Lonely Planet Sydney (2018)
Author: Lonely Planet
Date: 0101-01-01 00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Travel
Description: Lonely Planet: The world's number one travel guide publisher* Lonely Planet's Sydney is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Take to the water and explore the spectacular harbour by boat; laze on the beach at Bondi and watch the waves – and the surfers – roll in; and hunt down the latest trendy bars and restaurants. All with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Sydney and begin your journey now! Inside Lonely Planet's Sydney: Colour maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailo
Publisher: Lonely Planet Global Limited

Sydney

Contents

PLAN YOUR TRIP

Welcome to Sydney

Sydney’s Top 10

What’s New

Need to Know

Top Itineraries

If You Like

Month by Month

With Kids

Like a Local

For Free

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

LGBTQ+ Sydney

Beaches

EXPLORE SYDNEY

NEIGHBOURHOODS AT A GLANCE

CIRCULAR QUAY & THE ROCKS

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

CITY CENTRE & HAYMARKET

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

DARLING HARBOUR & PYRMONT

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

SURRY HILLS & DARLINGHURST

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

KINGS CROSS & POTTS POINT

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

PADDINGTON & CENTENNIAL PARK

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

BONDI, COOGEE & THE EASTERN BEACHES

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

AROUND THE HARBOUR

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

NEWTOWN & THE INNER WEST

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

MANLY

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Shopping

Sports & Activities

DAY TRIPS FROM SYDNEY

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

Northern Beaches

Blue Mountains

Parramatta

Royal National Park

SLEEPING

UNDERSTAND

Understand Sydney

Sydney Today

History

The Arts

Architecture

SURVIVAL GUIDE

Transport

Arriving in Sydney

Getting Around

Directory A-Z

Customs Regulations

Discount Cards

Electricity

Emergency & Important Numbers

Etiquette

Internet Access

Legal Matters

Medical Services

Money

Opening Hours

Public Holidays

Safe Travel

Taxes & Refunds

Telephone

Time

Toilets

Tourist Information

Travellers with Disabilities

Visas

Work

Sydney Maps

Circular Quay & the Rocks

City Centre

Haymarket

Darling Harbour & Pyrmont

Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

Kings Cross & Potts Point

Paddington & Centennial Park

Bondi

Coogee

Around the Harbour

Newtown & the Inner West

Manly

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Behind the Scenes

Our Writers

Welcome to Sydney

Sydney, spectacularly draped around its glorious harbour and beaches, has a visual wow factor like few other cities. Scratch the surface and it only gets better.

Show Pony

Brash is the word that inevitably gets bandied around when it comes to describing the Harbour City; and let’s face it, compared to its Australian sister cities, Sydney is loud, uncompromising and in your face. Fireworks displays are more dazzling here, heels are higher, bodies more buffed, contact sports more brutal, starlets shinier, drag queens glitzier and prices higher. Australia’s best musos, foodies, actors, stockbrokers, models, writers and architects flock to the city to make their mark, and the effect is dazzling: a hyperenergetic, ambitious, optimistic and unprincipled marketplace of the soul, where anything goes and everything usually does.

Making a Splash

Defined just as much by its rugged Pacific coastline as its exquisite harbour, Sydney charms with its coastal setting. Jump on a ferry and it’s your oyster – the harbour prises the city’s two halves far enough apart to reveal an abundance of pearls. On the coast, Australia ends abruptly in sheer walls of sandstone punctuated by arcs of golden sand that are covered, in summer, with bronzed bodies making the most of a climate that encourages outdoor socialising, exercising, flirting and fun.

On the Wild Side

National parks ring the city and penetrate right into its heart. Large chunks of harbour are still bush-fringed, while parks cut their way through skyscrapers and suburbs. Consequently, native critters turn up in the most surprising places. Clouds of flying foxes pass overhead at twilight and spend the night rustling around in suburban fig trees; oversized spiders stake out corners of lounge-room walls; possums rattle over roofs of terrace houses; and sulphur-crested cockatoos screech from the railings of urban balconies. At times Sydney’s concrete jungle seems more like an actual one – and doesn’t that just make it all the more exciting?

After Dark

After a lazy Saturday at the beach, urbane Sydneysiders have a disco nap, hit the showers and head out again. There’s always a new restaurant to try, undercover bar to hunt down, hip band to check out, sports team to shout at, show to see or crazy party to attend. The city’s pretensions to glamour are well balanced by a casualness that means a cool T-shirt and a tidy pair of jeans will get you in most places. But if you want to dress up and show off, there’s plenty of opportunity for that among the sparkling harbour lights.

The Sydney Opera House at dusk | GUY VANDERELST/GETTY IMAGES ©

Why I Love Sydney

By Andy Symington

Sydney is full of charms, and the wonderful thing about the city is that people make a point of getting out there and enjoying them. Beaches, harbour, bars and restaurants; it’s always buzzing with multicultural Sydneysiders out for a good time. But they’re out there enjoying nature too. Growing up in a bushy suburb, I’ve always appreciated the extraordinary amount of wild space pervading this large metropolis. Walking national park and shoreline paths is one of the city’s great hidden delights, especially if you can get there on a harbour ferry, another love of mine.

For more, see our writers

Sydney’s Top 10

Sydney Opera House

1 Striking, unique, curvalicious – is there a sexier building on the planet? Seeing such a recognisable object for the first time is always an odd experience. Depending on where you stand, the Opera House can seem smaller or bigger than you think it’s going to be. It confounds expectations but is never disappointing. Most of all, it’s a supremely practical building and what goes on inside (theatre, dance, concerts) can be almost as interesting as the famous exterior. It’s a magnificent place.

1Circular Quay & the Rocks

/ GETTY IMAGES ©

Sydney’s Top 10

Sydney Harbour Bridge

2 Like the Opera House, Sydney’s second-most-loved construction inhabits the intersection of practicality and great beauty. The centrepiece of the city’s biggest celebrations, the bridge is at its best on New Year’s Eve when it erupts in pyrotechnics and the image is beamed into lounge rooms the world over. Its sheer size is impressive, and as you explore Sydney there’s always some intriguing new view of it. The views it provides are magnificent, whether you’re walking over it or joining a BridgeClimb expedition up and over its central rainbow of steel.

1Circular Quay & the Rocks

CHRIS BEAVON/GETTY IMAGES ©

Sydney’s Top 10

Sydney’s Eateries

3 Eat to the beat of a city resonant with the flavours of the multitude of cultures that inhabit it. Sydney’s dining scene has never been more diverse, inventive and downright exciting. Sure, it can be pretentious, faddish and a little too obsessed with celebrity chefs, but it wouldn’t be Sydney if it weren’t. It’s assuredly not a case of style over substance – Sydney’s quite capable of juggling both. Fine diners like Quay are standouts, but cheap noodles with BYO wine somewhere in the Inner West is another highlight.

5Eating

TIMOTHY CHRISTIANTO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Sydney’s Top 10

Bondi Beach

4 An essential Sydney experience, Bondi Beach offers fabulous opportunities for lazing on the sand, lingering in cafes, carving up the surf, splashing about in the shallows and swimming in sheltered pools. Every summer the world comes to Bondi, and what a wonderful world it is. The tightly arranged beach towels form a colourful mosaic, and a walk to the water can reveal a multitude of accents and languages. After dark, the action shifts to accomplished restaurants, quirky bars and bustling pubs.

1Bondi, Coogee & the Eastern Beaches

MATTEO COLOMBO/GETTY IMAGES ©

Sydney’s Top 10

Sydney Harbour National Park

5 Spread out around the harbour, this unusual national park offers a widely varied set of experiences, all with a blissful watery view. In this park, it’s equally possible to separate yourself from civilisation or to be surrounded by traffic. It incorporates harbour islands, secluded beaches, ancient rock art, lighthouses, untouched headlands and, right in the middle of the city, a historic cottage. You can kayak into otherwise inaccessible coves, plan your own ferry-hike combinations or cycle along well-tended paths. Pack a picnic and disappear along the bushy trails.

1Around the Harbour

NORTH HEAD | SUIPPI/GETTY IMAGES ©

Sydney’s Top 10

Art Gallery of NSW

6 The stately neoclassical building doesn’t divulge the exuberance of the collection it contains. Step inside and a colourful world of creativity opens up, offering portals into Sydney’s history, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, the outback and distant lands. There’s certainly nothing stuffy about the place. All are welcome (including children, who are particularly well catered for), admission is free, and complimentary guided tours help to break down any lingering belief that art is the province of a knowledgeable elite.

1City Centre & Haymarket

ANDREW WATSON/GETTY IMAGES ©

Sydney’s Top 10

Royal Botanic Garden

7 Although the bustle of the city couldn’t be closer, these spacious gardens right in the centre of town are superbly tranquil – the only visible traffic being the little road train that whisks people around and the purposeful procession of ferries on the harbour. Whether you’re content to spread out a picnic on the lawn, stroll with glorious harbour perspectives or study the signs on the botanical specimens, it’s an idyllic place in which to hang around for an hour or two.

1Circular Quay & the Rocks

TONY BURNS/GETTY IMAGES ©

Sydney’s Top 10

Taronga Zoo

8 A day trip to Taronga Zoo offers so much more than the animals: running the gauntlet of didjeridu players and living statues at Circular Quay; the ferry ride past the Opera House and out into the harbour; the cable car from the wharf to the top gate; the ever-present views of the city skyline as you make your way between the enclosures. And to cap it all off, the zoo is excellent too, with the chance to meet all those weird and wonderful Australian creatures.

1Around the Harbour

WARMLIGHT/GETTY IMAGES ©

Sydney’s Top 10

The Rocks

9 Australia’s convict history began here with a squalid canvas shanty town on a rocky shore. Its raucous reputation lives on in atmospheric lanes lined with historic buildings, more than a few of them still operating as pubs. Sure, the place is overrun with tacky, overpriced stuffed-koala stores and package tourists, but there are some great museums here as well. When it all gets too much, head through the convict-hewn Argyle Cut to the less frantically commercial Millers and Dawes Points, and lovely Walsh Bay.

1Circular Quay & the Rocks

M. LETSCHERT/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Sydney’s Top 10

Aboriginal Rock Art

10 It inevitably comes as a surprise to stumble across an art form that’s so ancient in such a modern city, yet Sydney is built on top of a giant gallery. Until recently not much attention was paid to such things and much was covered over or destroyed. But with dot paintings from distant deserts being celebrated, Sydneysiders have started to wake up to the treasure trove in their own backyard. Look for it on headlands around the harbour and on the coast and in nearby national parks.

1Bondi to Coogee

ROCK ENGRAVINGS, BONDI | PHILIP QUIRK/GETTY IMAGES ©

What’s New

Barangaroo South

This new waterfront development has brought a suite of quality restaurants with lots of outdoor seating to the western CBD, including a major three-level venture from celebrity chef Matt Moran. There’s also a significant new ferry stop here.

Light Rail Two

Sydney’s transport infrastructure is developing apace and the second light rail line, which will link Circular Quay with the southeastern suburbs via Central, is due to open in 2019. It will run along George St, much of which is now pedestrianised, and be a handy way to hop through the city centre.

Sydney Metro

A huge transport infrastructure project will bring a new underground rail line through the centre of Sydney over the next few years. Expect plenty more construction works.

Alexandria

This district, formerly known only for warehouses and outlet shopping, is rapidly transforming itself into an enclave of hipster cafes, craft brewers and innovative creative start-ups. Head over and see what’s going down.

Boutique Hotels

Some of Sydney’s most intriguing inner suburbs have been a bit short on accommodation, but that is changing now with the opening of lovely boutique hotels Spicers in Potts Point and Mrs Banks in Paddington.

Australian Museum

The Australian Museum has reopened its noble Long Room, based on a display about 100 key museum objects and 100 key Australians.

Jewish Museum

The Sydney Jewish Museum has a spectacular new layout, centred on a multi-level exhibition on the Holocaust.

Upcoming Museum Developments

The Art Gallery of NSW is undergoing a major expansion that will see a new building centred on a significant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art exhibition. And the University of Sydney’s new Chau Chak Wing Museum is scheduled to open in 2020.

Darling Harbour

Old behemoths are being torn down to make way for new ones; the shiny new convention and exhibition centre is in place, while the Ribbon development is due in 2020.

Parramatta

It’s exciting times at Sydney’s geographical heart; the plan is to make this into a second ‘city centre’ for the metropolis. There are huge changes going on right across this suburb and an ambitious cultural program means it’s always a buzzing spot to visit.

For more recommendations and reviews, see lonelyplanet.com/Sydney

Need to Know

For more information, see Survival Guide

Currency

Australian dollar ($)

Language

English

Visas

All visitors to Australia need a visa – only New Zealand nationals are exempt, and even they receive a ‘special category’ visa on arrival.

Money

There are ATMs everywhere and major credit cards are widely accepted, though there’s often a surcharge.

Mobile Phones

Australia’s digital network is compatible with most international phones. Local SIM cards are cheap, so bring an unlocked handset. Local mobile numbers begin with 04. Using mobiles while driving is prohibited unless hands-free.

Time

Eastern Standard Time (GMT/UTC plus 10 hours)

Tourist Information

Sydney Visitor Centre – The Rocks (MAP; %02-8273 0000; www.sydney.com; cnr Argyle & Playfair Sts; h9.30am-5.30pm, to 6pm Dec & Jan; dCircular Quay) Sydney’s principal tourist office is in the heart of the historic Rocks district

Daily Costs

Budget: Less than $190

A Dorm beds: $30–50

A Return train trip: $8

A Hanging out at the beach: free

A Pizza, pasta, noodles or burgers: $10–20

Midrange: $190–320

A Private room with own bathroom $150–250

A Cafe breakfast: $20–25

A All-day public transport: maximum $15.40 using Opal card

A Two-course dinner with glass of wine: $50–70

Top End: More than $320

A Four-star hotel: from $250

A Three-course dinner in top restaurant with wine: $140–250

A Opera ticket: $160–350

A Taxis: $50

Advance Planning

Three months before Book accommodation; make sure your passport, visa and travel insurance are in order.

One month before Book top restaurants; check to see if your visit coincides with any major cultural or sporting events and book tickets.

A week before Top up your credit cards; check the Sydney news sites and what’s on lists.

Useful Websites

Destination NSW (www.sydney.com) Official visitors guide.

TripView The handiest app for planning public transport journeys.

Time Out (www.timeout.com/sydney) What’s on information and reviews.

Not Quite Nigella (www.notquitenigella.com) Entertaining food blog.

FBI Radio (https://fbiradio.com) Underground music and arts scene coverage.

Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com/sydney) Destination information, hotel bookings, traveller forum and more.

WHEN TO GO

Peak season is from Christmas through January, coinciding with summer school holidays and hot weather. Spring (September to November) is usually dry and warm.

Arriving in Sydney

Sydney Airport Taxis to the city cost up to $55 and depart from the front of the terminals. Airport shuttles head to city hotels for around $20. Trains depart from beneath the terminal but charge a whopping $13.80 on top of the normal train fare for the short journey into the city.

Central Station Country and interstate trains arrive at Central station, at the southern end of the city centre. Follow the signs downstairs to connect to local services or head to Railway Sq for buses.

Sydney Coach Terminal Long-distance coaches stop in front of Central station.

Overseas Passenger Terminal Many cruise ships pull in here, right on Circular Quay. There’s a train station nearby.

For much more, see Arriving in Sydney

Getting Around

A Train The linchpin of the network, with lines radiating out from Central station.

A Buses Particularly useful for getting to the beaches and parts of the Inner West.

A Ferries Head all around the harbour and up the river to Parramatta.

A Light Rail (Tram) Useful for Pyrmont and Glebe; and from 2019, city-hopping, Surry Hills, Moore Park and Randwick.

A Metro Under construction. The first line will link northwestern Sydney with Chatswood from 2019; the second phase will extend it through the centre of the city and out to the west by the mid 2020s.

For much more, see Getting Around

Sleeping

Sydney is not a cheap city to stay in, though the fluctuations of the exchange rate can provide some relief...or not. Midrange travellers will have to dig deep; even many of the hostels charge over $120 for a private room with its own bathroom.

You’re best to book well in advance, both to secure your top choice of accommodation and to take advantage of cheaper rates. Weekends are usually busier than weekdays, although the reverse can be true for some of the more business-focused places.

Useful Websites

Home-share and apartment rental can provide some relief from the high hotel prices, but nothing comes cheap.

A Sydney.com (www.sydney.com) Official tourism website, including accommodation listings.

A Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com/australia/sydney/hotels) Accommodation listings.

For much more, see Sleeping

Top Itineraries

Day One

Circular Quay & the Rocks

M Why postpone joy? Start at Circular Quay and head directly to the Sydney Opera House. Circle around it and follow the shoreline into the Royal Botanic Garden. Have a good look about and then continue around Mrs Macquaries Point and down to Woolloomooloo.

5 Lunch Grab a pie at Harry’s Cafe de Wheels, a Sydney institution.

City Centre & Haymarket

R Head up to the Art Gallery of NSW. Take some time to explore the gallery then cross the Domain and cut through Sydney Hospital to Macquarie St. Parliament House is immediately to the right, while to the left is the Mint and Hyde Park Barracks. Cross into Hyde Park and head straight through its centre, crossing Park St and continuing on to the Anzac Memorial.

5 Dinner Catch a cab to Folonomo for profits-to-charity dining.

Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

N After dinner, if you haven’t booked tickets for a play at Belvoir St Theatre, take a stroll along Crown St. There are plenty of good bars and pubs to stop at along the way.

Top Itineraries

Day Two

Bondi, Coogee & the Eastern Beaches

M Grab your swimming gear and head to the beach. Catch the bus to Bondi and spend some time strolling about and soaking it all in. If the weather’s right, stop for a swim. Once you’re done, take the clifftop path to Tamarama and on to Bronte.

5 Lunch Detour slightly up to Bronte’s excellent Three Blue Ducks.

Bondi, Coogee & the Eastern Beaches

R Continue on the coastal path through Waverley Cemetery and down to Clovelly. This is a great spot to stop for a swim or a snorkel. Continuing on you’ll pass Gordons Bay and Dolphin Point before you arrive at Coogee Beach. Stop for a drink on the rooftop of Coogee Pavilion then jump aboard a bus back to Bondi Junction. Shopaholics can have a brief whirl around Westfield.

5 Dinner Get a taste of classic Chinatown at Golden Century.

City Centre & Haymarket

N Stroll a few blocks north to check out some of the city’s small bars. Grandma’s, the Barber Shop, Grasshopper and the Baxter Inn are good ones to start you off, or you could continue the Chinese theme at Uncle Ming’s.

Top Itineraries

Day Three

Around the Harbour

M Take the scenic ferry ride from Circular Quay to Watsons Bay. Walk up to the Gap to watch the waves pounding against the cliffs, then continue on to Camp Cove for a dip. Take the South Head Heritage Trail for sublime views of the city and the whole of the upper harbour.

5 Lunch Enjoy the beer garden at Watsons Bay Beach Club.

Circular Quay & the Rocks

R Head back to Circular Quay and spend the afternoon exploring the Rocks. Start at the Museum of Contemporary Art and then head up into the network of narrow lanes to the Rocks Discovery Museum. Continue through the Argyle Cut to Millers Point and wander up Observatory Hill. Pop into one of Sydney’s oldest pubs (maybe the Lord Nelson or Hero of Waterloo) and then explore the wharves of Walsh Bay and double back under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

5 Dinner Book well in advance for Sydney’s top restaurant, Quay.

Circular Quay & the Rocks

N Make this a glamorous night out. Book a show at the Sydney Opera House or Walsh Bay, or head straight to Opera Bar to be mesmerised by the lights sparkling on the water.

Top Itineraries

Day Four

Darling Harbour & Pyrmont

M Have a stroll around the waterfront and settle on whichever of the big attractions takes your fancy – perhaps the Australian National Maritime Museum or Sydney Sea Life Aquarium. Each of these will easily fill an entire morning.

5 Lunch For a cheap bite, pop up to Central Baking Depot.

Around the Harbour

R Jump on the river service at King St Wharf and take an hour-long cruise upstream as far as Sydney Olympic Park. Take a stroll around Newington Nature Reserve until the next ferry arrives to whisk you back. Stop at Cockatoo Island for a look at its art installations and the remnants of its convict and shipbuilding past. From here you can either catch a ferry to Balmain, or head straight back to Darling Harbour or Circular Quay.

5 Dinner Have a final night of top Modern Australian cuisine at Ester.

Newtown & the Inner West

N After dinner stroll up to King St, Newtown, and cruise the late-night bookshops and bars. A short pub crawl could include the Marlborough, Corridor, Courthouse Hotel and Earl’s Juke Joint. Or head to Holey Moley for some crazy mini golf.

If You Like…

National Parks

Sydney Harbour National Park Preserving the wild side of the city on numerous headlands and islands.

Blue Mountains National Park A vast blanket of forested wilderness guarding the city’s western flank.

Royal National Park Secluded rivers and beaches amid bush and heath, to the city’s south.

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park This large untamed area to the north completes the circle of wilderness enclosing the city.

Lane Cove National Park Encircled by suburbia but rich in wildlife nonetheless.

Art

Art Gallery of NSW Where the state stashes its greatest treasures; locals are well represented.

Museum of Contemporary Art Bringing edgy art to the heart of the city.

White Rabbit A fascinating private collection of contemporary Chinese art, free to all.

Australian Centre for Photography Not limited to traditional photography, the ACP displays digital, video and multimedia work as well.

Artspace On the bleeding edge (sometimes literally – ew) of Sydney’s art scene.

Free Stuff

Art Gallery of NSW A fantastic gallery behind a neoclassical facade.

Sydney Harbour Bridge You can pay for the climb, or wander along it for free.

Museum of Contemporary Art A showcase for Australian and international contemporary art.

Sydney Observatory Observatory Hill, atop which this Italianate observatory sits, is worth a visit in itself.

Rocks Discovery Museum Enhance your appreciation of the Rocks by learning a bit about the area’s history.

White Rabbit Showcases contemporary Chinese art.

Mahon Pool An idyllic rock pool with surf crashing over the edges at high tide.

Royal Botanic Garden Sydney’s favourite picnic destination, jogging route and snuggling spot.

Sydney Harbour National Park Walking tracks, scenic lookouts, Aboriginal carvings, beaches and a handful of historic sites.

Nicholson Museum A must-see for ancient-history geeks.

Historic Buildings

Vaucluse House William Went-worth’s Vaucluse mansion is a rare surviving colonial estate on the harbour’s edge.

Elizabeth Bay House Another harbourside home, built in a gracious Georgian style in the heart of Lizzie Bay.

Hyde Park Barracks Museum Convict architect Francis Greenway’s beautiful prison, housing a fascinating museum.

Old Government House Part of a cluster of important remnants of the early colony lingering in Parramatta.

Queen Victoria Building The most unrestrained and ornate survivor of the Victorian era.

Martin Place A stretch of grand bank buildings and the High Victorian former General Post Office, the most iconic building of its time.

Elizabeth Farm Sydney’s oldest colonial house is incorporated into this early farmhouse.

Susannah Place Museum These Rocks tenement buildings give great insight into historic life there.

Museums

Australian Museum The grand dame of Sydney museums, with a refurbished collection, dinosaur gallery and excellent Aboriginal section.

Australian National Maritime Museum Half the museum is moored outside; clamber through a submarine and into the hold of a tall ship.

Nicholson Museum This university museum of antiquities is such a hidden gem that most Sydneysiders have never heard of it.

Chau Chak Wing Museum The Nicholson and other university museums will be incorporated into this new attraction in 2020.

Sydney Jewish Museum An affecting little museum tracing the history of Judaism in Australia but mainly devoted to the Holocaust.

Rocks Discovery Museum A warts-and-all primer for Australia’s first proper neighbourhood.

Susannah Place Museum A reminder that history is as much about the people who lived in slum houses as those who lived in palaces.

For more top Sydney spots, see the following:

A Eating

A Drinking & Nightlife

A Entertainment

A Shopping

A Sports & Activities

Parks & Gardens

Royal Botanic Garden Well-tended lawns, interesting botanical collections and ever-present harbour views add up to Sydney’s most beautiful park.

Hyde Park A shady avenue of trees, lit with fairy lights at night, makes this an inviting place for a stroll.

Chinese Garden of Friendship A traditional arrangement of streams, ponds and paths to soothe the city’s stresses.

The Domain The extensive lawns are used for large-scale public gatherings, while Mrs Macquaries Point offers unforgettable city views.

Centennial Park Formal bits, wild bits and a whir of joggers, cyclists and horse riders circling the central avenues.

Nielsen Park A tucked-away, leafy, harbourside park with a blissful shark-netted beach.

Views

Sydney Tower Eye Towering over absolutely everything, there’s no better place to get an overview of the entire city.

O Bar Order a cocktail and enjoy the vista from the rotating bar at the top of the Australia Square tower.

Mrs Macquaries Point Jutting out into the harbour, offering the best ground-level views of the Opera House and the city skyline.

McMahons Point Get the ferry across to this little wharf for spectacular views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

Observatory Hill Trudge up from the Rocks to this grassy knoll and gaze over Walsh Bay to the inner harbour.

Waverley Cemetery A great spot for gazing out to sea and thinking ‘thar she blows’ whenever you spot a whale.

Zoos & Aquariums

Taronga Zoo A thoroughly modern establishment, housing its animals in spacious enclosures with million-dollar views.

Sydney Sea Life Aquarium Well laid out and fascinating, with giant sharks, rays and, most unusually, dugongs.

Wild Life Sydney Zoo Bringing the outback to the heart of Darling Harbour.

Featherdale Wildlife Park Meet iconic Australian fauna at this park in western Sydney.

Industrial Remnants

Powerhouse Museum The building once generated power for the tram network and is now a shrine to technology and innovation.

Cockatoo Island The detritus of defunct shipyards lends a sculptural quality to the island landscape.

Walsh Bay Elegant Edwardian warehouses, once part of a bustling port, now housing theatres, restaurants and apartments.

Woolloomooloo Wharf The wool bales may have gone, but the winches and girders remain.

Carriageworks Cavernous brick train sheds converted into an edgy arts precinct.

Tramsheds The former depot for Sydney’s old trams is now a foodie precinct accessible on the new light rail network.

Industrial relics, Cockatoo Island | MAGSPACE/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Religious Buildings

St Mary’s Cathedral Beamed in from Gothic Europe, the grand Catholic cathedral is awash with colour when the sun hits its stained glass.

Great Synagogue A mismatch of architectural styles, maybe, but a beautiful one.

St James’ Church Francis Greenway’s elegant, understated church is perhaps his crowning achievement.

Mary MacKillop Place A humble final resting place for Australia’s only Catholic saint, with a small museum to her life.

Garrison Church Regimental flags brighten the cool interior of this pretty sandstone church.

Month by Month

TOP EVENTS

New Year’s Eve, December

Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, February–March

National Rugby League Grand Final, October

Sydney Festival, January

Vivid Sydney, May–June

January

The peak of the peak season with school summer holidays in full swing, taking advantage of the long, hot days. On average this is the hottest month.

3Field Day

Groove New Year’s Day away in the Domain with well-known danceable international and local acts from the hip-hop and electronic part of the spectrum. (www.facebook.com/FieldDay)

3Sydney Festival

Sydney’s premier arts and culture festival (www.sydneyfestival.org.au) offers three weeks of music, theatre, visual art and ‘happenings’ around town. It’s an essential part of the summertime scene.

3Big Bash

This hugely popular T20 cricket competition is in full flow during January. It’s designed to be family-friendly, with lots of action, fun and noise. Traditionalists will prefer the Sydney test match that starts in the first week of January.

3Flickerfest

Bondi’s international short-film festival (http://flickerfest.com.au) offers shorts, docos, animation and workshops over 10 days in mid-January at Bondi Pavilion on the beach.

zAustralia Day

On 26 January Sydneysiders celebrate with picnics, barbecues, harbour fireworks and much flag waving and drunkenness. Indigenous Australians aren’t so delighted, accurately labelling it ‘Invasion Day’. Movements are afoot to find an alternative reason for the nation to celebrate the end of summer holidays together.

Australia Day celebrations, Circular Quay | AIYOSHI597/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

3Ferrython

Part of the Sydney Festival, this delightfully insane Australia Day contest sees a fleet of bespangled ferries race around the harbour.

February

Almost as hot as January, but the kids are back at school, so the beaches are less crowded. From mid-February the Mardi Gras influx arrives.

zChinese New Year

Based in Chinatown, but with elements and events right across Sydney, this 17-day celebration (https://whatson.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au) features food, fireworks, dragon dancers and dragon-boat races to see in the lunar new year.

3St Jerome’s Laneway Festival

A one-day music festival (http://lanewayfestival.com) held in Rozelle, featuring the hippest international indie acts just as they’re breaking. The festival tours other state capitals too.

3Tropfest

Apparently the world’s largest short-film festival (www.tropfest.org.au), this is enjoyed from picnic blankets in Parramatta Park on a single evening in February.

March

March kicks off with the Mardi Gras parade. The temperature is still balmy, but it’s traditionally Sydney’s wettest month.

zSydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras

Beginning in mid-February, this two-week festival celebrates all things LGBTIQ, culminating in a massive parade and party on the first Saturday in March. Lots of international visitors mean the city is buzzing.

A reveller in the annual Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras parade | ATTILAVALENTINA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
zSydney Design

Ten days of exhibitions, events, talks and markets devoted to local designers’ work (https://sydneydesign.com.au); held in the Powerhouse Museum and various other venues.

5Taste of Sydney

Very much foodie heaven, this four-day ticketed event (www.sydney.tastefestivals.com) is full of famous chefs serving top food in Centennial Park in mid-March.

April

As autumn progresses, showers are frequent, but it’s not particularly cold. People make the most of the four-day Easter weekend and the two-week school holidays.

zRoyal Easter Show

Ostensibly an agricultural show, but with a substantial commercial element, this two-week fiesta (www.eastershow.com.au) is great for families, with carnival rides, showbags and sugary horrors; held at Sydney Olympic Park.

zSydney Autumn Racing Carnival

Sydney’s biggest horse-racing carnival (www.australianturfclub.com.au), held between Randwick and Rosehill racecourses in March and April. The biggest races are the Golden Slipper, a sprint for two-year-olds at Rosehill, and the Sydney Cup at Randwick. Lots of princesses in big hats and drunken blokes in ill-fitting suits.

3Sydney Comedy Festival

Wise guys and gals take to the stage (www.sydneycomedyfest.com.au) at numerous venues across the city for four weeks from late April.

May

Average high temperatures finally dip below 20°C and rainfall remains high, but Sydneysiders take it as an opportunity to pull out the novels.

zBiennale of Sydney

This high-profile festival (www.biennaleofsydney.art) of contemporary art and ideas is held between March and June in even-numbered years. It originated as an opening celebration for the Opera House.

zSydney Writers’ Festival

The country’s preeminent literary shindig (www.swf.org.au) runs for a week in various prime locations around the central city. The program is always excellent, with prominent guests and interesting topics.

zVivid Sydney

This increasingly impressive and popular festival (https://www.vividsydney.com) features spectacular immersive light installations and projections at locations right across the city. There are also performances and public talks, and debates with leading global creative thinkers. It’s held over 18 days from late May.

June

Sunshine hours shrink to their lowest levels (an average of 5½ per day) as winter kicks in. The rugby league season keeps passions running hot.

3State of Origin Series

Rugby league fanatics consider this series of three matches between Queensland and New South Wales the pinnacle of the game. One of the three is held in Sydney. The final match is held in July.

3Sydney Film Festival

Held (mostly) at the magnificent State Theatre, this excellent, highly regarded film festival (www.sff.org.au) screens art-house gems from Australia and around the world.

July

The kids escape from school for the first two weeks of Sydney’s coldest month, where the daily highs rarely strike above the mid-teens and the lows are in single figures, just…

zNAIDOC Week

Running for a week in early July, this nationwide celebration (www.naidoc.org.au) and awareness-raising of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture sees a variety of events across the city.

August

August is chilly but dry – perfect for a run to the beach, but once you get there, you won’t be tempted to get in.

3Bledisloe Cup

Australia’s rugby union team, the Wallabies, take on the might of the New Zealand All Blacks in a three-match series, one of which normally takes place in Sydney in August. Other internationals against South Africa and Argentina also take place around this time (www.rugby.com.au).

2City2Surf Run

On the second Sunday in August, over 80,000 people run (city2surf.com.au) the 14km from Hyde Park to Bondi Beach. The fastest reach the beach in a little over 40 minutes, their athletic seriousness counterbalanced by family fun, silly outfits and the odd cardiac scare.

September

Spring brings warming weather and sunny days. September is traditionally Sydney’s driest month and daily highs scrape back above 20°C.

2Sydney Running Festival

This festival (www.sydneyrunningfestival.com.au) comprises the Sydney marathon, half-marathon, bridge run and family fun run – all held on the same day in late September.

October

The pleasant spring weather continues. Workers get the Labour Day long weekend to enjoy it, while school students get the whole first week.

3Manly Jazz Festival

Held over the Labour Day long weekend, this long-standing festival (www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au) in Manly features performances ranging from trad jazz to contemporary.

5Good Food Month

Sydney indulges in an October-long celebration of food and wine (www.goodfoodmonth.com/sydney), with dining events, cooking classes and night noodle markets in Hyde Park.

3National Rugby League Grand Final

The rugby league season culminates with this clash on the Sunday of the long weekend at Sydney Olympic Park. Sometimes falls on 30 September.

November

November is a great time to visit Sydney. It’s usually the sunniest month, averaging nearly eight hours of rays per day, with temperatures warm but rarely scorching.

1Graphic

A weekend devoted to graphic storytelling and art, presented by the Sydney Opera House (graphic.sydneyoperahouse.com). Features pop-culture luminaries from the music, film and art world.

1Sculpture by the Sea

For 17 days from late October, the clifftop trail from Bondi Beach to Tamarama transforms into a sculpture garden (sculpturebythesea.com), with numerous quirky offerings.

zNewtown Festival

All of the urban tribes of the ‘People’s Republic of Newtown’ flock to this day (www.newtownfestival.org) of live music, writers’ readings, dog shows, kids’ activities and pop-up poetry.

December

Hello summer! Decembers in Sydney are hot and dry, and for the first three weeks the beaches are free of school holidayers. From Christmas onward things go crazy.

zBondi Christmas Bash

Sydney’s international family of travellers traditionally descends on Bondi Beach on 25 December. There’s usually a party in the Pavilion.

3Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

On Boxing Day, Sydney Harbour churns with competitors and onlookers for the start of this arduous race (www.rolexsydneyhobart.com) down to the Tasmanian capital.

zNew Year’s Eve

The biggest party of the year, with flamboyant firework displays (http://sydneynewyearseve.com) on the harbour. There’s a family-friendly display at 9pm then the main event at midnight. There’s a variety of regulated zones to watch the fireworks from, some ticketed, some alcohol-free.

With Kids

With boundless natural attractions and relaxed, outdoor living, Sydney is great for kids. Families can easily show their little ones a good time without suffering for it themselves, with many great options that don’t cost a cent: swim, wander and play all across the city.

Sydney Sea Life Aquarium | ANDREW HOLT/GETTY IMAGES ©

Beaches

The calm waters of Sydney’s harbour beaches are great for kids. If you’re particularly paranoid about sharks, head to the netted areas at Murray Rose Pool, Nielsen Park, Chowder Bay, Balmoral and Manly Cove. Most of Sydney’s surf beaches have saltwater ocean pools, such as the spectacular Bondi Icebergs and McIver’s Ladies Baths. Dee Why has a pool for younger children and Narrabeen has a shallow paddling beach at the mouth of the lagoon.

There are also some excellent indoor public pools complete with slides and other watery attractions as well as Wet’n’Wild (%13 33 86; www.wetnwildsydney.com.au; 427 Reservoir Rd, Prospect; over/under 110cm tall $69/59; hSep-Apr, hours may vary; c; gshuttle from Parramatta Station), a full-blown water park.

Parks & Wildlife

Most beaches have superb playgrounds and there’s a great one at Darling Harbour. Once you’re done you can stroll up to Wild Life Sydney Zoo and the Sydney Sea Life Aquarium or pop into the fascinating Australian National Maritime Museum.

Better still is the ferry ride to the excellent Taronga Zoo; for a less hectic wildlife experience, Featherdale Wildlife Park (%02-9622 1644; www.featherdale.com.au; 217-229 Kildare Rd, Doonside; adult/child/family $32/17/88; h9am-5pm; g725, dDoonside) is great for meeting koalas.

NEED TO KNOW

A For an extra cost, car-hire companies will supply and fit child safety seats (compulsory for children under seven).

A Most accommodation providers can provide cots, but try to arrange in advance.

A Mothers have a legal right to breastfeed in public.

Active Pursuits

Most surf schools cater for kids, and special school-holiday packages are standard during January.

Bike tours are another good way to expend excess energy. Otherwise you can hire bikes (kids’ bikes are widely available) and lead your own pack around Centennial Park or Sydney Olympic Park, which also has an impressive high ropes adventure park for kids eight years and up. Taronga Zoo has the impressive Wild Ropes also.

Sydney Harbour Kayaks welcomes 12-year-olds to its tours, as long as they’re accompanied by an adult. It also rents kayaks to families with kids as young as three.

Wet-Weather Options

Children adore Ultimo’s science- and technology-focused Powerhouse Museum, which has plenty of hands-on experiments, big chunks of machinery for budding engineers plus an interactive Wiggles exhibition. Close by at Darling Harbour, the tween set are likely to be quite distracted by Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga at Madame Tussauds. Across town, the Australian Museum is a real hit with the younger crowd, especially its excellent dinosaur exhibition.

If the thought of dragging the kids around a gallery fills you with dread, you’ll be surprised by the child-friendly Art Gallery of NSW. The dynamic program includes free shows most Sundays, tailored discovery trails and self-guided, child-focused audio tours. There are also regular art safaris and creative workshops at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The delights of the Sydney Opera House aren’t restricted to adults. Catch the best in international children’s theatre, school-holiday shows and free Creative Play sessions. There’s also a junior version of the popular Opera House Tour.

Little astronomers might want to do some stargazing or see the Time Ball drop at the very kid-focused Sydney Observatory.

Attitudes

Australians are generally tolerant of children. Most restaurants welcome well-supervised children and many have high chairs and kids menus, though avoid little hole-in-the-wall cafes in the inner city (no space). The only place you may come across a blanket ban on children is in some of the quieter B&Bs and boutique hotels.

Larger pubs serving food usually have a child-friendly area up to a certain time of night. Many pubs and eateries, especially in the Inner West, specifically set themselves up to be family-friendly, with play areas, changing facilities and even farm animals. The Henson, Petersham Bowling Club, Grounds of Alexandria and Camperdown Commons are great examples.

Babysitting

Most big hotels offer babysitting services. Otherwise agencies can send babysitters to you, usually for a four-hour minimum (from $25 per hour) and a booking fee (from $23); try Nannies & Helpers (%02-9410 0725; www.nanniesandhelpers.com.au) or The Wright Nanny (%02-9519 2928; www.thewrightnanny.com.au).

Concessions

Most sights, entertainment venues and transport providers offer a discount of up to 50% off the full adult rate for children, although the upper age limit can vary widely (anything from 12 to 18 years of age). Many places also let under fives or under threes in for free. Family tickets are common at big attractions, generally covering two adults and two children.

There are Child/Youth Opal cards for four to 15 year olds (plus NSW/ACT high school students 16 or over) that mean you pay half fare on public transport. Under fours travel free.

Like a Local

In most parts of Sydney, locals are firmly in the majority, even at that perennial tourist favourite Bondi Beach. Ditch the tour group, unstrap the bum bag (don’t ever call it a fanny pack!) and step away from the Rocks – before you know it, you’ll have blended right in.

Strand Arcade | ANDREW WATSON / GETTY IMAGES ©

Beaching Like a Local

By and large, Sydney’s beaches are full of locals – even Bondi. Australia has one of the highest skin-cancer rates in the world – nearly four times greater than the USA’s. Consequently sunbaking is less popular than it used to be, and many locals will head to the beach early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid the worst of the sun. Once they get there, they’ll lather up in extremely high SPF sunscreen and cover the kids in protective clothing. Sydneysiders aren’t overly bothered by the possibility of shark attacks. The last fatal attack in the harbour was in 1963; surfers face more of a risk.

Eating Like a Local

Unless it’s a very special occasion locals don’t dine at Circular Quay or the Rocks. And unless they have out-of-towners to entertain (or a child), they shun Darling Harbour as well. Those in-the-know head to reliable Surry Hills, or to that just-opened place that everybody’s been talking about in a formerly untrendy suburb. Newtown and the Inner West is great for cheap and cheerful restaurants with BYO wine. Chinatown is another budget standby, or they’ll rock up to their tried-and-true neighbourhood favourite or local pub.

But above all, locals head to cafes. Oh, the comfort of settling into the reliable local where staff make a decent flat white without bubbling the milk, serve consistently good food without charging the earth and always have a newspaper to read. For many urban Sydneysiders, brunch has replaced religious services as the main weekend ritual. And if not brunch, then yum cha.

Shopping Like a local

The advent of the mega-mall has killed many a neighbourhood shopping strip. Once exclusively the province of supermarkets and chain stores, malls like giant Westfield Sydney and Westfield Bondi Junction have added designer boutiques and fancy dining to the mix. Paddington, the former go-to neighbourhood for fashion, is still holding on...just...and only around the Glenmore Rd end. For a day of shopping escapism, the central city (mainly Pitt St) is the destination of choice, or lunch and a spot of browsing in the boutiques of Bondi Beach and Surry Hills. For vintage wares, hit Newtown.

NEED TO KNOW

A The city’s premier eating guide is the annual Good Food Guide, now a national publication. It’s heavily weighted towards modern styles, design and techniques.

A Time Out Sydney is a popular and regularly updated go-to for hot new restaurants and bars.

A There are numerous popular food blogs that are good resources on the latest modish place to open. Not Quite Nigella (www.notquitenigella.com), Grab Your Fork (http://grabyourfork.blogspot.com) and the Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry (https://theunbearablelightnessofbeinghungry.com) are three worthwhile ones.

Local Obsessions

Sport

Enough already! Sports coverage takes up half the news broadcasts, a fair chunk of the daily paper and most of the weekend TV programming. Tribal affiliations run the deepest in rugby league, so knowing who to barrack for will stand you in good stead. If you’re in the eastern suburbs (particularly the beaches) it’s the mighty Roosters; in Surry Hills, Redfern or Erskineville, the Rabbitohs; in Balmain, the Tigers; in Cronulla, the Sharks; in Parramatta, the Eels; and in Manly, the Sea Eagles.

Food

Sydney foodies constantly read reviews, gossip about what’s hot and what’s gone off the boil, and hang out for the annual update of the Good Food Guide so they can religiously work their way through the places they haven’t been to. Switch on the TV and chances are it’ll either be a food or a sports show.

Property Prices

Did you hear how much an unrenovated one-bedroom terrace house went for last week in Erskineville? Don’t worry, you soon will. With housing affordability extremely low, property obsession is at an all-time high.

Celebrities

Sure there are some fair-dinkum stars that live in Sydney, but Sydneysiders are just as fascinated by the personal lives of chefs, football players, radio jocks, former reality-TV contestants, all of the above’s ex-partners and stylists, their local crime boss...

Keeping Fit

How much do you bench? I hear that jogging on the sand does wonders for the butt. Have you tried barre body yet? How’s the diet going? You lost 5kg by going carb-free!? Can’t talk, gotta run. Yes, I am training for that half-marathon you know.

For Free

Though Sydney is generally a very expensive city, there is nevertheless plenty that you can do for free.

White Rabbit art gallery | JAZZDOG/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Freebies

Many museums and galleries offer free admission, including top attractions such as the Art Gallery of NSW, Rocks Discovery Museum, Sydney Observatory, Maritime Museum, White Rabbit, Museum of Contemporary Art, Nicholson Museum and its scheduled successor the Chau Chak Wing Museum.

Wandering the city’s parks, gardens and national parks (though there’s a vehicle fee) is gratis and rolling out your towel for nothing on the beach is an Australian birthright.

While you can’t just go traipsing through the Opera House you can scramble all around it. Then you can walk over that other great icon, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and wander through Luna Park (rides are charged).

Many of Sydney’s most beautiful old buildings are open free to the public, including Customs House, the Mint, St Mary’s Cathedral, State Library of NSW and GPO. For added entertainment, visit Parliament House on sitting days. For more modern architectural thrills, check out Central Park and the nearby Dr Chau Chak Wing Building.

Cheaper Alternatives

For views, zip up to the rotating O Bar on the 47th floor of the Australia Square tower. A cocktail will cost less than the price of visiting Sydney Tower. Equally, instead of the pricey BridgeClimb, try heading up the Pylon Lookout.

Save your expensive public transport for Sundays, when all-day Opal card travel costs just $2.60. To explore the harbour on the cheap, avoid booking an expensive cruise; instead, ride the Manly ferry or take the Parramatta River service upstream.

5Eating

Sydney’s cuisine is exceptional and rivals that of any great world city. The city truly celebrates Australia’s place on the Pacific Rim, marrying the freshest local ingredients – excellent seafood is a particular highlight – with the flavours of Asia, the Mediterranean, the Americas and, of course, its colonial past. Sydneysiders are real foodies, always seeking out the latest hot restaurant.

Where to Eat

Sydney’s top restaurants are properly pricey, but eating out needn’t be expensive. There are plenty of budget ethnic eateries where you can grab a cheap, zingy pizza or a bowl of noodles. Cafes are a good bet for a solid, often adventurous and usually reasonably priced meal. Pubs either do reliable standard fare, often with excellent prices, or casual but high-quality Modern Australian dining. The numerous BYO (bring your own wine) restaurants offer a substantially cheaper eating experience; the Inner West is brimful of them.

How Much?

Eating in Sydney can be as thrifty as a $7 Chinese noodle soup. At midrange restaurants you’ll pay between $18 and $30 for a main course. At the city’s top restaurants it can easily be $40 to $50 for a main course, and well over $100 for a degustation menu.

Vegetarians & Vegans

Sydney is great for herbivores. Unless you wander into a steakhouse by mistake, vegetarians should have no trouble finding satisfying choices on most menus. Some leading restaurants offer separate vegetarian menus, often stretching to multiple-course degustation.

At Asian eateries it pays to ask whether the vegetable dishes are cooked with oyster or fish sauce – they’ll usually be happy to make soy-based substitutions. Many of the more established restaurants specifically mark strictly vegetarian options on the menu. Southeast Asian vegetarian dishes are usually a good option for vegans also, but again, it pays to check.

The more socially progressive suburbs such as Newtown and Glebe have the widest range of veggie options. Surry Hills, Darlinghurst and Kings Cross also have good choices.

Drinking & BYO

Most licensed restaurants have respectable wine lists; prices are at least double retail cost, often much more.

Many budget and midrange restaurants allow you to BYO (bring your own) wine and sometimes beer. You’ll usually be charged a per-person or per-bottle corkage fee, but it’s generally much cheaper than choosing off the wine list.

Self-Catering

Excellent provedores, with a handful of branches, include Simon Johnson and Fratelli Fresh (www.fratellifresh.com.au). Harris Farm Markets (www.harrisfarm.com.au) is a good grocery chain, while Paddy’s Markets has a large produce section and Carriageworks Farmers Market is great for fancy fare.

Coles, IGA and Woolworths have supermarkets everywhere, many with attached liquor shops.

Offshoots

Sydney’s brand-conscious thinking and penchant for wealth accumulation (allied to stratospheric property prices) has meant that in recent years a huge percentage of new restaurant openings are offshoots of existing eateries. It’s also seen in buyouts by large restaurant groups like Merivale or Rockpool. While the quality is often high, it does feel that new restaurateurs are forced to stick to the suburbs to have any chance of opening somewhere.

Food Culture

HISTORY

While the First Fleeters came close to starvation in the early years of Sydney Town, the local Aboriginal tribes had millennia of experience in living from the land.

The colonists, though, hankered for their homeland food – roast meat, pies and boiled vegetables. In lean times, the city’s poor would fall back on rabbit. Eventually, ‘meat and three veg’ followed by tinned fruit with cream became the standard Australian home-cooked meal, with ‘throwing some prawns on the barbie’ the domain of the adventurous.

Waves of immigrants brought their cuisine with them, starting with the Chinese in the 1850s. Mediterranean migrants (particularly Italians, Greeks and southern Slavs) influenced local fare from the early 20th century, especially around Kings Cross. They also started Sydney’s love affair with coffee, which has spread to every corner of the city.

In the latter half of last century, wars in Vietnam and Lebanon brought new refugees and new ways of cooking – and these cuisines soon crossed into the mainstream. In the 1980s and ’90s the number of young Thai students burgeoned, firmly establishing Thai as one of Sydney’s most popular ethnic cuisines.

In Sydney today you can experience a different culture’s cuisine every night for months without doubling up – everything from Cambodian to Colombian can be found within a few kilometres of the city centre.

PRODUCE

Australia is blessed with brilliant produce from farms and fisheries across the nation. The tropical north provides pineapples, mangoes and even winter strawberries, while cooler southern climes lend themselves to fine wines and cheeses. These come together in a fresh, flavoursome, multicultural collision on dining tables across Sydney.

It’s through food that the last lingering limitations of colonial Australia are being dissolved. These days Sharon and Darren from Rooty Hill are just as likely to head out for Thai, Vietnamese or Lebanese as they are for fish and chips or a roast.

NEED TO KNOW

Opening Hours

Most cafes and restaurants open seven days a week. If they do close, it’s usually on a Sunday night or Monday. Standard opening hours are roughly as follows:

A Cafes: 7am to 4pm

A Restaurants: noon to 2.30pm, 6pm to 10pm

A Supermarkets: 8am to 9pm

Price Ranges

The following price ranges refer to an average main course.

$ less than $20

$$ $20–32

$$$ more than $32

Tipping

Tipping isn’t compulsory, but if service is passable most folks tip 10% (particularly at better restaurants). If anything gets your goat, you don’t have to tip at all. Tipping isn’t expected at cafes where you order and pay at the counter, but there’s often a jar where customers can sling loose change.

Reservations

Book at least a week ahead for the best restaurants, although you might sneak in with less notice, particularly for midweek lunch. For ‘iconic’ restaurants, book a month ahead.

