Elkington Park

If Balmain’s historic cuteness doesn’t float your boat, head to Elkington Park, named in 1883 after a local politician. It slopes down towards the water, with views across to Cockatoo Island. At the bottom of the escarpment, the magnificently restored late-Victorian (1884) timber enclosure at the tidal Dawn Fraser Baths picturesquely protects swimmers from underwater undesirables. Australia’s all-conquering 1956–64 Olympian Dawn Fraser sacrificed her youth here swimming laps.