Nicholson Museum

Top choice in Newtown & the Inner West


Within the University of Sydney's quadrangle, this is a great under-the-radar attraction. Combining modern ideas with ancient artefacts, it's an intriguing collection of Greek, Roman, Cypriot, Egyptian and Western Asian antiquities. Attic vases and Egyptian mummies take their place alongside themed cross-cultural displays, plus there's a fabulous Pompeii made from Lego that features toga-clad citizens alongside the likes of Pink Floyd rocking the amphitheatre. The museum will close in early 2020 to be incorporated into the new Chau Chak Wing Museum.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Newtown & the Inner West attractions

1. University of Sydney

0.03 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…

2. Chau Chak Wing Museum

0.13 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…

3. Victoria Park

0.22 MILES

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…

4. Verge Gallery

0.24 MILES

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

5. Carriageworks

0.56 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…

6. White Rabbit

0.66 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…

7. Central Park

0.7 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,…

8. Camperdown Cemetery

0.77 MILES

Take a self-guided tour beyond the monstrous 1848 fig tree into this dark, eerily unkempt cemetery next to St Stephens Church. Famous Australians buried…