Many restaurants offer online bookings, often via websites such as Dimmi (www.dimmi.com.au). Some don’t take bookings at all.

MOD OZ

Those making the case for a distinctly Australian cuisine might point to ‘bush tucker’ or a degustation menu of pavlova, lamingtons, Vegemite sandwiches and Anzac biscuits. A more reasoned approach has been taken by Australia’s more innovative chefs, reverting to convict stereotypes: eyeing the surroundings, determining what to steal and weaving it all into something better than the sum of its parts – something perfect for the location and the climate.

This mix of European traditions with exotic flavours is casually termed Modern Australian cuisine – an amalgamation of Mediterranean, Asian, Middle Eastern and Californian cooking practices that emphasise lightness, experimentation and healthy eating. It’s shaped by migrant influences, climatic conditions and local ingredients. In Sydney this light-fingered culinary style has filtered down from sophisticated restaurants to modest main-street bistros and pubs.

The once ubiquitous phrase ‘Mod Oz’ may have fallen out of vogue, but the style of cooking is very much alive and well.

FOOD TRENDS

The craze for Latin American street food has seen tangy soft-shell tacos replace salt-and-pepper squid as the bar snack of choice; every place seems to be a cantina these days. A similar fad for ‘dude food’ has seen posh and hipster places adding fancy burgers, pulled-pork sandwiches and big slabs of meat to their menus, with roasted animals on spits seemingly ubiquitous.

Nevertheless, some pushback is visible with a rise of healthier options on cafe menus. Bowls are bang in fashion, throwing together superfoods in a brunchy hit of wholesome goodness. Buddha bowls, yoga bowls, poke bowls...take your pick!

In an extension of the tapas trend that’s been rolling for several years, ‘shared plates’ are all the rage. Bigger than tapas and not necessarily Spanish, this style of eating favours groups with adventurous palates.

The move towards favouring quality local, seasonal, organic, sustainable, free-range and fair-trade produce is now so ingrained in the culture of the very best restaurants that it can barely be called a trend any more. Fair-trade coffee and free-range eggs are the norm at the better cafes.

Vegetarianism and veganism are on the rise in Sydney and most restaurants offer at least some decent choices. The vast number of Asian eateries and inner-city cafes have always been fertile ground, but there’s a growing diversity of dedicated restaurants.

DINING DISCOUNTS

A Restaurants often have lunch and early dinner deals.

A Pubs regularly have discounted daily specials on food.

A Numerous websites offer dining deals around town, among them www.firsttable.com.au, www.groupon.com.au, www.deals.com.au and www.cudo.com.au.

Eating by Neighbourhood

Circular Quay & the Rocks Some of Sydney’s best and priciest fine-dining restaurants, many with a harbour view and a famous chef.

City Centre & Haymarket Ranges from expense-account fine dining to all-hours dim sum.

Darling Harbour & Pyrmont Touristy and overpriced, with some notable exceptions.

Surry Hills & Darlinghurst Sydney’s gastronomic heartland, with chefs pushing boundaries in all directions for a mainly local clientele.

Kings Cross & Potts Point Chilled-out neighbourhood cafes in leafy streets and a frantic strip of all-night takeaways.

Paddington & Centennial Park Gastropubs, chic cafes and white-linen restaurants lurking along tree-lined back streets.

Bondi, Coogee & the Eastern Beaches Cool cafes catering to surfers and beachside brunchsters, and a handful of prominent ocean-gazing establishments.

Around the Harbour A handful of gems make the most of harbourside locations in this amorphous area.

Newtown & the Inner West Affordable multicultural eateries and serious coffee temples, with the odd fine-diner thrown in.

Manly Plenty of average family-focused eateries and a clutch of good cafes and switched-on restaurants.

Lonely Planet’s Top Choices

Quay Inventive fine dining with the best views in Sydney.

Cow & the Moon Sydney’s best ice-cream.

Tetsuya’s A degustatory journey through multiple inventive courses.

Mr Wong Hip Cantonese joint with perpetual queues out the door.

Ester Informal but innovative Modern Australian dining.

Bourke Street Bakery Irresistible pastries, cakes and bread.

Best by Budget

$

Bourke Street Bakery A Surry HIlls institution, now spreading through Sydney.

Cow & the Moon Fabulous Enmore ice-creamery.

Black Star Pastry Gourmet pies and delicious sweets.

Spice I Am Quality Thai food that packs a punch.

Reuben Hills Great coffee and a Latin American–inflected menu.

Lox Stock & Barrel Celebrate Bondi’s Jewish heritage at this excellent cafe.

$$

Mr Wong Mouth-watering dumplings, delectable duck and plenty of other Cantonese treats.

Porteño Delicious slow-cooked meat and bucketloads of atmosphere.

Three Blue Ducks Wonderful lunch venue back from Bronte Beach.

Azuma Marvellous and authentic Japanese dining.

Restaurant Hubert Sexy underground haunt for French-influenced plates.

Folonomo Smart food with a conscience.

$$$

Quay Quite simply, one of the world’s top restaurants.

Tetsuya’s A culinary adventure awaits.

LuMi Inventive Italo-Japanese degustation in a quiet wharfside location in Pyrmont.

Pilu at Freshwater Brilliant Sardinian cooking and wines backing a Northern Beach.

Rockpool Bar & Grill Still one of Sydney’s most iconic spots.

Yellow Awesome vegetarian degustation.

Best by Cuisine

Modern Australian

Quay Cutting-edge cuisine and unforgettable views.

Ester An extremely accomplished Chippendale operator.

Rockpool Bar & Grill Grab a wagyu burger on Neil Perry’s home turf.

Farmhouse Sociable common table in what’s almost a supper club.

Est White-linen fine-dining at its very finest.

Chinese

Mr Wong The tastes of Canton in a dimly lit, uber-hip, Sydney warehouse basement.

Golden Century Sydney’s best traditional Chinese restaurant.

Ms G’s Not entirely Chinese, but loud, brash and delicious regardless.

Spice Temple An upmarket tribute to the cuisines of Sichuan, Yunnan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi and Xingjiang.

Bar H Sophisticated but relaxed eatery, serving a winning mixture of Chinese and Japanese fare.

Japanese

Cho Cho San Chic Japanese-influenced decor and delicious izakaya-style bites.

Sokyo Toyko glam within the casino complex.

Azuma Classic Japanese dining in an elegant atmosphere.

Chaco Sizzling skewers and slurpy ramen in Darlinghurst.

Gumshara Awesomely thick and tasty ramen broth.

Thai

Longrain Perennially popular modern Thai trailblazer.

Chat Thai Reasonably priced, loaded with flavour and constantly buzzing.

Spice I Am Superfragrant and superspicy traditional Thai fare.

Thai Pothong Cheerful Newtown staple for tasty no-fuss Thai.

French

Restaurant Hubert Head down the stairs into a sultry bygone world.

Bathers’ Pavilion Modern French with harbour views.

Bistro Moncur Upper-crust restaurant serving top-notch French favourites.

Italian

LuMi Totally delicious blends of Italian and Japanese influences.

Icebergs Dining Room Top-end Mediterranean glamour with Bondi views.

A Tavola Delicious homemade pasta, loaded with flavour.

Pilu at Freshwater Sardinian restaurant known for its seafood and slow-roasted suckling pig.

Latin American

Porteño An Argentine meat-lovers paradise.

Reuben Hills Hipster cafe finding inspiration in the flavours of Central and South America.

Bodega Sydney’s hottest tapas bar.

Best Bakeries & Patisseries

Koi Dessert Bar Unbelievable dessert creations.

Central Baking Depot Dependable downtown lunch stop.

Black Star Pastry Legendary Newtown baker.

Bourke Street Bakery Famous across the city for its quality.

Infinity Bakery Absolutely gorgeous bread.

Textbook This spot typifies the Alexandria revival.

Best Cafes

Single O Still pioneering coffee.

Grounds of Alexandria Amazing organic farm cafe.

Reuben Hills Brunches with a Latin American twist.

Trio Fight for a seat at this Bondi star.

Pablo & Rusty’s The city centre’s best coffee.

Wedge Narrow but quality-packed Glebe cafe.

Best Ethnic Eat Streets

Thai Campbell St, Haymarket; King St, Newtown

Chinese Chinatown; Chatswood

Korean Pitt St near Liverpool St in the city

Indian Cleveland St, Surry Hills

Italian Norton St, Leichhardt; Stanley St, East Sydney

Vietnamese Chinatown; King St, Newtown; Cabramatta

Best Seafood

Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay Lovely Glebe location overlooking the water.

Flying Fish At the end of a Pyrmont pier, and boasting super views.

Golden Century Meet your meal in the tanks on the way in.

Azuma Sushi and sashimi of stratospheric quality.

Catalina You could go fishing out the window at this Rose Bay classic.

Best Tapas

Bodega Eating is great fun at this upbeat Surry Hills spot.

Mercado Quirky, inventive and high-quality morsels.

Bloodwood Casual Newtown local of very dependable quality.

Dead Ringer Innovative dishes and killer cocktails.

Despaña Quality Spanish-inspired bites.

Best Vegetarian

Yellow Upmarket vegetarian degustation menus are memorably good.

Golden Lotus Crisp and fresh Vietnamese vegan fare.

Lentil as Anything Heartening pay-what-you-want social project.

Earth to Table Raw, vegan and sugarless creations work a treat at this cafe.

Funky Pies Who took the meat out of an Aussie icon?

Best Views

Aria Full-frontal outlooks to the Sydney Opera House at this quality spot.

Aqua This Italian restaurant is so close to the bridge that your neck will get sore.

Jonah’s You might spot a whale from this hilltop perch.

Altitude Awe-inspiring panorama over the city and harbour.

Ripples Chowder Bay Elevated terrace with scenic harbour perspectives.

6Drinking & Nightlife

In a city where rum was once the main currency, it’s little wonder that drinking plays a big part in the Sydney social scene – whether it’s knocking back some tinnies at the beach, schmoozing after work or warming up for a night on the town. Sydney offers plenty of choice in drinking establishments, from the flashy to the trashy.

The Sydney Scene

Sydneysiders like a drink and the city is chock-full of pubs and bars. Locals are generally gregarious and welcoming of visitors, and these are good places to meet them. Sydney pubs were traditionally a macho domain but have changed markedly in recent years, becoming more inclusive and generally pleasant places to be. Licensing laws punish venues that serve drunks, so you’re more likely to see this kind of behaviour on the streets than in the bars themselves. Expect a cross-examination from bouncers upon entering on a weekend evening.

Until recently NSW licensing laws made it hard to set up small wine bars and hole-in-the-wall cocktail lounges, but a recent relaxation has seen a blooming of such establishments, particularly in the city centre and inner suburbs. These are generically known as ‘small bars’ and are great spots, though the drinks don’t come cheap. These and other bars are riding the wave of cocktail popularity, with ever-more-imaginative mixtures getting slurped down for around twenty bucks a throw.

The local pub, traditionally called a hotel because the liquor laws meant they had to offer accommodation to serve booze, survives throughout the city. Often on corners, these venerable gems have been improved in recent years by beer gardens, upgraded food menus and a stupendous array of local craft beers. Smoking is banned in all substantially enclosed licensed premises, but some pubs still have outdoor smoking areas.

Door Policies

Sydney’s bouncers are often strict, arbitrary and immune to logic. They are usually contracted by outside security firms so have no problem in turning away business. Being questioned and searched every time you want a drink after 8pm on a weekend can definitely take the edge off a Sydney night out.

It is against the law to serve people who are intoxicated and you won’t be admitted to a venue if you appear drunk. Expect to be questioned about how much you’ve had to drink that night: it’s more to see if you’re slurring your words than actual interest in the answer.

If security staff suspect that you’re under the legal drinking age (18 years), you’ll be asked to present photo ID with proof of your age. Some bars scan ID for everyone entering.

Plenty of places won’t admit you if you are wearing tank tops, thongs (flip-flops) or sandals.

Some pubs have smoking areas, but you aren’t allowed to take food into that area – even if you’re happy to do so.

ORDERING A BEER

Traditional Sydney pubs serve middies (285mL) and schooners (pronounced skooner, 425mL), though pints (570mL), once restricted to British/Irish theme pubs, are now commonly available too. Australian pubs originally abandoned pints because beer would go warm in the summer heat before you’d finished your glass. Arm yourself with this invaluable local insight and order a schooner instead. Many trendier modern places serve a 330mL or 350mL glass colloquially known as a schmiddy because it falls between the two traditional measures.

NEED TO KNOW

Opening Hours

A Pubs and bars: roughly 11am to midnight; later on weekends and in livelier areas; some open 24 hours

A Clubs: 10pm to 5am Wednesday to Saturday; most aren’t busy until after midnight

A Venues within a designated central zone are unable to admit people after 1.30am or 2am, or to serve alcohol after 3am or 3.30am

A Bottleshops (liquor stores): allowed to open until 11pm, which is also the last time you can buy takeaway alcohol from a pub; on Sundays, it’s 10pm

Tipping

Tipping in bars isn’t the norm, so you should feel under no obligation to do so. The only possible exceptions are where there has been a considerable amount of table service (more than just delivering drinks and clearing empties) or where fancy cocktails are concocted.

What to Wear

Sydney can be flashy, but it’s also very casual. Men will nearly always get away with tidy jeans, T-shirts and trainers. Thongs (flip-flops, jandals), singlets (vests) and shorts are usually fine in pubs in the daytime, but incur the ire of security staff after dark. Women can generally wear whatever the hell they like.

When to Go Out

Compared to major world cities, Sydney shuts down pretty early, and lockout laws haven’t helped. Still, you’ll find a few pubs outside the lockout zone open until 5am or 6am at weekends. Newtown has several. There are also a few 24-hour joints. Sunday afternoon ‘sessions’ are popular too.

Lockout Laws

In an effort to cut down on alcohol-fuelled violence, tough licensing laws have been introduced to a large area of the central city.

Within this zone, licensed venues are not permitted to admit people after 1.30am. However, if you arrive before then, the venue is permitted to continue serving you alcohol until 3am, or 3.30am in the case of certain venues which you can enter until 2am. This latter amendment was announced after widespread protest from the public and industry over the severity of the laws. The change was too little, too late for many venues, which had already closed down.

Lockout laws have seen to a shift in late-night drinking to places outside the zone, with southern Surry Hills, Chippendale, Newtown and Marrickville popular targets.

Drinking & Nightlife by Neighbourhood

Circular Quay & the Rocks Historic pubs and glam harbour-facing bars galore.

City Centre & Haymarket Fancy watering holes for after-work execs, and hip small bars and speakeasies in back alleys.

Darling Harbour & Pyrmont Big brash booze dens full of suburban kids and suited city slickers.

Surry Hills & Darlinghurst Gay bars, hipster havens, schmickly renovated pubs and interesting little backstreet bars.

Kings Cross & Potts Point Legendary locale for all things seedy, shady, trashy and boozy but severely impacted by lockout laws.

Paddington & Centennial Park Upmarket old pubs and classy wine bars for would-be fashionistas.

Bondi, Coogee & the Eastern Beaches Big, boozy beach bars full of Brit backpackers, Irish larrikins and Latin lovers.

Around the Harbour Great old pubs in Balmain and a handful of prominent venues scattered about elsewhere.

Newtown & the Inner West Diverse venues catering to students, bohemians, politicos, punks, LGBT folks and live-music lovers.

Manly Large pubs with water views for a post-beach refresher or a weekend rave-up, plus a few decent small bars.

Lonely Planet’s Top Choices

Baxter Inn Fabulous underground den of whisky.

Frankie’s Pizza A bit of everything is on offer at this cheery spot – pizza included.

Watsons Bay Beach Club Legendary harbourside beer garden; perfect for Sundays.

Opera Bar World-beating views from this outdoor classic, right by the Opera House.

Earl’s Juke Joint Though actually quite big, this exemplifies the Newtown small-bar scene.

Best Beer

Local Taphouse Stupendous, rotating array of craft beers in Darlinghurst.

Young Henry’s Relaxed daytime drinking at this friendly Newtown brewery.

Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel Historic Sydney pub that brews its own fine ales.

Redoak Boutique Beer Cafe Excellent microbrewed beers in the city centre.

Harts Pub Off the main Rocks beat, with tap beer from a respected craft brewer.

Best Clubs

Chinese Laundry Long-running CBD venue below a pub.

Ivy Sizeable spot holding Sydney’s most popular club night, plus summer poolside parties.

Arq The glitziest of dancefloors in the gay scene.

Home Impressive harbourside clubbing venue.

Frankie’s Pizza After a slice or two, head through and dance the night away.

Best Cocktails

Eau-de-Vie Hidden away, but worth tracking down for its cocktail wizardry.

Bulletin Place Fresh and unpretentious flavours in this pocket-sized gem.

Grandma’s Louche and laid-back underground venue for potent concoctions.

Rook Ascend in the elevator to this hidden nest among the skyscrapers.

Archie Rose Distilling Co. Cocktail creations made with their own delicious spirits.

Best Historic Pubs

Hero of Waterloo Head back to convict times in this atmospheric sandstone pub.

Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel Venerable pub with beers named for Trafalgar: it’s straight back to the early nineteenth century.

Fortune of War One of three claimants to the oldest pub crown; beautiful front bar.

Courthouse Hotel Traditional Newtown boozer.

Shakespeare Hotel One of the last ungentrified corners of Surry Hills.

Best Kooky Decor

Shady Pines Saloon Good ol’ boys, moonshine and trophy heads.

Grandma’s A bit tiki, a bit chintzy, a lot weird.

Uncle Ming’s Slip into a Chinese den of vice.

Peg Leg Grab your pieces of eight and set sail for the Spanish Main.

Best Outdoor Drinking

Watsons Bay Beach Club The place to be on a sunny summer Sunday.

Sheaf The indoor-outdoor space here is brilliant.

Opera Bar Drink in that vista: Bridge. Harbour. Opera House. Repeat.

Glenmore Hotel Great Opera House views from the top deck of this Rocks pub.

Beresford Hotel Sociable Surry Hills spot.

Best Views

O Bar Sit back, order a cocktail and watch the city skyline revolve.

Blu Bar on 36 Space is tight, but that view of the bridge is sensational.

Opera Bar You’re not just looking at the view, you’re in it.

Glenmore Hotel Drink in the vistas at this popular rooftop terrace.

North Bondi RSL Marvellous views of sea and sand at Sydney’s most iconic beach.

Best Wine Bars

Wyno Narrow low-lit spot for global wines and delicious snacking.

Wine Library Stylish modern spot for a glass after Oxford Street shopping.

Timbah Relaxed and personable Glebe space with excellent small-vineyard wines.

10 William Street Classy spot on a street of boutiques.

Winery In a great Surry Hills courtyard, this place sees more quaffing than sipping.

3Entertainment

Take Sydney at face value and it’s tempting to unfairly stereotype its good citizens as shallow and a little narcissistic. But take a closer look: the arts scene is thriving, sophisticated and progressive – it’s not a complete accident that Sydney’s definitive icon is an opera house. Spectator sports, led by rugby league, are huge and attending a match is highly recommended.

Performing Arts

THEATRE

Sydney doesn’t have a dedicated theatre district, but that doesn’t mean theatre lovers miss out. The city offers a vigorous calendar of productions from Broadway shows to experimental theatre at venues across the inner city.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

There’s a passionate audience for classical music in Sydney. Without having the extensive repertoires of European cities, Sydney offers plenty of inspired classical performances – the perfect excuse to check out the interior of the famous harbourside sails of the Sydney Opera House. The City Recital Hall is another venue, with excellent acoustics.

DANCE

Dance and Sydney’s body-focused audiences go hand in hand (and cheek to cheek). Australian dancers have a reputation for awesome, fearless physical displays – and sometimes a lack of costume. Performances range from traditional ballet with tutus and bulging tights to edgy, liberating ‘physical theatre’.

OPERA

Australia has produced some of the world’s most ear-catching opera singers, including Dames Nellie Melba and Joan Sutherland. The Opera House may be the adored symbol of Sydney, but supporting such a cost-heavy art form is difficult. New and more obscure works are staged, but it’s the big opera hits that put bums on seats.

Spectator Sports

RUGBY LEAGUE

Rugby league is king in NSW, and Sydney is effectively the world capital of this code that originated in northern England.

The National Rugby League (NRL; www.nrl.com) comp runs from March to October, climaxing in the sell-out Grand Final at ANZ Stadium (to be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground and perhaps elsewhere while it’s redeveloped from 2020 to 2023). You can catch games every weekend during the season, played at the home grounds of Sydney’s various tribes.

The easiest ground to access is the 45,500-seat Sydney Football Stadium, home of the Sydney Roosters (under redevelopment from 2019 to 2022), but nothing beats a Wests Tigers home match at Leichhardt Oval for atmosphere. Tickets start around $25 via www.tickets.nrl.com.

The other big rugby league series is the annual three-match State of Origin Series (www.nrl.com), held from June to July, where Queensland battles New South Wales. One of the matches is usually at the ANZ Stadium.

CRICKET

Cricket is the major summer sport, and one in which Australia does very well, despite a well-deserved reputation for removing the gentle from this traditionally gentlemanly game. From October to March, Sydney hosts men’s interstate Sheffield Shield (over four days) and one-day matches, the international Test (five days; the Sydney Test traditionally starts a couple of days after New Year), one-day-international and T20 cricket matches. A big drawcard played in the height of summer is the Big Bash, a family-friendly T20 cricket league that draws high-profile stars from around the world. There is a similar set of women’s state and international matches through the summer, with the Australian team, the Southern Stars, routinely ranked the world’s best. See www.cricket.com.au for details of all upcoming fixtures.

AUSTRALIAN RULES

Traditionally more popular in the southern states and Western Australia, Australian Rules football (Aussie Rules) took time to become popular in rugby-league-crazy Sydney. The South Melbourne Swans relocated to Sydney in 1982, becoming the Sydney Swans (www.sydneyswans.com.au), who had an uphill task to garner support. But they managed it, then won a Grand Final in 2005 and have never looked back. They won it again in 2012 and sell out most games at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). There’s a new kid on the block, though. Sydney’s second team, the Greater Western Sydney Giants (www.gwsgiants.com.au), was created in 2012. The AFL (Australian Football League; www.afl.com.au) is now followed avidly by folk right across town. The Giants also have a side in the eight-team women’s competition (www.afl.com.au/womens) which began in 2017.

See the Swannies in their red and white splendour from March to September at the SCG. The Giants play most home games at a stadium in the Olympic Park complex. Tickets start at around $25, available via www.afl.com.au.

CINEMA UNDER THE STARS

The lure of big outdoor movie screens is too good for Sydneysiders to pass up on long, hot summer nights. Join the bats in Centennial Park to watch Moonlight Cinema or risk being distracted by the incredible city views at OpenAir Cinema, where the screen juts up over the water at Mrs Macquaries Point. The slow, sexy grind of the surf adds to the mood at Bondi Openair Cinema, while a historic cricket ground north of the bridge plays host to Sunset Cinema.

NEED TO KNOW

Opening Hours

A Box office: usually 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, plus two hours pre-performance

A Cinema sessions: 10.30am to 9.30pm

Ticketing Agencies

Moshtix (%1300 438 849; www.moshtix.com.au)

Ticketek (%132 849; www.ticketek.com.au)

Ticketmaster (%136 100; www.ticketmaster.com.au)

Listings

Sydney Morning Herald (www.smh.com.au) Online and in friday’s ‘Shortlist’ section.

What’s On Sydney (www.whatsonsydney.com)

What’s On City of Sydney (http://whatson.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au)

Time Out Sydney (www.timeout.com/sydney)

Eventbrite (www.eventbrite.com.au)

The Music (www.themusic.com.au) Online and printed guide to the live music scene.

SOCCER

Soccer comes a lowly fourth in the popularity race between Sydney’s football codes, but received a boost with four consecutive World Cup qualifications to 2018. Participation levels have always been very high though, and the game is on the rise. Australia won the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

The A-League (www.a-league.com.au) consists of nine Australian and one New Zealand teams, including Sydney FC (www.sydneyfc.com), which won the championship in 2006, 2010 and 2017.

The newer Western Sydney Wanderers (www.wswanderersfc.com.au) haven’t won a grand final yet but landed an even bigger prize in 2014, the Asian Champions League. The A-League bucks convention, playing games from October to May rather than through the depths of winter.

The increasingly popular W-League (www.w-league.com.au) is the women’s equivalent. Participation in the women’s game is growing strongly and it has an increasingly high profile. The same two Sydney clubs participate.

RUGBY UNION

Rugby Union (www.rugby.com.au) has a more upper-class reputation than rugby league and a less fanatical following in Sydney.

Since winning the Rugby World Cup in 1991 and 1999, Australia’s national team, the Wallabies, has been a bit off the boil. The annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship (formerly the Tri-Nations) between Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina provokes plenty of passion – particularly the matches against New Zealand, which determine the holders of the ultimate symbol of trans-Tasman rivalry, the Bledisloe Cup (the Aussies haven’t won it since 2002).

The NSW team, the Waratahs (or just the ‘Tahs), play in the Super Rugby comp, with games against other teams from Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Japan and South Africa.

NETBALL

Despite Australia being world champs since 2007, and it being one of the most played sports in the country, netball gets neither the coverage nor the money that the football boys rake in. During the February to June season, watch Sydney’s teams the NSW Swifts (www.nswswifts.com.au) and Giants Netball (www.giantsnetball.com.au) in the revamped National Netball League (www.netball.com.au). The same website gives details of international test matches. Catch them all at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre.

HORSE RACING

Dressing smart and heading off to the races on a sunny day, getting lathered on sparkling wine and blowing your last pay cheque on some nag you’ve never heard of is a classic Sydney experience. There are horse-racing meetings every weekend, either at Randwick, Rosehill near Parramatta or Warwick Farm near Liverpool. Canterbury also has some races and there are midweek meets. See www.australianturfclub.com.au.

Lonely Planet’s Top Choices

Sydney Opera House Don’t miss the chance to see the House in action.

State Theatre We don’t care what’s on, visiting this beautiful place is a joy.

City Recital Hall The city’s premier classical-music venue.

Metro Theatre The best place to watch touring bands.

Belvoir St Theatre Consistently excellent productions in an intimate setting.

Sydney Cricket Ground Whether it’s footy or cricket, seeing a match here is an essential local experience.

Best Cinemas

Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace Art-deco gem on the north side of the harbour.

Palace Central Sydney Luxury seats with waiter service.

Palace Verona Excellent Paddington art-house cinema.

Dendy Newtown Indie cinema in the heart of the restaurant strip.

Hoyts Entertainment Quarter Heaps of screens in this dedicated precinct.

Best Classical Music Companies

Opera Australia Without which, that white thing on the harbour would just be the Sydney House.

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The city’s premier orchestra.

Australian Chamber Orchestra Smaller in scale but undiminished in quality.

Musica Viva Australia Exemplars of ensemble music.

Australian Brandenburg Orchestra Exponents of the baroque played on period instruments.

Best Dance Companies

Sydney Dance Company Australia’s top contemporary company.

Bangarra Dance Theatre The country’s finest Aboriginal performance company.

Australian Ballet Melbourne based but regularly at the Opera House.

Best Film Events

Sydney Film Festival Winter’s the time for hunkering down in the gorgeous State Theatre.

Tropfest The world’s largest short-film festival.

OpenAir Cinema Watch movies by the water, with the Opera House stealing attention from the screen.

Moonlight Cinema Spread out a picnic blanket in Centennial Park.

Bondi Openair Cinema Another idyllic setting for an outdoor flick.

Best Live Music Venues

Oxford Art Factory Live indie bands, DJs and assorted bohemian happenings.

Lansdowne Hotel Bands upstairs most nights.

Bald Faced Stag Friendly Leichhardt pub for rock and metal.

Camelot Lounge Two separate stages with interesting programming.

Metro Theatre Excellent sightlines and acoustics for midsize touring rock acts.

Best Spectator Sports

Sydney Cricket Ground Watch summer cricket or winter Australian Rules football.

ANZ Stadium Sydney’s Olympic arena hosts rugby union, rugby league and soccer’s biggest clashes.

Royal Randwick Racecourse Glorious days out at the nags here or at Rosehill.

Sydney Football Stadium Roar on the Roosters, a major rugby league side.

Best Theatres

Belvoir St Theatre Consistently excellent company operating out of its own intimate venue.

SBW Stables Theatre A hothouse for new Australian plays.

Wharf Theatres Characterful spaces in an historic harbour pier

Roslyn Packer Theatre State-of-the-art Sydney Theatre Company Venue

7Shopping

Shopping is the number one recreational activity for many in hedonistic, consumerist Sydney. Retail covers a wide range here, from glitzy city-centre boutiques, to mass-produced koala-heavy tourist tat, to just-so Paddington galleries and grungy Newtown vintage stores. Best of all are the markets, with a bit of everything and a really buzzy weekend scene; an essential Sydney experience.

Markets

Sydney’s markets make a brilliant excursion. Even if you don’t buy anything, the food, the buskers and the people-watching are usually worth the trip.

Sydney’s hipster inner-city contingent beats a course to Glebe Markets, a crowded retro-chic marketplace.

The kids are at the beach on Sunday while their school becomes Bondi Markets and fills up with groovers rummaging through funky secondhand clothes and books, hippie jewellery, aromatherapy oils, candles and old Cat Stevens records.

Milling around the shady grounds of St Andrew’s Congregational, Balmain Market features stalls selling arts, crafts, books, clothing, jewellery, plants and fruit and veg.

Join the throngs for a foot massage, a tarot reading or a funky clubbing shirt at Paddington Markets. Sydney’s most well-attended weekend market coughs up everything from vintage clothes and hip fashions to jewellery, books, massage and palmistry. Parking is a misery – take public transport.

Rozelle Collectors Markets is one of Sydney’s best bargain-hunter markets, with very few tourists.

A wonderful monthly market, Kirribilli Markets offers everything from vintage clothes and real (and faux) antiques to kids’ gear and all kinds of jewellery.

A sprawling complex in Chinatown, Paddy’s Markets is more about quantity than quality, but is worth a visit for the energy alone.

Deep in Alexandria’s warehouses, a garden cafe has the great weekend Grounds Markets, with craft jewellery, quirky clothes and delicious baked goods to the fore.

Under a long white canopy, the 150 stalls at The Rocks Market are a little on the tacky side of the tracks (fossils, opals, faux Aboriginal art etc) but the quality is reasonably high and there are a few gems to be found.

Shopping by Neighbourhood

Circular Quay & the Rocks Overpriced souvenirs, tourist tat, big market, opals and the like.

City Centre & Haymarket Sydney’s shopping heartland, catering to every taste and budget.

Surry Hills & Darlinghurst Design stores, upmarket fashion, secondhand boutiques, gay partywear.

Paddington & Centennial Park Art, fashion and books.

Bondi, Coogee & the Eastern Beaches Surfwear and gear, and Sydney’s best mall.

Around the Harbour The markets in Kirribilli and Balmain are worth checking out.

Newtown & the Inner West Excellent bookshops, alternative boutiques and factory outlets.

Lonely Planet’s Top Choices

Strand Arcade Fashion retail at its finest.

Queen Victoria Building Regal surroundings add a sense of gravitas to any splurge.

Westfield Bondi Junction Huge range of stores, plenty of daddy daycare and a great food hall.

Westfield Sydney Bafflingly large complex incorporating top restaurants and two prestigious department stores.

Paddy’s Markets Forget high fashion, head here for bargains and bustle.

Best Aboriginal Art

Gannon House Gallery Inspiring selection in the Rocks.

Artery Great range from original works to printed souvenirs.

Karlangu Wide selection by Wynyard station.

Aboriginal & Pacific Art Some fine works in Waterloo.

Best Bookshops

Gleebooks Well-loved Glebe bookshop, with regular author talks.

Abbey’s Brilliant inner-city bookshop, especially good on history, languages and sci-fi.

Better Read Than Dead Well-presented and -stocked Newtown store.

Berkelouw Books New, secondhand and rare titles.

Bookshop Darlinghurst Well-respected LGBT bookstore.

Best Jewellery

Dinosaur Designs Bright, colourful and beautiful pieces.

Paspaley Pearls from northwest Australia.

Opal Minded Get the classic Aussie gemstone.

Verne Jewels Intriguing, personally curated selection.

Fairfax & Roberts Classic Sydney jewellery store.

Best Women’s Fashion

Poepke Small store with a good range of Australian and international designers.

Alicia Hollen Make a statement with these bold designs.

Sass & Bide Internationally known Aussie label.

Zimmermann Upbeat beach and street wear.

Strand Arcade Excellent selection of upmarket boutiques.

2Sports & Activities

Who wants to be stuck inside on a beautiful sunny day? Certainly not most Sydneysiders. Give them any excuse and they’ll be stripping off nonessential clothing and hitting the city’s beaches, parks and pools. With looking good such an obvious concern, the city has devised myriad ways to stay built, bronzed and beautiful. Oh, and healthy, too.

Walking

As well as standard urban strolling, there are two main types of walks in Sydney: coastal and harbour walks; and bushwalks in the city’s national parks.

The most famous coastal walk is Bondi to Coogee, but there are numerous trails, with some of the most rewarding ones around the harbour. The Harbour Bridge to the Spit Bridge walk is recommended, and the Spit Bridge on to Manly another excellent stretch. Get inspired at www.walkingcoastalsydney.com.au.

There are great bush trails in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, Lane Cove National Park and the Royal National Park, as well as other protected areas of bush.

A nice way to explore some of these areas is to hike sections of the Great North Walk (www.thegreatnorthwalk.com).

Cycling

An ever-increasing number of Sydney roads have designated cycle lanes, but some of these run between parked cars and moving traffic (watch for opening doors). If you’re just cycling for fun and not to get around, opt for the long cycle paths at North Head (near Manly), Sydney Olympic Park and Centennial Park.

Surfing & Paddleboarding

Sydney has been synonymous with surfing ever since the Beach Boys effused about ‘Australia’s Narrabeen’ in ‘Surfin’ USA’ (Narrabeen is one of Sydney’s Northern Beaches). For updates on what’s breaking where, see www.coastalwatch.com, www.surf-forecast.com, www.magicseaweed.com or www.swellnet.com.

Most beaches have surfboard hire available and several have companies offering surfing lessons. The southern end of Manly Beach and the northern end of Bondi are popular spots for beginners; Freshwater (Moore Rd, Freshwater; g139, E65, 199) is another learner-friendly break.

Stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) is very popular on both the harbour and ocean, with operators at several spots including Manly, Rose Bay, Coogee and Avalon hiring out boards.

Fitness & Yoga

What do you bench? Most of Sydney’s bigger hotels have a small gym for guests’ use, usually for free. Casual sessions at Sydney’s top inner-city gyms can be pricey; combined gym/swim deals at public swimming pools are often cheaper.

Most of Sydney seems to be looking through its third eye: yoga classes happen at gyms, pools and community centres. There are also lots of outdoor sessions.

Classpass (www.classpass.com) lets you access a good diversity of Sydney fitness and yoga classes at a reasonable price.

Lonely Planet’s Top Choices

Let’s Go Surfing Take to the surf at famous Bondi Beach.

BridgeClimb See what the city looks like from atop the ‘Coathanger’.

Store Beach Kayak in to this secluded harbour beach.

Mahon Pool Possibly Sydney’s best coastal pool.

Whale Watching Sydney Zip out past the harbour heads to spot migrating leviathans.

Sydney Seafood School Gain some seafood savvy at these fish-market cooking classes.

Best Boating

Whale Watching Sydney Great harbour views and cetaceans in one trip.

Sydney Showboats Dinner and a show while you cruise the harbour.

James Craig Set sail on a 19th-century tall ship.

Harbour Jet Feed your need for speed in these powerboats.

Best Cycling

Sydney Olympic Park Discover the site of the 2000 Summer Games.

Centennial Park Explore this rolling central parkland.

North Head Majestic vistas and historic sites.

Royal National Park South of the city, with bushland and some great beaches.

West Head Spot lyrebirds and drink in the super views.

Best Kayaking

Sydney Harbour Kayaks Explore Middle Harbour, away from the busy boat traffic.

Rushcutters Bay Paddle Sports The closest spot to the city-centre where you can launch out onto the harbour.

Manly Kayak Centre Head off to water-access-only Store Beach or the Q Station.

Rose Bay Aquatic Hire Simple hire spot good for trips out to Shark Island.

Best Swimming Pools

Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club An iconic sea pool at an iconic beach.

Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool Great harbour views as you swim your laps.

North Sydney Olympic Pool Swim in the shadow of the Bridge and Luna Park.

Wylie’s Baths Venerable tidal pool at Coogee.

Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre Circumnavigate Narrabeen Lagoon or walk the coast from beach to beach.

Mahon Pool Rock pool in the midst of Maroubra’s beautiful rocky coastal scenery.

Best Walks

Bondi to Coogee Link two famous Sydney beaches in a magnificent coastal walk.

Great North Walk Excellent bushland trek, easily accessed by train.

Manly Scenic Walkway Explore the harbour foreshore and its secluded beaches.

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park Discover Aboriginal art and off-the-beaten-track waterside communities.

6LGBTQ+ Sydney

Sydney’s substantial LGBT population is visible, vibrant and an integral part of the city’s social fabric. Partly because gay and straight communities are so well integrated in central Sydney, and partly because of smartphone apps facilitating contact, the gay nightlife scene has died off substantially. But the action’s still going on and Sydney is indisputably one of the world’s great queer cities.

Mardi Gras

The famous Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras (www.mardigras.org.au; hFeb-Mar) is now the biggest annual tourist-attracting date on the Australian calendar. While the straights focus on the parade, the gay and lesbian community throws itself wholeheartedly into the entire festival, including the blitzkrieg of partying that surrounds it. There’s no better time for the gay traveller to visit Sydney than the two-week lead-up to the parade and party, held on the first Saturday in March.

On the big night itself, the parade kicks off around sunset, preceded by the throbbing engines of hundreds of Dykes on Bikes. Heading up Oxford St from Hyde Park, it veers right into Flinders St, hooking into Moore Park Rd and culminating outside the party site in Driver Ave. The whole thing takes about 90 minutes to trundle through, and attracts up to half a million spectators ogling from the sidelines.

For the best views, make friends with someone who has an apartment above the street. If you’re forced to stand on the street, bring a milk crate (oh so suddenly scarce) to get a better view. The gayest section of the crowd is between Crown St and the first part of Flinders St. If you’re running late, the crowd thins out considerably near the end – although by this stage the participants’ enthusiasm is on the wane. Another fun option is to volunteer as a marshal: you’ll need to attend a few meetings and arrive hideously early on the day, but you’ll get the best view and a discounted party ticket for your efforts.

You can also buy a ticket for the Parade Sideshow, positioned near the end of the route. Not only is this a handy option if you’re heading to the party, but you’ll also have seats, toilets and bars at your disposal and entertainment while you wait.

The legendary Mardi Gras Party (tickets $145 to $199 through www.ticketek.com.au) is an extravaganza in every sense of the word. With around 16,000 revellers, it stretches over several large halls, and showcases the best DJs and lighting design the world has to offer.

Drinking & Nightlife

Sydney’s gay scene has been impacted heavily recently by three factors. The level of acceptance around the inner city means that LGBTQ+ folk will feel comfortable in almost any bar; dating and hookup apps have made it easy to find other people; and the lockout laws have had a heavy impact on the Oxford St party strip in the Darlinghurst area. Still, there are several venues in this area.

Most venues attract a predominately gay male clientele. Despite Sydney’s size, there are no permanent lesbian bars, but rather a series of lesbian nights at pubs, bars and clubs around town.

Lonely Planet’s Top Choices

Arq The city’s hottest gay dance floor.

Imperial Hotel The legendary home of Priscilla.

Palms on Oxford Good-time, trashy, campy dance venue.

Colombian Hotel Oxford St corner bar.

Stonewall Hotel Several levels of shiny, happy people.

Best Lesbian Hang-Outs

Sly Fox Hosts Sydney’s longest-running lesbian night, every Wednesday.

McIver’s Ladies Baths Coogee’s legendary women-only sea baths.

Best LGBTQ-Friendly Accommodation

ADGE Boutique Apartment Hotel Fabulous apartments just off the Oxford St strip.

Medusa Darlinghurst boutique hotel, well positioned for eating, drinking and carousing.

Adina Apartment Hotel Darling Harbour Large chain that actively courts gay business.

Meriton Suites Kent Street Bag yourself your own city pad.

Best Shopping

Bookshop Darlinghurst Long-standing gay bookshop and a great source of local information.

House of Priscilla One-stop-shop for all your costume needs, drag included..

Sax Fetish Racks of shiny black leather and rubber gear.

Gertrude & Alice Named after literary lesbians and packed with interesting reads.

Sappho Books, Cafe & Wine Bar Part bohemian cafe-bar, part rag-tag bookshop.

Best Gay-Friendly Straight Bars

Beresford Hotel Gay-friendly all the time, but on Sundays play spot-the-straight.

Sly Fox Working-class pub welcoming lesbians for many years.

Dolphin Hotel Mixed as they come in the heart of Surry Hills.

Marlborough Hotel Home to Tokyo Sing Song, an underground hideout for the kooky and queer.

Green Park Hotel A proper local pub for Darlinghursters of all persuasions.

Best LGBTQ+ Beaches

North Bondi Where the buff lads work on their tans.

Lady Bay Pretty nudist beach tucked under South Head.

Obelisk Beach Small, secluded nude beach with a busy, bushy hinterland.

McIver’s Ladies Baths Women-only sea baths, extremely popular with the Sapphic set.

Murray Rose Pool Harbour beach close to the gay ghettos.

2Beaches

The beach is an essential part of the Sydney experience. Sydney’s glorious ocean beaches broadly divide into the eastern beaches, south of the harbour, running from Bondi southwards, and the northern beaches, north of the harbour, starting at Manly. The numerous harbour beaches are mostly east of the bridge on both the north and south side.

Beach Culture

In the mid-1990s an enthusiastic businesswoman obtained a concession to rent loungers on Tamarama Beach and offer waiter service. Needless to say, it didn’t last long. Even at what was considered at the time to be Sydney’s most glamorous beach, nobody was interested in that kind of malarkey.

For Australians, going to the beach is all about rolling out a towel on the sand with a minimum of fuss. And they’re certainly not prepared to pay for the privilege. Sandy-toed ice-cream vendors are acceptable; martini luggers are not. In summer one of the more unusual sights is the little coffee and ice-cream boat pulling up to Lady Bay (and other harbour beaches) and a polite queue of nude gentlemen forming to purchase their icy poles.

Surf lifesavers have a hallowed place in the culture and you’d do well to heed their instructions, not least of all because they’re likely to be in your best interest. They’re an Australian institution.

Harbour Beaches & Pools

The pick of Sydney’s harbour beaches include Camp Cove and Lady Bay near South Head (the latter of which is mainly a gay nude beach), Shark Beach at Nielsen Park in Vaucluse, and Balmoral Beach on the North Shore. Also popular are the netted swimming enclosures at Cremorne Point on the North Shore and Murray Rose Pool near Double Bay. There are plenty of little sandy gems scattered about that even Sydneysiders would be hard pressed to find, including Parsley Bay and Milk Beach right in the heart of residential Vaucluse.

Ocean Pools

If you have children or shark paranoia, or surf just isn’t your thing, you’ll be pleased to hear that Sydney’s blessed with a string of 40 man-made ocean pools up and down the coast, most of them free. Some, like Mahon Pool, are what are known as bogey holes – natural-looking rock pools where you can safely splash about and snorkel, even while the surf surges in. Others are more like swimming pools; Bondi’s Icebergs is a good example of this kind. They normally close one day a week so they can clean the seaweed out.

Beaches by Neighbourhood

Eastern Beaches High cliffs frame a string of surf beaches, with excellent coffee and cold beer just a short stumble away.

Sydney Harbour Lots of hidden coves and secret sandy spots; the best are out near the heads and around Mosman.

Northern Beaches A steady succession of magical surf beaches stretching 30km north from Manly to Palm Beach.

Lonely Planet’s Top Choices

Bondi Beach Australia’s most iconic ocean beach.

Nielsen Park The pick of the harbour beaches, surrounded by beautiful national park.

Bronte Beach Family-friendly and backed by park, this is an eastern beaches gem.

Whale Beach Peachy-coloured sand and crashing waves; you’ve really left the city behind at this stunning Northern Beaches haven.

Murray Rose Pool The closest beach to the city is also one of Sydney’s finest.

Best Ocean Beaches

Bronte Beach Unpretentious but pretty beach with something for everyone.

Palm Beach Almost ethereally beautiful spot at the top of the Northern Beaches, with kid-friendly paddling nearby.

Manly Beach Backed by its famous pines, this is a gloriously long strip of surf beach.

Tamarama Beach Great waves at this boutique beach, but watch that rip.

Avalon Beach Orangey sand, a retro vibe and good facilities.

Best Hidden Beaches

Store Beach You’ll need a boat or kayak to get to this Manly strand.

Parsley Bay Delightful Eastern Suburbs harbour cove spanned by a bridge.

Little Congwong Beach Gaze out on Botany Bay at this national park beach popular with nudists.

Best Surf Beaches

Narrabeen Legendary northern surfers’ outpost.

Tamarama Beach Can get tight, but often has better waves than nearby Bondi.

Cronulla South of Botany Bay, with excellent surf and a train station.

Garie Beach In Royal National Park, this spot is worth the journey.

Best Beaches for Picnics

Parsley Bay Grassy park and peaceful harbour swimming.

Chowder Bay Nice lunch stop on a walk along the harbour foreshore.

Balmoral Beach Classic family-friendly harbour beach with plenty of space and shade.

Nielsen Park This under-the-radar harbourside bushland includes pretty Shark Beach. Don’t let the name scare you.

Bronte Beach Big grassy barbecue area popular with families.

Best Nudist Beaches

Lady Bay This little beach near Watsons Bay has an older male crowd. Plenty of boat traffic.

Obelisk Beach Nicely located in bushland, this is secluded and quiet. Popular with gay men.

Little Congwong Beach Bijou beach on Botany Bay, a short walk from Congwong Beach.

Cobblers Beach Small shallow cove tucked away by Middle Head in the harbour.

Best Beaches for Bars

Watsons Bay The beer garden here has legendary weekend sessions.

Manly Cove The harbour beach has great options close by.

Coogee Beach Good-time Coogee has two huge pub/bar complexes and more.

Manly Beach Stroll onto the Corso for your pick of pubs.

Bondi Beach Plenty of choice, including a popular bar in the Pavilion itself.

Best Beaches for Cafes

Bronte Beach Pleasant coffee and brunch stops back this likeable beach.

Manly Cove Numerous eateries and cafes on the wharf and back.

Balmoral Beach A favoured destination for a leisurely morning in affluent Mosman.

Palm Beach Options up here are fewer but excellent.

Best Beaches for Snorkelling

Gordons Bay Sydney’s best spot for shore snorkelling, with an underwater nature trail.

North Bondi Plenty to see at the rocks here, but watch for surfboards.

Camp Cove Interesting spot near the mouth of the harbour.

Shelly Beach One of the most sheltered of the oceanside beaches; huge variety of fish.

Clovelly Beach Clearer, calmer water than other beaches; Gordons Bay is close by.

Neighbourhoods at a Glance

1 Circular Quay & the Rocks

The birthplace of both the city and the current nation, this compact area seamlessly combines the historic with the exuberantly modern. Join the tourist pilgrimage to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, then grab a schooner at a convict-era pub in the Rocks.

2 City Centre & Haymarket

Occupying a rough grid south of the Rocks, Sydney’s central business district (CBD) offers plenty of choices for upmarket shopping, eating and sightseeing, with gracious colonial buildings scattered among the skyscrapers and orderly parks providing breathing space. The breathless jumble of Haymarket and Chinatown offer chatoic contrast.

3 Darling Harbour & Pyrmont

Unashamedly tourist-focused, Darling Harbour will do its best to tempt you to its shoreline with fireworks and glitz. The eastern side unfurls strips of bars and restaurants at Cockle Bay, King Street Wharf and the new Barangaroo South development. On its western flank, Pyrmont, overshadowed by its casino and motorways, still has a historic feel and offers pleasurable harbourside strolls.

4 Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

Sydney’s hippest and gayest neighbourhood is also home to its most interesting dining and bar scene. The plane trees and slopes of increasingly chic Surry Hills merge into the terraces of vibrant Darlinghurst. They are pleasant, leafy districts close to the centre.

5 Kings Cross & Potts Point

Once Sydney’s seedy red-light zone, the Cross has changed markedly in recent years: lockout laws have killed the late-night bar life, and gentrification has accelerated. The area still attracts backpackers and quirky locals though, and its leafy streets and good eateries make for pleasant daytime meanders.

Nearby, gracious, tree-lined Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay seem worlds away. Below by the water, the old sailors’ district of Woolloomooloo is a great spot for glitzy wharf restaurants and characterful pubs.

6 Paddington & Centennial Park

A byword for Eastern-Suburbs elegance, this band of suburbs is distinctly well-heeled. It’s still Sydney’s fashion and art heartland, full of pretty corners, quality commercial galleries and eye-catching boutiques. Curiously, Paddington’s Victorian terraces, now so desirable, once formed a desperately poor slum.

7 Bondi, Coogee & the Eastern Beaches

Sydney sheds its suit and tie, ditches the heels and chills out in the east. Beach after golden-sand beach, alternating with sheer sandstone cliffs, are the classic vistas of this beautiful, laid-back stretch of the city.

8 Around the Harbour

Stretching inland from the heads for 20km until it morphs into the Parramatta River, the harbour has shaped the local psyche for millennia, and today it’s the city’s sparkling playground. Its inlets, beaches, islands and parks provide endless swimming, sailing, picnicking and walking opportunities.

9 Newtown & the Inner West

The bohemian sweep of the Inner West is an array of suburbs crowded with bookshops, cafes and pubs. Glebe and Newtown, grouped around the University of Sydney, are the best-known of these suburbs, but Enmore, Marrickville, Summer Hill and Petersham are all worth investigating.

a Manly

With both a harbour side and an ocean beach, Manly is Sydney’s only ferry destination with surf. Capping off the harbour with scrappy charm, it’s a place worth visiting for the ferry ride alone. It offers appealing bars and eateries, great walks, and a gateway to the top surfing of the Northern Beaches.

