originally the southern wing of the infamous Rum Hospital, built by two Sydney merchants in return for a monopoly on…
City Centre & Haymarket
The ostentatiously ornate State (1929) is Sydney’s most beautiful theatre. Originally built as a movie palace during Hollywood’s heyday, it’s now a…
City Centre & Haymarket
Generally acknowledged as Australia’s first major office tower, Australia Square (1968) was designed by archi-phenomenon Harry Seidler. His 50-storey…
City Centre & Haymarket
Originally the Rum Hospital, built by two Sydney merchants in return for a monopoly on the rum trade, Australia’s oldest hospital has a grand Victorian…
City Centre & Haymarket
As iconic in its time as the Opera House, this beautiful colonnaded sandstone Victorian palazzo (built 1874) was once Sydney’s General Post Office. It has…
City Centre & Haymarket
A swathe of splendid sandstone colonial buildings graces this street, defining the central city's eastern edge. Many of these buildings were commissioned…
City Centre & Haymarket
Sydney’s main railway station was built in 1906 on top of an old convent and cemetery (watch out for ghosts). The 75m Gothic clock tower was added 15…
City Centre & Haymarket
Sporting beautiful stained glass and twin spires inspired by England’s York Minster, squat St Andrew’s Anglican is the oldest cathedral in Australia (1868…
City Centre & Haymarket
Step off Sydney’s main drag into this calming 1845 sandstone church. The rather charming neo-Gothic interior is atmospheric, with dark wooden fittings and…
City Centre & Haymarket
Recline on a patch of lawn in front of the Art Gallery of NSW and listen to religious zealots, oddballs, political extremists, homophobes, hippies and…
City Centre & Haymarket
Built in 1916 to be the headquarters for the then-state-owned Commonwealth Bank, 12-storey 5 Martin Place was Australia’s first steel-framed ‘skyscraper’…
City Centre & Haymarket
The Commonwealth Bank has taken over the old State Savings Bank building: it’s a beautiful example of interwar beaux-arts architecture, featuring green…
Reserve Bank of Australia Museum
City Centre & Haymarket
Hidden inside the Reserve Bank is this surprisingly interesting museum detailing the history of Australia's banknotes, from pre-Federation to the polymer…
City Centre & Haymarket
Hyde Park’s northern end is crowned by this richly symbolic art-deco fountain, featuring Greek mythological figures.
Governors Phillip & Macquarie Towers
City Centre & Haymarket
Clad in steel, granite and glass, Governor Phillip Tower (1993) is one of Sydney's tallest buildings (254m including antennae). Its distinctive metallic…
City Centre & Haymarket
Completed in 1856 by architect Edmund Blacket in High Victorian Gothic style, St Philip’s is the latest incarnation of a line descending from Sydney’s…
City Centre & Haymarket
Above Wynyard train station is this rare wedge of downtown greenery. Surrounded by skyscrapers and spindly plane trees, it has a certain Manhattan vibe to…
City Centre & Haymarket
On Chinatown's Hay St, the surreal Golden Water Mouth sculpture drips with gilt and water. Formed from a eucalyptus trunk from Condobolin, the destination…