Circular Quay & the Rocks

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

Circular Quay & the Rocks

Neighbourhood Top Five

1Sydney Opera House Coming face to face with the number-one visual symbol of the city. On a sunny day, it’s postcard-perfect, its curves and points a pinnacle of architectural expression.

2Royal Botanic Garden Strolling this idyllic park with the harbour sparkling below, or having a snooze on the grass in the sunshine.

3Museum of Contemporary Art Discovering inspiring artistic installations at this landmark contemporary gallery at Circular Quay.

4Sydney Harbour Bridge Gazing on the harbour from amid the heavy metal of this Sydney icon.

5Quay Letting the food and view seduce you at this or any of the other top harbourside restaurants.

Explore Circular Quay & the Rocks

At some stage you’ll almost certainly end up at Circular Quay and the Rocks; you haven’t really been to Sydney if you don’t. Set aside the best part of a day to see the sights of this very touristy neighbourhood. Return at night to down a beverage in a historic pub or catch a show.

Sydney Cove carries the twin stars of the city’s iconography, with the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House abutting each end of its horseshoe. Some of Sydney’s swankiest hotels and restaurants can also be found here.

Circular Quay’s promenade serves as a backdrop for buskers of mixed merit and locals disgorging from harbour ferries. The Rocks is unrecognisable from the squalid place it once was and now serves as an ‘olde-worlde’ tourist focus. Over the ridge is Millers Point, a low-key colonial district that makes a calming diversion from the harbourside tourist fray, and Walsh Bay, a handsome redeveloped maritime precinct.

Local Life

A Performing Arts Sydneysiders put aside their aversion to this most touristy part of town to attend performances at the Sydney Opera House and Walsh Bay Theatres.

A Special Occasion Restaurants For proposals, zero-ending birthdays or that one extravagant night out per year, restaurants such as Quay and Aria are never-fail options.

A Parks You’re liable to see locals taking romantic strolls, letting the kids off the leash or shaking out a picnic blanket in the Royal Botanic Garden or Observatory Hill.

Getting There & Away

A Train Circular Quay is one of the City Circle stations; Wynyard is also close by.

A Ferry Circular Quay is Sydney’s ferry hub and has services all around the harbour.

A Bus Circular Quay is a major terminus for routes.

A Light Rail The new CBD and South East Light Rail is scheduled to begin operation in 2019. It will travel from Circular Quay along George St to Central station and on through Surry Hills to Kingsford and Randwick.

A Water Taxi Among other operators, Fantasea have a dock at Circular Quay.

A Baggage Storage Day luggage storage (%02-9247 1709; www.baggagestorage.com.au; Shop 43, 1-3 Hickson Rd; small bag 4/24 hr $9/13; h8am-5pm; dCircular Quay) is available opposite the cruise ship passenger terminal.

Lonely Planet’s Top Tip

The best way to avoid the city traffic is to travel here by train or ferry. If you really feel that you must bring the car, the Wilson Parking building beneath the Opera House charges a set fee of $15 if you enter before 10am and leave between 3pm and 7.30pm on weekdays, and until 5pm on weekends. The Barangaroo Point car park off Dalgety Rd also has some excellent deals if you prebook online.

5 Best Eating

A Quay

A Aria

A Fine Food Store

A The Gantry

A Saké

For reviews, see here

6 Best Drinking & Nightlife

A Hero of Waterloo

A Opera Bar

A Glenmore

A Bulletin Place

A Harts Pub

A Argyle

For reviews, see here

4 Best Sleeping

A Park Hyatt

A Sydney Harbour YHA

A Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour

A Harbour Rocks Hotel

A Langham

A Sir Stamford

For reviews, see here

TOP SIGHT

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

Gazing upon the Sydney Opera House with virgin eyes is a sure way to send a tingle down your spine. Gloriously curvaceous and pointy, this landmark perches dramatically at the tip of Bennelong Point, waiting for its close-up. No matter from which angle you point a lens at it, it shamelessly mugs for the camera; it really doesn’t have a bad side.

ANDREW MICHAEL/GETTY IMAGES ©

Design & Construction

Danish architect Jørn Utzon’s competition-winning 1956 design is Australia’s most recognisable visual image. It’s said to have been inspired by billowing sails, orange segments, palm fronds and Mayan temples, and has been poetically likened to nuns in a rugby scrum, a typewriter stuffed with scallop shells and the sexual congress of turtles. It’s not until you get close that you realise the seemingly solid expanse of white is actually composed of tiles – 1,056,000 self-cleaning cream-coloured Swedish tiles, to be exact.

The Opera House’s construction was itself truly operatic. The predicted four-year construction started in 1959. After a tumultuous clash of egos, delays, politicking, death and cost blow-outs, Utzon quit in disgust in 1966. The Opera House finally opened in 1973. Utzon and his son Jan were commissioned for renovations in 2004, but Utzon died in 2008, having never seen his finished masterpiece in the flesh.

Inside

Inside, dance, concerts, opera and theatre are staged in the Concert Hall, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Drama Theatre and Playhouse, while more intimate and left-of-centre shows inhabit the Studio. The acoustics in the concert hall are superb; the internal aesthetics are like the belly of a whale.

Most events (2400 of them annually!) sell out quickly, but partial-view tickets are often available on short notice. The free monthly What’s On brochure, available at tourist information points and at the Opera House itself, lists upcoming events, including info on the excellent children’s programming – a pint-sized entertainment roster of music, drama and dance.

Tours

The interiors don’t live up to the promise of the dazzling exterior, but if you’re curious to see inside, one-hour guided tours (adult/child $37/20) depart throughout the day. You can book ahead for tours in various languages, including Auslan sign language, and if you’ve got limited mobility, Access Tours can be arranged.

Not all tours can visit all theatres because of rehearsals, but you’re more likely to see everything if you go early. A highlight is the Utzon Room, the only part of the Opera House to have an interior designed by the great man himself. For a more in-depth nose around, the two-hour, early-morning backstage tour ($169, departs 7am) includes the Green Room, stars’ dressing rooms, stage and orchestra pit.

DON’T MISS

A Catching a performance – any performance

A Going on a guided tour

A Taking your glass of bubbles outside during the interval and admiring the harbour

PRACTICALITIES

A MAP, F2

A %02-9250 7111

A www.sydneyoperahouse.com

A Bennelong Point

A tours adult/child $37/20

A htours 9am-5pm

A dCircular Quay

HIGH DRAMA

The Opera House’s construction was such a cracking story that it was itself set to music and dramatised as The Eighth Wonder, first performed here by Opera Australia in 1995.

Renovation works will be taking place through to 2021. Performance schedules and guided tours may be disrupted, so it’s worth checking ahead to see how your visit may be affected.

WINE & DINE UNDER THE SAILS

One of Sydney’s finest restaurants, Aria, is just opposite the Opera House; perfect for a gourmet pre- or post-show meal.

Opera Bar, on the concourse below the Opera House, is a fabulous spot for a drink or a meal by the water.

TOP SIGHT

SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE

Whether they’re driving over it, climbing up it, jogging across it, shooting fireworks off it or sailing under it, Sydneysiders adore their bridge and swarm around it like ants on ice cream. Dubbed the ‘coathanger’, the harbour bridge is a spookily big object – moving around town, you’ll catch sight of it out of the corner of your eye when you least expect it.

THE TRINITY/GETTY IMAGES ©

Access

The best way to initially experience this majestic structure is on foot. Stairs climb up the bridge from both shores, leading to a footpath on the eastern side (the western side is a bike path). Walking from north to south (get the train to Milsons Point) gives you the best city views.

Climbing the Bridge

MAP GOOGLE MAP Once only painters and daredevils scaled the Harbour Bridge – now anyone with a moderate level of fitness can do it. Make your way through the departure lounge and an extensive training session, don your safety gear and up you go. If you’re afraid of heights, the scariest part is crossing over the mesh catwalk while under the bridge; on the curved span itself the track is wide enough that you never see straight down. There are no facilities on the bridge, so a pre-climb toilet stop is a smart idea.

In June 2018, the New South Wales government announced that Hammons Holdings Pty Ltd had won the bridge climb contract over the previous operator, BridgeClimb Sydney. For more information on climbing the bridge, see www.hammonsholdings.com.au.

DON’T MISS

A Sunset from the top of the bridge

A The views from the Pylon Lookout

A Walking across the bridge from north to south

PRACTICALITIES

A MAP, D1

A dCircular Quay, Milsons Point

Pylon Lookout Museum

The bridge’s hefty pylons may look as though they’re shouldering all the weight, but they’re largely decorative – right down to their granite facing. There are awesome views from Pylon Lookout (MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9240 1100; www.pylonlookout.com.au; adult/child $15/8.50; h10am-5pm), atop the southeast pylon. Inside the pylon there are exhibits about the bridge’s construction, including an eight-minute film that screens every 15 minutes.

Structure

At 134m high, 1149m long, 49m wide and weighing 52,800 tonnes, Sydney Harbour Bridge is the largest and heaviest (but not the longest) steel arch in the world. It links the Rocks with North Sydney, crossing the harbour at one of its narrowest points.

The two halves of chief engineer JJC Bradfield’s mighty arch were built outwards from each shore. In 1930, after seven years of merciless toil by 1400 workers, the two arches were only centimetres apart when 100km/h winds set them swaying. The coathanger hung tough, though, the arch was bolted together and the bridge finally opened to the public two years later.

The bridge is the centrepiece of Sydney’s major celebrations, particularly the New Year’s Eve fireworks.

GET OVER IT

The best way to experience the bridge is on foot – don’t expect much of a view crossing by train or car (driving south there’s a toll).Staircases access the bridge from both shores; a footpath runs along its eastern side and a cycleway along the west. The northern end of the bridge walk is very close to Milsons Point train station. Walking north to south offers the best views.

The southern end of the bridge sits right among some of the best pubs in the Rocks. Try the rooftop at the Glenmore for more great views. If it’s a cafe you’re after, make your way down to the Fine Food Store, tucked away on a side street.

TOP SIGHT

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN

This expansive park is the inner city’s favourite picnic destination, jogging route and snuggling spot. Following the shore of Farm Cove, the bay immediately southeast of the Opera House, the garden was established in 1816 and features plant life from Australia and around the world. Grab a park map at any main entrance.

Collections

Highlights include the rose garden, the rainforest walk and the succulent garden. The striking Calyx pavilion incorporates a cool, curving glasshouse space with a living wall of greenery that requires some 18,000 plants to fill. It hosts temporary exhibitions on botanical themes. The garden’s many magnificent mature trees are well labelled with genus and place of origin.

Flying Foxiness

If you cast an eye to the twilight sky, don’t be surprised if a great black cloud of bats drifts into view. These grey-headed flying foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus), impressive with metre-wide wingspans, are a Sydney icon. Unlike other bats, flying foxes don’t live in caves, don’t use echolocation and can’t see particularly well in the dark. For more information, check out www.sydneybats.org.au.

Government House

Government House (MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9228 4111; www.governor.nsw.gov.au; Macquarie St; hgrounds 10am-4pm, tours 10.30am-3pm Fri-Sun) F is a Gothic sandstone mansion (built 1837–43), which serves as the official residence of the Governor of NSW. Its lovely loggia looks over a formal garden with the Opera House looming close by. The interior can only be accessed on a free guided tour; collect your ticket from the gatehouse. You’ll need ID.

Mrs Macquaries Point

Adjoining the garden but officially part of the Domain, Mrs Macquaries Point (Mrs Macquarie’s Rd) provides beautiful views over the bay to the Opera House and city skyline. It was named in 1810 after Elizabeth, Governor Macquarie’s wife, who ordered a seat chiselled into the rock from which she could view the harbour. Mrs Macquaries Chair, as it’s known, remains to this day.

Walks & Tours

Free 1½-hour guided walks depart at 10.30am daily from the information booth outside the Garden Shop. From March to November there’s also an additional hour-long tour at 1pm on weekdays. You can also download self-guided tours from the RBG website. The park’s paths are mostly wheelchair accessible.

Long before the convicts arrived, this was an initiation ground for the Gadigal (Cadigal) people. Book ahead for the Aboriginal Heritage Tour (%02-9231 8134; www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au; adult $40; h10am Wed, Fri & Sat), which covers local history, traditional plant uses and bush-food tastings.

A hop-on, hop-off tourist train (MAP GOOGLE MAP www.choochoo.com.au; adult/child $10/5; h11am-4pm May-Sep, 10am-4.30pm Oct-Apr) runs a route around the main points of interest in the garden.

DON’T MISS

A Government House

A The rainforest walk

A The Calyx

PRACTICALITIES

A MAP, G4

A %02-9231 8111

A www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au

A Mrs Macquarie’s Rd

A admission free

A h7am-dusk

A dCircular Quay

1 SIGHTS

Several of Sydney’s key sights are concentrated in this area. Museums and venerable buildings dotted about the Rocks give insights into Australia’s colonial history, while major attractions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art and Royal Botanic Garden deserve plenty of your time. The indisputable Big Two, though, are, of course, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

1Circular Quay

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSENOTABLE BUILDING

MAP GOOGLE MAP See here.

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENGARDENS

MAP GOOGLE MAP See here.

JUSTICE & POLICE MUSEUMMUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9252 1144; www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au; cnr Albert & Phillip Sts; adult/child $12/8; h10am-5pm Sat & Sun; dCircular Quay)

In a sandstone building that once headquartered the Water Police, this atmospheric museum plunges you straight into Sydney noir. An assemblage of black-and-white photos from police archives provide the backdrop for stories of gangs, murders, bushranging and underworld figures, as well as being a fascinating window into social history. The highlight is the magnificently laconic commentary on the audiovisual features.

Other sections detail police history, with a commendably frank appraisal of historical relations with Indigenous Australians.

CUSTOMS HOUSEHISTORIC BUILDING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9242 8551; www.sydneycustomshouse.com.au; 31 Alfred St; h8am-midnight Mon-Fri, from 10am Sat, 11am-5pm Sun; dCircular Quay) F

This elegant harbourside edifice (1885) has a democratic feel to it. It houses tourist information, a library (MAP; %02-9242 8555; www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au; h10am-7pm Mon-Fri, 11am-4pm Sat & Sun), bars and restaurant options, including Cafe Sydney on the top floor. In the lobby, look for the swastikas in the tiling (and the plaque explaining their symbolism), and a fascinating 1:500 model of the inner city, overrun by carp, under the glass floor.

MACQUARIE PLACESQUARE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; cnr Loftus & Bridge Sts; dCircular Quay)

Beneath some shady Moreton Bay fig trees is this historic triangle. Look for the cannon and anchor from the First Fleet flagship (HMS Sirius), an ornate but defunct 1857 drinking fountain, a National Trust–classified gentlemen’s pissoir (closed and plant-filled) and an 1818 obelisk recording that ‘all the public roads leading to the interior of the colony are measured from it’.

1The Rocks
o ROCKS DISCOVERY MUSEUMMUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9240 8680; www.therocks.com; Kendall Lane; h10am-5pm; c; dCircular Quay) F

Divided into four displays – Warrane (pre-1788), Colony (1788–1820), Port (1820–1900) and Transformations (1900 to the present) – this small, excellent museum, tucked away down a Rocks laneway, digs deep into the area’s history on an artefact-rich tour. Sensitive attention is given to the Rocks’ original inhabitants, the Gadigal (Cadigal) people, and there are interesting tales of early colonial characters.

The 3rd floor holds temporary exhibitions.

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTGALLERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP MCA; %02-9245 2400; www.mca.com.au; 140 George St; h9am-5pm Wed, from 10am Thu-Tue; dCircular Quay) F

The MCA is a showcase for Australian and international contemporary art, with a rotating permanent collection and temporary exhibitions. Aboriginal art features prominently. The art-deco building has had a modern space grafted on to it, the highlight of which is the rooftop cafe with stunning views. There are free guided tours daily, with several languages available.

SUSANNAH PLACE MUSEUMMUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %bookings 02-9251 5988; www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au; 58-64 Gloucester St; adult/child $12/8; htours 2pm, 3pm & 4pm; dCircular Quay)

Dating from 1844, this diminutive terrace of four houses and a shop selling historical wares is a fascinating time capsule of life in the Rocks. After watching a short film about the past inhabitants, you will be guided through the claustrophobic homes, decorated to reflect different eras. The visit lasts an hour. Groups are limited to eight, so book ahead.

A GRITTY PAST

After dismissing Botany Bay as a site for the colony, Governor Arthur Phillip sailed the First Fleet into what James Cook had named Port Jackson (Warran/Warrane in the local language) and dropped anchor at a horseshoe bay with an all-important freshwater stream running into it. Phillip christened the bay Sydney Cove after the British Home Secretary, Baron Sydney of Chislehurst, who was responsible for the colonies.

The socioeconomic divide of the future city was foreshadowed when the convicts were allocated the rocky land to the west of the stream (known unimaginatively as the Rocks), while the governor and other officials pitched their tents to the east.

Built with convict labour between 1837 and 1844, Circular Quay was originally (and more accurately) called Semicircular Quay, and acted as the main port of Sydney. In the 1850s it was extended further, covering over the by then festering Tank Stream, which ran into the middle of the cove.

As time went on, whalers and sailors joined the ex-convicts at the Rocks – and inns and brothels sprang up to entertain them. With the settlement filthy and overcrowded, the nouveau riche started building houses on the upper slopes, their sewage flowing to the slums below. Residents sloshed through open sewers, and alleys festered with disease and drunken lawlessness. Thus began a long, steady decline.

Bubonic plague broke out in 1900, leading to the razing of entire streets, and Harbour Bridge construction in the 1920s wiped out even more. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the Rocks’ cultural and architectural heritage was finally recognised.

Much of Millers Point has been public housing for over a century, originally for dock workers. With property prices so high, the state government from 2016 began a series of phases of auctioning off these homes to the highest bidder, evicting one of Sydney’s oldest communities in the process and ignoring significant public protest.

CADMAN’S COTTAGEHISTORIC BUILDING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9337 5511; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; 110 George St; dCircular Quay) F

Built for Superintendent of Government Boats John Cadman (a former convict with a commuted death sentence for horse theft) in 1816, this is the inner city’s oldest house. Sydney Water Police detained criminals here in the 1840s; it later became a home for retired sea captains. Half-hour tours run at 10am on the first and third Sundays of the month.

ARGYLE CUTLANDMARK

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Argyle St; dCircular Quay)

Convict labourers excavated this canyonlike section of road clear through the sandstone ridge that gave the Rocks its name. The work began in 1843 with hand tools and was completed (with the aid of dynamite) in 1867. The cut sandstone frames scenery and greenery in a dramatic fashion and makes for an atmospheric stroll.

SUEZ CANALAREA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; dCircular Quay)

One of few remaining such lanes, the Suez Canal tapers downhill until less than a metre wide (hence the name, also a pun on the word ‘sewers’). Constructed in the 1840s, it was notorious as a lurking point for members of the Rocks Push, a street gang that relieved many a drunk of their wallet in the late 19th century.

1Dawes Point

SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGEBRIDGE

MAP GOOGLE MAP See here.

WALSH BAYWATERFRONT

(MAP GOOGLE MAP www.walshbaysydney.com.au; Hickson Rd; g324, 325, dWynyard)

This section of Dawes Point waterfront was Sydney’s busiest before the advent of container shipping and the construction of port facilities at Botany Bay. This century has seen the Federation-era wharves gentrified beyond belief, morphing into luxury hotels, apartments, theatre spaces, power-boat marinas and restaurants. It’s a picturesque place to stroll, combining the wharves and harbour views with Barangaroo Park.

The self-guided 1.6km Walsh Bay Walk starts at Pier 2 and leads you through 11 stops, with interesting plaques and directions urging you onwards; download a guide from the Walsh Bay website. Pier 4 houses the Wharf Theatre, home to the renowned Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney Dance Company, Australian Theatre for Young People and Bangarra Dance Theatre; the bar at the end is a picturesque spot for a drink.

GARRISON CHURCHCHURCH

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9247 1071; www.churchhillanglican.com; 60 Lower Fort St; h9am-5pm; dCircular Quay) F

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. Below a dark timber ceiling, the hushed interior is all stained glass and venerable regimental flags. Australia’s first prime minister, Edmund Barton, went to school here (the parish hall doubled as a schoolhouse).

CAMPBELL’S STOREHOUSESHISTORIC BUILDING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP 7 Circular Quay West; dCircular Quay)

In 1839, Scottish merchant Robert Campbell started building a private wharf and this gingerbread-style row of 11 storehouses for his stash of tea, alcohol, sugar and fabric. Construction didn’t finish until 1861, and a brick storey was added in 1890. Such storehouses were common into the early 20th century, but most have been demolished. These survivors sustain several pricey restaurants.

1Millers Point
o SYDNEY OBSERVATORYOBSERVATORY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9217 0111; www.maas.museum/sydney-observatory; 1003 Upper Fort St; h10am-5pm; dCircular Quay) F

Built in the 1850s, Sydney’s copper-domed, Italianate sandstone observatory squats atop Observatory Hill, overlooking the harbour. Inside is a collection of vintage apparatus, including Australia’s oldest working telescope (1874), as well as background on Australian astronomy and transits of Venus. Also on offer (weekends and school holidays) are child-focused tours (adult/child $10/8), including a solar telescope viewing and planetarium show. Bookings are essential for night-time stargazing sessions, which come in family-oriented (adult/child $22/17) and adult (adult/child $27/20) versions.

The observatory was originally built to determine the correct time via astronomical observations. On the roof, a signal ball still drops at exactly 1pm. The hill was also used to signal to ships from two high flagpoles, one of which has been reconstructed. Research at the observatory ceased in 1983.

OBSERVATORY HILLPARK

MAP GOOGLE MAP 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.

BENNELONG

Bennelong was born around 1764 into the Wangal tribe, the westerly neighbours of the Gadigal (Cadigal) who lived around central Sydney. Captured in 1789, he was brought to Governor Arthur Phillip, who hoped to use Bennelong to understand the local Aboriginal Australians’ customs and language.

Bennelong took to life with the settlers, developing a taste for British food and alcohol, and learning to speak the language of his new ‘masters’. Eventually he escaped, but he returned by 1791 when reassured that he would not be held against his will. He developed a strong friendship with Governor Phillip, who had a brick hut built for him on what is now Bennelong Point.

The relationship between Phillip and Bennelong was a fascinating one, and included the governor being speared by an associate of Bennelong while visiting a beached sperm whale at Manly Cove. It may be that it was a kind of ritual payback; Phillip took no retaliation.

In 1792 Bennelong went on a ‘civilising’ trip to England, and returned in 1795 with a changed dress sense and altered behaviour. Described as good natured and ‘stoutly made’, Bennelong ultimately was no longer accepted by Aboriginal society and never really found happiness with his white friends either. He died a broken, dispossessed man in 1813, possibly as a result of his affection for the bottle.

SH ERVIN GALLERYGALLERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9258 0173; www.shervingallery.com.au; Watson Rd; adult/child $10/free; h11am-5pm Tue-Sun; dWynyard)

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 rewarding historical and contemporary Australian art. Annual mainstays include the Salon des Refusés (alternative Archibald Prize entries) and the Portia Geach Memorial Award. There’s a cafe here, too.

BARANGAROO RESERVEPARK

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.barangaroo.com; Hickson Rd; g324, 325, dCircular Quay)

Part of Barangaroo, the major redevelopment project of what was a commercial port, this park sits on a headland with wonderful harbour perspectives. The tiered space combines quarried sandstone blocks and native trees and plants to good effect. A lift connecting the park’s three levels is good for weary legs. There’s a car park under it, and an exhibition space.

Many Sydneysiders are somewhat cynical about this park’s origins, seeing it as a sop to try to placate the public over the scale and naked commercialism of the rest of the Barangaroo development.

5 EATING

The charismatic back lanes of the Rocks are dotted with little restaurants, from pub lunching to white-linen palaces. There are several upmarket places in this area, many with winning water views. There are also quite a few mediocre spots feeding off visitors. It should come as no surprise that this most touristy of precincts is also the priciest. If at all possible, budget for at least one night where you can throw on your glad rags and let Sydney’s showiness seduce you.

o FINE FOOD STORECAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9252 1196; www.finefoodstore.com; cnr Mill & Kendall Lanes; light meals $9-16; h7am-4pm Mon-Sat, from 7.30am Sun; Wv; dCircular Quay)

The Rocks sometimes seems all pubs, so it’s a delight to find this contemporary cafe that works for a sightseeing stopover or a better, cheaper breakfast than your hotel. Staff are genuinely welcoming, make very respectable coffee and offer delicious panini, sandwiches and other breakfast and lunch fare. The outside tables on this narrow lane are the spot to be.

2 Neighbourhood Walk

A Rock-Quay Road

START CADMAN’S COTTAGE

END ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN

LENGTH 3.5KM; TWO HOURS

Start outside 1  Cadman’s Cottage, inner-city Sydney’s oldest house. It was built on a now-buried beach for John Cadman (a government boat superintendent and former convict) in 1816. It now sits slightly forlorn, little-used among the bustle of the surrounding area.

Head north along Circular Quay West past the 2  Overseas Passenger Terminal, where multistorey luxury cruise ships regularly dock. For a killer harbour view, if there’s no ship to block it, head up to the level-four observation deck in the turret on the northern end.

Further along the quay are 3  Campbell’s Storehouses, which date from 1839 and were built by Scottish merchant Robert Campbell, a key early trader into the colony who became an eminent local figure.

Play spot-the-bridal-party as you loop past the 4  Park Hyatt and into the small park at the end of Dawes Point. Couples jet in from as far away as China and Korea to have their photos taken here in front of the perfect Opera House background.

As you pass under the 5  Harbour Bridge, keep an eye out for Luna Park on the opposite shore. Stroll around Walsh Bay’s gentrified 6  Edwardian wharves and then cross the road and cut up the stairs (marked ‘Public stairs to Windmill St’) just before the Roslyn Packer Theatre. Continue up the hill on teensy Ferry Lane. Near the top you’ll find the foundations of 7  Arthur Payne’s House; he was the first victim of the 1900 bubonic plague outbreak.

At the corner of Windmill St is the 8  Hero of Waterloo, a contender for the title of Sydney’s oldest pub. Turn right on Lower Fort St and head to 9  Argyle Place, a quiet, English-style village green lined with terraced houses.

Across the road is the handsome a  Garrison Church, the colony’s first military place of worship. Hook left into Argyle St and stroll down through the b  Argyle Cut, a canyonlike section of road excavated by convict labour. It was a major engineering feat of its day (the mid-19th century) that connected the eastern and western sides of the Rocks, bypassing the ridge (and, these days, the freeway approaching the Harbour Bridge).

Just past the Cut take the stairs to the left and head along Gloucester Walk to c  Foundation Park, which evokes the area’s cramped past. Take the stairs down through the park, duck around the building at the bottom and exit onto Playfair St where there’s a row of historic terraced houses.

Cross Argyle St into Harrington St then jag left into d  Suez Canal. It is fairly salubrious these days, but was once a rat- and effluent-ridden haunt of thieves and topers.

Turn right into George St and cut through the e  Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney’s major showcase for big-name exhibitions. Exit onto Circular Quay and follow the waterline past the ferry wharves.

Cut underneath the train station to the fabulously renovated f  Customs House. Stroll back to the water to check out the bad buskers and the metal plaques of the g  Sydney Writers Walk. Serious and comic observations by an eclectic assemblage of authors, including Mark Twain, Germaine Greer and Clive James, cover a wide spectrum of topics, ranging from impressions of the harbour by Joseph Conrad to hopes for racial harmony in Australia by Oodgeroo Noonuccal.

Continue past the h  Opera Quays apartment and entertainment complex on Circular Quay East, which is disparagingly referred to by Sydneysiders as ‘The Toaster’.

The heaven-sent sails of the i  Sydney Opera House are directly in front of you, adjacent to an unmissable perspective of the Sydney Harbour Bridge off to the left. Circumnavigate Bennelong Point, then follow the water’s edge to the gates of the j  Royal Botanic Garden.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

THE BRIDES OF HICKSON ROAD

As you stroll the waterfront road between Circular Quay and Walsh Bay, you are pacing along what was, in the 19th century, a very seedy area, a hotbed of criminal activity and sailors’ trysts with prostitutes.

These days, you’ll doubtless cross paths with a different sort of pairing. Many couples, particularly from East Asia, fly in specifically to get a batch of wedding photos shot on Hickson Rd with the Opera House as a backdrop. Brides struggle with their trains as the wind whips around the base of the Harbour Bridge.

BARCYCLECAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9247 0772; www.barcycle.com.au; Pier 6-7, 19 Hickson Rd; light meals $10-15; h7am-4pm Mon-Sat, to 3pm Sun, later on Fri & Sat evenings in summer; W; g324, 325, dCircular Quay)

One of several inviting spots for a light meal on the handsome wharves of Walsh Bay, this hole-in-the-wall is run by a friendly Italian family who offer a range of breakfast and lunch options including ‘green eggs’ with avocado, pasta, salads and daily specials. The coffee is pretty good, as is the cycling chat: there’s an on-site bike workshop here.

GATEWAY SYDNEYFOOD HALL $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9256 6900; www.gatewaysydney.com.au; Alfred St; h7am-11pm Mon-Fri, from 8am Sat & Sun; W; dCircular Quay)

Another day in Sydney, another huge CBD construction project finished. Gateway is opposite Circular Quay and offers a range of decent eating options from some of Sydney’s favourite chains like Chat Thai, Salt Meats Cheese, Din Tai Fung, Burger Project, Messina and more.

BOTANIC GARDENS RESTAURANTMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$

(%02-9241 2419; www.botanicrestaurant.com.au; lunch mains $29-34; hnoon-3pm Mon-Fri, from 9.30am Sat & Sun)

Upstairs at the centre of the Royal Botanic Gardens, this offers very appealing balcony tables among the fronds. The food is competent Modern Australian fare and the ambience very soothing. The downstairs cafe is a cheaper option, but not great.

o QUAYMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9251 5600; www.quay.com.au; Level 3, Overseas Passenger Terminal; 4/8 courses $180/245; h6-9.30pm Mon-Thu, noon-1.30pm & 6-9.30pm Fri-Sun; dCircular Quay)

What many consider to be Sydney’s best restaurant matches a peerless bridge view with brilliant food. Chef Peter Gilmore never rests on his laurels, consistently delivering exquisitely crafted, adventurous cuisine. The menu was set to be shaken up in 2018; you can rely on amazing creations. Book online well in advance, but it’s worth phoning in case of cancellations.

o ARIAMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9240 2255; www.ariarestaurant.com; 1 Macquarie St; 2-/3-/4-course dinner $115/145/170, degustation $205; hnoon-2.15pm & 5.30-10.30pm Mon-Fri, noon-1.30pm & 5-11pm Sat, noon-1.45pm & 5.30-10pm Sun; dCircular Quay)

Aria is a star in Sydney’s fine-dining firmament, an award-winning combination of chef Matt Moran’s stellar dishes, floor-to-ceiling windows staring straight at the Opera House, a stylishly renovated interior and faultless service. A pre- and post-theatre à la carte menu is perfect for a special meal before or after a night at the Opera House (one/two/three courses $55/90/110).

GANTRYMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8298 9910; www.thegantry.com.au; Wharf 1, 11 Hickson Rd; mains $36-42; h6-10pm Mon & Tue, noon-2.30pm & 6-10pm Wed-Sun; Wv; g324, 325, dCircular Quay)

Despite all that water, there aren’t too many harbourside restaurants in this area. Fortunately, Gantry is excellent. Try a wharfside table and enjoy views of Walsh Bay with a screen to protect you from sun and stickybeaks. The food, impeccably sourced from high-quality Australian producers, is delicious, with some standout fish usually on the menu and good vegetarian options.

It’s also a bar; flopping down here on yacht-style seating on the edge of the wharf with a drink is a very pleasant Sydney experience.

SAKÉJAPANESE $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9259 5656; www.sakerestaurant.com.au; 12 Argyle St; mains $28-46; hnoon-3pm & 5.30-10.30pm Mon-Thu, to 11.30pm Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun; dCircular Quay)

Colourful sake barrels and lots of dark wood contribute to the louche glamour of this large, buzzy restaurant. Prop yourself around the open kitchen and snack on delectable popcorn shrimp and maki rolls, or grab a table to tuck into multicourse banquets of contemporary Japanese cuisine.

CAFE SYDNEYMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9251 8683; www.cafesydney.com; Level 5, Customs House, 31 Alfred St; mains $37-40; hnoon-11pm Mon-Fri, from 5pm Sat, noon-3.30pm Sun; W; dCircular Quay)

This breezy, spacious restaurant on the Customs House roof has marvellous harbour and bridge views, an outdoor terrace, a glass ceiling, a cocktail bar and friendly staff who greet you straight out of the lift. Quality seafood dishes dominate. It packs out and is often block-booked, so don’t expect to show up and get a table.

ALTITUDEMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9250 6123; www.36levelsabove.com.au; Level 36, 176 Cumberland St; mains $37-52; h5.30-10pm Mon-Fri, 11.30am-2.30pm & 5.30-10pm Sat; v; dCircular Quay)

The top-notch cuisine at Altitude, on the 36th floor of Shangri-La hotel, is liable to send your taste buds soaring as high as the fabulous views over the Opera House and down the bridge. On Friday and Saturday, a four-course menu is offered ($135) and it opens for brunch on Saturdays ($75). Midweek pre-theatre dining is good value at $65.

6 DRINKING & NIGHTLIFE

The Rocks has been intoxicated since convict times, with several local pubs dating back to settlement days. It’s very touristy (George St in particular), but it’s still an interesting place for a brew or two. Circular Quay’s eastern shore is lined with modern bars serving pricey drinks, with tables spilling across the promenade. Note, most venues in these parts stick to traditional pub hours and close their doors around midnight.

o HERO OF WATERLOOPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9252 4553; www.heroofwaterloo.com.au; 81 Lower Fort St; h10am-11.30pm Mon-Wed, 10am-midnight Thu-Sat, 10am-10pm Sun; g311, dCircular Quay)

Enter this rough-hewn 1843 sandstone pub to meet some locals, chat to the Irish bar staff and grab an earful of the swing, folk and Celtic bands (Friday to Sunday). Downstairs is a dungeon where, in days gone by, drinkers would sleep off a heavy night before being shanghaied to the high seas via a tunnel leading to the harbour.

o OPERA BARBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9247 1666; www.operabar.com.au; lower concourse, Sydney Opera House; h10.30am-midnight Mon-Thu, to 1am Fri, 9am-1am Sat, to midnight Sun; W; dCircular Quay)

Right on the harbour with the Opera House on one side and the bridge on the other, this perfectly positioned terrace manages a very Sydney marriage of the laid-back and the sophisticated. It’s an iconic spot for visitors and locals alike. There’s live music or DJs most nights and really excellent food, running from oysters to fabulous steaks and fish.

It’s a very slick operation…staff even geolocate you to know where to bring the food to.

o GLENMORE HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9247 4794; www.theglenmore.com.au; 96 Cumberland St; h11am-midnight Sun-Thu, to 1am Fri & Sat; W; dCircular Quay)

Downstairs it’s a predictably nice old Rocks pub with great outdoor seating, but head to the rooftop and the views are beyond fabulous: Opera House (after the cruise ship leaves), harbour and city skyline all present and accounted for. It gets rammed up here on the weekends, with DJs and plenty of wine by the glass. The food’s decent too.

o HARTS PUBPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9251 6030; www.hartspub.com; cnr Essex & Gloucester Sts; hnoon-11pm Mon-Wed, 11.30am-midnight Thu, to 1am Fri & Sat, noon-10pm Sun; W; dCircular Quay)

Pouring an excellent range of Sydney craft beers in a quiet corner near the beginning of the Rocks, this historical building has real character. The dishes are quality pub food, with excellent and generous salads, fish and steaks. At weekends, this is enjoyably quieter than other Rocks boozers. There are a few pleasant outdoor tables with the Shangri-La hotel looming above.

THEATRE BAR AT THE END OF THE WHARFBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9250 1761; www.sydneytheatre.com.au; Pier 4, 15 Hickson Rd; hnoon-11pm Mon-Sat; W; g324, 325, dCircular Quay)

It’s a long but atmospheric stroll down this wharf building, looking at photos of Sydney Theatre Company performances as you go, to reach the bar at the end. It’s a cracking spot, with a magic view of the Harbour Bridge to enjoy with a drink. Also does lunches from noon to 3pm (mains $18 to $28).

LORD NELSON BREWERY HOTELBREWERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9251 4044; www.lordnelsonbrewery.com; 19 Kent St; h11am-11pm Mon-Sat, noon-10pm Sun; W; g311, dCircular Quay)

This atmospheric boozer is one of three claiming to be Sydney’s oldest (all using slightly different criteria). The on-site brewery cooks up its own natural ales; a pint of dark, stouty Nelson’s Blood is a fine way to partake. Pub food downstairs is tasty and solid; the upstairs brasserie is an attractive space doing fancier food, including good seafood choices.

ARGYLEBAR, CLUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9247 5500; www.theargylerocks.com; 18 Argyle St; h11am-1am Sun-Wed, to 3am Thu-Sat; W; dCircular Quay)

This stylish and wildly popular conglomeration of bars is spread through the historic Argyle Stores buildings, including a cobblestone courtyard and atmospheric wooden-floored downstairs bar. The decor ranges from rococo couches to white extruded plastic tables, all offset with kooky chandeliers and moody lighting. During the day the courtyard is a pleasant place for a drink or spot of lunch.

There’s always something going on here, from salsa nights to live music in the courtyard. Cover charge for the upstairs club is usually around $30 at weekends.

ENDEAVOUR TAP ROOMSMICROBREWERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9241 6517; www.taprooms.com.au; 39 Argyle St; h11am-midnight Mon-Sat, to 10pm Sun; W; dCircular Quay)

All corridors and slightly awkward spaces, this heritage building in the heart of the Rocks is now a rather lovely brewpub with restrained 1920s-feel decor. There’s some top stuff on tap, including the perfectly balanced Australian IPA and other excellent beers. A menu of meaty, smoky fare is on hand.

HOTEL PALISADEPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9018 0123; www.hotelpalisade.com; 35 Bettington St; hnoon-midnight Mon-Sat, to 10pm Sun; W; g311, dCircular Quay)

This historic and hipster-invigorated Millers Point pub preserves its tea-coloured tiles, faded brick and nostalgia-tinted downstairs bar. On top of the venerable building, however, there’s a shiny glass section with super bridge views, pricey drinks and posh tapas-style food. It often fills up or books out, but there’s a less glitzy, more comfy perch on the little 4th-floor balcony.

BULLETIN PLACECOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.bulletinplace.com; 10 Bulletin Pl; h4pm-midnight Mon-Wed, to 1am Thu-Sat; dCircular Quay)

A discreet entrance on this little street of cafes and bars conceals the staircase up to one of Sydney’s most talked-about cocktail bars. Personable, down-to-earth staff shake up great daily creations that are high on zinginess and freshness and low on frippery. It’s a small space, so get there early. Cocktails are about 20 bucks each.

It’s through the door to the left of Cabrito.

AUSTRALIAN HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9247 2229; www.australianheritagehotel.com; 100 Cumberland St; h11am-midnight; W; dCircular Quay)

With its wide verandah shading lots of outdoor seating, this handsome early 20th-century pub is a favoured pit-stop for a cleansing ale; it was doing microbrewed beer long before it became trendy and has a great selection. The kitchen also does a nice line in gourmet pizzas ($17 to $28), including ever-popular toppings of kangaroo, emu and crocodile.

FORTUNE OF WARPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9247 2714; www.fortuneofwar.com.au; 137 George St; h9am-midnight Mon-Wed, to 1am Thu, to 2am Fri & Sat, 10am-midnight Sun; dCircular Quay)

Operating right here since 1828, this pub was rebuilt in the early 20th century and retains much charm from that era in its characterful bar. It has a solid mix of locals and tourists, and features live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and weekend afternoons.

CRUISE BARBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9251 1188; www.cruisebar.com.au; Overseas Passenger Terminal, Circular Quay West; h11am-midnight Mon-Wed, to 1am Thu, to 3am Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun; W; dCircular Quay)

This is a very picturesque quayside spot to enjoy a drink from – until a cruise ship docks in front of it, anyway. There’s a range of craft beers and an atmosphere that changes from cheerful sundowners to party central as the night advances.

Upstairs, the Junk Lounge does Asian-inflected cocktails and food.

BLU BAR ON 36COCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9250 6000; www.shangri-la.com; Level 36, 176 Cumberland St; h5pm-midnight Mon-Thu, 4pm-1am Fri, from 2.30pm Sat, 3-11pm Sun; W; dCircular Quay)

The drinks are pricey, but it’s worth heading to the top of Shangri-La hotel (MAP GOOGLE MAP r $350-600; pnaWs) for the views, which seem to stretch all the way to New Zealand. It gets pretty busy, with window tables at a premium, so you may want to reserve one ahead. Views apart, it lacks a little atmosphere; have a sundowner and move on.

3 ENTERTAINMENT

With the Opera House as its centrepiece, it follows that this neighbourhood is the centre of Sydney’s performing-arts scene. Most of the big companies are based here, taking advantage of the area’s seven world-class stages.

o SYDNEY OPERA HOUSEPERFORMING ARTS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9250 7777; www.sydneyoperahouse.com; Bennelong Point; dCircular Quay)

The glamorous jewel at the heart of Australian performance, Sydney’s famous Opera House has five main stages. Opera may have star billing, but it’s also an important venue for theatre, dance and classical concerts, while big-name bands sometimes rock the forecourt. Ongoing renovation works through to 2021 may disrupt some performances, but essentially the show goes on.

SYDNEY CONSERVATORIUM OF MUSICCLASSICAL MUSIC

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9351 1222; http://music.sydney.edu.au; Conservatorium Rd; dCircular Quay)

This historic venue showcases the talents of its students and their teachers. Choral, jazz, operatic and chamber concerts happen from March to November; check the website (and Facebook page, which often has more info) for details. There are often free recitals.

SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANYTHEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP STC; %02-9250 1777; www.sydneytheatre.com.au; Pier 4, 15 Hickson Rd; hbox office 9am-7.30pm Mon, to 8.30pm Tue-Fri, 11am-8.30pm Sat, 2hr before show Sun; g324, 325, dCircular Quay)

Established in 1978, the STC is Sydney theatre’s top dog and has played an important part in the careers of many famous Australian actors (especially Cate Blanchett, who was co-artistic director from 2008 to 2013). You can book tours of the company’s Wharf and Roslyn Packer Theatres ($10). Performances are also staged at the Opera House.

BANGARRA DANCE THEATREDANCE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9251 5333; www.bangarra.com.au; Pier 4, 15 Hickson Rd; g324, 325, dCircular Quay)

Bangarra is hailed as Australia’s finest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performance company. Artistic director Stephen Page conjures a fusion of contemporary themes, Indigenous traditions and Western technique. When not touring internationally, the company performs at the Opera House or at this small theatre in Walsh Bay.

SYDNEY DANCE COMPANYDANCE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP SDC; %02-9221 4811; www.sydneydancecompany.com; Pier 4, 15 Hickson Rd; g324, 325, dCircular Quay)

Australia’s number-one contemporary-dance company has been staging wildly modern, sexy and sometimes shocking works since 1979. Performances are usually held across the street at the Roslyn Packer Theatre, or at Carriageworks. The cafe-bar here is a cool place to hang out.

SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRACLASSICAL MUSIC

(MAP GOOGLE MAP SSO; %02-8215 4600; www.sydneysymphony.com; cnr Harrington & Argyle Sts)

The SSO plays around 150 concerts annually with famous local and international musicians. Catch them at the Sydney Opera House or the City Recital Hall.

OPERA AUSTRALIAOPERA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9318 8200; www.opera.org.au; Sydney Opera House; dCircular Quay)

Opera Australia is the big player in Oz opera, staging over 600 performances a year. The company’s Sydney shows are performed in the Sydney Opera House, unless they’re staging a big outdoor extravaganza on the harbour or in the Domain.

AUSTRALIAN BALLETDANCE

(%1300 369 741; www.australianballet.com.au; tickets $39-289)

The Melbourne-based Australian Ballet performs a wide repertoire of classical as well as contemporary works. See them twinkle their toes at the Sydney Opera House or the Capitol Theatre (%theatre 02-9320 5000, tickets 1300 558 878; www.capitoltheatre.com.au; 13 Campbell St; jCapitol Square, dCentral).

ROSLYN PACKER THEATRETHEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9250 1999; www.roslynpackertheatre.com.au; 22 Hickson Rd; g324, 325, dCircular Quay)

Opened in 2004, this is the most significant theatre built in the city since the Sydney Opera House. The state-of-the-art facility seats 850 and is managed by Sydney Theatre Company. Sydney Dance Company and a host of other troupes also perform here.

OPENAIR CINEMACINEMA

(%1300 366 649; www.stgeorgeopenair.com.au; Mrs Macquaries Rd; tickets $39; hJan & Feb; dCircular Quay)

Right on the harbour, the outdoor three-storey screen here comes with surround-sound, sunsets, skyline and swanky food and wine. Most tickets are purchased in advance – look out for the dates in early December as they go fast – but a limited number go on sale at the door each night at 6.30pm; check the website for details.

WHARF THEATRESTHEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9250 1777; www.sydneytheatre.com.au; Pier 4, 15 Hickson Rd; g324, 325, dCircular Quay) S

Sydney Theatre Company stages intimate performances in two small theatres in this beautiful Edwardian pier building they share with Bangarra, Australian Theatre for Young People and the Sydney Dance Company. The Wharf Theatre’s bar is great, too; well worth a stop even without a show.

DENDY OPERA QUAYSCINEMA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9247 3800; www.dendy.com.au; 2 Circular Quay East; adult/child $22/15.50; hsessions 10am-9.30pm; dCircular Quay)

When the harbour glare and squawking seagulls get too much, follow the scent of popcorn into the dark folds of this plush cinema. Screening first-run, independent world films, it’s augmented by friendly attendants and a cafe-bar.

AUSTRALIAN THEATRE FOR YOUNG PEOPLETHEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP ATYP; %02-9270 2400; www.atyp.com.au; Wharf 4, 15 Hickson Rd; g324, 325, dCircular Quay)

This national youth theatre company puts on several performances a year; the Sydney ones are usually here in the Wharf Theatre.

7 SHOPPING

Not a place the locals would ever choose for a shopping spree, this ’hood caters mainly to the tastes of wealthy tourists. If you’re in the market for some opals, duty-free stuff or tacky souvenirs, this is the place for you. The weekend market at the Rocks is aimed at tourists, but has some high-quality stuff.

o CRAFT NSWARTS & CRAFTS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9241 5825; www.artsandcraftsnsw.com.au; 104 George St; h9.30am-5.30pm)

Bringing life and verve to the former Coroner’s Court, this craft association gallery is full of beautiful and original creations. It’s the perfect spot to pick up a unique gift for someone special.

o AUSTRALIAN WINE CENTREWINE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9247 2755; www.australianwinecentre.com; 42 Pitt St; h10am-7pm Mon & Sun, 9.30am-8pm Tue & Wed, to 9pm Thu-Sat; dCircular Quay)

This store, with multilingual staff, is packed with quality Australian wine, beer and spirits. Smaller producers are well represented, along with a staggering range of prestigious Penfolds Grange wines and other bottle-aged gems. Service is excellent and international shipping can be arranged.

o GANNON HOUSE GALLERYART

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9251 4474; www.gannonhousegallery.com; 45 Argyle St; h10am-6pm; dCircular Quay)

Specialising in contemporary Australian and Aboriginal art, Gannon House purchases works directly from artists and Aboriginal communities. You’ll find the work of prominent artists such as Gloria Petyarre here, alongside lesser-known names. There are always some striking and wonderful pieces.

SORRY THANKS I LOVE YOUGIFTS & SOUVENIRS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0423 909 812; www.sorrythanksiloveyou.com; 140 George St; h11am-6pm; dCircular Quay)

A real-world conversion of a successful online store, this innovative gift shop, as the name suggests, is the perfect spot to pick up something original for someone special. With items ranging from beautiful to useful, and including everything from flowers to craft beer, there’s plenty to choose from. There’s another store in the GPO.

OPAL MINDEDJEWELLERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9247 9885; www.opalminded.com; 55 George St; h9am-6.30pm; dCircular Quay)

This shop in the Rocks is one of several spots around here where you can stock up on opal, that quintessential piece of Aussie bling. The quality and service are both excellent.

THE ROCKS MARKETSMARKET

(MAP GOOGLE MAP www.therocks.com/markets; George St; h9am-3pm Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun; dCircular Quay)

Under a long white canopy, the stalls at this market are a focus for tourists, but the excellent handicrafts outweigh the amount of koala tat. Pick up tasty treats at the ‘Foodies Market’ on Fridays or gifts at the weekends.

2 SPORTS & ACTIVITIES

DAVE’S BREWERY TOURSWALKING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Dave’s Pub Walks; %0481 162 820; www.daves.com.au; dCircular Quay)

If you find that a cool beverage makes local history easier to digest, this crew will lead you on a good-humoured 2½-hour tour of the Rocks, stopping in four historic pubs ($90, including a drink at each). There are three departures daily; also offers a variety of other beer-themed walks and driving tours.

THE ROCKS GHOST TOURSWALKING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9241 1283; www.ghosttours.com.au; 28 Harrington St; adult $45; h6.45pm Apr-Sep, 7.45pm Oct-Mar; dCircular Quay)

If you like your spine chilled and your pulse slightly quickened (they’re more creepy than properly scary), join one of these two-hour tours, departing nightly from outside Cadman’s Cottage and visiting some Rocks locations with a dark past. Tours run rain or shine (ponchos provided); bookings essential.

THE ROCKS WALKING TOURSWALKING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9247 6678; www.rockswalkingtours.com.au; Shop 4a, cnr Argyle & Harrington Sts; adult/child/family $32/15/79; h10.30am & 1.30pm; dCircular Quay)

Two daily 90-minute tours through the historic Rocks, with plenty of tales and interesting minutiae. The office is in a shopping arcade; you can book online too.

City Centre & Haymarket

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

City Centre & Haymarket

Neighbourhood Top Five

1Art Gallery of NSW Being transported into colonial vistas, Victorian parlours, Buddhist temples, postwar streets, the heart of the outback and the imaginations of generations of artists.

2Chinatown Shopping and eating your way through these vibrant streets, and taking in the restaurants of nearby Koreatown and Thaitown, too.

3Hyde Park Promenading through the city centre’s green corridor, a well-loved public space with statues, a fountain and a war memorial.

4Queen Victoria Building Enjoying a right royal shopping spree within the grand confines of this historic building.

5Hyde Park Barracks Museum Discovering the early convict life at this noble building, designed by Francis Greenway, himself a convict.

Explore City Centre & Haymarket

Sydney’s towering central business district (CBD) encapsulates the city’s cavalier spirit, with skyscrapers unashamedly overshadowing historic sandstone buildings and churches.

The Strand Arcade and Queen Victoria Building can serve as launchpads for shopping, while the Art Gallery of NSW and Sydney Tower are contrasting key sights. Make sure to dedicate a little time to strolling Hyde Park and the array of historic buildings along Macquarie St.

Wedged into the Haymarket district, Sydney’s China-town is a tight nest of restaurants, food courts, shops and aroma-filled alleyways, centred on Dixon St. No longer just Chinese, the area is truly pan-Asian. Head here for cheap eats any time of the day or night.

Though the rest of the CBD can lack a bit of atmosphere at night, there’s more going on than appears at first sight. An array of ‘small bars’ are tucked away in hard-to-guess locations around the area. You can fashion a rewarding cocktail crawl of them...if you can find the way in.

Local Life

A Weekday Lunch On sunny days, office workers swarm out of their climate-controlled, fluorescent-lit cells and into the parks. Fitness freaks with showers in their tower jog straight to the Domain to work up a sweat.

A Yum Cha Despite the larger restaurants seating hundreds of dumpling devotees, there always seems to be queues in Chinatown on weekend mornings.

A Pitt Street Mall Serious suburban shoppers descend on Sydney’s retail ground zero on weekends.

Getting There & Away

A Train The best option for getting here, with stations at Central, Town Hall, Wynyard, St James and Museum. Additionally, the Eastern Suburbs line stops at Martin Pl.

A Bus There are numerous bus lines, with major nodes at Wynyard Park, the QVB and Central station (Railway Sq).

A Light rail A handy option if you’re coming from Glebe or Pyrmont. From 2019 a new line will run the length of the CBD along George St, from Circular Quay to Central before heading out to the southeast.

A Car Street parking is almost nonexistent, but the city council operates a large underground car park on Goulburn St (corner Elizabeth St; $9/49 per hour/day, $12 on Saturdays and Sundays and $10 after 5pm weekdays).

Lonely Planet’s Top Tip

If jet lag or other lifestyle choices leave you with the midnight munchies, Haymarket is the best place in the city to be. Restaurants, even some of the very best ones, stay open late here and on Chinatown’s Dixon St you can find noodles to slurp at any time of night. Just don’t expect service with a smile at 5am.

5 Best Eating

A Tetsuya’s

A Rockpool Bar & Grill

A Restaurant Hubert

A Azuma

A Mr Wong

A Pablo & Rusty’s

For reviews, see here

6 Best Drinking & Nightlife

A Baxter Inn

A Frankie’s Pizza

A Uncle Ming’s

A Grandma’s

A Ivy

A O Bar

For reviews, see here

7 Best Shopping

A Strand Arcade

A Abbey’s

A Queen Victoria Building

A Westfield Sydney

A Paddy’s Markets

For reviews, see here

TOP SIGHT

ART GALLERY OF NSW

MAP GOOGLE MAP With its neoclassical Greek frontage and modern rear, this much-loved institution plays a prominent and gregarious role in Sydney society. Blockbuster international touring exhibitions arrive regularly and there’s an outstanding permanent collection of Australian art, including a substantial Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander section.

Collections

While the permanent collection has a strong selectionof 19th-century European and Australian art, the highlight on the entry level is the collection of 20th-century Australian art, with some standout canvases by the big names of the local painting scene. Look out for Albert Tucker’s scary Apocalyptic Horse, Russell Drysdale’s brilliant gold-town street Sofala and half a room full of Sidney Nolans, usually including one or more of his extraordinary Ned Kelly paintings. There’s a good representation of female artists too, including Grace Cossington Smith and several Margaret Olleys on rotation. Arthur Boyd works include his terracotta sculpture of Judas Kissing Christ, while Brett Whiteley is represented by the intoxicatingly blue harbour of The Balcony 2.

At the rear of this level is the restaurant. Directly opposite is a room filled with ceramics and religious art from the well-regarded Asian collection. The remainder of the Asian collection (Chinese, Korean and Japanese art) is directly below on lower level 1, by the cafe.

Lower level 2 has the constantly changing Modern, Contemporary and Photography galleries. Head down again for the excellent Yiribana Gallery containing a super collection of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.

There’s a range of free guided tours with different themes and in various languages. Wednesday nights are fun too, with talks, live music and other events.

Prizes

The $100,000 Archibald Prize for portraiture is a much-talked-about Sydney event that garners attention with its lure of celebrity subjects. It’s so popular that it’s generated three spin-offs: the Salon des Refusés at the SH Ervin Gallery; the highly irreverent Bald Archies; and the Packing Room Prize (judged by the employees who unload the crates).

The $50,000 Wynne Prize for landscape painting or figure sculpture and the $40,000 Sir John Sulman Prize for subject or mural painting don’t usually cause as much consternation.

New Developments

Construction of a second building was approved in 2017 and is due to be completed in 2021. Occupying space to the north of the existing building, it’s a major project, to be known as Sydney Modern, that will be centred on a new Indigenous gallery and a dedicated space for major touring exhibitions. The construction work shouldn’t affect gallery visits.

DON’T MISS

A Yiribana Gallery

A The Balcony 2 (1975) by Brett Whiteley

A Apocalyptic Horse (1956) by Albert Tucker

A Fire’s On (1891) by Arthur Streeton

A Nude in a Rocking Chair (1956) by Pablo Picasso

A Haft (2007) by Antony Gormley

PRACTICALITIES

A MAP, G3

A %1800 679 278

A www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au

A Art Gallery Rd

A admission free

A h10am-5pm Thu-Tue, to 10pm Wed

A g441, dSt James

1 SIGHTS

1 Macquarie Street & Around

MACQUARIE STREETAREA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; dMartin Place)

A swathe of splendid sandstone colonial buildings graces this street, defining the central city’s eastern edge. Many of these buildings were commissioned by Lachlan Macquarie, the first NSW governor with a vision of Sydney beyond its convict origins. He enlisted convict architect Francis Greenway to help realise his plans, and together they set a gold standard for architectural excellence that the city has tried and sometimes failed to replicate over the years.

A statue of Macquarie pointing to his handiwork sits at the Hyde Park end of the street.

STATE LIBRARY OF NSWLIBRARY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9273 1414; www.sl.nsw.gov.au; Macquarie St; h9am-8pm Mon-Thu, to 5pm Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun; dMartin Place) F

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 dropping in to peruse the temporary exhibitions (new galleries opening in 2018), and the elaborately sculpted bronze doors and grand atrium of the neoclassical Mitchell Wing (1910); note the beautiful map of Tasman’s journeys in the mosaic floor. The main reading room is an elegant temple of knowledge clad in milky marble.

Outside, on the Macquarie St side of the building, is a sculpture of explorer Matthew Flinders; look for his intrepid cat Trim on the windowsill behind. There’s a decent cafe in the modern extension, named after the feline.

PARLIAMENT HOUSEHISTORIC BUILDING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9230 2111; www.parliament.nsw.gov.au; 6 Macquarie St; h9am-5pm Mon-Fri; dMartin Place) F

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 continually operating parliament building. And like the Mint, its front section (which now blends into a modern addition on the eastern side) was part of the Rum Hospital, built in exchange for a monopoly on the rum trade.

You need to pass through a metal detector to access the inner sanctum, where you can check out art exhibitions in the lobby and the historical display in the wood-panelled Jubilee Room. On non-sitting days both assembly chambers are open, but when Parliament is sitting, you’re restricted to the Public Gallery. There are free guided tours on Mondays and Fridays at 1.30pm.

THE DOMAINPARK

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au; Art Gallery Rd; dSt James)

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 recreation. Phillip’s intent rings true: today’s city workers use the space to work up a sweat or eat their lunch. Large-scale public events are also held here.

THE MINTHISTORIC BUILDING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8239 2288; www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au; 10 Macquarie St; h9am-5pm Mon-Fri; dSt James) F

The stately Mint building (1816) was originally the southern wing of the infamous Rum Hospital (MAP; 8 Macquarie St; dMartin Place), built by two Sydney merchants in return for a monopoly on the rum trade (Sydney’s currency in those days). It became a branch of the Royal Mint in 1854, the first outside England. It’s now head office for the Historic Houses Trust. Beyond the upstairs restaurant and a boutique downstairs, there’s not a whole lot to see or do, but it’s a worthwhile diversion nonetheless.

HYDE PARK BARRACKS MUSEUMMUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8239 2311; www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au; Queens Sq, Macquarie St; adult/child $12/8; h10am-5pm; dSt James)

Convict architect Francis Greenway designed this squarish, decorously Georgian structure (1819) as convict quarters. Fifty thousand men and boys sentenced to transportation passed through here in 30 years. It later became an immigration depot, a women’s asylum and a law court. These days it’s a fascinating museum, focusing on the barracks’ history and the archaeological efforts that helped reveal it. The top floor has hammocks strung out as they were back in the day. Entry includes a good audio guide.

This is one of the Australian convict sites to be inscribed on the Unesco World Heritage List and gives good detail on the others. Inside you can learn about the offences for which convicts were transported to Australia, some of which seem astoundingly petty today. The intriguing dynamic between Governor Macquarie, the architect Francis Greenway and the government investigator John Bigge is covered in detail. Don’t miss the resident cats round the back by the toilets.

ST JAMES’ CHURCHCHURCH

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8227 1300; www.sjks.org.au; 173 King St; h10am-4pm Mon-Fri, to 1pm Sat, 7.30am-2pm Sun; dSt James)

Built from convict-made bricks, Sydney’s oldest church (1819) is widely considered to be architect Francis Greenway’s masterpiece. It was originally designed as a courthouse, but the brief changed and the cells became the crypt. Check out the dark-wood choir loft, the sparkling copper dome, the crypt and the 1950s stained-glass ‘Creation Window’. It’s worth reading the marble plaques along the walls for some insights into early colonial life and exploration. A more recent plaque commemorates Gough and Margaret Whitlam.

Music is a very strong point here and classical concerts happen at 1.15pm on Wednesdays between March and December ($5 donation). See the website for details on other concerts and daily services, including choral evensong.

1 Hyde Park & Around

HYDE PARKPARK

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Elizabeth St; dSt James, Museum)

Formal but much-loved Hyde Park has manicured gardens and a tree-formed tunnel running down its spine, which looks particularly pretty at night, illuminated by fairy lights. The park’s northern end is crowned by the richly symbolic art-deco Archibald Memorial Fountain, while at the other end is the Anzac Memorial.

ST MARY’S CATHEDRALCHURCH

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9220 0400; www.stmaryscathedral.org.au; St Marys Rd; h6.30am-6.30pm; dSt James)

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 cathedral was begun in 1868, consecrated in 1905 and substantially finished in 1928, though the massive, 75m-high spires weren’t added until 2000. The crypt ($5 admission, 10am to 4pm weekdays) has bishops’ tombs and an impressive cross-shaped terrazzo mosaic floor depicting the Creation, inspired by the Celtic-style illuminations of the Book of Kells.

ANZAC MEMORIALMEMORIAL

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9267 7668; www.anzacmemorial.nsw.gov.au; Hyde Park; h9am-5pm; dMuseum) F

Fronted by the Pool of Reflection, this dignified art-deco memorial (1934) commemorates the soldiers of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzacs) who served in WWI. The interior dome is studded with 120,000 stars: one for each New South Welsh soldier who served. These twinkle above Rayner Hoff’s poignant sculpture Sacrifice. Scheduled for completion in late 2018 is a new Hall of Service, to feature names and soil samples of all the NSW places of origin of WWI soldiers.

GREAT SYNAGOGUESYNAGOGUE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9267 2477; www.greatsynagogue.org.au; 187a Elizabeth St; tours adult/child $10/5; htours noon Thu & 1st & 3rd Tue; dSt James)

The heritage-listed Great Synagogue (1878) is the spiritual home of Sydney’s oldest Jewish congregation, established in 1831. It’s considered the Mother Synagogue of Australia and is architecturally the most important in the southern hemisphere, combining Romanesque, Gothic, Moorish and Byzantine elements. Tours include the AM Rosenblum Museum artefacts and a video presentation on Jewish beliefs, traditions and history in Australia.

1 City Centre
o CHINATOWNAREA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.sydney-chinatown.info; jPaddy’s Markets, dTown Hall)

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) at either end have fake bamboo tiles, golden Chinese calligraphy and ornamental lions to keep evil spirits at bay. Chinatown in general (not necessarily just between the dragon gates) is a fabulous eating district, which effectively extends for several blocks north and south of here, and segues into Koreatown and Thaitown to the east.

2 Neighbourhood Walk

Urban Canyons

START CENTRAL STATION

END MARTIN PLACE

LENGTH 3KM; ONE HOUR

Start in the lofty main concourse of 1  Central station. Take the George St exit, turn left and walk through the small park down to 2  Railway Square, with its DNA-strand towers. Cross Pitt St and head onto George St.

Step off Sydney’s main drag into the calming 1845 sandstone 3  Christ Church St Laurence, then check out the elaborate Victoriana of the 4  Haymarket Libraryand, three blocks later, 5  St Andrew’s Cathedral, 6  Sydney Town Hall and the 7  Queen Victoria Building. Walk through the QVB and duck right into Market St. On your right is the extraordinarily extravagant 8  State Theatre; stop to check out the foyer.

Trundle past the macrospindle of 9  Sydney Tower, its base hidden within the Westfield Sydney complex, and into verdant a  Hyde Park.

Across College St, skateboarders career around the sturdily buttressed b  St Mary’s Cathedral. Curve north from here around the top of Hyde Park under the watchful gaze of c  Prince Albert, then angle right into Macquarie St.

Governor Lachlan Macquarie commissioned convicted forger Francis Greenway to design this illustrious strip in the early 19th century. Greenway’s d  Hyde Park Barracks and e  St James’ Churchguard the southern end. In quick succession on the right as you continue north are f  The Mint, g  Sydney Hospital, h  Parliament House and the i  State Library of NSW.

Cross the road and head into j  Martin Place, the city’s main public plaza. Roam through the stately foyers and dodge the skateboarders along this grand pedestrian mall.

MUSEUM OF SYDNEYMUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP MoS; %02-9251 5988; www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au; cnr Phillip & Bridge Sts; adult/child $12/8; h10am-5pm; dCircular Quay)

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. The area’s long Indigenous past is highlighted, plus there’s interesting coverage of the early days of contact between the Gadigal (Cadigal) people and the colonists. Key figures in Sydney’s planning and architecture are brought to life, while there’s a good section on the First Fleet itself, with scale models.

MARTIN PLACESTREET

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; dWynyard, dMartin Place)

Studded with imposing edifices, long, lean Martin Pl was closed to traffic in 1971, forming a terraced pedestrian mall complete with fountains and areas for public gatherings. It’s the closest thing to a main civic square that Sydney has.

GPO SYDNEYHISTORIC BUILDING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.gpogrand.com; 1 Martin Pl; dWyn-yard, dMartin Place)

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 since been gutted, stabbed with office towers and transformed into the Westin Sydney hotel, swanky shops, restaurants and bars. Inspired by Italian Renaissance palaces, architect James Barnet caused a minor fracas by basing the faces carved on the sandstone facade on local identities. Queen Victoria dominates the central white-marble statuary, surrounded by allegorical figures.

Under a staircase in the basement there is a small historical display and a pipe housing the dribbling remnants of the Tank Stream.

QUEEN VICTORIA BUILDINGHISTORIC BUILDING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP QVB; %02-9264 9209; www.qvb.com.au; 455 George St; tours $15; h9am-6pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, 9am-9pm Thu, 11am-5pm Sun; dTown Hall)

Unbelievably, this High Victorian Gothic masterpiece (1898) was repeatedly slated for demolition before it was restored in the mid-1980s. Occupying an entire city block on the site of the city’s first markets, the QVB is a Venetian Romanesque–inspired temple to the gods of retail.

Sure, the 200 speciality shops are great, but check out the wrought-iron balconies, the Byzantine copper domes, the stained-glass shopfronts, the mosaic floors, the replica crown jewels, the ballroom, the tinkling baby grand and the hyperkitsch animated Royal Clock (featuring the Battle of Hastings and an hourly beheading of Charles I). Informative 45-minute tours (11.30am Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) depart from the concierge desk on the ground floor. Other available tours visit chocolate-makers or include a high tea.

Outside there’s an imposing statue of Queen Vic herself. Nearby is a wishing well featuring a bronze replica of her beloved pooch, Islay, which disconcertingly speaks in the baritone voice of radio rabble-rouser John Laws.

CHINESE SYDNEY

Chinese immigrants started to come to Australia around 1840, when convict transportation ceased and labouring jobs became freely available. Initially they were considered a solution to labour shortages, but as gold-rush fever took hold, racial intolerance grew. In 1861 the NSW government enacted the White Australia policy, aimed at reducing the influx of Chinese. This included a ban on naturalisation, work-permit restrictions and acts such as the 1861 Chinese Immigration Regulation & Restriction Act (an immigrant tax). The White Australia policy wasn’t completely dismantled until 1973.

Sydney’s Chinese community eventually gravitated to Dixon St near Darling Harbour, an area once known for opium and gambling but now better known for tasty and great-value food.

A major immigration wave from pre-handover Hong Kong boosted the Cantonese population in the 1980s and 1990s; more recently there has been a strong increase in arrivals from the mainland as well as a very significant temporary population of students.

Today people of Chinese extraction make up some 10% of Sydney’s population, with around half of these born in Australia.

SYDNEY TOWER EYETOWER

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.sydneytowereye.com.au; Level 5, Westfield Sydney, 188 Pitt St; adult/child $28/19, Skywalk $70/49; h9am-9.30pm May-Sep, to 10pm Oct-Apr; dSt James)

The 309m-tall Sydney Tower (finished in 1981 and still known as Centrepoint by many Sydneysiders) offers unbeatable 360-degree views from the observation level 250m up – and even better ones for the daredevils braving the Skywalk on its roof. The visit starts with the 4D Experience, a short 3D film giving you a bird’s-eye view (a parakeet’s to be exact) of city, surf, harbour and what lies beneath the water, accompanied by mist sprays and bubbles – it’s actually pretty darn cool.

Luke Skywalker aspirations? Don a spiffy ‘skysuit’ and take the Skywalk: shackle yourself to the safety rail and step onto two glass-floored viewing platforms outside Sydney Tower’s observation deck, 268m above the street. It’s no place for the weak-bowelled.

Tickets are cheaper online, or as part of a Sydney Attractions Pass. The entrance is on the 5th floor of the Westfield shopping centre, near the food court but surprisingly poorly signposted.

There are two revolving restaurants: an extremely mediocre buffet and a somewhat better fine-dining establishment. In the revolving dining stakes, O Bar in the Australia Square building is a better bet.

SYDNEY TOWN HALLHISTORIC BUILDING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.sydneytownhall.com.au; 483 George St; h8am-6pm Mon-Fri; dTown Hall)

Mansard roofs, sandstone turrets, wrought-iron trimmings and over-the-top balustrades: the French Second Empire wedding-cake exterior of the Town Hall (built 1868–89) is something to behold. Unless there’s something on, you can poke your head into an ornate hall inside; for further access you’ll need to take the two-hour guided tour ($5, Tuesdays 10.30am). The wood-lined concert hall has a giant organ with nearly 9000 pipes, once the largest in the world. It’s used regularly for recitals, some of which are free.

5 EATING

Without harbour views, Sydney’s central-city restaurants tend to be discreet upmarket spots – perfect for secret handshakes over million-dollar deals. Chinatown is your best bet for a cheap, satisfying meal – especially late at night. Chinese food dominates, but you’ll also find superb Vietnamese, Malaysian, Japanese, Korean and Thai. There’s also a Little Korea along Pitt St near Liverpool St, and Thaitown on Campbell St.

o GUMSHARARAMEN $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0410 253 180; Shop 211, 25-29 Dixon St; ramen $12-19; h11.30am-9pm Tue-Sat, to 8.30pm Sun & Mon; jPaddy’s Markets, dCentral)

Prepare to queue for some of Sydney’s best broth at this cordial ramen house in a popular Chinatown budget-price food court. They boil down over 100kg of pork bones for a week to make the gloriously thick and sticky liquid. There are lots of options, including some that pack quite a punch. Ask for extra back fat for real indulgence.

CENTRAL BAKING DEPOTBAKERY $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9290 2229; www.centralbakingdepot.com.au; 37-39 Erskine St; light meals $5-15; h7am-4pm Mon-Fri, 7.30am-1.30pm Sat; v; dWynyard)

This CBD produces quality baked goods right in the heart of the CBD (central business district). Drop by for a savoury snack (pies, quiche, soups, sausage rolls, croissants, pizza slices, sandwiches, daily salad specials), or a sweet treat with coffee. Seating is limited to a modest scattering of tables and a window bench.

YOK YORTHAI $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9280 0001; www.yokyor.com.au; 323 Castlereagh St; dishes $9-14; h11.30am-12.30am Sun-Thu, to 1.30am Fri & Sat; dCentral)

Even if you ask for your Thai ‘hot’ in Sydney, some chefs are reluctant to open fire – but here you can expect mind-bending spice hits as a matter of course. In an industrial-chic space, hard-hatted staff in the open kitchen prepare flavour-packed som tum, fragrant curries and original creations inspired by regional Thai cuisine. Entrance is on Campbell St.

CHONSIAMTHAI $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9212 6588; 38 Campbell St; dishes $4-10; h11am-1am; v; dCentral)

This unassuming, friendly hole-in-the-wall offers simple but tasty authentic Thai dishes that are quite a bargain. Cram into the tight-packed interior or grab one of a couple of streetside places. Order the cheap specials off the wall menu – boat noodles or BBQ pork are not gourmet but filling and value-packed.

HAPPY CHEF SEAFOOD NOODLE HOUSENOODLES $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9281 5832; Level 1, 401 Sussex St; noodles $11-14; h10am-9pm; jCapitol Square, dTown Hall)

In the Sussex Centre food court, which has a few decent options, Happy Chef has been drawing in the punters for years to slurp on seafood noodles and laksas. Portions are large and prices fair.

CROSS EATERYCAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9279 4280; 155 Clarence St; light meals $9-15; h7am-4pm Mon-Fri; Wv; dWynyard)

There are so many tiny, jam-packed cafes around that it’s very pleasant to cruise in here and enjoy a bit of elbow room. Set in the lobby of an office building, there’s space to spare and a bright, luminous ambience. It does tasty coffee and breakfast choices, as well as salads, deli lunches and daily sandwich specials.

PEACE HARMONYTHAI, VEGETARIAN $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9299 0419; www.peaceharmony.com.au; 29 King St; meals $9-12; h11am-3pm & 6-9pm Mon-Fri; v; dWynyard)

There’s no glamour at all to this hole-in-the-wall spot, but the simple dynamics work, with a tasty and cheap selection of vegetarian and vegan Thai curries, mostly based around tofu.

o RESTAURANT HUBERTFRENCH $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9232 0881; www.restauranthubert.com; 15 Bligh St; mains $15-48; hnoon-3pm & 5pm-1am Mon-Fri, 5pm-1am Sat; dMartin Place)

The memorable descent into the sexy old-time ambience plunges you straight from suity Sydney to some 1930s cocktail movie. Delicious French fare comes in old-fashioned portions – think terrine, black pudding or duck, plus a few more avant-garde creations. Candlelit tables and a long whisky-backed counter provide seating. No bookings for small groups, so wait it out in the bar area.

This is one of the few top-quality venues in Sydney to serve food this late. The bar in itself makes a great destination for a few cocktails – check out the vast collection of miniature bottles on your way down.

o MR WONGCHINESE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9240 3000; www.merivale.com.au/mrwong; 3 Bridge Lane; mains $22-40; hlunch noon-3pm Mon-Fri, 10.30am-3pm Sat & Sun, dinner 5.30-11pm Mon-Wed, to midnight Thu-Sat, to 10pm Sun; Wv; dWynyard)

Classy but comfortable in an attractive, low-lit space on a CBD laneway, this has exposed-brick colonial warehouse chic and a huge team of staff and hanging ducks in the open kitchen. Lunchtime dim sum offerings bristle with flavour and the salad offerings are mouth-freshening sensations. Mains such as crispy pork hock are sinfully sticky, while Peking duck rolls are legendary.

An impressive wine list and attentive, sassy service seals the deal.

o PABLO & RUSTY’SCAFE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9283 9543; www.pabloandrustys.com.au; 161 Castlereagh St; light meals $9-25; h6.30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 8am-3pm Sat; Wv; dTown Hall)

Busy and loud, with close-packed tables, this excellent cafe is high-energy. The inviting wood-and-brick decor and seriously good coffee (several single-origins available daily) is complemented by a range of appealing breakfast and lunch specials ranging from large sourdough sandwiches to wholesome Mediterranean- and Asian-influenced combos such as tuna poke with brown rice or lychee and ginger tapioca.

GROUNDS OF THE CITYCAFE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9699 2235; www.thegroundscity.com.au; 500 George St; lunch mains $20-35; h7am-5pm Mon, to 9.30pm Tue-Thu, to 10pm Fri, 8am-10pm Sat, 8am-9.30pm Sun; W; dTown Hall)

Peddling everything from takeaway snacks and scientifically roasted coffee to fuller meals and cocktails in a striking curiosity-shop interior, this scion of its Alexandria parent represents a significant hipster conquest of the somewhat staid CBD fortress. There’s an amazing range of eating and drinking, from fresh-baked breakfast rolls to flower-strewn gin concoctions and delights wheeled around on the dessert trolley.

CHAT THAITHAI $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9211 1808; www.chatthai.com.au; 20 Campbell St; mains $13-25; h10am-2am; v; jCapitol Square, dCentral)

Cooler than your average Thai joint, this Thaitown linchpin is so popular that a list is posted outside for you to affix your name to should you want a table. Expat Thais flock here for the dishes that don’t make it onto your average suburban Thai restaurant menu – particularly the more unusual sweets.

SYDNEY MADANGKOREAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9264 7010; 371a Pitt St; mains $14-28; h11.30am-2am; dMuseum)

Down a teensy Little Korea lane is this backdoor gem – an authentic BBQ joint that’s low on interior charisma but high on quality and quantity. Noisy, cramped and chaotic, yes, but the chilli seafood soup will have you coming back. Try the delicious cold noodles, too. Prepare to queue at weekends.

YUM CHA

Despite the larger restaurants seating literally hundreds of dumpling devotees, there always seem to be queues in Chinatown on weekend mornings for yum cha. Literally meaning ‘drink tea’, it’s really an opportunity to gorge on small plates of dim sum, wheeled between the tables on trolleys. Popular places for traditional fare include Marigold (www.marigold.com.au, 683 George St) and Golden Century. Outside the district, Bodhi is great for vegans, while Mr Wong puts a contemporary twist onto the dishes.

LOT 1ITALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9279 3555; www.lot1sydney.com.au; 20 York St; mains $28-44, lunches $12-25; hrestaurant noon-10pm Mon-Fri, 5-11pm Sat, espresso bar 6am-11pm Mon-Fri; W; dWynyard)

This upmarket and handsome spot offers sweeping swirls of wood artfully blending with industrial decor. High-class Italian-inspired mains are beautifully presented, but the right-hand-side bar does a range of much cheaper lunches, with some excellent salads and pasta dishes, as well as free bartop snacking during after-work cocktails. No time for leisure? Grab a quick espresso from the streetside window.

BODHIVEGAN, ASIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9360 2523; www.bodhirestaurant.com.au; Cook + Phillip Park, 2-4 College St; dishes lunch $9-10, dinner mains $23-30; h11am-4pm Mon, to 10pm Tue-Sun; v; dSt James)

Bodhi scores highly for its cool design and leafy position near St Mary’s Cathedral. With its pretty outdoor area, it’s a relaxing Asian haven from CBD stress. Vegan yum cha is served until 4pm, switching to ‘Oriental tapas’ and more substantial plates until close. The barbecue buns rule.

BBQ KINGCHINESE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9267 2433; www.facebook.com/bbqkingsydney; 76 Liverpool St; mains $18-34; h10am-midnight; v; dTown Hall)

This Chinatown staple is low on frills but big on flavour. The duck on the logo gives a hint: a half comfortably feeds two and is delicious. Suckling pig and other Cantonese staples are also tasty. It’s popular with locals soaking up an evening’s beer and chefs who come for a bottle of Tsingtao once their own kitchens have closed.

o TETSUYA’SFRENCH, JAPANESE $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9267 2900; www.tetsuyas.com; 529 Kent St; degustation menu $230, matching wines $125; h5.30-10pm Tue-Fri, noon-3pm & 5.30-10pm Sat; dTown Hall)

Concealed in a villa behind a historic cottage amid the high-rises, this extraordinary restaurant is for those seeking a culinary journey rather than a simple stuffed belly. Settle in for 10-plus courses of French- and Japanese-inflected food from the genius of legendary Sydney chef Tetsuya Wakuda. It’s all great, but the seafood is sublime. Great wine list. Book well ahead.

o ROCKPOOL BAR & GRILLSTEAK $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8078 1900; www.rockpoolbarandgrill.com.au; 66 Hunter St; mains $35-65, bar mains $19-35; hnoon-3pm & 6-11pm Mon-Fri, 5.30-11pm Sat, 6-10pm Sun; dMartin Place)

You’ll feel like a 1930s Manhattan stockbroker when you dine at this sleek operation in the fabulous art-deco City Mutual Building. The bar is famous for its dry-aged, full-blood Wagyu burger (make sure you order a side of the hand-cut fat chips), but carnivores will be equally enamoured with the succulent steaks, stews and fish dishes served in the grill.

o AZUMAJAPANESE $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9222 9960; www.azuma.com.au; Level 1, Chifley Plaza, Hunter St; mains $29-39, tasting menus $70-110; hnoon-2.30pm & 6-10pm Mon-Fri, 6-10pm Sat; dMartin Place)

Tucked away upstairs in Chifley Plaza, this is one of Sydney’s finest Japanese restaurants. Sushi and sashimi are of stellar quality and too pretty to eat – almost. Other options include sukiyaki and hot-pot DIY dishes and excellent tasting menus. It’s a great place to get acquainted with high-class modern Japanese fare. It also has some moreish sake by the carafe.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

FOOD COURTS

Though they aren’t necessarily visible from the street, Sydney’s CBD is absolutely riddled with food courts, which can be great places for a budget meal, especially at lunchtime. Look for them in shopping centres and major office towers. Some worthwhile ones are in Westfield Sydney, in Australia Square, at the north end underground in the QVB, between George and Pitt Sts north of Liverpool St, in World Square and in the Sussex Centre.

Sushi places in particular tend to start discounting that day’s fare in the mid-afternoon; Friday afternoons see a big sell-off at CBD food courts.

BENTLEY RESTAURANT & BARMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8214 0505; www.thebentley.com.au; cnr Pitt & Hunter Sts; mains $46-70, tasting menus $120-150; hnoon-3pm & 6pm-midnight Mon-Fri, 6pm-midnight Sat; Wv; dWynyard)

Its chic corporate veneer blending plush with industrial, Bentley has been turning heads in Sydney for the sheer quality of its imaginative dishes. Many of these have a distinctly Australian taste, with native fruits and seeds lending their unusual flavours. The bar is also a good spot to hang out, with pricey but delicious share plates of similar fare.

GOLDEN CENTURYCHINESE, SEAFOOD $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9212 3901; www.goldencentury.com.au; 393-399 Sussex St; mains $25-43; hnoon-4am; v; dTown Hall)

The fish tank at this frenetic Cantonese place, a Chinatown classic, forms a window-wall to the street, filled with fish, crabs, lobsters and abalone. Splash out on the whole lobster cooked in ginger and shallots or try the delicious beef brisket with turnips. It’s open very late but is also wildly popular for weekend yum cha.

PRIMESTEAK $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9229 7777; www.gposydney.com; LG, 1 Martin Pl; steaks $59-135; hnoon-3pm & 6-10pm Mon-Fri, 5.30-10pm Sat; dMartin Place)

This impressive carnivores’ paradise in the depths of the GPO building was doing top-quality steaks way before the current craze put a Wagyu in every burger. The meat is seriously impressive and you’ll have a hard time choosing between aged cuts; the degustation menu ($195) could be a solution. Balance is provided by lighter starters and a few alternative mains.

ESTMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9240 3000; www.merivale.com.au/est; Level 1, 252 George St; 4-course lunch/dinner $120/160, degustation menu $195; hnoon-2.30pm & 6-10pm Mon-Fri, 6-10pm Sat; Wv; dWyn-yard)

Part of the Establishment complex of bars, restaurants and a hotel. Pressed-tin ceilings, huge columns, oversized windows and modern furniture make the interior design almost as interesting as the food. This is Sydney fine dining at its best: thick wallet and fancy threads are a must. Seafood fills around half of the slots on the menu.

MERCADOMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9221 6444; www.mercadorestaurant.com.au; 4 Ash St; small plates $15-30, large plates $27-58; hlunch noon-2.30pm Mon-Fri, dinner 5.30-9.30pm Mon, to 10pm Tue-Thu, to 10.30pm Fri & Sat; dWynyard)

Set in a busy, buzzy basement, Mercado riffs on Spanish themes to produce an excellent menu of tapas-style dishes backed up by succulent spit-roasted meats. The chef produces cheeses and smoked meats on-site, and generous depth of flavour in things like smoked eggplant or ‘fish and chips’ roe dip is truly impressive. An interesting selection of Spanish wine adds points.

ALPHAGREEK $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9098 1111; www.alpharestaurant.com.au; 238 Castlereagh St; dinner mains $29-42; hnoon-3pm & 6-10pm Mon-Sat, noon-3pm & 5-9pm Sun; dMuseum)

Located directly across from the Greek consulate in the grand dining room of the Hellenic Club, this wonderful restaurant brings all the zing and drama of the Mediterranean to the heart of the city. Chef Peter Conistis’ menu covers the classics in a modern style, with his own unique tweaks.

SPICE TEMPLECHINESE $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8078 1888; www.rockpool.com; 10 Bligh St; dishes $39-59; hnoon-3pm & 6-10.30pm Mon-Wed, noon-3pm & 6-11pm Thu & Fri, 5.30-11pm Sat, 5.30-10pm Sun; Wv; dMartin Place)

Tucked away in the basement of his Rockpool Bar & Grill is Neil Perry’s darkly atmospheric temple to the cuisine of China’s western provinces, especially Sichuan, Yunnan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi and Xingjiang. Expect plenty of heat and lots of thrills.

6 DRINKING & NIGHTLIFE
o FRANKIE’S PIZZABAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.frankiespizzabytheslice.com; 50 Hunter St; h4pm-3am Sat-Thu, noon-3am Fri; W; dMartin Place)

Descend the stairs and you’ll think you’re in a 1970s pizzeria, complete with plastic grapevines, snapshots covering the walls and tasty pizza slices ($6). But open the nondescript door in the corner and an indie wonderland reveals itself. Bands play here at least four nights a week (join them on Tuesdays for live karaoke) and there’s another bar hidden below.

o UNCLE MING’SCOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.unclemings.com.au; 55 York St; hnoon-midnight Mon-Fri, 4pm-midnight Sat; dWynyard)

We love the dark romantic opium-den atmosphere of this small bar secreted away in a basement by a shirt shop. It’s an atmospheric spot for anything from a quick beer before jumping on a train at Wynyard to a leisurely exploration of the cocktail menu. It also does an excellent line in dumplings and, usually, has very welcoming bar staff.

BAXTER INNBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.thebaxterinn.com; 152-156 Clarence St; h4pm-1am Mon-Sat; dTown Hall)

Yes, it really is down that dark lane and through that unmarked door (there are two easily-spotted bars on this courtyard, but this is through a door to your right). Whisky’s the main poison and the friendly bar staff really know their stuff. There’s an elegant speakeasy atmosphere and a mighty impressive choir of bottles behind the bar.

IVYBAR, CLUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9254 8100; www.merivale.com/ivy; Level 1, 330 George St; hnoon-midnight Mon-Fri, 8.30pm-3.30am Sat, plus pool party 1pm-midnight Sun Oct-Mar; W; dWynyard)

Hidden down a lane off George St, Ivy is the HQ of the all-pervading Merivale Group. It’s a fashionable complex of bars, restaurants…even a swimming pool. It’s also Sydney’s most hyped venue; expect lengthy queues of suburban kids teetering on unfeasibly high heels, waiting to shed $40 on a Saturday for Sydney’s hottest club nights, run by Ministry of Sound.

At other times, the main club space is Palings, a good bar and popular eatery, with Thai street food on the menu alongside steaks, grilled fish, salads and other well-prepared meals. It’s a buzzy, open space that’s good for leisurely lunch once the office crowd disperses around 2pm.

Summer Sundays see a pool party, Marco Polo ($32), with house music around the water and hip-hop DJs in the Changeroom. Cheaper advance tickets for this and Ministry of Sound are available via the Merivale website.

SLIP INN & CHINESE LAUNDRYPUB, CLUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9254 8088; www.merivale.com.au/chineselaundry; 111 Sussex St; club $28-33; h11am-1am Mon-Thu, to 3am Fri, 2pm-3am Sat, Chinese Laundry 9pm-3.30am Fri & Sat; W; dWyn-yard)

Slip in to this cheerfully colourful atmospheric warren on the edge of Darling Harbour and bump hips with the kids. There are bars, pool tables, a beer garden and Mexican food, courtesy of El Loco. On Friday and Saturday nights the bass cranks up at the long-running attached Chinese Laundry nightclub, accessed via Slip St below.

Bassic on Friday nights spins dubstep and bass music, while Lndry on Saturdays is usually more house-y. Buy discounted tickets via the website.

BARBER SHOPCOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9299 9699; www.thisisthebarbershop.com; 89 York St; h4pm-midnight Mon-Wed & Sat, 3pm-midnight Thu & Fri; W; dTown Hall)

No, it’s not a themed bar but a real barber. Walk on past the blokes getting a short-back-and-sides and you’ll find a seductive spot peddling gin, cocktails and quality beers. The courtyard space out the back is great for a mingle on a hot summer night. You can also enter from Clarence St, down the laneway between 152 and 156.

MOJO RECORD BARBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9262 4999; www.mojorecordbar.com; 73 York St; h4pm-midnight Mon-Wed, to 1am Thu-Sat; dWynyard)

This dark and easygoing basement bar is curiously combined with a record shop, so you can browse the vinyl (if the shop part is still open) with a drink in hand. You’re pretty much guaranteed good music, too: it was pretty bluesy at last visit.

ROOKCOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8322 2008; www.therook.com.au; Level 7, 56-58 York St; hnoon-midnight Tue-Fri, 4pm-midnight Mon & Sat; W; dTown Hall)

Seemingly designed for one-time grungsters turned stockbrokers, this pleasant covered rooftop bar – it gains substantially when they retract the roof on warm nights – has an artfully dishevelled look and serves a mean cocktail. Lobsters and pricey burgers and dogs feature on the menu. There’s very little indication at street level: just go up in the lift.

PALMER & COBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9254 8088; www.merivale.com.au/palmerandco; Abercrombie Lane; h5pm-3am Sun-Wed, 3pm-3am Thu & Fri, 4pm-3am Sat; W; dWynyard)

A self-consciously hip member of Sydney’s speakeasy brigade, this ‘legitimate importer of bracing tonics and fortifying liquid’ attracts a cashed-up, fashionable clientele. Inside, it’s an atmospheric, brick-vaulted space with excellent cocktails. Prepare to queue later, as it’s one of the few late-opening bars of this type. Get there before office-out at 5pm if you want a table.

GRANDMA’SCOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9264 3004; www.grandmasbarsydney.com.au; Basement, 275 Clarence St; h3pm-midnight Mon-Fri, 5pm-1am Sat; dTown Hall)

Billing itself as a ‘retrosexual haven of cosmopolitan kitsch and faded granny glamour’, Grandma’s hits the mark. A stag’s head greets you on the stairs and ushers you into a tiny subterranean world of parrot wallpaper and tiki cocktails. Very quirky, very relaxed and casual for a CBD venue. Toasted sandwiches provide sustenance. Look for it behind the Fender shop.

CITY CENTRE NIGHTLIFE

The city centre has long been known for upmarket, after-work booze rooms, none of which you would describe as cosy locals. Much more interesting is the wide network of ‘small bars’, which are speakeasy-style places lurking in the most unlikely back alleys and basements.

The entire city centre is subject to 1.30am lockouts and a complete ban on alcohol sales after 3am. These are extended by 30 minutes for certain places.

Small bars can open until 2am, but the majority choose to close earlier.

GRASSHOPPERBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9947 9025; www.thegrasshopperbar.com; 1 Temperance Lane; h4pm-midnight Mon-Thu & Sat, noon-midnight Fri; W; dTown Hall)

One of the older and grungier of the small bars tucked away in the inner city’s side streets couldn’t have chosen a more darkly ironic location than Temperance Lane. The heart of the operation is the cool, casual downstairs bar; hop upstairs for food, which includes Asian-inspired snacks such as pork-belly sliders and prawn dumplings.

RYAN’S BARBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9252 4369; www.ryansbar.com.au; Level 4, Australia Square, 264-278 George St; h10am-midnight Mon-Fri; dWynyard)

On hot summer nights, Ryan’s outdoor courtyard is packed with after-workers and travellers launching their evenings. Sexy anticipation laces the air, put momentarily on hold as the punters scoff affordable bar food. It’s a bit of a pick-up joint on Friday evenings, but the open-air end-of-week vibe can be great.

MARBLE BARBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9266 2000; www.marblebarsydney.com.au; Basement, 488 George St; h3.30pm-midnight Sun-Thu, to 2am Fri & Sat; W; dTown Hall)

Built for a staggering £32,000 in 1893 as part of the Adams Hotel on Pitt St, this ornate underground bar is one of the best places in town for putting on the Ritz (even if this is the Hilton). The over-the-top late-Victorian decor is staggering, and the atmosphere is great. Musos play anything from jazz to funk, Thursday to Saturday.

ESTABLISHMENTBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9240 3100; www.merivale.com/establishmentbar; 252 George St; h11am-late Mon-Fri, noon-late Sat, noon-10pm Sun; W; d Wynyard)

Establishment’s cashed-up crush proves that the art of swilling cocktails after a hard city day is not lost. Sit at the majestic marble bar or in the swish courtyard, or be absorbed by a leather lounge as stockbrokers scribble their digits on coasters for flirty new acquaintances. The bar was a scene-setter when it opened and is still iconic.

REDOAK BOUTIQUE BEER CAFEMICROBREWERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9262 3303; www.redoak.com.au; 201 Clarence St; hnoon-1am Mon-Sat; d Wynyard)

With great craft beers available in a regularly rotated tap selection, this place should keep you off the streets for a while. Pull up a stool and work your way through the much-awarded list. If things start to slip away from you, slow your descent with a meal. It also runs monthly beer appreciation classes.

O BARCOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9247 9777; www.obardining.com.au; Level 47, Australia Square, 264 George St; h5pm-midnight Sat-Thu, noon-midnight Fri; W; dWynyard)

The cocktails at this 47th-floor revolving bar aren’t cheap, but they’re still substantially cheaper than admission to Sydney Tower – and it’s considerably more glamorous. The views are truly wonderful; get up there shortly after opening time, and kick back to enjoy the sunset and transition into night. There’s also smart food on offer.

3 ENTERTAINMENT
o CITY RECITAL HALLCLASSICAL MUSIC

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8256 2222; www.cityrecitalhall.com; 2 Angel Pl; hbox office 9am-5pm Mon-Fri; dWynyard)

Based on the classic configuration of the 19th-century European concert hall, this custom-built 1200-seat venue boasts near-perfect acoustics. Catch top-flight companies such as Musica Viva (%1800 688 482; https://musicaviva.com.au), the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra (ABO; %02-9328 7581; www.brandenburg.com.au; tickets $70-170) and the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO; %02-8274 3888; www.aco.com.au) here.

o METRO THEATRELIVE MUSIC

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9550 3666; www.metrotheatre.com.au; 624 George St; dTown Hall)

The Metro is easily Sydney’s best mid-sized venue for catching local and alternative international acts in intimate, well-ventilated, easy-seeing comfort. Other offerings include comedy, cabaret and dance parties.

o STATE THEATRETHEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %box office 13 61 00; www.statetheatre.com.au; 49 Market St; dTown Hall)

The beautiful 2000-seat State Theatre is a lavish, gilt-ridden, chandelier-dangling palace. It hosts the Sydney Film Festival, concerts, comedy, opera, musicals and the odd celebrity chef.

7 SHOPPING
o STRAND ARCADESHOPPING CENTRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9265 6800; www.strandarcade.com.au; 412 George St; h9am-5.30pm Mon-Wed & Fri, to 9pm Thu, to 4pm Sat, 11am-4pm Sun; dTown Hall)

Constructed in 1891, the beautiful Strand rivals the QVB in the ornateness stakes. The three floors of designer fashions, Australiana and old-world coffee shops will make your shortcut through here considerably longer. Some of the top Australian designers and other iconic brands have stores here – chocolatiers included! Aesop, Haighs, Leona Edmiston, Dinosaur Designs and more are all present.

o QUEEN VICTORIA BUILDINGSHOPPING CENTRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP QVB; %02-9265 6800; www.qvb.com.au; 455 George St; h9am-6pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, to 9pm Thu, 11am-5pm Sun; dTown Hall)

The magnificent QVB takes up a whole block and boasts nearly 200 shops on five levels. It’s a High Victorian neo-Gothic masterpiece – without doubt Sydney’s most beautiful shopping centre.

o ABBEY’SBOOKS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9264 3111; www.abbeys.com.au; 131 York St; h8.30am-6pm Mon-Wed & Fri, to 8pm Thu, 9am-5pm Sat, 10am-5pm Sun; dTown Hall)

Easily central Sydney’s best bookshop, Abbey’s has many strengths. It’s good on social sciences and has excellent resources for language learning, including a great selection of foreign films on DVD. There’s also a big sci-fi and fantasy section. Staff are great and generally very experienced.

RED EYE RECORDSMUSIC

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9267 7440; www.redeye.com.au; 143 York St; h9am-6pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, to 9pm Thu, 10am-5pm Sun; dTown Hall)

Partners of music freaks beware: don’t let them descend the stairs into this shop unless you are prepared for a lengthy delay. The shelves are stocked with an irresistible collection of new, classic, rare and collectable LPs, CDs, crass rock T-shirts, books, posters and music DVDs.

WESTFIELD SYDNEYMALL

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8236 9200; www.westfield.com.au/sydney; 188 Pitt St Mall; h9.30am-7pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, to 9pm Thu, 10am-7pm Sun; W; dSt James)

The city’s most glamorous shopping mall is a bafflingly large complex gobbling up Sydney Tower and a fair chunk of Pitt St Mall. The 5th-floor food court is close to Sydney’s best. Stores include Calibre, Jurlique, Oroton, RM Williams, Sass & Bide and Zimmermann.

PASPALEYJEWELLERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9232 7633; www.paspaley.com; 2 Martin Pl; h10am-6pm Mon-Wed & Fri, to 7.30pm Thu, to 5pm Sat, 11am-5pm Sun; dMartin Place)

This shell-shaped shop sells lustrous pearls farmed along uninhabited coastline, from Darwin in the Northern Territory to Dampier in Western Australia. Classic and modern designs start at $450 for a ring, rising to more than $1 million for a hefty strand of perfect pink pearls.

STRAND HATTERSFASHION & ACCESSORIES

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9231 6884; www.strandhatters.com.au; Strand Arcade, 412 George St; h9am-5.30pm Mon-Wed & Fri, to 8pm Thu, to 4pm Sat, 11am-4pm Sun,; jQueen Victoria Building, dTown Hall)

Got a cold or wet head, or a serious case of the Crocodile Dundees? Strand Hatters will cover your crown with a classically Australian Akubra bush hat (made from rabbit felt). Staff will block and steam hats to customer requirements (crocodile-teeth hatbands cost extra).

DAVID JONESDEPARTMENT STORE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9266 5544; www.davidjones.com.au; 86-108 Castlereagh St; h9.30am-7pm Sun-Wed, to 9pm Thu & Fri, 9am-7pm Sat; dSt James)

DJs is Sydney’s premier department store, with high-quality clothing and a highbrow food court. Currently divided between two connecting stores, it will all move into one space in 2019. David Jones also takes up a sizeable chunk of Westfield Bondi Junction.

PADDY’S MARKETSMARKET

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.paddysmarkets.com.au; 9-13 Hay St; h10am-6pm Wed-Sun; jPaddy’s Markets, dCentral)

Cavernous, thousand-stall Paddy’s is the Sydney equivalent of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, but swap the hookahs and carpets for mobile-phone covers, Eminem T-shirts and cheap sneakers. Pick up a VB singlet for Uncle Bruce or wander the aisles in capitalist awe.

KARLANGUARTS & CRAFTS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9279 2700; www.karlangu.com; 47 York St; h9.30am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat & Sun; dWynyard)

Some excellent Aboriginal art is for sale at this gallery near Wynyard, and staff are knowledgable and helpful. They can also arrange packing and postage.

RM WILLIAMSFASHION & ACCESSORIES

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9262 2228; www.rmwilliams.com.au; 389 George St; h9am-6pm Mon-Wed & Fri, to 9pm Thu, to 5pm Sat, 10am-5pm Sun; dWyn-yard)

Urban cowboys and country folk can’t get enough of this hard-wearing outback gear. It’s the kind of stuff politicians don when they want to seem ‘fair dinkum’ about something. Prime-ministerial favour-ites include Driza-Bone oilskin jackets, Akubra hats, moleskin jeans and leather work boots. There are also branches in the QVB and Westfield Bondi Junction.

FAIRFAX & ROBERTSJEWELLERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9232 8510; www.fairfaxandroberts.com.au; 19 Castlereagh St; h10am-5.30pm Mon-Wed & Fri, to 6.30pm Thu, 10.30am-4.30pm Sat; dMartin Place)

Classy, classy, classy. Sparkly things for a touch-and-go proposal or a night at the opera? This long-established Sydney jewellery shop is a byword for elegance.

2 SPORTS & ACTIVITIES

ANDREW (BOY) CHARLTON POOLSWIMMING

(%02-9358 6686; www.abcpool.org; 1c Mrs Macquaries Rd; adult/child $6.50/4.90; h6am-8pm Sep-Apr; c; g441)

One of Sydney’s best saltwater pools – smack-bang next to the harbour – is a magnet for serious lap swimmers, who rule the pool (so maintain your lane). There’s a cafe here looking across at the Garden Island base, great for some naval gazing. Wheelchair-accessible.

COOK & PHILLIP PARK AQUATIC & FITNESS CENTRESWIMMING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9326 0444; www.cookandphillip.org.au; 4 College St; adult/child $7.50/5.60; h6am-10pm Mon-Fri, 7am-8pm Sat & Sun; dSt James)

This Olympic-sized indoor pool has a hydrotherapy area and a gym ($20.70 including pool use), plus yoga, Pilates, a basketball court, swimming lessons and a wave pool for cooling off the kids.

1. Paddy’s Markets

Stock up on jeans, sneakers and toys at Haymarket’s cheap and cheerful indoor markets.

RICHARD I’ANSON/GETTY IMAGES ©

2. Anzac Memorial

This contemplative space in Hyde Park serves as a reminder of the NSW soldiers who served in WWI.

NENAD BASIC/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

3. Strand Arcade

Three floors of high-street and high-end shops, housed in gorgeous art-nouveau style.

STRUCTURESXX/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

4. Queen Victoria Building

Statues and architectural details cover the impressive exterior of the QVB shopping centre..

ADWO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Darling Harbour & Pyrmont

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

Darling Harbour & Pyrmont

Neighbourhood Top Five

1Chinese Garden of Friendship Escaping the hustle and bustle of the city within the tranquil paths of this garden at the south end of Darling Harbour.

2Sydney Sea Life Aquarium Facing your fears in the underwater tunnels as sharks cruise all around you in this standout aquarium.

3LuMi Strolling Pyrmont’s waterfront wharves before ending up here for a memorable Italo-Japanese degustation.

4Sydney Fish Market Being eyed up by pelicans while gorging on fish and chips after feasting your eyes on the quality array of seafood.

5Australian National Maritime Museum Exploring Australia’s maritime past and getting into the innards of an array of historic ships and submarines.

Explore Darling Harbour & Pyrmont

Sydney’s purpose-built tourist hub (opened for the bicentennial in 1988) has some high-profile attractions; every other inch of this former dockland is given over to leisure.

Start at Wynyard station and head for Barangaroo South through the tunnel. From here, following the curve of the bay right around to the other side will take you past most of the key sights, as well as numerous waterfront restaurants and bars.

After Darling Harbour, dive into Pyrmont for historic reconverted warehouses and a more local Sydney scene. There’s some sensational harbourside strolling here, far removed from the tourist beat.

The fish market is a must-see if you’re a seafood fan and the Star, while unremarkable as a casino, shelters several excellent restaurants.

Darling Harbour has a different atmosphere at night, with strolling couples replacing sun-frazzled families. Firework displays occur with alarming frequency; most Saturday nights go off with a bang.

Local Life

A Sydney Fish Market Sydneysiders head to this market to stock up for dinner parties or to indulge in fish and chips by the water’s edge.

A Tumbalong Park Playground The inner city’s best playground is always busy.

A Harris Street The closest thing here to a local shopping strip.

A Barangaroo South Join the office workers as they play ping-pong and hit the restaurants on their lunch break.

Getting There & Away

A Train The eastern edge of Darling Harbour is within walking distance of Town Hall station. For King Street Wharf and Barangaroo South, Wynyard station is closer.

A Light Rail If you’re heading to Pyrmont from Central or Glebe, light rail is your best option. Convenient stops include Exhibition Centre, Convention, Pyrmont Bay, The Star and Fish Market.

A Ferry Balmain services chug from Circular Quay to Barangaroo and Pyrmont Bay. Parramatta River services also stop at Barangaroo.

A Bus Bus 389 heads to the Maritime Museum from Bondi Junction via Darlinghurst, the city and Pyrmont.

Lonely Planet’s Top Tip

Sydney Sea Life Aquarium, Wild Life Sydney Zoo, Madame Tussauds and Sydney Tower Eye are all operated by the same company. You’ll save a pretty penny on admission by purchasing a combo ticket, available in almost every permutation of attractions. The best offers are online.

5 Best Eating

A LuMi

A Sokyo

A Momofuku Seiōbo

A Sydney Fish Market

A Flying Fish

For reviews, see here

1 Best Attractions

A Australian National Maritime Museum

A Chinese Garden of Friendship

A Sydney Fish Market

A Sydney Sea Life Aquarium

For reviews, see here

6 Best Drinking & Nightlife

A Home

A Peg Leg

A Smoke

A Pyrmont Bridge Hotel

For reviews, see here

1 SIGHTS
o AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUMMUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9298 3777; www.anmm.gov.au; 2 Murray St, Pyrmont; permanent collection free, temporary exhibitions adult/child $20/free; h9.30am-5pm, to 6pm Jan; c; g389, jPyrmont Bay) F

Beneath a soaring roof, the Maritime Museum sails through Australia’s inextricable relationship with the sea. Exhibitions range from Indigenous canoes to surf culture, immigration to the navy. The worthwhile ‘big ticket’ (adult/child $32/20) includes entry to some of the vessels moored outside, including the atmospheric submarine HMAS Onslow and the destroyer HMAS Vampire. The high-production-value short film Action Stations sets the mood with a re-creation of a mission event from each vessel. Excellent free guided tours explain each vessel’s features.

You can also visit a lighthouse and an 1874 square rigger, the James Craig, which periodically offers sailing trips (MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9298 3888; www.shf.org.au; Wharf 7, Pyrmont; adult/child from $120/60; fPyrmont Bay, jThe Star). Normally a replica of Cook’s Endeavour also drops anchor here. There’s plenty to do for kids, especially at weekends.

Other parts of the museum include a free exhibition on wooden boats in the next building north, and, opposite Pyrmont Bay ferry stop, the Welcome Wall, a commemoration of migration to Australia that seems particularly relevant in the current political climate.

o SYDNEY SEA LIFE AQUARIUMAQUARIUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8251 7800; www.sydneyaquarium.com.au; Aquarium Pier, Central Sydney; adult/child $42/30; h9.30am-6pm; dTown Hall) S

As well as regular wall-mounted tanks and ground-level enclosures, this impressive complex has two large pools that you can walk through – safely enclosed in Perspex tunnels – as an intimidating array of sharks and rays pass overhead. Other highlights include clownfish (g’day, Nemo!), platypuses, moon jellyfish (in a disco-lit tube), sea dragons and the swoon-worthy finale: the two-million-litre Great Barrier Reef tank.

The aquarium’s two dugongs were rescued after washing up orphaned on Queensland beaches. Attempts to return them to the wild failed, so the Dugong Island enclosure was built to house them. As sad as it is to see such large marine mammals in captivity, it offers a fascinating and rare opportunity to get close to them.

Needless to say, kids love this place; arrive early to beat the crowds. It’s cheaper to book online, and there are various combo deals with other attractions run by the same company, including the zoo and Madame Tussauds.

o SYDNEY FISH MARKETMARKET

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9004 1108; www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au; Bank St, Pyrmont; h7am-4pm Mon-Thu, to 5pm Fri-Sun; jFish Market)

This piscatorial precinct on Blackwattle Bay shifts over 15 million kilograms of seafood annually, and has retail outlets, restaurants, a sushi bar, an oyster bar, and a highly regarded cooking school (MAP; %02-9004 1111; www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au/seafood-school; 2-/4-hr courses $90/165). Chefs, locals and overfed seagulls haggle over mud crabs, Balmain bugs, lobsters and slabs of salmon at the daily fish auction, which kicks off at 5.30am weekdays. Check it out on a behind-the-scenes tour (adult/child $35/10).

o CHINESE GARDEN OF FRIENDSHIPGARDENS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9240 8888; www.chinesegarden.com.au; Harbour St, Central Sydney; adult/child $6/3; h9.30am-5pm Apr-Sep, to 5.30pm Oct-Mar; dTown Hall)

Built according to Taoist principles, the Chinese Garden of Friendship is usually an oasis of tranquillity – although one increasingly dwarfed by assertive modern buildings. Designed by architects from Guangzhou (Sydney’s sister city) for Australia’s bicentenary in 1988, the garden interweaves pavilions, waterfalls, lakes, paths and lush plant life. There’s also a tea house.

WILD LIFE SYDNEY ZOOZOO

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9333 9245; www.wildlifesydney.com.au; Aquarium Pier, Central Sydney; adult/child $42/30; h9.30am-5pm; dTown Hall)

Complementing its sister and neighbour, Sea Life, this large complex houses an impressive collection of Australian native reptiles, butterflies, spiders, snakes and mammals (including kangaroos and koalas). The nocturnal section is particularly good, bringing out the extrovert in the quolls, potoroos, echidnas and possums. As interesting as Wild Life is, it’s not a patch on Taronga Zoo. Still, it’s worth considering as part of a combo with Sea Life, or if you’re short on time. Tickets are cheaper online.

2 Neighbourhood Walk

East Meets West

START STAR CASINO

END BARANGAROO

LENGTH 3.5KM; 1½ HOURS

Catch the light rail to the 1  Star casino and eye up its excellent restaurants. Cross and stroll through 2  Pyrmont Bay Park and then turn right. As you enter Darling Harbour you’ll pass the 3  Welcome Wall, celebrating immigration to Australia with names and remembrances from a multitude of nationalities, and the moored ships that form part of the 4  Australian National Maritime Museum.

Cross under the 1902 5  Pyrmont Bridge (the world’s first electric swing bridge, doncha know) and zoom through tourist-trappy 6  Harbourside shopping centre.

Keep walking straight, passing shiny new convention and exhibition centre buildings, under the freeway and stroll through the hectic playgrounds of 7  Tumbalong Park to the 8  Chinese Garden of Friendship, arguably the most tranquil spot in the city. Soak up the Zen over tea and cake in the teahouse.

Boomerang back past glassy 9  Darling Walk and check out whether the a  Ribbon, the latest building development, has been finished yet. Trace the waterline past the restaurants and bars of b  Cockle Bay Wharf. After scooting under Pyrmont Bridge again you’ll pass Darling Harbour’s big-draw attractions in quick succession: c  Sydney Sea Life Aquarium, d  Madame Tussauds and e  Wild Life Sydney Zoo.

Continuing along the waterline, f  King Street Wharf is lined with still more restaurants and bars. It segues into the new g  Barangaroo South harbourside development, with excellent restaurants, a ferry wharf, shops and three towering office blocks. Beyond here, the new casino complex is being built in earnest. Depending on its progress you may be able to continue your waterfront stroll to h  Barangaroo Reserve. Otherwise, reward your walking efforts with a beer and a bite.

MADAME TUSSAUDSMUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.madametussauds.com.au; Aquarium Pier, Central Sydney; adult/child $42/30; h9.30am-6pm; dTown Hall)

In this celebrity-obsessed age, it’s hardly surprising that Madame Tussauds’ hyperrealistic waxwork dummies are just as popular now as when the eponymous madame lugged her macabre haul of French Revolution death masks to London in 1803. Where else do mere mortals get to strike a pose with Hugh Jackman and cosy up to Kylie? There are various combination entrance deals with the adjacent zoo and aquarium; book online for best rates.

ANZAC BRIDGEBRIDGE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.groveoz.info; Western Distributor, Pyrmont; jFish Market)

Completed in 1996, Sydney’s other eye-catching bridge spans Johnstons Bay, connecting Pyrmont and Rozelle. It’s the longest cable bridge in Australia (345m), and affords some magical views as you truck into the city from the west. The two main towers are shaped like needle eyes, with the road as the thread. Access the pedestrian/cycle path from Quarry Master Dr.

STAR CASINOCASINO

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9777 9000; www.star.com.au; 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont; h24hr; jThe Star)

The Star, Sydney’s first casino complex, includes hotels, high-profile restaurants, bars, a nightclub, an excellent food court (The Star; h11am-9pm Sun & Mon, to 11pm Tue-Sat; W; jThe Star) and a light rail station – plus the kind of high-end shops that will ensure that, in the unlikely event you do happen to strike it big, a large proportion of your winnings will remain within the building.

BARANGAROO SOUTHAREA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.thestreetsofbarangaroo.com; Central Sydney; fBarangaroo, dWynyard)

The latest product of Sydney’s port redevelopment is this extension of the CBD’s officeland. There are three rather lofty skyscrapers and pedestrian alleys beneath, busy with corporate types rushing about, coffee in hand. On the harbourfront itself is a handsome promenade with lots of decent bars and eateries, merging into the similar King Street Wharf and Cockle Bay strips to the south. The food is generally better at Barangaroo than the other two. There’s a major ferry stop here, too.

5 EATING

Rows of restaurants line Darling Harbour; most are pricey, tourist-driven affairs that are OK but not outstanding, but Barangaroo South has upped the ante, serving quality meals to local businessfolk. The Star has sought to assert itself as a fine-dining mecca, luring many a gifted restaurateur. On the wharves in Pyrmont are a couple of excellent restaurants.

ANASONTURKISH $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9188 1581; www.anason.com.au; 5/23 Barangaroo Ave, Central Sydney; mains $24-36; h11.30am-11pm; fBarangaroo, dWynyard)

Outdoor eating is a pleasure of the new Barangaroo strip, and this is one of the best places to do it. Modern takes on Turkish flavours are upbeat and delicious, with plenty of breads and dippable dishes alongside grilled seafood and hearty meat. It gets very busy in the noon-to-2pm lunch break.

MALAYAMALAYSIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9279 1170; www.themalaya.com.au; 39 Lime St, Central Sydney; mains $26-35; hnoon-3pm & 6-10pm Mon-Fri, noon-3pm & 5.30-10pm Sat, 5.30-10pm Sun; Wv; fBarangaroo, dWynyard)

There’s something really life-affirming about quality Malaysian cooking, and what you get here is certainly that. Dishes bursting with flavour and spice make it a very authentic experience, while fabulous views over Darling Harbour (fireworks on Saturday nights) add romance. The atmosphere is a very Sydney blend of upmarket and casual. À la carte is better than the set menu.

CAFE MORSOCAFE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9692 0111; www.cafemorso.com.au; Jones Bay Wharf, Pyrmont; breakfast $13-20, lunch mains $18-28; h7am-3.30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-2.30pm Sat, 8am-3.30pm Sun; Wv; jThe Star)

On pretty Jones Bay Wharf, this makes a fine venue for breakfast or lunch (though it gets busy, so you may want to book). There’s a mixture of Channel 7 workers and yacht skippers. Sassy breakfasts – try the bacon gnocchi – morph into proper cooked lunches, or you can just grab a sandwich.

o LUMIITALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9571 1999; www.lumidining.com; 56 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont; 7/10 courses $120/150, 5-course lunch Fri $85; h6.30-10.30pm Wed & Thu, noon-2.30pm & 6-10.30pm Fri-Sun; W; fPyrmont Bay, jThe Star)

This wharf spot sits right alongside the bobbing boats, though views aren’t quite knock-me-down. Hidden just steps from the Star, it offers casual competence and strikingly innovative Italian-Japanese fusion cuisine. The degustation is a tour de force; memorable creations include extraordinary pasta dishes. The open kitchen is always entertaining, service is smart and both wine and sake lists are great.

o SOKYOJAPANESE $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9657 9161; www.star.com.au/sokyo; The Star, 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont; breakfast $23-38, mains $32-65; h7-10.30am & 5.30-10pm Sun-Thu, 7-10.30am, noon-2pm & 5.30-10.30pm Fri & Sat; Wv; jThe Star)

Bringing an injection of Toyko glam to the edge of the casino complex, Sokyo serves well-crafted sushi and sashimi, delicate tempura, tasty robata grills and sophisticated mains. It also dishes up Sydney’s best Japanese-style breakfast. Solo travellers should grab a counter seat by the sushi kitchen to watch all the action unfurl.

CIRRUSSEAFOOD $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9220 0111; www.cirrusdining.com.au; 10/23 Barangaroo Ave, Central Sydney; mains $38-56; hnoon-3pm & 6-10.30pm; fBarangaroo, dWynyard)

The curved glass windows of this excellent new Barangaroo seafood restaurant offer a water view more ambient than spectacular, but the tinny (simple fishing boat) suspended from the ceiling hints at another focus. Sustainably sourced fish and extremely tasty molluscs and crustaceans form the backbone of the menu, which features dishes with exquisite flavour pairings and presentation, designed to share.

The wine list is first-class, with lots of imports and carafe options.

MOMOFUKU SEIŌBOMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9657 9169; www.seiobo.momofuku.com; The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont; degustation menu $185; h6-10pm Mon-Fri, noon-2pm & 6-10pm Sat; jThe Star)

The first restaurant outside the US opened by New York’s gastronomic darling David Chang, Momofuku Seiōbo is a key foodie favourite. Bringing together the techniques, concepts and ideas of Japanese kaiseki (multi-course eating) and classical Western degustation, it’s not one for the short of time, or funds.

FLYING FISHSEAFOOD $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9518 6677; www.flyingfish.com.au; Jones Bay Wharf, Pyrmont; mains $40-50; h6-10.30pm Mon, noon-2.30pm & 6-10.30pm Tue-Sat, noon-2.30pm Sun; jThe Star)

On a lovely Pyrmont wharf, this is everything a seafood restaurant should be, with crisp white tablecloths, gleaming glasses and water views. Romance and city lights work their magic here, aided by excellent food and an indulgent cocktail list. Its toilets are the coolest in town – the clear glass frosts over when you close the stall door.

The little cocktail bar is a pleasant destination in itself, a fine place to lounge harbourside away from the bustle.

BEAMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAPBarangaroo House; %02-8587 5400; www.barangaroohouse.com.au; 35 Barangaroo Ave, Central Sydney; mains $32-48; hnoon-3pm & 5.30-11pm; W; fBarangaroo, dWynyard)

Looking like a double-decker salad burger with its concentric rings and verdant planter boxes, Barangaroo House is a striking addition to Sydney’s waterfront. Halfway up, this upbeat bistro offers super outdoor seating and tighter indoor tables. Fusion ingredients are spiced up with bush tucker; the umami kick of tyrant ants on asparagus is a standout. Some great wines populate a fat list.

6 DRINKING & NIGHTLIFE

SMOKECOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8587 5400; www.barangaroohouse.com.au; 35 Barangaroo Ave, Central Sydney; h3pm-midnight Mon-Wed, noon-midnight Thu-Sun; W; fBarangaroo, dWynyard)

On the top floor of the new Barangaroo House building, Smoke has a most pleasant outlook over the busy comings and goings at the ferry wharf below. It takes cocktails seriously – the seasonal G&T is a standout refreshment. Get here early to bag one of the outdoor tables before the 5pm office crowd invades.

PYRMONT BRIDGE HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9660 6996; www.pyrmontbridgehotel.com; 96 Union St, Pyrmont; h24hr; W; jPyrmont Bay)

Standing like a guardian of tradition at the entrance to Pyrmont, this solid centenarian pub is a bastion of no-frills Sydney drinking culture. With an island bar and rooftop terrace, there are many handsome features; there’s also lots of character and regular live music. Its biggest selling point is its 24-hour license – the CBD lockout zone ends several metres away.

In practice, it usually closes for an hour or two around 5am so they can hose the place down and begin again.

PEG LEGBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.facebook.com/peglegpyrmont; 11 Pyrmont Bridge Rd, Pyrmont; h3pm-midnight Mon-Thu, 11am-midnight Fri-Sun; jPyrmont Bay)

Occupying what was once one of Sydney’s older hotels, this small bar has a pirate theme and a feel of the Spanish Main. It’s got plenty of interesting spirits, including lots of quality rum for the yo-ho-ho-ers. It takes food seriously and the little wood-clad dining area is a place for tasty seafood and steak grills.

HOMEBAR, CLUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9266 0600; www.homesydney.com; 1 Wheat Rd, Cockle Bay Wharf, Central Sydney; hclub 9pm-4am Thu-Sat, 10pm-4am Sun; W; dTown Hall)

Welcome to the pleasuredome: a three-level, 2100-capacity timber-and-glass ‘prow’ that’s home to a dance floor, countless bars, outdoor balconies, and sonics that make other clubs sound like transistor radios. The club often features big-name DJs; you can catch live music most nights at the attached Tokio Hotel bar downstairs (www.tokiohotellive.com.au).

3 ENTERTAINMENT

ICC SYDNEYLIVE MUSIC, THEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8297 7600; www.iccsydney.com.au; Darling Dr, Central Sydney; jExhibition Centre)

The shiny new International Convention Centre at Darling Harbour has three theatres, including a large one that seats 8000, and principally holds big touring bands. It replaces the former Entertainment Centre.

MONKEY BAA THEATRE COMPANYTHEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8624 9340; www.monkeybaa.com.au; 1 Harbour St, Central Sydney; tickets around $25; c; dTown Hall)

If you can drag them away from the neighbouring playground, bring your budding culture vultures here to watch Australian children’s books come to life. This energetic company devises and stages its own adaptations.

SYDNEY LYRIC THEATRETHEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9509 3600; www.sydneylyric.com.au; The Star, Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont; jThe Star)

This high-quality 2000-seat theatre within the Star casino stages big-name musicals and the occasional concert.

7 SHOPPING

Darling Harbour’s a bit like the Rocks – a good place for touristy stuff such as opals and souvenirs, but otherwise, move along. But if you’ve promised a consignment of stuffed koalas to the folk back home, head to Harbourside (MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.harbourside.com.au; h10am-9pm) on the western side of the precinct.

2 SPORTS & ACTIVITIES

WHALE WATCHING SYDNEYWHALE WATCHING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9583 1199; www.whalewatchingsydney.com.au; Wheat Rd, Central Sydney; dTown Hall)

The Darling Harbour ticket office for Whale Watching Sydney (WWS; hmid-May–early Dec). Departures are from Cockle Bay Wharf, about 200m to the south.

SYDNEY SHOWBOATSCRUISE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8296 7352; www.sydneyshowboats.com.au; King Street Wharf; adult/child $150/80; fBarangaroo, dWynyard)

Settle in for a three-hour, three-course dinner cruise on a paddlesteamer, complete with cabaret singers, showgirls flashing their knickers, and a personal magician for your table. Very, very camp. It’s 10% cheaper booking online.

HARBOUR JETBOATING

(%1300 887 373; www.harbourjet.com; from $39; fDarling Harbour)

One of several jet-boat operators (Sydney Jet, Oz Jet Boating, Thunder Jet – take your pick), these guys run a 35- or 50-minute white-knuckle ride with spins, fishtails and 75km/h power stops that’ll test how long it’s been since you had breakfast. Departures are either from Circular Quay or King Street Wharf.

IAN THORPE AQUATIC CENTRESWIMMING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9518 7220; www.itac.org.au; 458 Harris St, Ultimo; adult/child swimming pool $7.50/5.60, fitness area $20.70/15.50; h6am-9pm Mon-Fri, to 8pm Sat & Sun; c; jExhibition Centre)

In a distinctive wave-form building you will find three indoor heated pools and a huge fitness area. The complex is named after the five-time Olympic gold medal swimmer and famous Sydneysider.

Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

Neighbourhood Top Five

1Australian Museum Learning about Indigenous rights and admiring the dinosaurs at this venerable attraction.

2Brett Whiteley Studio Dazzling your eyes with the bright, quirky colours at the onetime Surry Hills studio of this legendary Sydney artist.

3Porteño Eating your way around Sydney’s gastronomic heartland – starting with the slow-cooked meat here and then returning again and again to sample the variety of tastes the neighbourhood has to offer.

4Love, Tilly Devine Sipping something interesting at this excellent backstreet wine bar, then heading off to discover the area’s other top pubs and small bars.

5Stonewall Starting your exploration of what’s left of the Oxford St scene at the downstairs bar of this stalwart of the scene.

Explore Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

Surry Hills bears little resemblance now to the tightly knit, working-class community so evocatively documented in Ruth Park’s classic Depression-era novels. The rows of Victorian terrace houses remain, but they’re now home to a mishmash of inner-city hipsters, foodies and LGBTQI folk who keep the many excellent neighbourhood restaurants and bars in business.

The warehouses lining Surry Hills’ moody lower canyons, near Central station, are the remnants of the local rag trade and print industry. They now contain coffee shops, art galleries, interior-design outlets and apartments.

Immediately east of the city, Darlinghurst is synonymous with Sydney’s vibrant and visible gay community. The shabby lower end of Oxford St has traditionally been Sydney’s sequinned mile, and while it’s seen better days – with fried chicken chains and now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t cheap stores – it’s still home to most of the city’s dwindling gay venues and the Mardi Gras parade. Downhill from here, Darlinghurst morphs into East Sydney, with what remains of a tiny Italian enclave centred on Stanley St.

Local Life

A Brunch The neighbourhood’s cafes are popular at the best of times, but come the weekend, they heave.

A Sunday sessions Squeezing the last drop of drinking time out of a weekend is a cherished tradition in these parts.

A Eat streets Restaurants cluster on Surry Hills’ Crown and Holt Sts, Darlinghurst’s Victoria St and East Sydney’s Stanley St.

Getting There & Away

A Bus Numerous buses traverse the area. Useful routes include 339 (Pitt St to Clovelly via Albion and Flinders), 355 (Newtown to Bondi Junction via Cleveland), 372 (Central to Coogee via Elizabeth and Cleveland) and 373/377 (Circular Quay to Coogee/Maroubra via Oxford and Flinders).

A Train Exit at Museum for East Sydney and the blocks around Oxford St; Central for the rest of Surry Hills; and Kings Cross for the northern and eastern reaches of Darlinghurst.

A Light Rail In 2019, Sydney’s second light rail line will open. The Surry Hills stop is handy for exploring the southern reaches of the region.

A Car Street parking is usually possible, but it’s often metered and limited in duration.

Lonely Planet’s Top Tip

Surry Hills lives up to its name, with some pretty steep gradients. If mobility is an issue, you’ll be better served grabbing a bus along Oxford St and getting out high rather than trudging up the incline of Foveaux St from Central station.

6 Best Drinking & Nightlife

A Love, Tilly Devine

A Wild Rover

A Shady Pines Saloon

A Shakespeare Hotel

A Beresford Hotel

A Vasco

For reviews, see here

5 Best Cafes

A Le Monde

A Devon

A Gratia

A Reuben Hills

A Single O

A fouratefive

For reviews, see here

5 Best Eating

A Porteño

A Folonomo

A Bourke Street Bakery

A Bar H

A Chaco

A Firedoor

For reviews, see here

1 SIGHTS
o AUSTRALIAN MUSEUMMUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9320 6000; www.australianmuseum.net.au; 6 College St, Darlinghurst; adult/child $15/free; h9.30am-5pm; dMuseum)

Under ongoing modernisation, this museum, established just 40 years after the First Fleet dropped anchor, is brilliant. A standout is the section covering Aboriginal history and spirituality, from Dreaming stories to videos of the Freedom Rides of the 1960s. The elegant Long Gallery focuses on 100 objects (from a platypus-skin rug to an Egyptian death-boat to the ‘Bone Ranger’) and 100 key Australians. The excellent dinosaur gallery features enormous Jobaria as well as local bruisers like Muttaburrasaurus.

The stuffed-animal gallery of the natural history section manages to keep it relevant, while there are also interesting displays on extinct megafauna (giant wombats – simultaneously cuddly and terrifying) and current Australian creatures, a kids section and more. A new Oceania section is in the pipeline, which will rehouse the colourful Pacific Island collection.

Don’t miss heading up to the cafe, which has terrific views of St Mary’s Cathedral and down to Woolloomooloo.

o SYDNEY JEWISH MUSEUMMUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9360 7999; www.sydneyjewishmuseum.com.au; 148 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst; adult/teen/child $15/9/free; h10am-4pm Sun-Thu, to 2pm Fri; dKings Cross)

This recently revamped museum revolves around a detailed and expertly curated exhibition on the Holocaust, with sobering personal testimonies and moving objects as well as a memorial section for the 1.5 million child victims. Other sections cover the history and practice of Judaism itself and Australian Jewish history, culture and tradition. Another examines the role of Jews in Australia’s military, while temporary exhibitions are always excellent. There’s a kosher cafe upstairs.

o BRETT WHITELEY STUDIOGALLERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9225 1881; www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/brett-whiteley-studio; 2 Raper St, Surry Hills; h10am-4pm Fri-Sun; jSurry Hills, dCentral) F

Acclaimed local artist Brett Whiteley (1939–1992) lived fast and without restraint. His hard-to-find studio (look for the signs on Devonshire St) has been preserved as a gallery for some of his best work. Pride of place goes to his astonishing Alchemy, a giant multi-panel extravaganza that could absorb you for hours with its broad themes, intricate details and humorous asides. The studio room upstairs also gives great insight into the character of this masterful draughtsman and off-the-wall genius.

AUSTRALIAN DESIGN CENTREGALLERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9361 4555; www.object.com.au; 101 William St, Darlinghurst; h11am-4pm Tue-Sat; dMuseum) F

The non-profit Australian Design Centre has a gallery, Object, that presents innovative exhibitions of new craft and design from Australia and overseas. Furniture, fashion, textiles and glass are all on show, and there’s an appealing shop.

AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR PHOTOGRAPHYGALLERY

MAP GOOGLE MAP (ACP; %02-9332 0555; www.acp.org.au; 72 Oxford St, Darlinghurst; h10am-6pm Tue-Sat; dMuseum) F

The nonprofit ACP exhibits photographic gems from renowned Sydney and international photographers. It’s particularly passionate about photo-media, video and digital-imaging works.

5 EATING

5 Surry Hills
o LE MONDECAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9211 3568; www.lemondecafe.com.au; 83 Foveaux St; dishes $10-16; h6.30am-4pm Mon-Fri, 7am-2pm Sat; W; dCentral)

Some of Sydney’s best breakfasts are served between the demure dark wooden walls of this small street-side cafe. Top-notch coffee and a terrific selection of tea will gear you up to face the world, while dishes such as truffled poached eggs or confit pork belly make it worth walking up the hill for.

o BOURKE STREET BAKERYBAKERY $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9699 1011; www.bourkestreetbakery.com.au; 633 Bourke St; items $5-14; h7am-6pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat & Sun; v; g301, jSurry Hills, dCentral)

Queuing outside this teensy bakery is an essential Surry Hills experience. It sells a tempting selection of pastries, cakes, bread and sandwiches, along with sausage rolls that are near legendary in these parts. There are a few tables inside but on a fine day you’re better off on the street. Offshoots around town offer a bit more space.

THE SURRY SCENE

Scruffy Surry Hills’ transformation into Sydney’s foodie nirvana was sudden, roughly commencing with the 1999 opening of the Eastern Distributor, which made peaceful tree-lined backstreets out of Crown and Bourke Sts (once the main routes to the airport). Some of the city’s top-rated restaurants now inhabit surprising nooks amid terrace houses and former warehouses, with new places opening all the time. Cafes are another highlight, from hole-in-the-wall coffee innovators to decadent brunching spots.

GRATIACAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8034 3818; www.gratia.org.au; 372 Bourke St; dishes $10-19; h8am-3pm Tue-Sun Oct-Mar, Thu-Sun Apr-Sep; Wv; g374, 397, 399) S

This great cafe, Gratia, with genuinely friendly staff and a pleasant, light feel, does juices and eclectic brunchy fare. Like its restaurant section, Folonomo, all profits are donated to charities, which customers can help choose. There’s a gallery space upstairs too, and it actively helps and trains refugees.

REUBEN HILLSCAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9211 5556; www.reubenhills.com.au; 61 Albion St; mains $9-22; h7am-4pm Mon-Sat, 7.30am-4pm Sun; Wv; dCentral)

An industrial fitout and Latin American menu await here at Reuben Hills (aka hipster central), set in a terrace and its former garage. Fantastic single-origin coffee, roasted on the premises, and fried chicken, but the eggs, tacos and baleadas (Honduran tortillas) are no slouches, either.

FORMAGGI OCELLOCAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9357 7878; www.ocello.com.au; 425 Bourke St; light meals $8-16; h10am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm Sat; v; dCentral)

Love a cheesy grin? Then Formaggi Ocello is for you. This excellent Italian deli has a great range of cheeses, mostly Italian, Spanish and French, with some top Aussie selections, too. Check out the humongous cheese wheels in the ageing room. It’s also a great place for a panino or tasting platter, accompanied by a glass of wine or two.

SPICE I AMTHAI $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9280 0928; www.spiceiam.com; 90 Wentworth Ave; mains $15-20; h11.30am-3.30pm & 5-10pm Tue-Sun; v; dCentral)

Once the preserve of expat Thais, this little red-hot chilli pepper now has queues out the door. No wonder, as everything we’ve tried from the 70-plus dishes on the menu is superfragrant and superspicy. It’s been so successful that it’s opened the upmarket version in Darlinghurst (MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9332 2445; www.spiceiam.com; 296-300 Victoria St; mains $19-24; h5-10pm; v; dKings Cross). The sign is very unobtrusive so it’s easy to walk past: don’t.

SINGLE OCAFE $

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Single Origin Roasters; %02-9211 0665; www.singleo.com.au; 60-64 Reservoir St; mains $14-23; h6.30am-4pm Mon-Fri, 7.30am-3pm Sat, 8am-3pm Sun; Wv; dCentral) S

Unshaven graphic designers roll cigarettes at little outdoor tables in the bricky hollows of Surry Hills, while inside impassioned, bouncing-off-the-walls caffeine fiends prepare their beloved brews, along with a tasty selection of cafe fare. Something of a trendsetter a few years back, this place still does coffee as good as anywhere in Sydney. The hole-in-the-wall alongside does takeaways.

PARAMOUNT COFFEE PROJECTCAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9211 1122; www.paramountcoffeeproject.com.au; 80 Commonwealth St; mains $13-21; h7am-4pm Mon-Fri, 8am-4pm Sat & Sun; W; dMuseum)

Polished concrete floors and modern styling make this foyer cafe in the former headquarters of Paramount an appealing space. Light and optimistic, it rotates its coffee so there’s always something interesting brewing. Food has everything from Creole to Japanese influences.

ST JUDECAFE $

(%02-8399 3609; www.facebook.com/stjudecafe; 728 Bourke St, Redfern; breakfasts $10-18; h7am-3pm; Wv; g372, 393, 395)

The leafy streets of east Redfern have become a rapidly gentrified southern extension of Surry Hills. This corner cafe has an artfully crumbly facade, and creepy dolls and saints observing the clientele. Breakfasts are tasty and good-value, the coffee more than acceptable and the home-made soft drinks a refreshing pit-stop option for passing cyclists.

NADA’SLEBANESE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9690 1289; www.nadasrestaurant.com; 270 Cleveland St; mains $13-16; hnoon-2.30pm & 6-10pm Wed-Mon, 6-10pm Tue; v; g372, dCentral)

There are swisher Lebanese restaurants around, but for a no-frills delicious feed at a very fair price, it’s hard to beat this old family-run favourite. The set meal at $29 a head is a bargain; just don’t fill up too much on the bread and dips or you won’t manage the sizeable chunks of Turkish delight at the end. BYO with no corkage.

2 Neighbourhood Walk

Surry Hills Shuffle

START GREEN PARK

END CROWN ST

LENGTH 1.5KM, 40 MINUTES

1  Green Park sits at the start of the Victoria St restaurant strip, flanked by the Sydney Jewish Museum, St Vincent’s Hospital and Sacred Heart Hospice. Both the hospital and the hospice found themselves at the front line of the AIDS epidemic when it hit in the 1980s.

Head west on Burton St, following the sandstone walls of the 2  National Art School MAP GOOGLE MAP; – formerly Darlinghurst Gaol. As you enter, look for the creepy morgue on your right. Turn right at the circular chapel, exit onto Forbes St and head left past the stolid 3  Darlinghurst Courthouse and enter 4  Taylor Square, the heart of Sydney’s main gay strip, Oxford St.

Cross over to the Surry Hills side. The first block of Bourke St harbours reminders of the neighbourhood’s once-prominent Greek community. 5  Christopher’s Cake Shop has been selling Greek sweets since 1955. A few doors down is 6  St Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Church.

Shuffle along Bourke St to the old 7  St Margaret’s Hospital site, now a precinct of pricey apartments and restaurants standing in stark contrast to the sandstone 8  Wesleyan Chapel (1847) across the road, where the Edward Eagar Lodge assists the Hills’ homeless.

Continuing along Bourke St you’ll pass some interesting houses, including a sandstone-and-brick Georgian block with a deep verandah and some hefty Victorian terraces, gentrified and otherwise. Just after number 454, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 9  Fred Miller Park is unremarkable except that it commemorates a very Surry Hills character. Miller (1926–1992) was a plumber turned Labor politician who was a staunch supporter of gay rights, despite being straight himself.

Hook right into Arthur St, which spits you out onto a  Crown Street, Surry Hills’ main cafe, bar and hipster strip.

FOURATEFIVECAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9698 6485; www.fouratefive.com; 485 Crown St; mains $10-22; h7am-3pm Mon-Fri, 7.30am-3.30pm Sat, 8.30am-2.30pm Sun; Wv; jSurry Hills, dCentral)

Band posters and kooky art fill the walls of this excellent post-grunge cafe. The vibe is chilled and the food is a crowd-pleasing mix of cooked breakfasts, fancy sandwiches, salads and burgers. The tables on the street fill up quickly.

ERCIYESTURKISH $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9319 1309; www.erciyesrestaurant.com.au; 409 Cleveland St; mains $15-26; h11am-11.30pm; v; g372, 393, 395)

Shamelessly kitsch Erciyes flaunts its fluoro lighting, mirror-faced wall, plastic tablecloths, disco ball and audience-participatory belly-dancing on Friday and Saturday nights. It’s a well-loved spot that’s been around for yonks: a good-value, good-time Turkish eatery. It has a few wine options, but it’s also BYO.

EL LOCOMEXICAN $

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Excelsior Hotel; %02-9114 7339; www.merivale.com.au/elloco; 64 Foveaux St; mains $10-20; h10am-midnight Mon-Thu, 10am-3am Fri & Sat, noon-10pm Sun; Wv; dCentral)

As much as we lament the passing of live rock at the Excelsior Hotel, we have to admit that the hip, colourful Mexican cantina that’s taken over the band room is pretty darn cool. The food’s tasty, inventive, and, at $7 per taco, fantastic value. The party kicks on till late on weekends with DJs in a social, fun atmosphere.

DEVONCAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9211 8777; www.devoncafe.com.au; 76 Devonshire St; dishes $14-24; h7am-3.30pm Mon-Fri, 8am-3.30pm Sat & Sun; W; dCentral)

If it’s boring old bacon and eggs you’re after, look elsewhere. Devon energetically fuses the cuisines of multicultural Australia to deliver an extremely creative menu, with plenty of twists on old favourites and things like pork belly and miso salmon popping up on the menu. It doesn’t look like much from the street, but has a pleasant back courtyard area.

o FOLONOMOMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8034 3818; www.folonomo.org.au; 370 Bourke St; large plates $15-32; h6-10.30pm Tue-Sun; Wv; g374, 397, 399) S

Not-for-profit eateries often score higher on good intentions than cooking, but this is the real deal. Folonomo (from ‘for love not money’) serves brilliant modern Australian fare, with seasonally changing menus, in a bohemian, exposed-brick space next to their cafe, Gratia. All profits go to charitable organisations, which diners can help choose. Applause.

o PORTEÑOARGENTINE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8399 1440; www.porteno.com.au; 50 Holt St; sharing plates $20-50; h6pm-midnight Tue-Sat, plus noon-3pm Fri; dCentral)

This upbeat and deservedly acclaimed Argentine restaurant is a great place to eat. The ‘animal of the day’ is slow-roasted for eight hours before the doors even open and is always delicious. Other highlights include the homemade chorizo and morcilla, but lighter touches are also in evidence, so it’s not all meat-feast. There’s a decent Argentine wine list too.

BISHOP SESSABISTRO $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8065 7223; www.bishopsessa.com.au; 527 Crown St; 2/3 courses $49/59, degustation $77; hnoon-11pm Tue-Sat; jSurry Hills)

Reviving the disappearing Sydney tradition of shopfront-style restaurants in terraced houses, this two-level European-influenced spot offers quality bistro eating at very acceptable prices for stylish Surry Hills. Home-made charcuterie, decent wine choices and appealingly presented and executed seafood, meat and pasta dishes make this a reliably good choice. You’ll feel a world away from the busy Sydney street corner photo featured upstairs.

BACCOMATTO OSTERIAITALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9215 5140; www.baccomattoosteria.com.au; 212 Riley St; mains $29-35; h6-10pm Mon-Thu, noon-3pm & 6-10pm Fri-Sun; W; g301-2, 352)

Sleek and modern, this smart Italian restaurant nevertheless conserves the warm and genuine welcome of your favourite trattoria. There’s a real verve to the updated but faithful Italian cooking and some extraordinary flavours. The $20 pasta-and-wine lunches are a top deal.

DEAD RINGERTAPAS $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 3560; http://deadringer.wtf; 413 Bourke St; dishes $18-37; h4-11pm Mon-Thu, 4pm-midnight Fri, 11am-midnight Sat, 11am-11pm Sun; Wv; g333, 380, 440)

This charcoal-fronted terrace is a haven of quality eating and drinking in a laid-back format. Barstool it or grab an outdoor table and graze on the short menu that changes slightly daily and runs from bar snacks through tapas to mains. Though well-presented, the food’s all about flavour combinations rather than airy artistry. There’s always something interesting by the glass to accompany.

MUUM MAAMTHAI $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9318 0881; www.muummaam.com.au; 50 Holt St; lunch dishes $14-16, dinner mains $18-32; h11.30am-3pm & 6-10.30pm Mon-Fri, 6-10.30pm Sat; v; dCentral)

Packing a punch for eyes and tastebuds, this is a buzzy spot beloved of those creative types who work hereabouts. It has a double identity that really works, with a food cart doling out lunch specials before the open kitchen turns to more serious, lavishly presented Thai creations in the evening. There’s a big communal table but you can also go solo.

BAR HASIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9280 1980; www.barhsurryhills.com; 80 Campbell St; dishes $14-39; h6-10pm Mon-Thu, 5-11pm Fri & Sat; dCentral)

Marrying Chinese and Japanese dishes with native Australian bush ingredients, this sexy, shiny, black-walled corner eatery is unique and extremely impressive. Dishes range considerably in size and are designed to be shared; confer with your waiter about quantities. There’s an $88 tasting menu that offers a fine experience of the quality and diversity on offer.

BODEGATAPAS $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9212 7766; www.bodegatapas.com; 216 Commonwealth St; tapas $12-24, share plates $20-32; hnoon-2pm Fri, 6-10pm Tue-Sat; v; dCentral)

The coolest progeny of Sydney’s tapas explosion, Bodega has a casual vibe, good-lookin’ staff and a funky matador mural. Dishes vary widely in size and price and are very loosely rooted in Central American and Spanish cuisine. Wash ’em down with Spanish and South American wine, sherry, port or beer, and plenty of Latin gusto.

4FOURTEENMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 5399; www.4fourteen.com.au; 414 Bourke St; mains $25-42; h6-11pm Tue-Thu, noon-3pm & 6-11pm Fri & Sat; g377)

When he’s not busy terrorising contestants on TV cooking shows, Irish-born chef Colin Fassnidge can be found cranking out hearty, meaty dishes at this big, fun, buzzy place. Solo diners should grab a seat by the open kitchen for dinner with a show.

MOHR FISHSEAFOOD $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9318 1326; www.mohrfish.com.au; 202 Devonshire St; mains $20-25; h11.30am-3pm & 5-10pm Mon-Thu, 11am-10pm Fri-Sun; jSurry Hills, dCentral)

Hans Mohr started this fishy takeaway and diner decades ago, plating up fancy fish and chips with Euro stylings. The interior is more East End London eel-and-mash shop than hip Sydney, but the food is brilliant. There aren’t many tables, so put your name down and go for drinks in the Shakespeare Hotel opposite; they’ll come and call you.

TOKOJAPANESE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9357 6100; www.toko-sydney.com; 490 Crown St; dishes $14-45; h5.30-11pm Mon, noon-11pm Tue-Thu, noon-midnight Fri, 5.30pm-midnight Sat; jSurry Hills, dCentral)

With a beautiful wood-lined look, Toko dishes up superb modern Japanese otsumami (tapas) such as soft-shell crab, sweet eggplant miso and meaty options from the robata (charcoal grill). Settle into a communal table and give your tastebuds a treat. Between lunch and dinner a menu of lighter bites is served.

FIREDOORGRILL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8204 0800; www.firedoor.com.au; 33 Mary St; mains $25-67, degustation $90; h5.30-11pm Tue, Wed & Sat, noon-3pm & 5.30-11pm Thu & Fri; dCentral)

All the dishes in this moodily attractive sunken space are produced over a blazing fire, chef Lennox Hastie matching different woods to the flavours of meat, seafood and vegetables to create extraordinary dishes with huge depth of flavour. The menu changes on a daily basis and always intrigues.

NOMADMEDITERRANEAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9280 3395; www.nomadwine.com.au; 16 Foster St; share plates $25-48; hnoon-2.30pm & 5.30-10pm Mon-Sat; dCentral)

Though this large open space has a modern industrial look, with exposed surfaces and visible ducting, the cuisine takes its inspiration from more traditional vectors. Excellent share options apply old-school techniques like pickling and marinating to a range of ingredients, creating Mediterranean masterpieces with soul. Kick things off with house charcuterie; ask for some fresh-baked focaccia bread to accompany it.

The all-Australian wine list is short but has some super small-vineyard gems on it.

LONGRAINTHAI $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9280 2888; www.longrain.com; 85 Commonwealth St; mains $24-36; h6-11pm Mon-Thu, noon-2.30pm & 6pm-midnight Fri, 5.30pm-midnight Sat & Sun; Wv; dCentral)

Devotees flock to this century-old, wedge-shaped printing-press building to feast on fragrant modern Thai dishes, and to sip delicately flavoured and utterly delicious cocktails. Sit at shared tables or more private booths.

5 Darlinghurst

MESSINAICE CREAM $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 1588; www.gelatomessina.com; 241 Victoria St; 1/2/3 scoops $4.80/6.80/8.80; hnoon-11pm Sun-Thu, to 11.30pm Fri & Sat; v; dKings Cross)

Join the queues of people who look like they never eat ice cream at the counter of the original store of Sydney’s most popular gelato shop. Clearly even the beautiful people can’t resist quirky flavours such as figs in marsala and pannacotta with fig jam and amaretti biscuit. It’s all delicious, and there are several dairy-free options. There are several more outlets around town now.

Book well ahead for the sumptuous $130-a-head dessert degustations that they put on at one table next door.

INFINITY BAKERYBAKERY $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9380 4320; www.infinitybakery.com.au; 274 Victoria St; loaves $4-9; h5.30am-9.30pm; v; dKings Cross)

One of Sydney’s standout artisan bakers, Infinity has heroic opening hours and delicious sourdough and Turkish breads, as well as coffee and a small selection of cafe fare: rolls, pies, croissants and the like.

BAR COLUZZICAFE $

MAP GOOGLE MAP (www.facebook.com/barcoluzzidarlinghurst; 322 Victoria St; light meals $10-13; h5am-4.30pm Mon-Fri, to 5.30pm Sat & Sun; dKings Cross)

Legendary Coluzzi has been here since 1957 and still attracts an odd-ball mix of old Italian gents, lycra-clad cyclists, judges, Kings Cross dealers, Darlinghurst gays, students and suits. The food’s simple and the coffee’s strong. The original owner was a boxer and ring photos decorate the walls.

DON DONJAPANESE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 3544; 80 Oxford St; mains $11-15; h11.30am-4pm & 5-10pm Mon-Fri, 11.30am-10pm Sat, 11.30am-9.30pm Sun; dMuseum)

For years we’ve thumbed our way through diminutive Don Don’s photo menu, discovering consistently delicious dishes. Expect everything from katsudon (rice with deep-fried chicken, beef or pork, egg and condiments) to sashimi, mostly served with rice, miso and Japanese pickles on the side. Be prepared to queue.

MALABARSOUTH INDIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9332 1755; www.malabarcuisine.com.au; 274 Victoria St; mains $22-26; h5.30-10.30pm Mon & Tue, noon-2.30pm & 5.30-10.30pm Wed-Sun; v; dKings Cross)

Delicious dosas, piquant Goan curries and the soft seductive tastes of India’s south make this sizeable, well-established Darlinghurst restaurant a standout. The open kitchen and decor, with large black-and-white photos adorning the walls, add atmosphere. Owner and staff are very genial and will guide you through the substantial menu. You can BYO wine. It’s wise to book ahead.

CHACOJAPANESE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9007 8352; www.chacobar.com.au; 238 Crown St; skewers $4-9; hramen 5.30-9pm Mon, 11.30am-2.30pm Wed-Sun, yakitori 5.30-10pm Tue-Sat; dMuseum)

This little place has a simple, effortless Japanese cool and some seriously good food. The ramen are good, and there are very succulent gyoza and delicious meatball sticks to dip in egg. The yakitori skewers are available Tuesday to Saturday nights and are a highlight, bursting with flavour. Don’t be afraid to try the more unusual ones.

TROVATAITALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9361 4437; www.trovatarestaurant.com.au; 76 Stanley St; mains $20-30; h11.30am-3pm & 5.30-11pm Mon-Fri, 11.30am-11pm Sat, 11.30am-10pm Sun; dMuseum)

Perhaps the best of Stanley St’s Italian eateries, this is an appealing place that’s a nice spot for a leisurely lunch. The kitchen can take its time over things, but turns out really delicious, well-prepared and generously proportioned dishes, including excellent risotto, wood-fired pizza and more. The daily specials are reliably the smart choice. Reasonably priced wine by the glass adds points.

BUFFALO DINING CLUBITALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9332 4052; www.buffalodiningclub.com.au; 116 Surrey St; mains $20-22; h5-11pm Tue, noon-11pm Wed-Sat, plus noon-8pm last Sun of month; v; dKings Cross)

Describing itself as a mozzarella bar, this tiny but massively popular eatery limits its output to high-quality antipasto plates, cheeses and a couple of types of pasta. The kitchen takes up a good half of the downstairs space, but there are extra tables above; expect to queue.

BILLSCAFE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9360 9631; www.bills.com.au; 433 Liverpool St; mains $15-29; h7.30am-3pm Mon-Sat, 8am-3pm Sun; Wv; dKings Cross)

Bill Granger almost single-handedly started the Sydney craze for stylish brunching. This sunny corner cafe with its newspaper-strewn communal table was the original; there are other branches in Surry Hills (MAP; %02-9360 4762; 359 Crown St; breakfast & lunch $16-26, dinner $25-39; h7am-10pm Mon-Fri, 7.30am-10pm Sat & Sun; Wv; dCentral) and Bondi Beach (MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8412 0700; 79 Hall St; lunch mains $21-29; h7am-10pm Mon-Sat, to 9.30pm Sun; v; g379).

A TAVOLAITALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 7871; www.atavola.com.au; 348 Victoria St; mains $22-35; hnoon-3pm & 6-11pm Mon-Sat; dKings Cross)

At this classy pasta joint, the menu only has a handful of dishes to choose from, augmented by wonderfully fresh specials chalked up daily. Before each service starts, the long communal table doubles as the main pasta-making workbench.

RED LANTERN ON RILEYVIETNAMESE $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9698 4355; www.redlantern.com.au; 60 Riley St; mains $38-45; h6-10pm Sun-Thu, noon-3pm & 6-11pm Fri, 6-11pm Sat; v; dMuseum) S

This atmospheric eatery is run by television presenters Luke Nguyen (Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam and others), Mark Jensen (Ready Steady Cook) and sister/wife Pauline Nguyen (author of the excellent Secrets of the Red Lantern cookbook-cum-autobiography). It serves modern takes on classic Vietnamese dishes.

6 DRINKING & NIGHTLIFE
o LOVE, TILLY DEVINEWINE BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9326 9297; www.lovetillydevine.com; 91 Crown Lane, Darlinghurst; h5pm-midnight Mon-Sat, to 10pm Sun; dMuseum)

This dark and good-looking split-level laneway bar is pretty compact, but the wine list certainly isn’t. It’s an extraordinary document, with some exceptionally well-chosen wines and a mission to get people away from their tried-and-tested favourites and explore. Take a friend and crack open a leisurely bottle of something. Italian deli bites and fuller plates are on hand too.

o WILD ROVERBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9280 2235; www.thewildrover.com.au; 75 Campbell St, Surry Hills; h4pm-midnight Mon-Sat; dCentral)

Look for the unsigned wide door and enter this supremely cool brick-lined speakeasy, where a big range of craft beer is served in chrome steins and jungle animals peer benevolently from the green walls. The upstairs bar opens for trivia and live bands.

o SHAKESPEARE HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9319 6883; www.shakespearehotel.com.au; 200 Devonshire St, Surry Hills; h10am-midnight Mon-Sat, 11am-10pm Sun; jSurry Hills, dCentral)

This is a classic Sydney pub (1879) with art-nouveau tiled walls, skuzzy carpet, the horses on the TV and cheap bar meals. There are plenty of cosy hidey-holes upstairs and a cast of local characters. It’s a proper convivial all-welcome place that’s the antithesis of the more gentrified Surry Hills drinking establishments.

WYNOWINE BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8399 1440; 4/50 Holt St, Surry Hills; h5pm-midnight Tue-Sat; W; dCentral)

Now run by Porteño next door, this wine bar (formerly 121 BC) is still a top place. Enter on Gladstone Street, and try to score a spot; after that, it’s easy. Seat yourself at the communal table and ask the waitstaff to suggest delicious drops from their wine selection and tasty snacks to suit your inclinations. Everything’s good, so you can’t really go wrong.

VASCOCOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %0406 775 436; www.vascobar.com; 421 Cleveland St, Redfern; h5pm-midnight Mon-Sat; W; g372)

Like the much, much hipper and better-looking Italian cousin of a Hard Rock Cafe, Vasco serves beer, wine and rock-themed cocktails in a room lined with band photos and with a Dave Grohl guitar on the wall. Order a plate of salumi or homemade gnocchi to snack on as you sip your creation, while Jagger pouts on the screen.

EAU-DE-VIECOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %0422 263 226; www.eaudevie.com.au; 229 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst; h6pm-1am Mon-Sat, to midnight Sun; W; dKings Cross)

Take the door marked ‘restrooms’ at the back of the main bar at the Kirketon Hotel and enter this sophisticated, black-walled speakeasy, where a team of dedicated shirt-and-tie-wearing mixologists concoct the sort of beverages that win best-cocktail gongs.

BERESFORD HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9114 7328; www.merivale.com.au/theberesfordhotel; 354 Bourke St, Surry Hills; hnoon-midnight Mon-Thu, to 1am Fri-Sun; W; g374, 397, 399)

The well-polished tiles of the facade and interior are a real feature at this elegantly refurbished historic pub. It’s a popular pre-club venue for an upmarket mixed crowd at weekends but makes for a quieter retreat midweek. The front bar is as handsome as they come; out the back is one of the area’s best beer gardens, while upstairs is a schmick live-music and club space.

SHADY PINES SALOONBAR

MAP GOOGLE MAP (www.shadypinessaloon.com; 4/256 Crown St, Darlinghurst; h4pm-midnight; g333, 380, dMuseum)

With no sign or street number on the door and entry via a shady back lane (look for the white door before Bikram Yoga on Foley St), this subterranean honky-tonk bar caters to the urban boho. Sip whisky and rye with the good ole hipster boys amid Western memorabilia and taxidermy.

DELLA HYDECOCKTAIL BAR

MAP GOOGLE MAPS (%02-9331 5434; www.dellahyde.com.au; 34 Oxford St, Darlinghurst; h5pm-1am Tue & Wed, to 3am Thu-Sat; W; g333, 380, dMuseum)

Lockout laws closed landmark Oxford Street nightclub complex the Exchange, but green shoots have emerged from the ruins in the shape of this lushly appointed basement bar. Low-lit and romantic, with artful vintage-fusion decor, it backs up the visuals with sounds from America’s deep south and a very decent line in cocktails.

HOTEL HARRYBAR

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Harpoon Harry; %02-8262 8800; www.hotelharry.com.au/bar; 40 Wentworth Ave, Surry Hills; h11.30am-3am; W; dCentral)

This breezy, humorous, faux-Spanish colonial fitout of the former Macquarie Hotel doesn’t take itself (or the Spanish language) too seriously. It’s an attractive space, high-ceilinged and handsomely proportioned with some lovely original fittings. Food from burgers to tacos keeps punters happy, as does late opening. It’s a good-time sort of a place.

THIS MUST BE THE PLACECOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 8063; www.tmbtp.com.au; 239 Oxford St, Darlinghurst; h3pm-midnight; g333, 380)

All Sydney’s small bars seem to be dark, candlelit speakeasies with a dash of gangster chic, so it’s refreshing to find this white minimalist cocktail spot. It specialises in something equally refreshing in spritzes: citric, perky blends of summery flavours. Tinned seafood conserves provide an offbeat accompaniment.

ARTIFICER COFFEECOFFEE

MAP GOOGLE MAP (www.artificercoffee.com; 547 Bourke St, Surry Hills; h7am-3pm Tue-Fri, 8am-1pm Sat & Sun; g301, gSurry Hills)

Cup of tea, a croissant and a leisurely read of the paper? Not here; this back-to-basics corner cafe does just one thing: coffee. No tables, no food, no Darjeeling. It roasts the beans itself and produces delicious cups of the black stuff. Share a wooden bench with a stranger and say hello, or spill out into the Surry Hills sunshine.

REFORMATORY CAFFEINE LABCOFFEE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %0422 011 565; www.thereformatorylab.coffee; 51 Foveaux St, Surry Hills; h6.30am-4pm Mon-Fri, 8am-2pm Sat; dCentral)

Coffee is a serious business in Sydney, and this corridor’s dark industrial decor and cell-block lighting cage combines with cartoon-noir wall illustrations to create a brooding atmosphere. The coffee is delicious, with lots of single origins and, though there’s no seating, it’s worth drinking in for the exquisite presentation on wooden boards. The cold drip comes in little chilled test tubes.

BUTTON BARBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9211 1544; www.button-bar.com.au; 65 Foveaux St, Surry Hills; h4pm-midnight Mon-Sat; dCentral)

The wood cladding and vaguely piratical theme means you could be below decks on a galleon at this upbeat but cosy small bar. Seriously comfy and conspiratorial booth seating is worth grabbing, and there’s a fine selection of rums and gins and some interesting cocktails. Meat and cheese platters are on hand to provide ballast.

LOCAL TAPHOUSEPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9360 0088; www.taphousedarlo.com.au; 122 Flinders St, Darlinghurst; hnoon-midnight Mon-Thu, to 1am Fri & Sat, to 11pm Sun; g396-399)

Beer lovers can test their palates against the tasting notes as they work their way through dozens of craft beers at this angular old pub. There are around 20 on tap, rotating regularly, so there’s always something new to try. There aren’t any views but the little high-sided rooftop is a great spot to catch the breeze.

POCKET BARBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9380 7002; www.pocketsydney.com.au; 13 Burton St, Darlinghurst; h4pm-midnight Sun-Thu, to 1am Fri & Sat; g389, dMuseum)

Sink into the corner of Pocket’s comfy leather couches, order a drink from one of the cheery waitstaff, and chat about the day’s adventures over a decade-defying indie soundtrack. Pop-art murals and exposed brickwork add to the underground ambience.

WINERYWINE BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8322 2007; www.thewinerysurryhills.com.au; 285a Crown St, Surry Hills; hnoon-midnight; W; dCentral)

Beautifully situated back from the road in the leafy grounds of a historic water reservoir, this oasis serves dozens of wines by the glass to the swankier Surry Hills set. Sit for a while and you’ll notice all kinds of kitsch touches lurking in the greenery: headless statues, upside-down parrots, iron koalas. It’s a very fun, boisterous scene on weekend afternoons.

PALMS ON OXFORDGAY, CLUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9357 4166; 124 Oxford St, Darlinghurst; h8pm-midnight Thu & Sun, to 3am Fri & Sat; g333, 380)

No one admits to coming here, but the lengthy queues prove they are lying. In this underground dance bar, the heyday of Stock Aitken Waterman never ended. It may be uncool, but if you don’t scream when Kylie hits the turntables, you’ll be the only one. Lots of fun and a friendly place. Entry is usually free; no open-toed shoes allowed.

DOLPHIN HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 4800; www.dolphinhotel.com.au; 412 Crown St, Surry Hills; h11.30am-midnight Mon-Sat, to 10pm Sun; W; dCentral)

This slick cetacean was once a small corner pub, until it expanded into two neighbouring houses. Now it’s had a striking designer makeover, and it deliberately looks like the renovation is still on, with cardboard signs and drop sheets. There’s some posh Italian food on offer, but it’s still a decent place for a drink and a pizza or other counter meal.

STONEWALL HOTELGAY, BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9360 1963; www.stonewallhotel.com; 175 Oxford St, Darlinghurst; hnoon-4am; g333,380)

Nicknamed ‘Stonehenge’ by those who think it’s archaic, Stonewall, in a good-looking building, has three levels of bars and dance floors. Cabaret, karaoke and quiz nights spice things up; there’s something on every night of the week. Wednesday’s Malebox is an inventive way to bag yourself a boy.

ARQGAY, CLUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9380 8700; www.arqsydney.com.au; 16 Flinders St, Darlinghurst; h9pm-3.30am Thu-Sun; g333, 380)

If Noah had to fill his Arq with groovy gay clubbers, he’d head here with a big net and some tranquillisers. This flash megaclub has a cocktail bar, a recovery room and two dance floors with high-energy house, drag shows and a hyperactive smoke machine.

GREEN PARK HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9380 5311; www.greenparkhotel.com.au; 360 Victoria St, Darlinghurst; h11am-midnight Mon-Wed, 11am-2am Thu-Sat, noon-midnight Sun; W; dKings Cross)

The ever-rockin’ Green Park has pool tables, rolled-arm leather couches, a beer garden with funky Dr Seuss–inspired lighting, and a huge tiled central bar teeming with travellers, gay guys and pierced locals.

COLOMBIAN HOTELPUB, GAY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9360 2151; www.colombian.com.au; 117 Oxford St, Darlinghurst; h9am-3.30am; g333, 380, dMuseum)

Although its past popularity has waned, this gay-friendly, art-deco booze barn still serves up thumping music and heady drinks. The window seats take the legwork out of cruising the street. Saucy events like boys in cages happen most nights.

3 ENTERTAINMENT
o GOLDEN AGE CINEMA & BARCINEMA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9211 1556; www.ourgoldenage.com.au; 80 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills; adult/concession tickets $21/17; h4pm-midnight Tue-Fri, 2.30pm-midnight Sat, 2.30-11pm Sun; dMuseum)

In what was once the Sydney HQ of Paramount pictures, a heart-warming small cinema has taken over the former screening room downstairs. It shows old favourites, art-house classics and a few recherché gems. There’s a great small bar here too, with free gigs on Thursdays and Saturdays. All up, it’s a fabulous place for a night out.

o BELVOIR ST THEATRETHEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9699 3444; www.belvoir.com.au; 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills; g372, jSurry Hills, dCentral)

In a quiet corner of Surry Hills, this intimate venue, with two small stages, is the home of an often-experimental and consistently excellent theatre company that specialises in quality Australian drama. It often commissions new works and is a vital cog in the Sydney theatre scene.

VENUE 505LIVE MUSIC

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %0419 294 755; www.venue505.com; 280 Cleveland St, Surry Hills; h6pm-midnight Mon-Sat; g372, dCentral)

Focusing on jazz, roots, reggae, funk, gypsy and Latin music, this small, relaxed venue is artist-run and thoughtfully programmed. The space features comfortable couches and murals by a local painter. It does pasta, pizza and share plates so you can munch along to the music.

OXFORD ART FACTORYLIVE MUSIC

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9332 3711; www.oxfordartfactory.com; 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst; dMuseum)

Indie kids party against an arty backdrop at this two-room multipurpose venue modelled on Andy Warhol’s NYC creative base. There’s a gallery, a bar and a performance space that often hosts international acts and DJs. Check the website for what’s on.

ETERNITY PLAYHOUSETHEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8356 9987; www.darlinghursttheatre.com; 39 Burton St, Darlinghurst; g389, dMuseum)

Based in a beautifully restored Baptist tabernacle (1887), the Darlinghurst Theatre Company focuses on bringing pithy, intelligent Australian scripts to the stage.

SBW STABLES THEATRETHEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9361 3817; www.griffintheatre.com.au; 10 Nimrod St, Darlinghurst; dKing Cross)

In the 19th century this place was knee-high in horse dung; now it’s home to the Griffin Theatre Company, dedicated to nurturing new Australian writers. It’s also where many actors started out – Cate Blanchett and David Wenham both trod the boards here. Monday Rush tickets ($20) are available for certain performances.

SLIDECABARET

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8915 1899; www.slide.com.au; 41 Oxford St, Surry Hills; dinner & show $99-119; h7pm-late Wed-Sat; dMuseum)

Slide inside a gorgeously converted banking chamber for a quality French-inflected degustation dinner and a sexy show, blending circus, cabaret, vaudeville and burlesque.

7 SHOPPING
o ARTERYART

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9380 8234; www.artery.com.au; 221 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst; h10am-5pm; dKings Cross) S

Step into a world of mesmerising dots and swirls at this small gallery devoted to Aboriginal art. Artery’s motto is ‘ethical, contemporary, affordable’, and while large canvases by more established artists cost in the thousands, small, unstretched canvases start at around $35. There’s also a good range of giftware as well as an offbeat sideline in preserved insects.

ARIELBOOKS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9332 4581; www.arielbooks.com.au; 98 Oxford St, Darlinghurst; h9.30am-7pm Mon-Wed, 9.30am-8pm Thu & Fri, 10am-8pm Sat, 11am-6pm Sun; g333, 380)

This well-loved bookstore has moved down the road from Paddington. It’s an eclectic, savvy place that’s particularly good on art and design and is also a fine spot to pick up an offbeat gift for someone.

ROUTE 66CLOTHING, VINTAGE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 6686; www.route66.com.au; 255 Crown St, Darlinghurst; h10.30am-6pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, 10.30am-7.30pm Thu, noon-5pm Sun; g330, 380, dMuseum)

The name says it all. This store has been around for decades, furnishing Sydney with new and pre-owned jeans, cowboy boots and other essential Americana.

BABY LIKES TO PONYCLOTHING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %0488 766 966; www.babylikestopony.com; 319 South Dowling St, Darlinghurst; hnoon-6.30pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, to 8pm Thu; g333, 352, 380)

Stunning avant-garde lingerie, corsetry and accessories are on offer in this friendly store just off Oxford St where Darlinghurst blends into Paddington.

MAKERYARTS & CRAFTS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %0410 471 144; www.work-shop.com.au; 106 Oxford St, Darlinghurst; h10.30am-6.30pm Tue-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat, 11am-4pm Sun; g333, 380) S

This ample corner space is an innovative idea that lets local artisans and designers sell their products in a single space. There’s an excellent range of everything from jewellery to candles to clothing; it’s always worth a browse.

TITLEBOOKS, MUSIC

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9699 7333; www.titlemusicfilmbooks.com; 499 Crown St, Surry Hills; h10am-6pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun; jSurry Hills, dCentral)

Focusing on distinct pop-cultural streams, seemingly determined at random (but probably at the owner’s whim – very High Fidelity), this offbeat little store is well-stocked with glossy hardbacks (everything from rock photography to cookbooks), cult DVDs and an eclectic range of music on vinyl and CD. It’s a browser’s paradise.

SAX FETISHADULT

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 6105; www.saxfetish.com; 110a Oxford St, Darlinghurst; hnoon-6pm Sun & Mon, 11am-7pm Tue, Wed & Fri, 11am-8pm Thu, 11am-6pm Sat; g333, 380)

No, it’s not a bar for jazz obsessives, but rather a sexy, dark-hearted shop selling high-quality leather and rubber gear. All genders are catered for, and the ‘accessories’ range goes a little further than your standard belts and handbags (cufflinks and ties take on a whole new meaning here).

ROBIN GIBSON GALLERYART

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 6692; www.robingibson.net; 278 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst; h11am-6pm Tue-Sat; dKings Cross)

Housed in a beautiful three-storey terrace behind a lush stand of palm trees, this long-established gallery represents a coterie of Australian artists, and also stages the occasional exhibition by international superstars.

BOOKSHOP DARLINGHURSTBOOKS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 1103; www.thebookshop.com.au; 207 Oxford St, Darlinghurst; h10am-7pm Mon-Sat, noon-6pm Sun; g333, 380)

This outstanding bookshop specialises in gay and lesbian tomes, with everything from queer crime and lesbian fiction to glossy pictorials and porn. A diverting browse, to say the least.

ABORIGINAL & PACIFIC ARTART

(%02-9699 2211; www.aboriginalpacificart.com.au; 1/24 Wellington St, Waterloo; h11am-5pm Tue-Sat; gM20)

There are several galleries in Waterloo; this one represents community-based Aboriginal and Pacific Islander art.

ZOO EMPORIUMVINTAGE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9380 5990; 180 Campbell St, Darlinghurst; h11am-6pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, 11am-8pm Thu, noon-5pm Sun; g333, 380)

One of several vintage shops near the intersection of Crown and Campbell Streets, this has two floors of gloriously loud ’70s and ’80s apparel. The ground floor is mostly discounted items, including a bargain bin.

HOUSE OF PRISCILLAFASHION & ACCESSORIES

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9286 3023; www.houseofpriscilla.com.au; Level 1, 47 Oxford St, Darlinghurst; h10am-6pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, to 8pm Thu; dMuseum)

Not only is Priscilla the queen of the desert, she also has her own boutique – not bad for a cinematic bus. Run by some of the city’s leading drag artistes, Priscilla is the place for feathered angel wings, naughty nurse outfits, Beyoncé wigs, kinky thigh-high boots and sequinned frocks to fit front-row forwards. Very camp women also welcome.

1. Love, Tilly Devine

Try a new grape at this compact laneway bar with an extensive wine list.

CATHERINE SUTHERLAND/LONELYPLANET ©

2. Australian Museum

From Aboriginal Dreaming stories to giant wombats, this venerable old institution offers fascinating displays for both adults and kids.

KRITHNARONG RAKNAGN/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

3. Bourke Street Bakery

Classic Aussie meat pies are just the start of the pastries designed to tempt you into this tiny Surry Hills institution.

CATHERINE SUTHERLAND/LONELY PLANET ©

Kings Cross & Potts Point

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Kings Cross & Potts Point

Neighbourhood Top Five

1Kings Cross Hotel Soaking up the sights, sounds and smells of much-changed but still edgy Darlinghurst Rd, then popping in here for a balcony drink.

2Room 10 Ducking in to this neighbourhood cafe on Llankelly Place for a coffee and a view of the passing parade of Kings Cross characters.

3Elizabeth Bay House Admiring the Georgian grace of Elizabeth Bay House, a reminder of grand days gone by.

4Woolloomooloo Wharf Harbour-gazing, fine-dining and celebrity-spotting at this former steamer pier that’s now a glitzy hotel and restaurant precinct.

5Blue Parrot Back-packers Finding your home away from home at this brilliantly run hostel in the heart of the district.

Explore Kings Cross & Potts Point

Allocate half a day to stroll and appreciate the quiet neighbourhood feel, but revisit in the evening for the restaurant scene.

Start around the Cross itself; from the Coca-Cola sign that marks the entrance to the district, explore Darlinghurst Road – where tacky tourist shops and backpacker hostels outnumber the dwindling strip-club scene – and the bohemian backstreets on either side, before investigating Victoria St and other upmarket avenues of Potts Point.

The villagey, inclusive vibe vanishes as you descend to exclusive Elizabeth Bay, where the historic house of the same name is well worth investigation.

Back up the hill, head for Embarkation Park and then down McElhone Stairs, up which hopeful sailors used to climb in search of good times. Down by the docks, Woolloomooloo has also cleaned up its act. Harry’s Cafe de Wheels and the navy base are still here, but drunken sailors are in shorter supply, and the wharf is a glitzy parade of see-and-be-seen-at restaurants.

Local Life

A Cafes & Pubs Mainstays include Piccolo Bar and the Old Fitzroy; once you get off the Darlinghurst Rd strip, most places are well patronised by locals.

A Parks Local residents spread out towels in tiny Arthur McElhone Reserve and walk their pampered pooches in Embarkation Park. Little Beare Park down by the water at Elizabeth Bay is a lovely spot well off the tourist beat.

A Cathedral Street Instead of walking up William Street to get to the Cross, take a stroll up pretty Cathedral Street for a slice of local Woolloomooloo life, where expensively renovated terrace houses and social housing coexist.

Getting There & Away

A Train Everywhere is within walking distance of Kings Cross station, although the western fringe of Woolloomooloo is closer to St James station.

A Bus Route 311 hooks through Kings Cross, Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay and Woolloomooloo on its way from Railway Sq to the bottom of town. Routes 324 and 325 pass through Kings Cross (Bayswater Rd) en route between Walsh Bay, the City and Watsons Bay.

A Car The city council operates a 24-hour car park at 9a Elizabeth Bay Rd in Kings Cross (entry via Ward Ave; per hour/day $8/40, $15 night rate, $15 weekend day rate). Street parking is possible, but often metered and limited in duration.

Lonely Planet’s Top Tip

Where exactly is Kings Cross? Although technically it’s just the intersection of William and Victoria Sts, in reality it’s more of a mindset than an exact geographical place. Much of what most people call Kings Cross falls within the suburb of Potts Point; businesses tend to use a Potts Point address if they want to sound classy and Kings Cross if they want to emphasise their party cred. Either way, you’ll know Kings Cross when you see it.

6 Best Drinking Nightlife

A Old Fitzroy Hotel

A Monopole

A Kings Cross Hotel

A World Bar

For reviews, see here

5 Best Eating

A Yellow

A Cho Cho San

A Farmhouse

A Fratelli Paradiso

A China Doll

A Otto Ristorante

For reviews, see here

4 Best Sleeping

A Blue Parrot Backpackers

A Ovolo Hotel Woolloomooloo

A Spicers

A Simpsons of Potts Point

For reviews, see here

1 SIGHTS
o ELIZABETH BAY HOUSEHISTORIC BUILDING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9356 3022; www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au; 7 Onslow Ave, Elizabeth Bay; adult/child $12/8; h11am-4pm Fri-Sun; g311, dKings Cross)

Now dwarfed by 20th-century apartments, Colonial Secretary Alexander Macleay’s elegant Greek Revival mansion was one of the finest houses in the colony when it was completed in 1839. The architectural highlight is an exquisite oval saloon with a curved and cantilevered staircase. There are lovely views over the harbour from the upstairs rooms. Drop down to the twin cellars for an introductory audiovisual with a weird beginning.

The grounds – a sort of botanical garden for Macleay, who collected plants from around the world – extended from the harbour all the way up the hill to Kings Cross. Traces remain, including a little hidden grotto reached by taking a path leading between 16 and 18 Onslow Ave.

WOOLLOOMOOLOO WHARFHISTORIC BUILDING

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Finger Wharf; Cowper Wharf Roadway, Woolloomooloo; g311, dKings Cross)

A former wool and cargo dock, this beautiful Edwardian wharf faced oblivion for decades before a 2½-year demolition-workers’ green ban on the site in the late 1980s saved it. It received a huge sprucing up in the late 1990s and has emerged as one of Sydney’s most exclusive eating, sleeping and marina addresses.

It’s still a public space, so feel free to explore the innards, past industrial conveyor-belt relics and a hotel. Along the way the wharf’s history is etched into glass walls. You might even squeeze in some star-spotting – everyman-megastar Russell Crowe is one of several personalities to have a plush pad here.

ARTSPACEGALLERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9356 0555; www.artspace.org.au; 43-51 Cowper Wharf Rd, Woolloomooloo; h11am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat & Sun; g311, dKings Cross) F

Artspace is spacey: its eternal quest is to fill the void with vigorous, engaging Australian and international contemporary art. Things here are decidedly avant-garde – expect lots of conceptual art, audio-visual installations and new-media pieces. It’s an admirable attempt to liven things up in Sydney’s art scene, experimenting with sometimes disturbing concepts. Disabled access is excellent.

EMBARKATION PARKPARK

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Victoria St, Potts Point; dKings Cross)

The top deck of a multistorey navy carpark doesn’t sound like a great place to hang out, but this beautiful park is a hidden gem, offering a secluded space with lots of greenery and brilliant views of the city as well as docked warships at the Garden Island base.

FITZROY GARDENSPARK

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; cnr Macleay St & Darlinghurst Rd, Kings Cross; g311, dKings Cross)

It’s testimony to the ‘cleaning up’ of the Cross that this once-dodgy park is now a reasonably safe place to hang out (probably helped by the austere police station in the corner). It still feels seedy, though: bullyboy seagulls compete for scraps with pigeons who look like Keith Richards, while bearded homeless guys compile cigarettes from discarded butts.

2 Neighbourhood Walk

A Risqué Ramble

START WILLIAM ST

END WOOLLOOMOOLOO WHARF

LENGTH 2.5KM; ONE HOUR

Start under the giant 1  Coca-Cola sign at the William St overpass: the ‘Top of the Cross’. It’s this intersection with Victoria St, where the streets named after two kings cross, that gives this part of Potts Point its name (OK, so one’s a queen but that’s appropriate too). Behind you is Ken Unsworth’s much-derided Stones Against the Sky sculpture. Locals call it ‘Shits on Sticks’.

Take a deep breath and follow Darlinghurst Rd into the dark heart of the Cross. If you don’t want to make eye contact with any strip-club touts, dealers or hookers, scan the ground for a series of inscriptions offering titbits of local history. Continue to the spindly El Alamein Fountain in 2  Fitzroy Gardens.

Cut past the distinctive round 3  Gazebo tower, turn left into Elizabeth Bay Rd and follow it downhill then sharply right at a roundabout. Turn left at Ithaca Rd and head down to Elizabeth Bay itself, where you’ll find tiny 4  Beare Park by the water.

Backtrack slightly and turn right into Billyard Ave, where you’ll pass by the high walls of 5  Boomerang, at number 42, one of Australia’s most expensive private houses (It’ll cost you north of $60 million to buy it.). Take the stairs on the left leading up to genteel 6  Arthur McElhone Reserve. Beyond this little park is stately 7  Elizabeth Bay House.

Turn right (downhill) and take the stairs just before 17 Billyard Ave. At the top turn right into Macleay St and then left into Challis Ave, where you’ll pass an impressive row of art-deco houses and magnolia trees. At the bottom is lovely 8  Embarkation Park, with photogenic views over Woolloomooloo and the city.

Head down 9  McElhone Stairs to Woolloomooloo, where a  Harry’s Cafe de Wheels has been a Sydney institution since 1938. Refuel with a pie or continue onto b  Woolloomooloo Wharf for a classier finale.

5 EATING

ROOM 10CAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0432 445 342; www.facebook.com/room10espresso; 10 Llankelly Pl, Kings Cross; mains $8-14; h7am-4pm Mon-Fri, 8am-4pm Sat & Sun; v; dKings Cross)

With a real neighbourhood feel, this tiny cafe is the sort of place where staff know all the locals by name. The coffee is delicious and the menu limited to sandwiches, salads and such – tasty and uncomplicated. Watch them make it in front of you as you sit at impossibly tiny tables or do some people-watching on this lovable laneway.

DOUCE FRANCECAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.facebook.com/coffeefrenchDouceFrance; 7 Darlinghurst Rd, Kings Cross; breakfasts $6-14; h7am-7pm Mon-Fri, 8am-5.30pm Sat & Sun; W; g311, dKings Cross)

Locals love the croissants at this welcoming cafe on the main strip through the Cross. Other tempting patisserie options and pleasing coffee make this a top stop. Grab an outdoor table to watch the Cross characters parade past.

HARRY’S CAFE DE WHEELSFAST FOOD $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9357 3074; www.harryscafedewheels.com.au; Cowper Wharf Roadway, Woolloomooloo; pies $5-8; h8.30am-2am Mon & Tue, to 3am Wed & Thu, to 4am Fri, 9am-4am Sat, 9am-1am Sun; g311, dKings Cross)

Open since 1938 (except for a few years when founder Harry ‘Tiger’ Edwards was on active service), Harry’s has been serving meat pies to everyone from Pamela Anderson to Frank Sinatra and Colonel Sanders. You can’t leave without trying a ‘Tiger’: a hot meat pie with sloppy peas, mashed potato, gravy and tomato sauce.

PICCOLO BARCAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9368 1356; www.facebook.com/piccolobarcafe; 6 Roslyn St, Kings Cross; light meals $5-10; h6am-midnight Wed-Fri, 7am-midnight Sat & Sun; W; dKings Cross)

A surviving slice of the old bohemian Cross, this tiny cafe hasn’t changed much in over 60 years. The walls are covered in movie-star memorabilia, and new owners are faithful to the unique atmosphere created by locally legendary former owner Vittorio, who still drops by for a chat.

o CHO CHO SANJAPANESE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9331 6601; www.chochosan.com.au; 73 Macleay St, Potts Point; mains $22-38; h5.30-11pm Mon-Thu, noon-11pm Fri-Sun; g311, dKings Cross)

Glide through the shiny brass sliding door and take a seat at the communal table that runs the length of this stylish Japanese restaurant, all polished concrete and blond wood. The food is just as artful as the surrounds, with tasty izakaya-style bites emanating from both the raw bar and the hibachi grill. There’s a good sake selection, too.

FARMHOUSEMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0448 413 791; www.farmhousekingscross.com.au; 4/40 Bayswater Rd, Kings Cross; set menu $60; hsittings 6.30pm & 8.30pm Wed-Sat, 2pm & 6.30pm Sun; dKings Cross)

Occupying a space between restaurant and supper club, this sliver of a place has a tiny kitchen and a charming host. Diners sit at one long table and eat a set menu that features uncomplicated, delicious dishes from high-quality produce. There are good wines and a buzzy, fun atmosphere. Prebooking is essential.

FRATELLI PARADISOITALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9357 1744; www.fratelliparadiso.com; 12-16 Challis Ave, Potts Point; breakfast $12-17, mains $25-39; h7am-11pm Mon-Sat, to 10pm Sun; g311, dKings Cross)

This underlit trattoria has them queuing at the door (especially on weekends). The intimate room showcases seasonal Italian dishes cooked with Mediterranean zing. Lots of busy black-clad waiters, lots of Italian chatter, lots of oversized sunglasses. No bookings.

FISH SHOPSEAFOOD $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9114 7340; www.merivale.com.au/thefishshop; 22 Challis Ave, Potts Point; mains $28-38; hnoon-10pm Mon-Fri, to 11pm Sat, to 9pm Sun; g311, dKings Cross)

Decked out in bright Hamptons style, this brings a coastal breeze to Challis Ave with casual but high-quality fish dishes served all day, and some nice wines to accompany them. It’s also great for a quick snack – some oysters or a fish burger – and a glass of something.

BUTLERLATIN AMERICAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8354 0742; www.butlersydney.com.au; 123 Victoria St, Potts Point; large share plates $30-36; h4-11pm Mon, noon-midnight Tue-Sat, noon-10pm Sun; W; dKings Cross)

There’s a real wow factor to the verdant back terrace of this Potts Point bar-restaurant, with its spectacular city skyline views. The breezy vibe and furniture make it a prime spot to get stuck into share plates that take influences from across the Caribbean and Latin America.

CHESTER WHITEITALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9332 3692; www.chesterwhitediner.com.au; 3 Orwell St, Kings Cross; dishes $14-23; h5-11pm Tue-Thu, noon-11pm Fri & Sat; dKings Cross)

Calling itself a ‘cured diner’, this diminutive corner eatery, named after a breed of pig, serves nine different kinds of cured meats, a large variety of pickled vegetables and a few simple mains (pasta and the like). Grab a chrome stool by the kitchen/bar, sip on an Italian wine and watch the hipster lads slicing and dicing away.

APOLLOGREEK $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8354 0888; www.theapollo.com.au; 44 Macleay St, Elizabeth Bay; mains $26-38; h6-11pm Mon-Thu, noon-11pm Fri & Sat, noon-9.30pm Sun; g311, dKings Cross)

An excellent exemplar of modern Greek cooking, this taverna has stylish and fashionable decor, a well-priced menu of share plates and a bustling vibe. Starters are particularly impressive, especially the pitta bread hot from the oven, the fried saganaki cheese with honey and oregano, and the wild-weed and cheese pie.

MS G’SASIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9114 7342; www.merivale.com/msgs; 155 Victoria St, Potts Point; mains $22-36; h6-11pm Mon-Thu, noon-3pm & 6-11pm Fri & Sat, 1-9pm Sun; W; dKings Cross)

Offering a cheeky, irreverent take on Asian cooking (hence the name – geddit?), Ms G’s is nothing if not an experience. It can be loud, frantic and painfully hip, but the adventurous combinations of pan-Asian and European flavours have certainly got some spark.

o YELLOWVEGETARIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9332 2344; www.yellowsydney.com.au; 57 Macleay St, Potts Point; 5-/7-course degustation menu $75/95; h6-11pm Mon-Fri, 11am-3pm & 6-11pm Sat & Sun; v; g311, dKings Cross)

This sunflower-yellow former artists’ residence is now a top-notch contemporary vegetarian restaurant. Dishes are prepared with real panache, and excellent flavour combinations are present throughout. The tasting menus, which can be vegan, take the Sydney meat-free scene to new levels and the service is happily not too formal. Weekend brunch is also a highlight, as is the wine list.

CHINA DOLLASIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9380 6744; www.chinadoll.com.au; 4/6 Cowper Wharf Roadway, Woolloomooloo; mains $36-46; hnoon-3pm & 6-10.30pm; g311, dKings Cross)

Gaze over the Woolloomooloo marina and city skyline as you tuck into deliciously inventive dishes drawing inspiration from all over Asia. The setting on the finger wharf is memorable, but the food keeps up, with delicious textures and flavour combinations. Plates are designed to be shared; there are also a few dim-sum-style options.

OTTO RISTORANTEITALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9368 7488; www.ottoristorante.com.au; 8/6 Cowper Wharf Rdwy, Woolloomooloo; mains $43-56; hnoon-10pm; g311, dKings Cross)

Forget the glamorous waterfront location and the A-list crowd – Otto will be remembered for single-handedly dragging Sydney’s Italian cooking into the new century with dishes such as artisan strozzapreti pasta with fresh Yamba prawns, tomato, chilli and black olives. You can often grab a table here on spec mid-afternoon, but booking at meal times is essential.

AKI’SINDIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9332 4600; www.akisindian.com.au; 1/6 Cowper Wharf Roadway, Woolloomooloo; mains $32-34; hnoon-3pm & 6-10.30pm Sun-Fri, 6-10.30pm Sat; v; g311, dKings Cross)

The first cab off the rank as you walk onto Woolloomooloo’s wharf is Aki’s. This is beautifully presented, intuitively constructed high-Indian cuisine, supplemented by a six-page wine list showcasing local and international drops. And the setting, of course, is just marvellous.

6 DRINKING & NIGHTLIFE

Formerly Sydney’s premier party precinct, this neighbourhood has had much of the life sucked out of it by the central Sydney licensing laws introduced in 2014. Most of the late-night clubs have closed, though a couple are still going. On the upside, the streets look less like a war zone in the wee hours. Woolloomooloo has some nice old pubs near the water and in its backstreets.

o OLD FITZROY HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9356 3848; www.oldfitzroy.com.au; 129 Dowling St, Woolloomooloo; h11am-midnight Mon-Fri, noon-midnight Sat, 3-10pm Sun; W; dKings Cross)

A gem hidden in the backstreets of Woolloomooloo, this totally unpretentious theatre pub is also a decent old-fashioned boozer in its own right, with a great variety of beers on tap and a convivial welcome. Prop up the bar, grab a seat at a streetside table or head upstairs to the bistro, pool table and couches.

MONOPOLEWINE BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9360 4410; www.monopolesydney.com.au; 71a Macleay St, Potts Point; h5pm-midnight Mon-Fri, noon-midnight Sat, noon-10pm Sun; W; g311, dKings Cross)

Dark and sexy, Monopole seduces with its stylish interior, complete with hanging strips of black sound-absorption material and discreet front screen. A fabulous wine list of small Australian and international producers offers over 20 vintages by the glass or carafe, so an impromptu tasting session is easy. The food is great too, with house-cured charcuterie and intriguing cheeses a highlight.

ROOSEVELTCOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0423 203 119; www.theroosevelt.com.au; 32 Orwell St, Kings Cross; h5pm-midnight Mon-Fri, noon-midnight Sat, 3-10pm Sun; W; g311, dKings Cross)

The low-lit seductive glamour of this sleek and stylish cocktail bar takes you right back to the ’20s, though it’s named for a local postwar gangster’s haunt. They take their cocktails seriously here, making them in front of you with great panache – and they are seriously good.

KINGS CROSS HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9331 9900; www.kingscrosshotel.com.au; 244-248 William St, Kings Cross; h10am-1am Mon-Thu, to 3.30am Fri & Sat, to midnight Sun; W; dKings Cross)

This grand old brick building guards the entrance to the Cross and is one of the area’s best pubs, with several levels of boozy entertainment. The balcony bar is a very pleasant spot for lunch, while the rooftop that opens weekend evenings has the drawcard vistas. Saturdays are good, with DJs on all levels.

WORLD BARBAR, CLUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9357 7700; www.theworldbar.com; 24 Bayswater Rd, Kings Cross; h2pm-midnight Sun & Mon, to 3.30am Tue-Sat; W; dKings Cross)

A reformed bordello is an unpretentious, grungy club with three floors to lure in backpackers and cheap drinks to loosen things up. DJs play indie, hiphop, power pop and house nightly. Wednesday (The Wall) and Saturday are the big nights. In the earlier evening, it’s a pleasant place for a quiet drink on the foliage-rich verandah. There’s a theatre, too.

TILBURYPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9368 1955; www.tilburyhotel.com.au; 12-18 Nicholson St, Woolloomooloo; h11am-10pm Mon-Wed, 11am-midnight Thu & Fri, 10am-midnight Sat, 10am-10pm Sun; W; g311, dKings Cross)

Once the dank domain of burly sailors and salty ne’er-do-wells, the Tilbury now sparkles. An upmarket crowd of Potts Pointers and yachties populate the bright interiors, sipping G&Ts and glasses of imported wine. The restaurant does top-notch contemporary fare; the seats out the front, in the upstairs bar and in the gin garden are particularly popular on lazy Sunday afternoons.

CANDY’S APARTMENTCLUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9380 5600; www.candys.com.au; 22 Bayswater Rd, Kings Cross; h8pm-4am Fri & Sat; dKings Cross)

It’s dark and very sweaty in this subterranean venue with two bars, a dance floor with DJs spinning house and other electronica, and a space for bands to play. They pack ’em in and you’ll find plenty of guys and gals scanning the crowd hoping they won’t go home alone.

EAST SYDNEY HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9358 1975; www.eastsydneyhotel.com; cnr Crown & Cathedral Sts, Woolloomooloo; h11.30am-midnight Sun-Tue, to 1am Wed & Thu, to 3am Fri & Sat; W; g311, dSt James)

Not a poker machine is in sight at this beautiful traditional corner boozer in a quiet area of Woolloomooloo. Open since 1856, it’s a place of great character, perfect for sipping a quiet schooner of beer while reading the paper. Uncomplicated pub grub is also available.

POTTS POINT HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9368 7333; www.pottspointhotel.com.au; 33 Darlinghurst Rd, Kings Cross; h11.30am-3.30am; W; dKings Cross)

With a pleasant terrace for people-watching in the heart of the cross, this pub (formerly called Sugarmill) has an interesting interior, with columns and high pressed-tin ceilings that hint at its banking past. The main bar does decent-priced food and is popular for live sport; upstairs, the Sweethearts roof terrace is a cracking spot that fills fast.

3 ENTERTAINMENT

It’s not just seedy strip shows – there’s still a vibrancy to the Cross’s entertainment scene, with a couple of theatres and a comedy venue.

OLD FITZ THEATRETHEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0416 044 413; www.redlineproductions.com.au; 129 Dowling St, Woolloomooloo; $25-48; dKings Cross)

Is it a pub? A theatre? A bistro? Actually, it’s all three. Grassroots company Red Line Productions stages loads of new Australian plays at this likeable venue in a quiet Woolloomooloo street.

HAPPY ENDINGS COMEDY CLUBCOMEDY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP El Rocco Room; %02-9130 5150; www.happyendingscomedyclub.com.au; 154 Brougham St, Potts Point; $27.50; hshows 8.30pm Fri & Sat; dKings Cross)

Between 1955 and 1969 this was the city’s premier finger-snappin’, beret-wearing boho cellar bar, hosting performances by Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan. Those heady days are long gone but good-quality stand-up comedy keeps this intimate venue buzzing. Book ahead for discounted admission.

HAYES THEATRE COTHEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8065 7337; www.hayestheatre.com.au; 19 Greenknowe Ave, Elizabeth Bay; $70-90; g311, dKings Cross)

This intimate (and reputedly haunted) Elizabeth Bay theatre is devoted entirely to small-scale musical theatre and cabaret.

Paddington & Centennial Park

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

Paddington & Centennial Park

Neighbourhood Top Five

1Paddington Markets Starting a weekend shopping trip here before delving into the fashionable boutiques in this suburb.

2Centennial Park Exploring the vast open space within the gated grounds of this well-loved Sydney park on two feet, two wheels or horseback.

3Sydney Cricket Ground Watching summer cricket at this lovely old ground or barracking for the Swans in the AFL. Or screaming yourself hoarse at a Roosters rugby league game at the adjacent Sydney Football Stadium.

4Unicorn Beginning a tour of Paddington’s selection of worthwhile pubs at this refurbished beauty.

5Moonlight Cinema Spreading out a picnic under the stars at this romantic summer filmhouse.

Explore Paddington & Centennial Park

Paddington, also known as ‘Paddo’, is an elegant, expensive area of beautifully restored terrace houses and steep leafy streets where fashionable folks drift between designer shops, chic restaurants, art galleries and bookshops. The suburb’s artery is Oxford St, extending from nearby Darlinghurst. The best time to visit is on Saturday, when the markets are at their most effervescent. Make sure you get off Oxford St too: much of the suburb’s character and local life is further into the district.

Paddington was built for aspiring Victorian artisans, but following the lemming-like rush to quarter-acre blocks in the outer suburbs after WWII, it became one of Australia’s worst slums. A renewed passion for Victorian architecture (and the realisation that the outer suburbs were unspeakably boring) led to Paddington’s resurgence in the 1960s. By the 1990s real estate here was beyond all but the lucky and loaded.

South of Oxford St, the Centennial Parklands spread a giant green blanket over 360 hectares stretching from Surry Hills to Waverley, enclosing famous sports venues.

Local Life

A Sports The cheering, swearing hordes come out in force to support the local lads at the Sydney Football Stadium and Sydney Cricket Ground.

A Five Ways This five-way intersection north of Oxford St is the real heart of Paddington.

A Fitness Sit in Centennial Park for long enough and it will seem like half the neighbourhood has passed by in one big jogging/cycling/in-line skating blur.

Getting There & Away

A Bus Buses are the main public transport. Major routes include 355 (Bondi Junction to Newtown via Lang Rd), 373 (Circular Quay to Coogee via Moore Park), 440 (Rozelle and Railway Sq to Bronte via Oxford St), 380 (Circular Quay to Watsons Bay via Oxford St) and 389 (Maritime Museum to Bondi Junction via Glenmore Rd, Moncur and Queen Sts).

A Train Walk downhill from Kings Cross station to Rushcutters Bay and the Paddington lowlands; cut through bushy Trumper Park from Edgecliff station, or head from Bondi Junction station to the eastern reaches of Centennial Park.

A Light Rail The Moore Park stop will be handy from 2019.

A Car Street parking is generally possible, although it’s usually metered and limited in duration.

Lonely Planet’s Top Tip

The street numbers on Oxford St reset themselves with each new suburb. Oxford St Darlinghurst becomes Oxford St Paddington east of Barcom St, which becomes Oxford St Woollahra at Jersey Rd. This can be extremely confusing; make sure you’re in the right suburb before worrying about the numbers.

6 Best Drinking & Nightlife

A Unicorn

A Wine Library

A 10 William Street

A The Paddington

A Lord Dudley Hotel

A Four in Hand

For reviews, see here

5 Best Eating

A Saint Peter

A Marta

A Chiswick

A Lucio’s

A St Claudes

A Buon Ricordo

For reviews, see here

7 Best Shopping

A Paddington Markets

A Dinosaur Designs

A Alicia Hollen

A Berkelouw Books

A Poepke

For reviews, see here

1 SIGHTS
o CENTENNIAL PARKPARK

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9339 6699; www.centennialparklands.com.au; Oxford St, Centennial Park; hgates sunrise-sunset; jMoore Park, dBondi Junction)

Scratched out of the sand in 1888 in grand Victorian style, Sydney’s biggest park is a rambling 189-hectare expanse full of horse riders, joggers, cyclists and in-line skaters. Grab a park map at any of the entrances or the information centre in the middle. During summer the Moonlight Cinema attracts the crowds.

Among the wide formal avenues, ponds and statues is the domed Federation Pavilion. Other highlights include a raucous fruit bat colony. At the southern edge of the park is Royal Randwick Racecourse, while on its eastern edge the park joins Queens Park and continues for another 26 hectares. Exploring the park on foot is a pleasure; you can also hire bikes, skates or go horse-riding.

VICTORIA BARRACKSHISTORIC BUILDING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8335 5170; www.armymuseumnsw.com.au; Oxford St, Paddington; htours 10am Thu; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40) F

A manicured vision from the peak of the British Empire (built 1841 to 1848), these Georgian army barracks have been called the finest of their kind in the colonies. It’s still an active army base, so entry is only possible on a free guided tour. You’ll usually see a marching band perform (weather permitting) and can visit the on-site Army Museum of NSW (www.armymuseumnsw.com.au; $5). Ring ahead and take photo ID; enter via the Moore Park Road gate.

FIVE WAYSSQUARE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Glenmore Rd, Paddington; g389)

While Oxford St is the main drag, this five-way intersection is in many ways the centre of Paddington life. Smartly-dressed locals do coffee and shopping or nip into the pub for a quick spirit-lifter. It’s a good-looking bit of backstreet Sydney.

PADDINGTON RESERVOIR GARDENSPARK

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; cnr Oxford St & Oatley Rd, Paddington; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40) S

Opened to much architectural acclaim in 2008, this impressive park makes use of Paddington’s long-abandoned 1866 water reservoir, incorporating the brick arches and surviving chamber into an interesting, photogenic green space featuring a sunken garden, a pond, a boardwalk and lawns. They’ve even preserved some of the graffiti dating from the many years when it was boarded up and abandoned to cats and stealthy spray-can artists.

FEDERATION PAVILIONHISTORIC BUILDING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Grand Dr, Centennial Park; g418, dBondi Junction)

Among the wide formal avenues of Centennial Park is the domed Federation Pavilion – the spot where Australia was officially proclaimed a nation (on 1 January 1901). Built in 1988, it contains the original Federation Stone and is inscribed with ‘Mammon or Millennial Eden?’, reflecting a poem of the time that wondered whether the new country would focus on materialism or idealism. Sydney has answered that one pretty emphatically.

ENTERTAINMENT QUARTERAREA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8117 6700; www.eqmoorepark.com.au; 122 Lang Rd, Centennial Park; g355, jMoore Park)

If we were feeling cynical, we might say that the purpose-built Entertainment Quarter is a vacuous, self-perpetuating specimen of lightweight global commercialism, but we’ll try to restrain ourselves. Instead, we’ll just say that its palm-lined avenues, two cinemas, bowling alley, family-friendly eateries, playground and markets are a good distraction for the kids. There are a few drinking establishments for the adults too. Fox Studios (where The Matrix and two Star Wars prequels were filmed) is next door.

MOORE PARKPARK

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9339 6699; www.centennialparklands.com.au; Anzac Pde, Moore Park; g372, 391-99, jMoore Park)

Part of the broader Centennial Parklands (a huge green swathe that cuts from Surry Hills to Bondi), Moore Park covers 115 hectares south of Paddington. With sports fields, tennis courts, an 18-hole public golf course and a site for visiting circuses, there’s plenty here to keep you off the streets.

SHERMAN CONTEMPORARY ART FOUNDATIONGALLERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9331 1112; www.sherman-scaf.org.au; 16 Goodhope St, Paddington; h11am-5pm Wed-Sat, closed Jan & Feb; g389) SF

After 21 years as a cutting-edge commercial gallery, Sherman celebrated its coming-of-age by reopening as a not-for-profit. The focus is on temporary exhibitions of work by influential and innovative artists from Australia, the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.

2 Neighbourhood Walk

Fashionable Footsteps

START VICTORIA BARRACKS

END CENTENNIAL PARK

LENGTH 3.6KM; 1¼ HOURS

The old 1  Victoria Barracks are still an active army base, so unless you join the tour you’ll have to ogle the impressive Georgian sandstone structures from the guarded gates. Cross Oxford St, turn left and head down to 2  Glenmore Road, where temptation comes in the form of sassy boutiques, that give way to the beautiful Victorian terraced houses which are a defining feature of the neighbourhood.

Follow Glenmore Rd for several blocks then jag downhill on Brown St to the cute 3  Neild Avenue Maze, being regrown at last research. Turn right into Lawson St, then take the second right into Goodhope St and continue to 4  Five Ways – a roundabout at the confluence of five roads. The quirky cafes, galleries, shops and pub here make this the hip heart of Paddington.

Head uphill along Broughton St, turn right into Hopetoun St, and follow it around, grabbing a coffee from 5  Paddington Alimentari as you go, to the bottom of 6  William Street. This photogenic side street has sprouted a strip of classy boutiques.

Turn left onto 7  Oxford Street, Sydney’s fashionista freeway. Cafes, pubs and homewares stores join the competition to prise the credit card from your wallet.

At the eastern end of the strip hang left into Queen St, the beginning of upmarket Woollahra. Boutiques give way to antique stores and providores as you head downhill. 8  Simon Johnson at number 55 has tastings – drop in for a nibble. At number 132, 9  Victor Churchill may look like another boutique but its actually a butcher’s – the flashest butcher’s you’ll ever see.

Turn right into Ocean St and head back up to Oxford St. Cross the road and enter the leafy folds of a  Centennial Park.

RIDING THE 389

A good introduction to Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs is a ride on the 389 bus, as it generally avoids major roads in favour of smaller suburban streets. Catch it near the Maritime Museum and take in the Pyrmont harbour foreshore in a long loop that eventually brings you into the city centre across Darling Harbour. Crossing the city from west to east, it zigzags its way through characterful Darlinghurst streets before cruising the prettiest parts of upmarket Paddington. Urban ugliness takes over as you dock in Bondi Junction, where you can change to the 379 to approach Bondi Beach via the interesting back streets, ending up at North Bondi with the beach just down the hill ahead of you.

5 EATING

This conservative enclave has traditionally offered good eating that shies away from the aggressively modern tendencies of its neighbours. Here you’ll find reliable places where the just-so steak paired with the perfect wine is done superbly and the service is well-mannered to match.

PADDINGTON ALIMENTARIDELI $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9358 2142; www.facebook.com/paddington.alimentari; 2 Hopetoun St, Paddington; light meals $5-13; h7am-5pm Mon-Fri, 7.30am-4pm Sat; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

Tucked away at the bottom of the William St boutiques, this is almost the soul of Paddington distilled into one friendly cafe-deli. Super coffee, tempting Italian products and a communal feel as well-heeled locals rub shoulders in friendly hedonism; quite a place.

AMPERSAND CAFE & BOOKSTORECAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9380 6617; www.cafebookshop.com.au; 78 Oxford St, Paddington; mains $9-17; h7am-5.30pm Mon-Fri, 8am-5.30pm Sat, 9am-5pm Sun; Wv; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

Which are better, the books or the cooks? Either way, you’re guaranteed to find a good read (heaps of new and second-hand books over three floors) and a good coffee here. Cooked breakfasts, burgers, salads and mezze plates round out the experience. Try for an outdoor table.

o MARTAITALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9361 6641; www.marta.com.au; 50 McLachlan Ave, Darlinghurst; mains $22-36; h5.30-10pm Tue-Thu, 5.30-10.30pm Fri & Sat, 9am-9pm Sun; dKings Cross)

Set back from a showroom on its own sunny square – or should that be piazza? – this seductive spot focuses on traditional recipes from Rome and its region. Fairly priced and richly flavoured plates blend vernacular tradition with modern techniques to good effect. Daily specials are hearty favourites; prepare your palate with a drink of something sharp at the gleaming bar counter.

CENTENNIAL HOMESTEADCAFE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9380 9350; www.centennialhomestead.com.au; Grand Dr, Centennial Park; cafe dishes $7-15, restaurant mains $23-34; h7am-4pm; Wc; g378-380)

Near the centre of Centennial Park, this encompasses the Pantry, a cafe and take-away, and the Kitchen, doing posher lunches. The glass pavilion is a pleasant spot, and there’s an attached playground so you can sneak in a cocktail while the kids are safely romping.

o SAINT PETERSEAFOOD $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8937 2530; www.saintpeter.com.au; 362 Oxford St, Paddington; mains $28-44; h5.30-10pm Tue-Thu, noon-2pm & 5.30-10pm Fri, 11am-3pm & 5.30-10pm Sat & Sun; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

Fish has sometimes been left behind in the race for nose-to-tailery, pulled meat and burgerization of any land-based beast. It reclaims its deserved preeminence here, with an inspiring, innovative changing menu. Aged oysters, impeccably sourced sustainable stock and avant-garde creations (pressed fish heads anyone?) makes this Sydney’s new finny tribe trailblazer.

LUCIO’SITALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9380 5996; www.lucios.com.au; 47 Windsor St, Paddington; mains $44-50; h12.30-3pm & 6.30-10.30pm Tue-Sat; g389)

Among all the cutting-edge Italian cuisine, there’s still a lot of love for this expensive but gloriously welcoming family-run neighbourhood favourite. Much of it is likely from owners of Paddington galleries, as Lucio’s seems to have bought all their stock over the years: you couldn’t fit a postcard between frames on the bright walls.

ST CLAUDESFRENCH $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9331 3222; http://stclaudes.com.au; 10 Oxford St, Woollahra; mains $30-38; h6-11pm; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

On the premises of what was once Sydney’s most famous restaurant, this is a smart but more casual affair that nevertheless offers plenty of quality. You’ll find some French bistro classics – steak béarnaise, confit duck – on the menu, as well as some mod-Oz-ish influences.

CHISWICKMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8388 8688; www.chiswickrestaurant.com.au; 65 Ocean St, Woollahra; mains $32-40; hnoon-2.30pm & 6-10pm Mon-Thu, noon-3pm & 5.30-10pm Fri & Sat, noon-9pm Sun; Wv; g389) S

There may be a celebrity at centre stage (TV regular Matt Moran) but the real star of this show is the kitchen garden which dictates what’s on the menu. Meat from the Moran family farm and local seafood feature prominently too. The setting, an airy, light pavilion in a small park, is an especially lovely one.

BISTRO MONCURFRENCH $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9327 9713; www.bistromoncur.com.au; 116 Queen St, Woollahra; mains $34-49; hnoon-9pm Sun-Wed, to 10pm Thu-Sat; W; g389)

Mini-moguls and luncheon ladies while away long afternoons beneath Bistro Moncur’s vaulted ceilings and monochromatic mural. The menu changes seasonally, but signature dishes such as French onion soufflé gratin and Cafe-de-Paris sirloin delight diners year-round. The wine list is a standout. The adjacent bar area does the bistro food plus charcuterie and sandwich lunches.

BUON RICORDOITALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9360 6729; www.buonricordo.com.au; 108 Boundary St, Paddington; mains $47-63; hlunch noon-3pm Thu-Sat, dinner from 6pm Tue-Sat; g389, dKings Cross)

This Italian stalwart opened its doors when big perms and shoulder-pads were in fashion, but the critics never forget chef Armando Percuoco when it comes to awarding fine-dining accolades. The menu reflects his Neapolitan origins.

6 DRINKING & NIGHTLIFE

The area has an excellent selection of watering holes, with a fairly refined atmosphere in most of them that gets diluted when the sports fans pour out of the nearby Sydney Cricket Ground and Sydney Football Stadium and pack into Paddo’s pubs.

o UNICORNPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.theunicornhotel.com.au; 106 Oxford St, Paddington; h4pm-1am Mon & Tue, 4pm-3am Wed, 11am-3am Thu-Sat, 11am-midnight Sun; W; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

This spacious art-deco pub is casual and unpretentious, a fine place to sink a few craft beers, sip some Australian wines or try out the pool table atop a Persian-style rug. Burgers are the highlight of the OK eating offerings. There’s a cosy downstairs bistro and small beer garden off it. More than the sum of its parts.

THE PADDINGTONBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9114 7329; www.merivale.com.au/thepaddington; 384 Oxford St, Paddington; hnoon-midnight Mon-Thu, to 3am Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun; W; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

There’s a kick to Paddington’s weekend nightlife, and this bar-restaurant is a key player. Drinks and service are excellent, while succulent chickens spinning on the rotisserie provide a simple but classy eating choice. The design, all white tiles, distressed brick and black-and-white photos of ancestors brandishing haunches of meat, deliberately recalls a butcher’s shop, a little cynically, as it wasn’t one.

Upstairs is a cocktail bar where the local glamour crowd like to be seen on weekend evenings, but this place is also a quality lunch spot on the boutique shopping trail.

10 WILLIAM STREETWINE BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9360 3310; www.10williamst.com.au; 10 William St; h5pm-midnight Mon-Thu, noon-midnight Fri & Sat; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

Paddington loves its quality Italian food and eagerly indulges in this minuscolo slice of la dolce vita on the fashion strip. There are excellent imported wines, many of them by the glass, and equally impressive food.

FOUR IN HANDPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9326 2254; www.fourinhand.com.au; 105 Sutherland St, Paddington; hnoon-11pm Mon-Fri, 11am-11pm Sat, 11am-10pm Sun; g389)

You can’t go far in Paddington without tripping over a beautiful old pub. This is among the nicest, a classic corner space with out-of-time ambience as light filters softly into the understated interior. Its newly established grill restaurant was having a few teething problems at time of last research. That hill back up to Oxford St after a heavy lunch is a killer.

WINE LIBRARYWINE BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9360 5686; www.wine-library.com.au; 18 Oxford St, Woollahra; h4-11.30pm Mon-Thu, noon-11.30pm Fri & Sat, noon-10pm Sun; W; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

An impressive range of wines by the glass, a smart-casual ambience and a Mediterranean-inclined menu make this the most desirable library in town. There’s courtyard seating out the back and very helpful service.

LORD DUDLEY HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9327 5399; www.lorddudley.com.au; 236 Jersey Rd, Paddington; h11am-11pm Mon-Wed, to midnight Thu-Sat, noon-10pm Sun; W; g389)

Popular with rich older geezers and block-shouldered rugby union types, the Lord Dudley is as close to an English country pub as Sydney gets. The exterior is festooned with hanging baskets; the interior features dark woody walls and 18 quality beers on tap, served by the pint. The conservatory space is a prime spot for lunch.

3 ENTERTAINMENT

Paddington has two traditional arthouse cinemas and one outdoor one, while the Hoyts Entertainment Quarter is mostly about the blockbusters. Temples of cricket, horse racing and rugby league add spectator sports to the mix.

o SYDNEY CRICKET GROUNDSPECTATOR SPORT

(MAP GOOGLE MAP SCG; %02-9360 6601; www.sydneycricketground.com.au; Driver Ave, Moore Park; g373-377, jMoore Park)

During the cricket season (October to March), the stately SCG is the venue for sparsely attended interstate cricket matches (featuring the NSW Blues), family-friendly Big Bash (www.bigbash.com.au; hDec-Jan) extravaganzas and sell-out international five-day Test, one-day and 20/20 limited-over cricket matches. As the cricket season ends, the Australian Rules (AFL) season starts, and the stadium becomes a blur of red-and-white-clad Sydney Swans (www.sydneyswans.com.au) fans.

The atmosphere for international cricket and Swans games is excellent. Book via Ticketek. Tours of the ground are also available.

o ROYAL RANDWICK RACECOURSEHORSE RACING

(%02-9663 8400; www.australianturfclub.com.au; Alison Rd, Randwick; g338-9, jAlison Rd)

The action at Sydney’s most famous racecourse peaks in April with several high-profile races, including the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes; check the online calendar for race days, which are normally every second Saturday. It’s always a fun day out, with Sydney fashion on show. On race days, special shuttle buses run from Eddy Ave outside of Central station.

SYDNEY FOOTBALL STADIUMSPECTATOR SPORT

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Allianz Stadium; %02-9360 6601; www.sydneycricketground.com.au; Moore Park Rd, Moore Park; g373-377, jMoore Park)

It’s now officially named after an insurance company, but these naming rights change periodically, so we’ll stick with the untainted-by-sponsorship moniker for this elegant 45,500-capacity stadium. It’s home to local heroes the Sydney Roosters rugby league team (www.roosters.com.au), the NSW Waratahs rugby union team (www.waratahs.com.au) and the Sydney FC A-league football (soccer) team (www.sydneyfc.com). A three-year rebuild is scheduled from 2019.

All of these teams have passionate fans (possibly the most vocal are the crazies in the Roosters’ ‘chook pen’), so a home game can be a lot of fun. Book through Ticketek.

MOONLIGHT CINEMACINEMA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.moonlight.com.au; Belvedere Amphitheatre, cnr Loch & Broome Aves, Centennial Park; adult/child $19/14.50; hsunset Dec-Mar; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40, dBondi Junction)

Take a picnic and join the bats under the stars in magnificent Centennial Park; enter via the Woollahra Gate on Oxford St. A mix of new-release blockbuster, art-house and classic films is screened.

HORDERN PAVILIONCONCERT VENUE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9921 5333; www.playbillvenues.com; 1 Driver Ave, Centennial Park; g373-377, jMoore Park)

Holding over 5000 heaving music fans, the historic white and grey Hordern (1924) hosts plenty of big-name rock gigs (Smashing Pumpkins, Sam Smith, The Kooks) and, along with neighbouring halls, the massive Mardi Gras Party. At time of research its future was in doubt as the lease was out to tender.

COMEDY STORECOMEDY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9357 1419; www.comedystore.com.au; Suttor Ave, Entertainment Quarter, Centennial Park; tickets $15-35; hfrom 7pm Thu-Sat; g355, jMoore Park)

This purpose-built comedy venue lures big-time Australian and overseas stand-ups, and nurtures new talent with open-mic and new-comic nights. US, Irish and Edinburgh Festival performers have ’em rolling in the aisles on a regular basis. Bookings advisable.

PALACE VERONACINEMA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9360 6296; www.palacecinemas.com.au; 17 Oxford St, Paddington; adult/child $20/14; hsessions 10am-9.30pm; W; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

This urbane four-screen cinema has a cool cafe and bar, useful for discussing the merits of the arty flick you’ve just seen. This and its sibling cinemas host various film festivals through the year.

HOYTS ENTERTAINMENT QUARTERCINEMA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9003 3870; www.hoyts.com.au; Bent St, Entertainment Quarter, Centennial Park; hsessions 9.30am-9.30pm; g355, jMoore Park)

This hefty movie complex has numerous cinemas, including an IMAX screen and Hoyts Lux, the cinematic equivalent of a 1st-class cabin, with waiter service, lounge chairs, bar access, soft drinks and popcorn included. Some of the screens are in another building, just down Bent St.

CHAUVEL CINEMACINEMA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9361 5398; www.palacecinemas.com.au; 249 Oxford St, Paddington; adult/child $20/14; hsessions 10am-9.45pm; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

Located inside the historic Paddington Town Hall, the Chauvel strives to offer distinctive and alternative cinema experiences, and to foster Sydney’s film culture. It plays host to various quirky film festivals.

7 SHOPPING

As well as two of Sydney’s premier shopping strips – Oxford St in Paddington (fashion and homewares) and Queen St in Woollahra (antiques and fashion) – this area also secretes dozens of commercial art galleries in its back streets. Oxford St, while still vibrant, has been doing it tough recently, as high rentals and the opening of the nearby Westfield megamall at Bondi Junction have seen a high turnover of businesses as stores close, are replaced, and close again. The biggest cluster of fashion boutiques is around the top of Glenmore Rd and on little William St.

o ALICIA HOLLENFASHION & ACCESSORIES

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0420 942 972; www.aliciahollen.com; 240 Oxford St, Paddington; h11.30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5.30pm Sat; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

Edgy but optimistic, avant-garde yet wearable; the bright designs of Alicia Hollen are seasonal statement wear. Striking and original. It often opens on Sunday too.

o DINOSAUR DESIGNSJEWELLERY, HOMEWARES

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9361 3776; www.dinosaurdesigns.com.au; 339 Oxford St, Paddington; h9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat, 11am-4pm Sun; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

This tiny store is a visual treat. Richly coloured, translucent resin bangles and baubles sit among techni-coloured vases and bowls, and chunky sterling-silver rings and necklaces. It’s all beautiful, hand-made in Sydney and makes a great present for someone.

PADDINGTON MARKETSMARKET

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 2923; www.paddingtonmarkets.com.au; 395 Oxford St, Paddington; h10am-4pm Sat; g333, 380)

Originating in the 1970s, when they were drenched in the scent of patchouli oil, these markets are considerably more mainstream these days. They’re still worth exploring for their new and vintage clothing, crafts and jewellery. Expect a crush.

POEPKEFASHION & ACCESSORIES

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9380 7611; www.poepke.com; 47 William St, Paddington; h10am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5.30pm Sat, 11am-4pm Sun; g333, 380)

On a street filled with cute shops in terraced houses, this is one of Paddington’s more interesting women’s boutiques, stocking a curated range from Australian and international designers.

BERKELOUW BOOKSBOOKS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9360 3200; www.berkelouw.com.au; 19 Oxford St, Paddington; h9.30am-9pm Sun-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

Expecting the dank aroma of second-hand books? Forget it! Follow your nose up to the cafe, then browse through three floors of preloved tomes, new releases, antique maps and Australia’s largest collection of rare books. The Berkelouws have specialised in second-hand books and printed rarities over six generations since setting up shop in Holland in 1812.

ZIMMERMANNCLOTHING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9357 4700; www.zimmermannwear.com; 2-16 Glenmore Rd, Paddington; h10am-6pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, to 7pm Thu, to 5pm Sun; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

Chic and cheeky women’s street clothes and swimwear from sisters Nicky and Simone Zimmermann. There are other stores around town.

SIMON JOHNSONFOOD

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8244 8255; www.simonjohnson.com; 55 Queen St, Woollahra; h9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat, 10am-4pm Sun; g333, 352, 380, 389, 440, M40)

Simon Johnson is the place to fill your high-class picnic hamper. You’ll find the tastiest olives, the creamiest French and Italian chocolates and the crispiest English biscuits, along with imported olive oils and vinegars. There’s also a walk-in, temperature-controlled fromagerie.

ROSLYN OXLEY9 GALLERYART

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 1919; www.roslynoxley9.com.au; 8 Soudan Lane; h10am-6pm Tue-Fri, 11am-6pm Sat; dEdgecliff)

For decades this high-powered commercial gallery has showcased innovative contemporary work, representing artists such as Tracey Moffatt, David Noonan and Bill Henson. It’s great for a nosy even if you’re not looking to buy.

VERNE JEWELSJEWELLERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %0421 653 767; www.vernejewels.com; 30 Oxford St, Woollahra; h10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 11am-4pm Sun; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

Nicholas Bullough assembles the artefacts, stones, pearls and gems he purchases from around the world with an exquisite eye and a wry sense of history. It’s an out-of-the-ordinary, personal place to shop.

WAGNER CONTEMPORARYART

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9360 6069; www.wagnercontemporary.com.au; 2 Hampden St, Paddington; h10.30am-6pm Tue-Sun; dEdgecliff)

The Wagner family are Paddington art royalty, and this smart gallery in the heart of the art quarter has impeccable taste and exciting contemporary exhibitions.

AUSTRALIAN GALLERIESART

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9360 5177; www.australiangalleries.com.au; 15 Roylston St, Paddington; h10am-6pm Mon-Sat; dEdgecliff)

Contemporary Australian painting and sculpture for seriously cashed-up collectors; A-list artists have been jostling to hang their wares here for nearly 60 years.

ELLE ZEITOUNEFASHION & ACCESSORIES

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9368 0230; www.ellezeitoune.com.au; 98 Oxford St, Paddington; h10am-6pm Mon-Sat, to 5pm Sun; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

Slink the Sydney night in a long evening gown or ponder a wedding dress. This boutique puts the elegance back in below-the-knee frocks. All you’ll need is a cigarette holder.

AESOPCOSMETICS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9358 3382; www.aesop.com; 72 Oxford St, Paddington; h10am-6pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, 10am-7pm Thu, 10am-5pm Sun; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

Drop into this long and minimalist outpost of the Australian skincare champions to pick up something fragrant. Or book in for a facial; you deserve it.

POUR TOUSFASHION & ACCESSORIES

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8354 0411; www.pourtous.com.au; 23 William St, Paddington; h11am-6pm Tue-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat, 11am-4pm Sun; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

This well-established William St boutique specialises in fine designer clothing for men and women. It represents Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen, among others.

CHRISTOPHER DAY GALLERYGALLERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9326 1952; www.cdaygallery.com.au; cnr Elizabeth & Windsor Sts, Paddington; hnoon-6pm Wed-Sat; g389)

This long-established gallery specialises in 19th- and 20th-century art, with canvases from premier names like Arthur Boyd and Lloyd Rees often available, as well as a good selection of other Australian artists.

GINGER & SMARTFASHION & ACCESSORIES

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9380 9966; www.gingerandsmart.com; 16a Glenmore Rd, Paddington; h10am-6pm Mon-Wed & Fri, 10am-7pm Thu, 10am-5.30pm Sat, 11am-5pm Sun; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

Sexy, chic, modern clothes for women, designed by Sydney sisters Alexandra and Genevieve Smart.

EQ FOODIES & FARMERS MARKETMARKET

MAP GOOGLE MAP (www.ffmarket.com.au; Showring, Bent St, Entertainment Quarter, Centennial Park; h8am-2pm Wed, 9am-3pm Sat; g355, jMoore Park)

The Entertainment Quarter’s markets have loads of regional produce, including delicious cheese and yogurt.

SASS & BIDEFASHION & ACCESSORIES

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9360 3900; www.sassandbide.com; 132 Oxford St, Paddington; h10am-6pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, 10am-7pm Thu, 11am-5pm Sun; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

A local success story with boutiques in New York and Auckland, Sass & Bide is known for its sassy women’s jeans, creatively cut leather jackets and well-constructed dresses. There are further branches around town.

SCANLAN THEODOREFASHION & ACCESSORIES

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9380 9388; www.scanlantheodore.com.au; 122 Oxford St, Paddington; h10am-6pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, 10am-8pm Thu, noon-5pm Sun; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

Scanlan Theodore excels at beautifully made and finely silhouetted women’s outfits for evening or the office. Sophisticated patterns and colours complement fabrics you just can’t help but fondle.

STILLS GALLERYART

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 7775; www.stillsgallery.com.au; 36 Gosbell St, Paddington; h11am-5pm Wed-Sat; g389, dKings Cross)

Have a gander at some cutting-edge photography at this spacious backstreet gallery. It represents a swag of internationally recognised photographers, including William Yang, Anne Noble and Sandy Edwards.

2 SPORTS & ACTIVITIES
o CENTENNIAL PARKLANDS EQUESTRIAN CENTREHORSE RIDING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9332 2809; www.cpequestrian.com.au; 114-120 Lang Rd, Centennial Park; escorted park rides $90-100; c; g355, jMoore Park)

Conveniently located on the edge of Centennial Park, this centre is home to five different riding schools: Budapest Riding School, Centennial Stables, Eastside Riding Academy, Papillon Riding Stables and Sydney Horse. Each offers a circuit around the park’s tree-lined 3.6km central track as well as riding lessons for all ages. Equine familiarity not required; bookings essential.

SCG EXPERIENCETOURS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %1300 724 737; www.scgexperience.com.au; Venue Services Office, Allianz Stadium, Driver Ave, Moore Park; adult/child $30/20; h10am Mon-Sat; g373-377, jMoore Park)

Live out your own sporting fantasy during this behind-the-scenes guided tour (90 minutes) of the facilities at the Sydney Cricket Ground and adjacent Sydney Football Stadium. You get to see the dressing rooms in both venues, see the cricket museum, and run out on to the hallowed turf at the football stadium. It’s best to prebook online.

Rebuilding of the football stadium from 2018 will likely mean adjustments to the tour and meeting point.

MOORE PARK GOLF CLUBGOLF

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9663 1064; www.mooreparkgolf.com.au; cnr Anzac Pde & Cleveland St, Moore Park; 18 holes $50-65, club hire $49; g372, 391-399, jMoore Park)

The 18-hole, par-70 Moore Park course is the most central of Sydney’s public golf courses. Twilight rates (from 4pm in summer, 2pm in winter) are heavily discounted. The driving range here is open to 11pm or midnight midweek.

CENTENNIAL PARK CYCLESCYCLING

(%0401 357 419; www.cyclehire.com.au; Grand Dr, Centennial Park; h8.30am-5.30pm Oct-Mar, 8am-5pm Apr-Sep; g338-9, 372-7)

In the southern part of Centennial Park, this place hires mountain bikes and hybrids (per hour/day $15/50), road bikes ($20/70), kids’ bikes ($10/45), tandems ($25/75) and pedal cars (per hour $40–60).

PARKLANDS TENNIS CENTRETENNIS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9662 7033; www.parklandssports.com.au; cnr Anzac Pde & Lang Rds, Centennial Park; per hr $22-30; h9am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 7pm Fri, to 6pm Sat & Sun; g372, 391-399, jMoore Park)

Moore Park is the perfect place to release your inner McEnroe, with plenty of faux grass and hard courts.

SKATER HQSKATING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8667 7892; www.skaterhq.com.au; Bent St, Entertainment Quarter, Centennial Park; h9am-6pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, to 7pm Thu, to 5pm Sun; g355, jMoore Park)

Handy to Centennial Park, these guys can fix you up with top-of-the-range in-line skate, roller-skate and skateboard hire ($20/30 per hour/day with safety gear), or give you a lesson in how to ride ’em (private/group lesson $80/40 per hour).

Bondi, Coogee & the Eastern Beaches

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

Bondi, Coogee & the Eastern Beaches

Neighbourhood Top Five

1Bondi Beach Whiling away the day on the golden sands, periodically cooling off in the surf and cruising the promenade. Or learn to surf!

2Bondi to Coogee walk Revelling in the spectacular coastal scenery of this enjoyable stroll that takes in five classic beaches.

3Bondi Icebergs Pool Taking a dip in this iconic ocean pool at the beach’s southern end, braving the odd breaker on a rough day.

4Bronte Beach Buying food and grilling up a storm at a beachside barbecue at this sociable, family-friendly beach.

5Waverley Cemetery Waving at the winter parade of whales from the cliffs at this seaside cemetery with views.

Explore Bondi, Coogee & the Eastern Beaches

Improbably good-looking arcs of sand framed by jagged cliffs, the eastern beaches are a big part of the Sydney experience. Most famous of all is the broad sweep of Bondi Beach, where the distracting scenery and constant procession of beautiful bods never fail to take your mind off whatever it was you were just thinking about… This is where Sydney comes to see and be seen, preferably wearing as little as possible (it’s not an affirming place for those with body-image issues).

The unique flavour of Bondi has been greatly influenced by the Jewish, British and Kiwi immigrants who populated it before it became hip. Housing prices on Bondi’s strangely treeless slopes have skyrocketed, but the beach remains a priceless constant.

South of Bondi, Bronte is a steep-sided beach ’burb, its bowl-shaped park strewn with picnic tables and barbecues. Further south is the concrete-fringed, safe swimming inlet of Clovelly, a great place to dust off your snorkel. Next stop heading south is Coogee, with a wide and handsome beach, and lively backpacker and local scene in the pubs and shops.

Local Life

A Beaches People move to these suburbs to be near the beaches, so don’t think they’re just for tourists.

A Brunch On weekends brunchsters descend on the cafes from near and far. Once you step back from Bondi’s Campbell Pde, Sydneysiders are in the majority.

A Sea Pools Beloved of locals, there are several iconic saltwater pools dotted along this stretch of coast.

Getting There & Away

A Train The Eastern Suburbs line heads to Bondi Junction, which is 2.5km from Bondi Beach, 3km from Bronte Beach and 4km from Coogee Beach.

A Bus For Bondi take bus 333 (express) or 380 from Circular Quay via Oxford St. For Bronte take bus 378 from Railway Sq. For Clovelly take bus 338 from Central or 339 from downtown. For Coogee take bus M50, 373 or 372 among others. Various routes start at the Bondi Junction interchange; download the Eastern Beaches bus map from the Transport NSW website (www.transportnsw.info).

A Car Parking is difficult, especially on weekends – be prepared to park, pay and walk.

Lonely Planet’s Top Tip

Bondi Junction, situated 2.5km from Bondi Beach and 6km from Circular Quay, is the transport hub for the eastern beaches. The Eastern Suburbs train line terminates beneath the main bus station, right next to the Westfield shopping complex. Although you can catch a bus all the way from the city to the beach, it’s generally quicker to catch the train to Bondi Junction and then head upstairs to finish the journey by bus.

2 Best Places To Swim

A Bondi Beach

A Bronte Beach

A Wylie’s Baths

A Clovelly Beach

A Mahon Pool

For reviews, see here

6 Best Drinking & Nightlife

A Coogee Pavilion

A Anchor

A North Bondi RSL

A Icebergs Bar

For reviews, see here

5 Best Eating

A Three Blue Ducks

A Icebergs Dining Room

A Lox Stock & Barrel

A Trio

A A Tavola

For reviews, see here

TOP SIGHT

BONDI BEACH

Bondi is one of the world’s great beaches: the Pacific arrives in great foaming swells. It’s the closest ocean beach to the city centre (8km), has consistently good (though crowded) waves, and is great for a rough-and-tumble swim.

DAN MAY/GETTY IMAGES ©

Surf’s Up

Two surf clubs patrol the beach between sets of red-and-yellow flags, positioned to avoid the worst rips and holes. Thousands of unfortunates have to be rescued from the surf each year, so don’t become a statistic – swim between the flags. Surfers carve up sandbar breaks at either end of the beach; it’s a good place for learners, too.

Icebergs Pool

This famous saltwater pool, regularly doused by the breakers, commands the best view in Bondi and has a cute cafe, Crabbe Hole. There’s a more sheltered pool for kids. It closes on Thursdays so they can clean the seaweed out.

Pavilion and More

MAP GOOGLE MAP Built in 1929, Bondi Pavilion (9am to 5pm) is more cultural centre than changing shed, although it does have changing rooms, showers and lockers (small/large $4/6) as well as the extremely popular bar Bucket List.

In summer there’s an outdoor cinema, while at the beach’s southern end is a skate park. There’s an outdoor workout area at the northern end, plus a park with barbecues. Alcohol is banned throughout.

DON’T MISS

A Bodysurfing between the flags

A Bondi Pavilion

A A beachside barbecue

A Learning to surf

A The views and sea pool at Icebergs

PRACTICALITIES

A MAP, C2

A Campbell Pde

A g333, 380-2

1 SIGHTS

BONDI BEACHBEACH

MAP GOOGLE MAP See here.

ABORIGINAL ROCK ENGRAVINGSARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP 5 Military Rd, North Bondi; g333, 379-82)

On the clifftop fairways of Bondi Golf & Diggers Club, a short walk north from Bondi Beach, lies a flat patch of rock carved by the Eora Aboriginal people (look for it about 20m southeast of the enormous chimney, and watch out for flying golf balls). Some of the images are hard to distinguish, though you should be able to make out marine life and the figure of a man. The carvings were regrooved in the 1960s to help preserve them.

TAMARAMA BEACHBEACH

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Pacific Ave, Tamarama; g361)

Surrounded by high cliffs, Tamarama has a deep tongue of sand with just 80m of shoreline. Small, yes, but ever-present rips make Tamarama the most dangerous patrolled beach in New South Wales; it’s often closed to swimmers. Make sure you pay attention to the lifesavers. It’s hard to picture now, but between 1887 and 1911 a rollercoaster looped out over the water as part of an amusement park.

BRONTE BEACHBEACH

(Bronte Rd, Bronte; c; g379)

A winning family-oriented beach hemmed in by sandstone cliffs and a grassy park, Bronte lays claims to the title of the oldest surf lifesaving club in the world (1903). Contrary to popular belief, the beach is named after Lord Nelson, who doubled as the Duke of Bronte (a place in Sicily), and not the famous literary sorority. There’s a kiosk and a changing room attached to the surf club, and covered picnic tables near the public barbecues.

WAVERLEY CEMETERYCEMETERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9083 8899; www.waverleycemetery.com; St Thomas St, Bronte; h7am-5pm May-Sep, to 7pm Oct-Apr; g360, 379)

Many Sydneysiders would die for these views…and that’s the only way they’re going to get them. Blanketing the clifftops between Bronte and Clovelly beaches, the white marble gravestones here are dazzling in the sunlight. Eighty thousand people have been interred here since 1877, including writers Henry Lawson and Dorothea Mackellar, and cricketer Victor Trumper. It’s an engrossing (and surprisingly uncreepy) place to explore, and maybe to spot a whale offshore during winter. The Bondi to Coogee coastal walk heads past it.

Tours of the cemetery run most Saturdays at 9am, costing $24. Book your spot via the website link (in the ‘About’ page).

CLOVELLY BEACHBEACH

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Clovelly Rd, Clovelly; g338-9)

It might seem odd, but this concrete-edged ocean channel is a great place to swim, sunbathe and snorkel. It’s safe for the kids, and despite the swell surging into the inlet, underwater visibility is great. Bring your goggles, but don’t go killing anything…a beloved friendly grouper fish lived here for many years until he was speared by a tourist.

DOLPHIN POINTPARK

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Baden St, Coogee; g313-14, 353, 370-4)

This grassy tract at Coogee Beach’s northern end has superb ocean views and the Giles Baths (MAP GOOGLE MAP www.randwick.nsw.gov.au) F ocean pool. A sobering shrine commemorates the 2002 Bali bombings that killed many locals. The park’s name was changed to honour the six members of the Coogee Dolphins rugby league team who died in the blast.

Nearby, crucifixes, rosaries and other offerings mark the spot where the Virgin Mary appeared here on sunny afternoons in 2003. Cynics claimed it was an optical illusion caused by the fence and its shadow – judge for yourself online.

COOGEE BEACHBEACH

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Arden St, Coogee; g313-14, 353, 370-4)

Bondi without the glitz and the posers, Coogee (locals pronounce the ‘oo’ as in the word ‘took’) has a deep sweep of sand, historic ocean baths and plenty of green space for barbecues and Frisbee hurling. There are lockers and showers here. Between the world wars, Coogee had an English-style pier, with a 1400-seat theatre and a 600-seat ballroom…until the surf took it.

Offshore, compromising the surf here a little, is craggy Wedding Cake Island, immortalised in a surf-guitar instrumental by Midnight Oil. At Coogee Beach’s northern end, below Dolphin Point, Giles Baths is what’s known as a ‘bogey hole’ – a semiformal rock pool open to the surging surf. At the beach’s southern end, Ross Jones Memorial Pool (MAP GOOGLE MAP www.randwick.nsw.gov.au; Carr St, Coogee; g313-4, 353, 372-3) F has sandcastle-like concrete turrets. A short walk beyond the beach are the McIver’s and Wylie’s sea pools.

MAROUBRA BEACHBEACH

(Marine Pde, Maroubra; g376-7, 395-6)

The last major beach before you hit Botany Bay, ‘the Bra’ is Bondi’s match in the waves department, but its suburban location provides immunity from Bondi’s more pretentious trappings. The notorious Bra Boys gang (documented in the movie Bra Boys, 2007, narrated by Russell Crowe) remains entrenched in the community psyche, but don’t let it keep you out of the surf.

2 Neighbourhood Walk

Bondi to Coogee Clifftop Trail

START BONDI BEACH

END COOGEE BEACH

LENGTH 6KM; TWO TO THREE HOURS

Sydney’s most famous and most popular walk, this coastal path really shouldn’t be missed. Both ends are well connected to bus routes, as are most points in between should you feel too hot and bothered to continue – although a cooling dip at any of the beaches en route should cure that (pack your swimmers). There’s little shade on this track, so make sure you dive into a tub of sunscreen before setting out. A hat is also a good idea.

Starting at iconic 1  Bondi Beach, take the stairs up the south end to Notts Ave, passing above the glistening 2  Icebergs pool complex. Step onto the clifftop trail at the end of Notts Ave.

Walking south, the windswept sandstone cliffs and boisterous Pacific Ocean couldn’t be more spectacular. Small but perfectly formed 3  Tamarama has a deep reach of sand that is totally disproportionate to its width.

Descend from the cliff tops onto 4  Bronte Beach. Take a dip, lay out a picnic under the Norfolk Island pines or head to a cafe for a caffeine hit. After your break, pick up the path on the southern side of the beach.

Some famous Australians are among the subterranean denizens of the amazing cliff-edge 5  Waverley Cemetery. On a clear winter’s day this is a prime vantage point for whale-watchers.

Pass the locals enjoying a beer or a game of lawn bowls at the Clovelly Bowling Club, then breeze past the cockatoos and canoodling lovers in 6  Burrows Park to 7  Clovelly Beach.

Follow the footpath up through the car park, then along to the upturned dinghies lining 8  Gordons Bay, one of Sydney’s best shore-dive spots.

The trail continues past 9  Dolphin Point, which offers great ocean views, then lands you smack-bang on glorious Coogee Beach. Swagger into the a  Coogee Bay Hotel and toast your efforts with a cold beverage.

5 EATING

EARTH TO TABLEVEGAN, CAFE $

(%02-9029 1755; www.earthtotable.com.au; 85 Bronte Rd, Bondi Junction; mains $16-20; h8am-5pm Wed-Sun; Wv; dBondi Junction) S

Perfect if you follow a vegan, paleo or gluten-free diet, this place is hippy outside but hip inside. All the food is sugar-free, vegan and raw, and it’s delicious. Smoothie bowls, cold-pressed coffee, organic teas, buckwheat pancakes: it’s amazing what it manages to create. Chatty staff and ambient electronica make for a welcoming atmosphere.

FUNKY PIESVEGAN, BAKERY $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0451 944 404; www.funkypies.com.au; 144 Glenayr Ave, Bondi Beach; pies $6.50; h8.30am-8.30pm Mon-Fri, from 10am Sat & Sun; v; g379)

Taking the meat out of a meat pie would be considered un-Australian in some quarters but this tiny place does a great job of it. Really tasty vegan combinations can be accompanied by huge smoothies; grab one of the two outdoor tables or take away to the beach. The place has a social conscience too, supporting several charities.

LE PARIS-GOCAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9130 6753; 38 Hall St, Bondi Beach; dishes $12-24; h7am-5.30pm Mon & Tue, to 10pm Wed-Sun; Wv; g379)

Interesting people and upbeat staff frequent this licensed food-all-day cafe – its bench windows or sofa seats are great places to park yourself and watch Bondi life go by. Breakfasts and lunches are simple but tasty and in very generous portions, with solid salads and pasta dishes.

BONDITONY’S BURGER JOINTBURGERS $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0410 893 003; www.bonditonysburgerjoint.com; 144 Glenayr Ave, Bondi Beach; burgers $15-17; hnoon-10pm Mon-Fri, 11am-10pm Sat, 11am-9pm Sun; c; g379)

The squelch comes oozing out as you bite down on one of these sinfully tasty burgers from a rock ’n’ roll–themed spot a couple of blocks back from the beach. Prepare to wait a long time at weekends, as it’s so popular. It’s got a drinks licence though, so you can kick back with a beer while you do.

ORGANIC REPUBLICBAKERY $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9300 8804; www.republicbondi.com.au; 100 Glenayr Ave, Bondi Beach; pastries $3-5, sandwiches $7-12; h5am-3pm Mon-Fri, to 4pm Sat & Sun; g379) S

Its motto – ‘let the bread speak’ – says it all. Fabulous sandwiches on slabs of home-baked organic bread (including spelt) are the signature dish at this bakery cafe in a peaceful pocket of Bondi. You can also enjoy delicious cakes, pastries, pies and biscuits accompanied by fair trade coffee made with organic milk.

LA PIADINAITALIAN $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9300 0160; www.lapiadina.com.au; 106 Glenayr Ave, Bondi Beach; mains $13-18; h8am-5pm Mon, to 10pm Tue-Sun; g379)

A piadina is a filled flat bread common in northern Italy, and the Zizioli brothers are the only ones serving them in Sydney. Fillings include prosciutto, rocket, mozzarella and nduja, a spicy, spreadable Italian sausage. Have them for breakfast, lunch or dinner, but whatever you do, have them – they’re delicious!

CRABBE HOLECAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0450 272 223; www.facebook.com/thecrabbehole; Lower Level, 1 Notts Ave, Bondi Beach; breakfasts $8-15; h7am-3pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat & Sun; g333, 380-2)

Tucked within the Icebergs pool complex (there’s no need to pay admission if you’re only eating), this crab-sized nook is the kind of place locals would prefer we didn’t let you know about. Toasted sandwiches, muesli, and banana bread star on the small but perfectly formed menu; coffees are automatic double shots unless you specify otherwise. The views are blissful.

EARTH FOOD STORECAFE, DELI $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9365 5098; www.earthfoodstore.com.au; 81 Gould St, Bondi Beach; breakfasts $11-19; h6.30am-8pm Mon-Wed, 6.30am-5.30pm Thu-Sat, 7am-5.30pm Sun; v; g333, 380-2) S

An organic cafe, deli and naturopath in one, this licensed cafe serves up a healthy range of salads, quiches, vegetarian pies and tennis-ball-sized falafels, plus takeaway nuts, herbs, spices, teas, fruit and veg. It opens for early dinners at the beginning of the week. Counter seating is limited.

A FISH CALLED COOGEEFISH & CHIPS $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9664 7700; 229 Coogee Bay Rd, Coogee; fish ’n’ chips $12; hnoon-9pm; g370, 374)

This upmarket fish and chipper offers much more than your standard deep-fried cod. There’s everything from barbecued shrimp and peppered marlin to swordfish and garlic prawns, charged by weight. Eat in or grab a bag and find a patch of sand.

o THREE BLUE DUCKSCAFE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9389 0010; www.threeblueducks.com; 141-143 Macpherson St, Bronte; breakfasts $14-22, lunches $20-32, dinners $28-38; h6.30am-2.30pm daily plus 6-11pm Wed-Sat; Wv; g379) S

These ducks are a fair waddle from the water at Bronte Beach, but that doesn’t stop queues forming outside the graffiti-covered walls for weekend breakfasts across two seating areas. The adventurous chefs have a strong commitment to using local, organic and fair trade food whenever possible. It’s part of a nice little eating strip.

o LOX STOCK & BARRELJEWISH, CAFE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9300 0368; www.loxstockandbarrel.com.au; 140 Glenayr Ave, Bondi Beach; breakfast & lunch dishes $10-22, dinner $18-29; h7am-3.30pm daily plus 6-10pm Wed & Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat; Wvc ; g379)

Stare down the barrel of a smoking hot bagel and ask yourself one question: Wagyu corned-beef Reuben, or homemade pastrami and Russian coleslaw? In the evening the menu sets its sights on steak, lamb shoulder and slow-roasted eggplant. It’s always busy, even on a wet Monday.

TRIOCAFE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9365 6044; www.triocafe.com.au; 56 Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach; dishes $18-27; h7am-3pm Mon-Fri, 7.30am-3.30pm Sat & Sun; Wv; g333, 380-2)

Brunch in Bondi has become de rigueur in Sydney in recent years, and this friendly, unpretentious cafe is one of the top spots to do it. The menu covers several global influences, from Mexican chilaquiles to Middle Eastern shakshouka via some Italian bruschetta. It’s a great way to start a day by the sea.

LITTLE KITCHENCAFE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8021 3424; www.thelittlekitchen.com.au; 275 Arden St, Coogee; lunch mains $19-26, dinner mains $25-31; h7am-3pm daily plus 6-9pm Thu, 6-10pm Fri & Sat; g353, 376-7)

Confident modern Australian fare, strong on presentation, vibrant flavours and quality ingredients, is on offer in this tiny spot. A cheerful, family-run business with an open kitchen and some outdoor seating, it fits well with Coogee’s likeably casual beach vibe. Pre-beach breakfasts are a great option here too.

CAFE DE FRANCEFRENCH, CAFE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9664 4005; www.cafedefrancecoogee.com.au; 19 Havelock Ave, Coogee; breakfast $11-17, dinner mains $29-36; h7am-3.30pm Mon-Wed, 7am-3.30pm & 6-10pm Thu & Fri, 7.30am-10pm Sat, 7.30am-5pm Sun; g353, 376-7)

An art nouveau building, posters of Paris, crêpes, croissants and croques monsieur…this friendly cafe is as French as South Coogee can get. There are breakfasts all day, as well as salads and classics such as steak frites for lunch. Dinners are memorable, with blackboard bistro specials like coq au vin.

BONDI HARDWAREMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9365 7176; www.bondi-hardware.com.au; 39 Hall St, Bondi Beach; share plates $18-34; h4-11pm Mon-Thu, noon-midnight Fri, 8am-midnight Sat, 8am-10pm Sun; Wv; g333, 380-2)

This former hardware store has kept the idea going, with designer rough-and-ready decor and plenty of small thematic touches, though sofa seats and hanging plants add a softer side. It’s a cafe-bar-restaurant, doing great weekend breakfasts alongside its tasty menu of share plates, ranging from dips to larger offerings. There are good vegetarian options.

SUGARCANESOUTHEAST ASIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8313 9790; www.sugarcanerestaurant.com.au; 56 Carr St, Coogee; mains $22-34; h5.30-11pm Mon-Thu, noon-2.30pm & 5.30-11pm Fri, 8am-2.30pm & 5.30-11pm Sat & Sun; v; g313-4, 353, 372-3)

This relatively recent Coogee arrival has got the locals firmly on side with its winning combination of Southeast Asian dishes in a very appealing Bali-beach-villa-style interior. Appropriately, there are some standout seafood offerings such as whole snapper with green papaya, but dishes such as Wagyu rendang more than hold their own on the turfy side of things.

BONDI’S BESTSEAFOOD $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9300 9886; www.bondisbest.com.au; 39-53 Campbell Pde, North Bondi; meals $15-30; hnoon-9pm; c; g333, 379, 380-2)

In an appealing block of cafes close to the beach action but more peaceful, this little square place has more kitchen than customer space, but it’s worth finding a spot for all-day fish ’n’ chips as well as more elaborate fish and seafood, plus mealtime sushi and sashimi choices. It’s all casual and tasty; there’s a more restaurant-y outlet on Hall St in Bondi too.

A TAVOLAITALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9130 1246; www.atavola.com.au; 75 Hall St, Bondi Beach; mains $25-37; h5.30-11pm Mon & Tue, noon-3pm & 5.30-11pm Wed-Sun; W; g379)

Carrying on the tradition of its Darlinghurst sister, Bondi’s A Tavola gathers around a big communal marble table where, before the doors open, the pasta-making action happens. Expect robust flavours, impeccably groomed waiters and delicious homemade pasta. There’s some pleasant outdoor seating on this interesting street.

BONDI TRATTORIAITALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9365 4303; www.bonditrattoria.com.au; 34 Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach; breakfast $11-20, lunch & dinner $28-37; h8am-10pm; p; g333, 380-2)

For an all-day Bondi option with vistas, you can’t go past the trusty ‘Trat’, as it’s known in these parts. Tables spill out onto Campbell Pde for those hungry for beach views. New owners have given the menu a facelift, with quality antipasto options and excellent salads as well as pizzas, pasta and daily fish specials.

MACELLERIASTEAK $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9300 6388; www.macelleria.com.au; 180 Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach; mains $19-33; h11am-9.30pm; g333, 380-2)

An interesting casual-dining concept, Macelleria is a butcher’s shop that will cook for you. Line up and pick your steak, chicken, sausages or burger then wait for it to be cooked. Prices are very fair for this quality. Seating is ad-hoc, so it’s more a talk-to-strangers spot than date-night material.

BARZURACAFE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9665 5546; www.barzura.com.au; 62 Carr St, Coogee; mains $27-32; h7am-11pm; W; g313-4, 353, 372-3)

Barzura’s views are among the best of any cafe in Sydney. The sunbaked stretch north along Coogee Beach is a stunner, as are the deliciously uncomplicated salads, pastas and generous breakfasts, all served with a smile.

o ICEBERGS DINING ROOMITALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9365 9000; www.idrb.com; 1 Notts Ave, Bondi Beach; mains $46-52; hnoon-3pm & 6.30-11pm, from 10am Sun; g333, 380-2)

Poised above the famous Icebergs swimming pool, Icebergs’ views sweep across the Bondi Beach arc to the sea. Inside, bow-tied waiters deliver fresh, sustainably sourced seafood and steaks cooked with elan. There’s also an elegant cocktail bar. In the same building, the Icebergs club has a bistro and bar with simpler, cheaper fare.

SEAN’S PANAROMAMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9365 4924; www.seanspanaroma.co; 270 Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach; mains $39-45; h6-10pm Wed-Sat, noon-4pm Sat & Sun; g333, 380-2)

Sean Moran’s ever-changing menu is chalked on a blackboard in this modest little dining room that packs out with happy diners. Ocean views, hearty seasonal dishes and friendly service make it a deservedly popular, buzzy spot.

BRONTE ROAD BISTROFRENCH $$$

(%02-9389 3028; www.bronteroadbistro.com; 282 Bronte Rd, Waverley; mains $31-38; h5.30-9.30pm; g314-317)

This friendly neighbourhood bistro tucked away from the street behind an exuberant screen of foliage offers a crowd-pleasing menu of French favourites, such as steak frites and confit duck, with the odd modern Australian touch.

WORTH A DETOUR

BOTANY BAY & BEYOND

South of Maroubra, Botany Bay was named by Captain Cook (who landed here in 1770) after the botanical specimens collected by his naturalist Joseph Banks. Later, the First Fleet landed here before soon relocating to Sydney Harbour.

Six days later, French explorer La Pérouse turned up; you can visit a museum (%02-9093 6190; www.randwick.nsw.gov.au/facilities-and-recreation; Anzac Pde, La Perouse; h10am-2pm Wed, 10am-4pm Sat & Sun; gL94, 391, 393, 394) F in the suburb named after him to learn more. Nearby is the strange Bare Island (%1300 072 757; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; Anzac Pde, La Perouse; tours adult/child $15/10; htours 1.30, 2.30 & 3.30pm Sun), a decaying, grass-tussocked concrete fort built in 1885 to discourage a feared Russian invasion. A 45-minute guided tour is the only way to access the island.

Also here, Congwong Beach (Anzac Pde, La Perouse; c; gL94, 391, 393, 394) faces the bay and is good for families. Its neighbour, Little Congwong (Henry Head Ave, La Perouse), is a more adult, clothing-optional scene.

On the southern side, the visitor centre (%02-9668 2000; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; Cape Solander Dr, Kurnell; h10am-3.30pm Mon-Fri, 9.30am-4pm Sat & Sun; g987) for the Kamay Botany Bay National Park (%02-9668 2000; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; vehicle admission $8; gL94, 391, 393, 394 to La Perouse, dCronulla then bus 987 to Kurnell) conveys the impact of European arrival on the local Aboriginal people.

Beyond Botany Bay, Cronulla (dCronulla) is a beachy surf suburb. Its long strand (Sydney’s only beach reachable by train) is one of the most reliable for decent waves.

6 DRINKING & NIGHTLIFE

The eastern beaches are replete with places designed for the post-surf or post-suntan beer. Bondi and Coogee have the liveliest scenes, but hotels at Clovelly and Maroubra won’t leave you wanting either. Bronte might be your favourite beach in the area, but it’s a long, thirsty walk to the nearest pub.

o COOGEE PAVILIONBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9114 7321; www.merivale.com.au/coogeepavilion; 169 Dolphin St, Coogee; h7.30am-midnight; Wc; g313-14, 353, 370-4)

With numerous indoor and outdoor bars, a kids’ play area and a glorious adults-only rooftop, this vast complex has brought a touch of inner-city glam to Coogee. Built in 1887, the building originally housed an aquarium and swimming pools. Now, space, light and white wood give a breezy feel. Great eating options run from Mediterranean-inspired bar food to fish ’n’ chips and sashimi.

It gets totally packed at weekends.

ANCHORBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8084 3145; www.facebook.com/anchorbarbondi; 8 Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach; h5pm-midnight Mon-Fri, from noon Sat & Sun; W; g333, 380-382)

Surfers, backpackers and the local cool kids slurp down icy margaritas at this bustling bar at the south end of the Bondi strip. It sports a dark-wood nautical-piratey feel and is also a great spot for a late snack. The two-hour happy hour from 5pm weekdays is a good way to start the post-surf debrief.

NEIGHBOURHOODBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9365 2872; www.neighbourhoodbondi.com.au; 143 Curlewis St, Bondi Beach; h5-11pm Mon-Thu, from 4pm Fri, from noon Sat, 10am-10pm Sun; W; g333, 380-382)

This smart food and wine bar has a brick-lined interior giving way to a wood-lined courtyard. Bondi Radio broadcasts live from a booth near the kitchen, which specialises in burgers. It’s a cool place with a great weekend vibe.

ICEBERGS BARBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9365 9000; www.idrb.com; 1 Notts Ave, Bondi Beach; hnoon-midnight Mon-Sat, 10am-10pm Sun; g333, 380-382)

The neighbouring eatery is more famous, but the casual-chic Icebergs Bar is a brilliant place for a drink. Colourful sofas and ritzy cocktails do little to distract from the killer views from floor-to-ceiling windows looking north across Bondi Beach. A small astro-turf terrace adds an outdoor vibe.

NORTH BONDI RSLBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9130 3152; www.northbondirsl.com.au; 120 Ramsgate Ave, North Bondi; hnoon-10pm Mon-Thu, noon-11pm Fri, 10am-11pm Sat, 10am-10pm Sun; c; g380-382, 379)

This Returned & Services League bar ain’t fancy, but with views no one can afford and drinks that everyone can, who cares? The kitchen serves good cheap nosh, including a dedicated kids’ menu. Bring ID, as nonmembers theoretically need to prove that they live at least 5km away. Grab a balcony seat for the perfect beach vistas.

CLOVELLY HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9665 1214; www.clovellyhotel.com.au; 381 Clovelly Rd, Clovelly; h10am-midnight Mon-Sat, to 10pm Sun; W; g338-9)

A renovated megalith on the hill above Clovelly Beach, this pub has a shady terrace and water views – perfect for post-beach Sunday-afternoon bevvies (drinks). If you fancy being indoors, the cosy front bar or ultra-spacious lounge will do the trick. Food, now that it’s under the Matt Moran empire, is on the up.

COOGEE BAY HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9665 0000; www.coogeebayhotel.com.au; 253 Coogee Bay Rd, Coogee; h8am-4am Mon-Thu, to 6am Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun; W; g313-14, 353, 372-4)

This enormous, rambling, rowdy complex packs in the backpackers for live music, open-mic nights, comedy and big-screen sports in the beaut beer garden, sports bar and Selina’s nightclub. Sit on a stool at the window overlooking the beach and sip on a cold one.

BUCKET LISTBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9365 4122; www.thebucketlistbondi.com; Bondi Pavilion, Bondi Beach; h11am-midnight; W; g333, 380-2)

By no means subtle, Bucket List blares out beachy pop over its excellent in-demand terrace and promotes a hedonistic good-times atmosphere. Sip on an ice-cold beverage while watching the passing parade or gazing aimlessly out to sea. The interior doesn’t lack for views either, with a big wraparound window giving it a conservatory feel.

BEACH ROAD HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9130 7247; www.beachroadbondi.com.au; 71 Beach Rd, Bondi Beach; h11am-11pm Mon & Tue, 11am-1am Wed-Fri, 10am-1am Sat, 10am-10pm Sun; g379)

Weekends at this big boxy pub are a boisterous multilevel alcoholiday, with Bondi types (bronzed, buff and brooding) and woozy out-of-towners playing pool, drinking beer and enjoying live bands and DJs.

3 ENTERTAINMENT

BONDI OPENAIR CINEMACINEMA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.openaircinemas.com.au; Dolphin Lawn, next to Bondi Pavilion, Bondi Beach; adult/concession $25/17; hmid-Jan–Feb; g333, 380-2)

Enjoy open-air screenings by the sea, with live bands providing prescreening entertainment. Online bookings are cheaper and recommended anyway.

7 SHOPPING

Surf and beachwear shops are the mainstay of the beach shopping scene. The Bondi strip has some fairly pricey boutiques. Inland, the Westfield mall at Bondi Junction has a huge range of clothing chain stores.

SURFECTIONFASHION & ACCESSORIES

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9300 6619; 31 Hall St, Bondi Beach; h9.30am-6pm Mon-Wed & Sat, to 9pm Thu, to 7pm Fri, 10am-6pm Sun; g333, 380-382)

Selling boardies, bikinis, sunnies, shoes, watches, tees…even luggage – Bondi’s coolest surf shop has just about everything the stylish surfer’s heart might desire. Old boards hang from the ceiling, while new boards fill the racks.

GERTRUDE & ALICEBOOKS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9130 5155; www.gertrudeandalice.com.au; 46 Hall St, Bondi Beach; h6.45am-9pm; W; g379)

This second-hand bookshop and cafe sees locals, students and academics hang out reading and drinking excellent coffee. Join them for comfort food and discourse around communal tables.

BONDI MARKETSMARKET

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.bondimarkets.com.au; Bondi Beach Public School, Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach; h10am-4pm Sun, to 5pm Dec & Jan; g380-382)

On Sundays, when the kids are at the beach, their school fills up with characters rummaging through tie-dyed secondhand clothes, original fashion, books, beads, earrings, aromatherapy oils, candles, old records and more. There’s a farmers market here on Saturdays (9am to 1pm).

AQUABUMPSART

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9130 7788; www.aquabumps.com; 151 Curlewis St, Bondi Beach; h10am-6pm; g333, 380-2)

Photographer/surfer Eugene Tan has been snapping photos of Sydney’s sunrises, surf and sand for 20 years. His colourful prints hang in this cool space, just a splash from Bondi Beach.

WESTFIELD BONDI JUNCTIONMALL

(%02-9947 8000; www.westfield.com.au; 500 Oxford St, Bondi Junction; h9.30am-6pm Mon-Wed & Sat, to 9pm Thu, to 7pm Fri, 10am-6pm Sun; W; dBondi Junction)

Vast. That’s the only word to describe this upmarket shopping mall. Expect to get lost; the space-time continuum does funny things as you explore the 400-plus stores set over six levels. It’s even more challenging in the underground car park.

2 SPORTS & ACTIVITIES
o BONDI TO COOGEE CLIFFTOP WALKWALKING

See here.

o LET’S GO SURFINGSURFING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9365 1800; www.letsgosurfing.com.au; 128 Ramsgate Ave, North Bondi; board & wetsuit hire 1hr/2hr/day/week $25/30/50/200; h9am-5pm; g380-2)

North Bondi is a great place to learn to surf, and this well-established surf school offers lessons catering to practically everyone. There are classes for ‘grommets’ (beginners) aged seven to 16 (1½ hours, $49) and adults (two hours, $110, women-only classes available), or you can book a private tutor (1½ hours, $195/284 for one/two people). Prices drop outside summer.The school also hires out boards, wetsuits and stand-up paddleboards.

BONDI ICEBERGS POOLSWIMMING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9130 4804; www.icebergs.com.au; 1 Notts Ave, Bondi Beach; adult/child $7/5; h6am-6.30pm Mon-Wed & Fri, from 6.30am Sat & Sun; g333, 380-2)

see here.

DIVE CENTRE BONDIDIVING

(%02-9369 3855; www.divebondi.com.au; 198 Bondi Rd, Bondi; h9am-6pm Mon-Fri, from 8am Sat & Sun; g333, 380-2)

Friendly and professional, this centre offers guided dives from shore ($175 for two dives) or boat ($195 for two dives) as well as equipment hire. It runs PADI Open Water courses ($495), as well as Advanced ($495).

PRO DIVEDIVING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9665 6333; www.prodive.com.au; 27 Alfreda St, Coogee; h9am-6pm Mon-Thu, from 10am Fri, from 7.30am Sat & Sun; g313-4, 353, 370-14)

This well-established set-up offers shore dives (double dive $119), boat dives ($219) and various PADI courses. Check the online calendar for upcoming excursions. It also has outlets in Cronulla and Manly.

MAHON POOLSWIMMING

(www.randwick.nsw.gov.au; Marine Pde, Maroubra; g353, 376-7) F

Hidden within the cliffs, 500m north of Maroubra Beach, Mahon Pool is an idyllic rock pool where the surf crashes in at high tide. It’s quite possibly Sydney’s most beautiful bogey hole (sea bath).

KITEBOARDING

Sydney Harbour’s too busy and the ocean’s too rough, but Botany Bay is perfect for kitesurfing. Brush up your aqua-aeronautic skills with a Kitepower lesson (%02-9529 6894; www.kitepower.com.au; 302 Grand Pde, Sans Souci; 2hr lessons $250; h9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat, 10am-2pm Sun mid-Sep–mid-May; g303); this works best if you’ve had some trainer kite-flying experience. There are no classes from mid-May to mid-September.

WYLIE’S BATHSSWIMMING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9665 2838; www.wylies.com.au; 4b Neptune St, Coogee; adult/child $5/2.50; h7am-7pm Oct-Mar, to 5pm Apr-Sep; g353, 376-7)

On the rocky coast south of Coogee Beach, this superb sea-water pool (dating from 1907) is targeted at swimmers more than splash-abouts. After your swim, take a yoga class, enjoy a massage, or have a coffee at the kiosk, which has magnificent ocean views.

GORDONS BAY UNDERWATER NATURE TRAILDIVING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.gordonsbayscubadivingclub.com; Victory St, Clovelly; g338-9)

Accessed from beyond the car park just south of Clovelly Beach, this is a 500m underwater chain that guides divers around reefs, sand flats and kelp forests.

MCIVER’S LADIES BATHSSWIMMING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.randwick.nsw.gov.au; Beach St, Coogee; $2; hsunrise-sunset; g352, 372-7)

Perched against the cliffs south of Coogee Beach and well screened from passers-by, this sea pool has been popular for women’s bathing since before 1876. Its strict women-only policy has made it popular with nuns, Muslim women and lesbians. Small children of either gender are permitted.

CLOVELLY BOWLING CLUBLAWN BOWLS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9665 1507; www.clovellybowlingclub.com.au; 1 Ocean St, Clovelly; h10am-7.30pm Mon-Fri, from 9am Sat & Sun; g360)

A sunbaked square of clifftop grass, this lawn-bowls club offers sensational ocean views and something of a hipster scene on weekends. Drop in for a thirst-quenching lager as you traverse the Bondi to Coogee walk. If you want to barefoot bowl, it’ll cost you $15 (book ahead). Free coaching for beginners.

1. Bondi To Coogee Clifftop Trail

Walk the trail between Sydney’s most famous beaches.

GAGLIARDIIMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

2. Bondi Beach

Grab a surfboard or just relax on the sand.

ANDREW WATSON/GETTY IMAGES ©

3. Coogee Beach

Bondi’s chilled-out little sister.

M. KUEHL/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

4. Icebergs Pool

This saltwater pool is filled by the waves at the south end of Bondi Beach.

KOMPASSKIND.DE/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Around the Harbour

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

Around the Harbour

Neighbourhood Top Five

1Watsons Bay Catching a ferry here and spending an afternoon exploring South Head and lying around Camp Cove before claiming a spot at the pub as the sun sinks over the city.

2Sydney Harbour Kayaks Paddling around secluded corners of the harbourside national park on a tour with this outfit.

3Nielsen Park Sneaking down to the secluded Vaucluse strand of Shark Beach for a picnic and a swim.

4Cockatoo Island Exploring the detritus of industry and incarceration, then kicking back in your fancy glamping tent.

5Taronga Zoo Meeting Australia’s weird and wonderful native fauna at Sydney’s impressive zoo with a view.

Explore Sydney Harbour

Sure, it’s a stretch to call this large, disparate area a ‘neighbourhood’, but the harbour is such an integral part of the Sydney experience that we felt it was worth highlighting in this way.

Catch a ferry at Circular Quay for a short hop around the lower North Shore, or allocate half a day to exploring Watsons Bay or Cockatoo Island. Sydney’s most expensive homes are huddled around the harbour in exclusive nooks such as Vaucluse, Point Piper and Darling Point in the Eastern Suburbs and Mosman on the North Shore. Even former working-class bastions such as Balmain, west of the city, are now among the city’s most desirable addresses.

Due to its military use, large chunks of the scrub-covered coast have been left much as the First Fleet would have found it. The navy still controls some of the land, but most has been turned over to Sydney Harbour National Park. If you fancy a wilderness walk in the heart of the city, pick a slice to explore and jump on a ferry.

Local Life

A Ferries There are worse ways of getting to work than cruising on the harbour. For those living close to the water, this is the commute of choice.

A Beaches Many of the harbour beaches are local treasures, frequented only by those who live in the immediate surrounds.

A Wharves Dedicated fisherfolk congregate at their favourite spots to try their luck at hooking the big one.

Getting There & Away

A Ferry Most of the places around Sydney Harbour can be reached by ferries from Circular Quay, the major exceptions being Vaucluse and Balmoral.

A Train Useful stations include Circular Quay, Edgecliff (for Double Bay), Milsons Point, North Sydney and Waverton (for Balls Point).

A Bus Buses are the only public transport reaching Vaucluse and Balmoral. Useful routes from the city include 325 (Kings Cross–Double Bay–Rose Bay–Vaucluse–Watsons Bay) and 380 (Darlinghurst–Paddington–Bondi–Watsons Bay). The following routes run from Wynyard through North Sydney and Mosman: E68-80, 168, 178, 180 (for Spit Bridge), 244 (for Obelisk and Cobblers Beach) and 245 (for Balmoral).

A Parking Street parking shouldn’t be difficult to find, but in busy areas it’s often metered.

Lonely Planet’s Top Tip

There’s no need to shell out on a pricey cruise when you can see exactly the same sights from a ferry. Board a ferry to Watsons Bay and then back it up with the river service to Parramatta. You’ll cover far more distance than the average cruise and all for a maximum of $15.40 on an Opal transport card. Unless of course you prefer your views accompanied by commentary, cocktails, dinner or showgirls…

5 Best Eating

A Riverview Hotel & Dining

A Efendy

A Catalina

A Regatta

A Bathers’ Pavilion

For reviews, see here

5 Best Harbour-View Dining

A Aqua

A Ripples Chowder Bay

A Regatta

A Catalina

A Sails on Lavender Bay

For reviews, see here

2 Best Beaches

A Shark Beach

A Camp Cove

A Balmoral Beach

A Parsley Bay

A Chinamans Beach

For reviews, see here

1 SIGHTS

1 Southern Shore

Sights here are listed from west to east.

BALMAINAREA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP g433, 441-5, fBalmain, Balmain East)

Once a tough, working-class neighbourhood, Balmain now rivals Paddington in Victorian-era desirability – with the added advantage of being surrounded by water and city-bound ferries. Darling St traverses the spine of Balmain’s peninsula, and makes for a decent pub crawl. Balmain’s frangipani-scented streets contain dozens of historically significant buildings, most of which are privately owned.

DOUBLE BAYAREA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP g323-327, fDouble Bay, dEdgecliff)

Manicured Double Bay, an emblem of Sydney’s wealthy Eastern Suburbs, is a bastion of blue-rinse ladies and flashy, nouveau-riche types. There’s a lively shopping scene here, and plenty of bars and restaurants. Immediately to the west, Edgecliff is a nondescript transport hub centred on New South Head Rd, sheltering the moneyed mansions of very upmarket Darling Point. To the east, Point Piper is similarly exclusive.

MILK BEACHBEACH

MAP GOOGLE MAP (52 Vaucluse Rd, Vaucluse; g325)

The only things to distract you from serious beach time at divine Milk Beach are seaplanes and the glistening Sydney skyline. With wow-worthy harbour views and limited access, this isolated stretch of sand at the base of Hermit Bay is still one of the city’s best-kept secrets. Heritage-listed Strickland House is out back, and clear, warm waters in front, at this tiny parcel of harbourside paradise.

o NIELSEN PARKPARK, BEACH

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Vaucluse Rd, Vaucluse; hnational park area 5am-10pm; g325)

Something of a hidden gem, this gorgeous harbourside park with a sandy beach was once part of the then 206-hectare Vaucluse House estate. Secluded beneath the trees is Greycliffe House, a gracious 1851 Gothic sandstone pile (not open to visitors), which serves as the headquarters of Sydney Harbour National Park. Despite its ominous name, there’s really nothing to worry about at Shark Beach – it has a net to put paranoid swimmers at ease.

Visit on a weekday when it’s not too busy: just mums with kids, retirees and slackers taking sickies from work. It’s pretty bushy across the harbour at Middle Head too, so it’s easy to forget you’re in a city here. You can walk here from Bayview Hill Road in Rose Bay along the pleasant Heritage Foreshore Walk, with great views of the bridge and Opera House.

VAUCLUSE HOUSEHISTORIC BUILDING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9388 7922; www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au; Wentworth Rd, Vaucluse; adult/child $12/8; h10am-4pm Wed-Sun; g325)

Construction of this imposing, turreted specimen of Gothic Australiana, set amid 10 hectares of lush gardens, commenced in 1805, but the house was tinkered with into the 1860s. Atmospheric, and decorated with beautiful European period pieces, the house offers visitors a rare glimpse into early Sydney colonial life, as lived by the well-to-do. The history of the Wentworths, who occupied it, is fascinating, and helpful guides give great background on them. In the grounds is a popular tearoom.

Vaucluse was occupied from 1827 to 1862 by William Charles Wentworth, his wife Sarah and their children. The son of a convict mother, Wentworth became a barrister and cowrote the first New South Wales colonial constitution. However, his democratic leanings kept him estranged from high society: he held the ‘outrageous’ view that Australian-born colonials were the equals of the English, and that political and legal rights should be extended to emancipists (freed convicts). Wentworth was also an intrepid explorer. In 1831 he was part of the first European expedition to cross the Blue Mountains. You can see his extravagant mausoleum on nearby Chapel Rd.

PARSLEY BAYBEACH

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Vaucluse; g325)

A hidden gem, this little bay has a calm swimming beach, a lawn dotted with sandstone sculptures for picnics and play, a little cafe and a cute suspension bridge. Keep an eye out for water dragons (native reptiles) as you walk down through the bush.

o WATSONS BAYAREA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP g324-5, 380, fWatsons Bay)

Lovely Watsons Bay, east of the city centre and north of Bondi, was once a small fishing village, as evidenced by the tiny heritage cottages that pepper the suburb’s narrow streets (and now cost a fortune). It’s a lovely day trip by ferry for an exploration of South Head and a leisurely lunch. While you’re here, tradition demands that you sit in the pub’s beer garden at sunset and watch the sun dissolve behind the disembodied Harbour Bridge, jutting up above Bradley’s Head.

On the ocean side, The Gap is a dramatic cliff-top lookout where proposals and suicides happen with similar frequency. Leave the car behind if visiting Watsons Bay at weekends; the parking options can’t cope.

CAMP COVEBEACH

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Cliff St, Watsons Bay; g324, 325, 380, fWatsons Bay)

Immediately north of Watsons Bay, this small swimming beach is popular with both families and topless sunbathers. When Governor Phillip realised Botany Bay didn’t cut it as a site for a convict colony, he explored north into Sydney Harbour, dropped anchor and sunk his boots into Camp Cove’s gorgeous golden sand on 21 January 1788.

LADY BAYBEACH

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Cliff St, Watsons Bay; g324, 325, 380, fWatsons Bay)

Also known as Lady Jane, this diminutive gay nudist beach sits at the bottom of a cliff, on top of which (somewhat ironically) is a Royal Australian Navy facility. To get here, follow the clifftop walking track from (somewhat aptly named) Camp Cove.

SYDNEY HARBOUR NATIONAL PARK

Sydney Harbour National Park (www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au) Sydney Harbour National Park protects large swathes of bushland around the harbour shoreline, plus several harbour islands. In among the greenery you’ll find walking tracks, scenic lookouts, Aboriginal carvings, beaches and a handful of historic sites. The park incorporates South Head and Nielsen Park on the south side of the harbour, but most of the park is on the North Shore – including Bradleys Head, Middle Head, Dobroyd Head and North Head.

SOUTH HEADNATIONAL PARK

MAP GOOGLE MAP (www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; Cliff St, Watsons Bay; h5am-10pm; g324, 325, 380, fWatsons Bay)

At the northern end of Camp Cove, the South Head Heritage Trail kicks off, leading into a section of Sydney Harbour National Park distinguished by harbour views and crashing surf. It passes old fortifications and a path heading down to Lady Bay, before continuing on to the candy-striped Hornby Lighthouse and the sandstone Lightkeepers’ Cottages (1858). Between April and November, look out to sea to where the whale-watching boats have congregated and you’ll often see cetaceans.

MACQUARIE LIGHTHOUSELIGHTHOUSE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8969 2100; www.harbourtrust.gov.au; Old South Head Rd, Vaucluse; tours adult/child $5/3; g324, 380, 386-7)

Visible from all over Sydney, this striking white lighthouse was built in the 1880s as an exact replica of the original Francis Greenway–designed structure (1818). It’s a pretty spot, with grassy lawns, heavenly ocean views and a clifftop trail extending to Watsons Bay. Before the lighthouse was built, a series of fires were lit along this coast to keeps ships away from the cliffs. Occasional tours run: check the website and book ahead.

1 Northern Shore

Sights here are listed from west to east.

BALLS HEAD RESERVEPARK

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Balls Head Rd, Waverton; dWaverton)

Scruffy, bushy Balls Head Reserve not only has great views of the harbour, the city skyline and the industrial relics on Goat Island, it also has a wiggly waterline and inland paths, ancient Aboriginal rock paintings and carvings (although they’re not easily discernible), and barbecue facilities. From Waverton Station turn left and follow Bay Rd, which becomes Balls Head Rd. It’s a 10-minute walk.

It’s easy to shut yourself off amid the sandstone and scrub here and imagine how Sydney must have been before European settlement.

o MCMAHONS POINTVIEWPOINT

MAP (Henry Lawson Ave, McMahons Point; fMcMahons Point)

Is there a better view of the bridge and the Opera House than from the wharf at this point, a short hop by ferry northwest of the centre? It’s all unfolded before you and is a stunning spot to be when the sun is setting.

WENDY WHITELEY’S SECRET GARDENGARDENS

MAP GOOGLE MAP (www.wendyssecretgarden.org.au; Lavender St, Lavender Bay; h24hr; fMilsons Point, dMilsons Point) F

On the shore of Lavender Bay, this is one of Sydney’s hidden treasures. The public garden was created by artist Brett Whiteley’s widow (an artist herself) on an old railway siding and is accessed through Clark Park, off Lavender St.

MARY MACKILLOP PLACECHURCH, MUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8912 4878; www.marymackillopplace.org.au; 7 Mount St, North Sydney; adult/child $10/6.50; h10am-4pm; dNorth Sydney)

Sydney has produced many famous sinners but this museum tells the life story of St Mary of the Cross (aka Mary MacKillop), Australia’s only Catholic saint. Born in Melbourne in 1842, she was a dedicated, outspoken educator who prevailed over conservative hierarchical ideals, despite a brief excommunication. You’ll find her tomb inside the chapel. The museum has interesting interactive displays and a whimsical Nuns on the Run automaton, proving that the Josephites (the order that MacKillop founded) have a sense of humour.

LUNA PARKAMUSEMENT PARK

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9922 6644; www.lunaparksydney.com; 1 Olympic Dr, Milsons Point; h11am-10pm Fri & Sat, 10am-6pm Sun, 11am-4pm Mon; fMilsons Point, dMilsons Point) F

A sinister chip-toothed clown face (50 times life-sized) forms the entrance to this old-fashioned amusement park overlooking Sydney Harbour. It’s one of several 1930s features, including the Coney Island funhouse, a pretty carousel and the nausea-inducing Rotor. You can purchase a two-ride pass ($20), or buy a height-based unlimited-ride pass (adults $52, kids $22 to $42, cheaper if purchased online). Hours are complex, and extended during school and public holidays. It also functions as a concert venue. Opened in 1935, Luna Park was knocked up in three months by Depression-era workers.

KIRRIBILLIAREA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP fKirribilli, dMilsons Point)

The Sydney residences of Australia’s governor general and prime minister are located on Kirribilli Point, east of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. When in town, the PM gets some shut-eye in the Gothic Revival–style Kirribilli House (MAP GOOGLE MAP; Kirribilli Ave), built in 1854, while the GG bunkers down in Admiralty House (MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.gg.gov.au; Kirribilli Ave), built in 1846. Both houses are better spotted from the water than by peering through the lightly fortified gates.

Squeezed between the Harbour Bridge and the politicians, the diminutive Dr Mary Booth Reserve Foreshore Walkway (MAP GOOGLE MAP; Broughton St; fMilsons Point) offers great views of the Opera House and the city skyline.

MAY GIBBS’ NUTCOTEMUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9953 4453; www.nutcote.org; 5 Wallaringa Ave, Neutral Bay; adult/child $10/4; h11am-3pm Wed-Sun; fNeutral Bay, Kurraba Point)

Beautiful harbourside Nutcote (1925) is the former home of author and illustrator May Gibbs (1877–1969), who wrote the much-loved Australian children’s book about the gumnut babies Snugglepot & Cuddlepie. It’s now restored to its 1930s Arts-and-Crafts glory and houses a museum devoted to her life and work; she was a fascinatingly pioneering woman whose art-nouveau style was popular worldwide. Cheery and knowledgeable volunteer guides give tours; there are beautiful gardens, harbour views, a tearoom and a gift shop.

CREMORNE POINTAREA

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Milson Rd, Cremorne; fCremorne Point)

Cremorne Point (technically Robertsons Point; Woolwarra-jurng to the Eora people) is a beaut spot for a picnic on grassy Cremorne Reserve, or for a swim in the free saltwater MacCallum Pool. The harbour views from here are downright delicious (especially when the New Year’s Eve fireworks are erupting). You can explore the headland on a 3km loop walk.

o TARONGA ZOO SYDNEYZOO

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9969 2777; www.taronga.org.au; Bradleys Head Rd, Mosman; adult/child $46/26; h9.30am-5pm Sep-Apr, to 4.30pm May-Aug; c; g238, 247, M30, fTaronga Zoo) S

A 12-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay, this bushy harbour hillside is full of kangaroos, koalas and similarly hirsute Australians, plus numerous imported guests. The zoo’s critters have million-dollar harbour views, but seem blissfully unaware of the privilege. Encouragingly, Taronga sets benchmarks in animal care and welfare. Highlights include the nocturnal platypus habitat, the Great Southern Oceans section and the Asian elephant display. Feedings and encounters happen throughout the day, while in summer, twilight concerts jazz things up (see www.twilightattaronga.org.au).

Tours include Nura Diya; Roar & Snore is an overnight family experience. There’s also Wild Ropes, high ropes courses offering special views (it’s cheaper to buy this with zoo entry than separately).

Catching the ferry is part of the fun. From the wharf, the Sky Safari cable car or a bus will whisk you to the main entrance, from which you can traverse the zoo downhill back to the ferry. Access for people with disabilities is good, even when arriving by ferry.

If you are driving and staying a while, note that the zoo car park ($18 per day) is much cheaper than the metered parking on the streets around (weekdays/weekends $4.20/7 per hour). Getting here by bus is the cheapest option; the 247 heads here from Wynyard.

2 Neighbourhood Walk

North Shore Harbour Hustle

START CREMORNE POINT

END BALMORAL BEACH

LENGTH 13KM; FOUR HOURS

Ride the ferry from Circular Quay to chilled-out 1  Cremorne Point, surrounded by the native shrub of Cremorne Reserve. Wander out to the 2  tip of the point for brilliant city views.

Heading north, you’ll trundle past the well-tended plots of palms, ferns and philodendrons in 3  Lex & Ruby’s Garden, named after the local couple who planted it and lovingly tended it for decades.

Keep walking around the other side of exclusive 4  Mosman Bay. Check out the historic stone building called the 5  Barn, an early colonial structure that’s now a scout hall. Just beyond is the Wharf Store; go up the stairs to Mosman St and follow Trumfield Lane to McLeod St. Turn left, scoot across Musgrave St and take the stairs down to the other side, then cross Raglan St, where more stairs descend to the shore.

Wind around 6  Little Sirius Cove and take the stone steps onto a shoreline path. Wander down to inspect the site of the historic 7  Artists’ Camp; a little later, take the stairs down to 8  Whiting Beach, a secluded sandy bay. Further along the lush, shady path is the 9  Taronga Zoo entrance and ferry wharf.

Keep on into national park and a track that leads to the tip of a  Bradleys Head, offering great views of South Head. Next up are Chowder Head, b  Clifton Gardens Reserve and c  Headland Park, an old naval base above Chowder Bay.

Head up to the lookout near the d  Gunners Barracks Tea Room, which has a glorious cityscape panorama. From here, pick up the track that darts through bushy scrubland offering fortifications and brilliant views of the heads of the harbour before angling left, crossing Middle Head Rd and heading past some magnificently gnarled red gums. It eventually heads down some steps, popping you out near e  Balmoral Beach.

OBELISK BEACHBEACH

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Chowder Bay Rd, Middle Head; g244)

An isolated gay and nudist beach surrounded by bushland in the Middle Head section of Sydney Harbour National Park. It loses the sun quickly in the afternoon (making it chilly for the nudists).

CHOWDER BAY BEACHBEACH

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Clifton Gardens; Clifton Gardens Reserve, Clifton Gardens; g244)

A beautiful place to enjoy scenic harbour beach swims with views of Fort Denison, Chowder Bay is also a convenient rest point on the coastal walk between Taronga Zoo and Balmoral. There’s a shark net, playground, picnic tables and plenty of grass, as well as good eating options in the former army barracks.

MIDDLE HEADVIEWPOINT

MAP GOOGLE MAP (www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; Middle Head Rd, Middle Head; g244)

Offering super harbour views and a look straight out to sea between North and South Head, this bushy headland is riddled with fortifications, some dating back to the early years of the colony when French invasion was feared. Check the park website for tours of them, which run roughly monthly (adult/child $20/13).

COBBLERS BEACHBEACH

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Cobblers Beach Rd, Middle Head; g244)

A nude and secluded beach on the other side of Middle Head from its partner in crime, Obelisk.

BALMORAL BEACHBEACH

MAP GOOGLE MAP (The Esplanade, Balmoral; g238, 245, 257)

The beachy enclave of Balmoral faces off with Manly across Middle Harbour, and has some good restaurants and a beaut swimming beach. Split in two by an outrageously picturesque rocky islet accessed by a little bridge, Balmoral attracts picnicking North Shore families. Swimmers migrate to the shark-netted southern end.

CHINAMANS BEACHBEACH

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Cyprian St, The Spit; g246)

Gorgeous, peaceful and serene, despite its proximity to busy Balmoral, this is a photogenic location for a swim. At low tide it’s a lovely stroll along the shore north to the Spit Bridge.

1 Harbour Islands
o COCKATOO ISLANDISLAND

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8969 2100; www.cockatooisland.gov.au; fCockatoo Island)

Studded with photogenic industrial relics, convict architecture and art installations, fascinating Cockatoo Island (Wareamah) opened to the public in 2007 and now has regular ferry services, a campground, rental accommodation, a cafe and a bar. Information boards and audio guides ($5) explain the island’s time as a prison, a shipyard and a naval base.

A spooky tunnel passes clear through the middle of the island and you can also explore the remains of the prison. During WWII most of the old sandstone buildings were stripped of their roofs and converted into bomb shelters. Solitary confinement cells were unearthed here recently after being filled in and forgotten in the 1890s.

Tours run on demand ($16 per person, minimum 10) from the Visitor Centre (MAP; %02-8969 2100; h10am-4pm).

FORT DENISONFORTRESS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %restaurant 02-9361 5208, tour bookings 1300 72757; www.fortdenison.com.au; tour plus ferry adult/child $37.50/29; htours 11.15am, 12.15pm, 2pm & 3.10pm; fFort Denison)

In colonial times this island was a site of suffering, used to isolate recalcitrant convicts and nicknamed ‘Pinchgut’ for its meagre rations. Fears of Russian invasion during the Crimean War led to its fortification. The NPWS (%1300 072 757; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au) offers tours of the Martello tower (prebook online), although many people just pop over to have lunch at the outdoor restaurant. Without the tour, the exhibition is a little desultory and you can’t access the tower.

Both Captain Cook Cruises and Manly Fast Ferry/Eco-Hopper have several services per day heading to the island from Darling Harbour and Circular Quay. The ticket includes the island access fee. Private boats aren’t allowed to land. The restaurant was closed at time of research but due to reopen in 2018.

GARDEN ISLANDMUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9359 2003; www.navy.gov.au; h9.30am-3.30pm; fGarden Island) F

The majority of the important Garden Island naval base is off-limits to the strolling public, but you can visit the tip by ferry. Here, there’s a pleasant garden and lookout as well as a cafe and a naval museum. It’s a well-arranged modern display with wartime paraphernalia, weapons, control consoles from a submarine, and a periscope which you can use to observe the harbour. There are also some rather unusual sailors’ trophies and a gloriously out of place porcelain iris with butterfly.

SHARK ISLANDISLAND

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %1300 072 757; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; ferry adult/child $20/17)

Little Shark Island, off Rose Bay, makes a great picnic getaway. There’s not a lot here except for toilets and drinking water – and at 250m by 100m, you’ll soon have explored every inch of it. Captain Cook Cruises runs four ferries per day to the island from Circular Quay (jetty 6) and Darling Harbour (pier 26). If you get there yourself, by kayak, for example, you need to pay the $7-per-person park fee over the phone first.

HARBOUR WALKS

Sydney’s harbour suburbs are its most intriguing, with any number of hidden bays and beaches, quiet streets with magnificent views and local ambience. While exploring the harbour by ferry is a must, walking its foreshore is also a highlight of a visit to the city. There are numerous routes, which switch between dedicated harbourside paths, sections along beaches and stretches on quiet suburban roads. The website www.walkingcoastalsydney.com.au is a great resource for planning your own excursion, with downloadable brochures and maps.

5 EATING

The best harbour restaurants dip their feet in the water, with some offering amazing views of the city. You normally pay a premium for the waterside location.

ZUMBOBAKERY $

MAP GOOGLE MAP (www.zumbo.com.au; 296 Darling St, Balmain; sweets $2.50-10; h8am-6pm Mon-Sat, to 5pm Sun; g433, 442-5, fBalmain)

It all began here for celebrity patissier Adriano Zumbo. The slenderness of the shop will be inversely proportionate to the girth of your waistline if you visit too often: the macarons are as astonishing to look at as they are to eat. It also does a nice line in artisan breads.

o RIVERVIEW HOTEL & DININGMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9810 1151; www.theriverviewhotel.com.au; 29 Birchgrove Rd, Balmain; bar mains $17-32, restaurant mains $24-38; hrestaurant noon-3.30pm & 5-9.30pm; W; g433, 444, 445, fBalmain)

Foodies flock here to try the excellent fish dishes and nose-to-tail meat creations in the elegant upstairs dining room, while locals are equally keen on the pizzas and share plates served in the downstairs bar. It’s a lovely pub in itself, with hanging baskets and a characterful interior.

o EFENDYTURKISH $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9810 5466; www.efendy.com.au; 79 Elliott St, Balmain; large dishes $18-34; h5-10pm Wed-Fri, 9am-3pm & 5-10pm Sat & Sun; g433, 444-5)

Occupying the house and courtyard of a venerable Balmain mansion, this immersive Turkish eating experience is a buzzy place designed for sociable dining on delicious meze morsels, charcoal-grilled meats and other delights. Modern ideas meet street-food tradition in a winning combination. Raki, Turkish-inspired cocktails and Anatolian wines are suitable accompaniments. There’s also a sumptuous weekend breakfast spread ($32 per head).

RIPPLES CHOWDER BAYMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9960 3000; www.rippleschowderbay.com.au; Chowder Bay Rd, Clifton Gardens; mains $28-38; hnoon-3pm & 6-10pm Mon-Fri, 8-10.30am, 11.30am-3pm & 6-10pm Sat & Sun; g244)

Blending Italian and mod Oz influences, Ripples offers smart food in a former army complex overlooking the beach at the end of Chowder Bay Rd. The setting is magnificent: a covered terrace perched above the water, offering magnificent harbour perspectives. The menu runs from fish and chips to sophisticated seafood and meat creations.

ONE FORD STREETITALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9818 4232; www.onefordstreet.com.au; 1 Ford St, Balmain; mains $28-35; h6-10pm Wed & Thu, noon-3pm & 6-10pm Fri & Sat, noon-5pm Sun; W; g433, 441-5, fBalmain)

Tucked away behind the Cricketers’ Arms pub is this curious indoor-outdoor hideaway. Gloriously fresh, colourful and inventive modern Italian food is a real pleasure here, with texture and flavour in generous doses.

HARVESTVEGETARIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9818 4201; www.harvestvegetarianrestaurant.com; 71 Evans St, Rozelle; mains $23-25; h6-10pm Tue-Sat; v; g441-5)

In business for nearly half a century, this place offers inventive, rich and satisfying vegetarian fare in a warm and upbeat atmosphere. There are several vegan dishes too, and global influences are fruitfully combined in the dishes. BYO and licensed.

GUNNERS BARRACKS TEA ROOMTEAHOUSE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8962 5900; www.gunnersbarracks.com.au; Suakin Dr, Georges Heights, Mosman; teas $35-70, lunch mains $28-34; h10am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm Sat & Sun; g244)

Offering lovely harbour views in a historic barracks, this is a refined spot for a morning or afternoon cuppa from the lengthy tea menu. Grab a piece of cake to go with it or splash out on indulgent morning or afternoon teas in classic style. Weekday lunches feature substantial Modern Australian meals. Phone ahead, as it books out for events.

KAZBAHNORTH AFRICAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9555 7067; www.kazbah.com.au; 379 Darling St, Balmain; breakfast $12-23, lunch $19-29, dinner $29-36; h8am-3pm & 5.30-10pm Wed-Sat, 8am-3pm Sun; g433, 441-5, fBalmain)

Rock the Kazbah for Moroccan breakfast, weekend brunch or a peppy dinner. On hot summer days the windows fold out to the street. Generous serves feature plenty of eggplant, tahini, hummus and cumin; leave room for sweets.

RIPPLESITALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9929 7722; www.ripplesmilsonspoint.com.au; Olympic Dr, Milsons Point; breakfast $12-22, lunch & dinner $28-36; h8am-10.30am, noon-3pm & 6-11pm, from 7.30am Sat & Sun; fMilsons Point, dMilsons Point)

Flanked by the Harbour Bridge, the choppy harbour and Luna Park’s insane grin, Ripples does well to compete with the view and come out on top. Expect lots of seafood, including fish and chips cooked to crispy perfection.

ATHOL HALL CAFEMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9968 3551; www.atholhallvenue.com.au; Ashton Park, Bradleys Head Rd, Mosman; mains $24-33; h11.30am-3pm Mon-Fri, 11.45am-3pm Sat & Sun; g238, fTaronga Zoo)

Near Taronga Zoo, this handsome building has lovely harbour views from its verandah. Essentially a function space, it makes a tempting lunch stop on a harbour walk. Substantial dishes are beautifully conceived and presented, with appealing combinations of flavour and texture. No alcohol license at time of research, but this was on the way.

DUNBAR HOUSECAFE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9337 1226; www.dunbarhouse.com.au; 9 Marine Pde, Watsons Bay; breakfast $14-20, lunch $22-35; h8am-3.30pm Sun; g324, 325, 380, fWatsons Bay)

Now open only on Sundays, this meticulously restored 1830s mansion is a gorgeous spot for brunch, particularly if you can score one of the harbour-view tables on the verandah. Bookings are recommended. It’s named after a famous 19th-century shipwreck that occurred near here.

REGATTASEAFOOD $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9327 6561; www.regattarosebay.com; 594 New South Head Rd, Rose Bay; mains $42-48; hnoon-10pm Tue-Sat, to 5pm Sun; g323-5, fRose Bay)

With a romantic location on a pier jutting out into Rose Bay, Regatta offers relaxed but quality service and well-presented contemporary seafood. The fish dishes are reliably delicious and good wines are on hand to accompany them. Between lunch and dinner, it serves drinks and a bar menu.

CATALINAMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9371 0555; www.catalinarosebay.com.au; Lyne Park, Rose Bay; mains $46-52; hnoon-3pm & 6-10.30pm Mon-Sat, noon-3pm Sun; g323-5, fRose Bay)

Named after the flying boats once based here, this excellent Rose Bay restaurant has marvellous views, a lively Eastern Suburbs vibe and an impressive wine list. With this location, on stilts over the water, you expect seafood from the menu, and it doesn’t disappoint. Quality offerings are sourced from around the country, and meaty options are available, with roast suckling pig a speciality.

BATHERS’ PAVILIONFRENCH $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9969 5050; www.batherspavilion.com.au; 4 The Esplanade, Balmoral Beach; 3/5/7 courses $120/140/160, cafe mains $22-36; hnoon-3pm & 6.30-11pm; v; g245)

Spanish Mission–style architecture, harbour views and outstanding food collide at one of Sydney’s most enduringly popular restaurants. The seasonal menu focuses on produce from small local providers, with plenty of seafood; there’s also a full vegetarian menu. Under the same roof, Bathers’ Café opens for breakfast at 7am, serving scrumptious fare (including delicious pizza) at more democratic prices.

SAILS ON LAVENDER BAYMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9955 5998; www.sailslavenderbay.com; 2 Henry Lawson Ave, McMahons Point; mains $41-49; h6-10.30pm Mon, noon-3pm & 6-10.30pm Tue-Sat, noon-3pm Sun; fMcMahons Point)

Right by the wharf, and under 10 minutes from Circular Quay by ferry, this restaurant offers a stupendous perspective of central Sydney Harbour. It’s mostly glass, and every table has a decent view. It dishes up competent, well-presented Modern Australian fare from a short menu; the vegetable side dishes are a tasty addition. Service could be substantially improved, but that view…

AQUAITALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9964 9998; www.aquadining.com.au; cnr Paul & Northcliff Sts, Milsons Point; 2/3/4/6 courses $75/95/110/125; hnoon-2.30pm & 6-10pm; fMilsons Point, dMilsons Point)

The views are not just impressive from this high-end restaurant above the North Sydney pool, they are immersively like a 3D movie, with the bridge looming impossibly large and Luna Park’s lights on the other side. Presentation of the sophisticated Italian-influenced dishes is exquisite and quality high. Ask for the balcony tables that overlook the pool.

DOYLES ON THE BEACHSEAFOOD $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9337 2007; www.doyles.com.au; 11 Marine Pde, Watsons Bay; mains $41-49; hnoon-3pm & 5.30-9pm Mon-Fri, noon-4pm & 5.30-9pm Sat & Sun; g324, 325, 380, fWatsons Bay)

There may be better places for seafood, but few can compete with Doyles’ location or history – it first opened in 1885. Catching the ferry to Watsons Bay for a fishy lunch is a quintessen-tial Sydney experience. If the prices make you think twice, grab fish and chips ($13 to $20) from its takeaway outlet at the ferry wharf.

6 DRINKING & NIGHTLIFE
o WATSONS BAY BEACH CLUBPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9337 5444; www.watsonsbayhotel.com.au; 1 Military Rd, Watsons Bay; h10am-midnight Mon-Sat, to 10pm Sun; g324, 325, 380, fWatsons Bay)

One of the great pleasures in life is languishing in the rowdy beer garden of the Watsons Bay Hotel, mere metres from the ferry wharf, after a day at the beach. It goes off here at weekends, with food options and a rowdy good time had by all. Stay to watch the sun go down over the city.

o SHEAFPUB

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Golden Sheaf Hotel; %02-9327 5877; www.thesheaf.com.au; 429 New South Head Rd, Double Bay; h10am-1am Mon-Wed, to 2am Thu-Sat, to midnight Sun; W; g323-327, fDouble Bay, dEdgecliff)

A cracking pub, especially at weekends, this is a real Eastern Suburbs favourite whose recent makeover has only enhanced it. The beer garden is among Sydney’s best: large, with good wines by the glass, heaters, evening entertainment and brilliant food (all day from Friday to Sunday). Lots of other spaces mean there’s something for all.

WELCOME HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9810 1323; www.thewelcomehotel.com.au; 91 Evans St, Rozelle; h11.30am-11.30pm Mon-Sat, noon-10pm Sun; W; g433, 441, 444, 445)

If you get lost in the tucked-away backstreets of Rozelle, you might find yourself chowing down in the beautiful Welcome Hotel’s acclaimed Italian restaurant, or working your way through the craft beer selection in the palm-shaded courtyard. You might even get to commune with Winston, the resident foxhound ghost.

RAG & FAMISHPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9955 1257; www.ragandfamish.com.au; 199 Miller St, North Sydney; h10am-midnight Mon-Thu, to 1am Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun; W; dNorth Sydney)

This classic Australian pub once stood virtually alone, but now is dwarfed by steel-and-glass office buildings and surrounded by busy traffic. Nevertheless, it’s a fine spot for quality craft beers or pub grub from pies to generous burgers and sandwiches. There’s a beer garden, lounge and a posher upstairs dining area.

THE COTTAGEBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8084 8185; www.thecottagebalmain.com.au; 342 Darling St, Balmain; h5-11pm Mon-Wed, noon-midnight Thu-Sat, noon-10pm Sun; W; g433, 441-5)

The sweet front patio and garden of this cute house tucked away but on the main street make super spots to kick back with an afternoon glass of wine or a cocktail. Friendly management do good drinks and also turn out pizzas and share plates.

GREENWOOD HOTELBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9964 9477; www.greenwoodhotel.com; Level 1, Greenwood Plaza, 36 Blue St, North Sydney; 11am-10pm Mon-Wed, to 3am Thu, to 1am Fri, 2-10pm Sun; dNorth Sydney)

The transformation of this sandstone schoolhouse (1878) into a vibrant bar has left it largely unchanged. It’s a lovely spot with great outdoor seating, an oasis in busy North Sydney. The food is great too. Sundays see an open-air house club, S.A.S.H, pumping the courtyard.

LONDON HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9555 1377; www.londonhotel.com.au; 234 Darling St, Balmain; h11am-midnight Mon-Sat, noon-10pm Sun; W; g442, 444, 445, fBalmain)

The Harbour Bridge views from the London’s long awned balcony are quintessentially Sydney – about as far from London as you can get. There’s a historic feel and a great range of Oz beers on tap, plus a few quality overseas interlopers.

3 ENTERTAINMENT

HAYDEN ORPHEUM PICTURE PALACECINEMA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9908 4344; www.orpheum.com.au; 380 Military Rd, Cremorne; adult/child $22/16; hsessions 10.30am-8.50pm; gM30, 244-9)

Return to cinema’s golden age at this fab art-deco gem (1935). It still has its original Wurlitzer organ, which gets a workout at special events.

ENSEMBLE THEATRETHEATRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9929 0644; www.ensemble.com.au; 78 McDougall St, Kirribilli; fNorth Sydney, dMilsons Point)

This long-running Ensemble presents mainstream theatre by overseas and local playwrights (think David Williamson and David Hare), generally with well-known Australian actors. Come early and relax in the lovely harbourside park behind it.

SUNSET CINEMACINEMA

MAP GOOGLE MAP (www.sunsetcinema.com.au; North Sydney Oval, Miller St, North Sydney; adult/child $19/12; hmid-Jan–Mar; dNorth Sydney)

At picturesque North Sydney Oval, this outdoor cinema is one of several popular Sydney summer-night choices. Take a picnic, but no booze: it’s licensed.

7 SHOPPING

High-end boutiques line the streets of well-heeled Double Bay, Mosman and similar harbourside suburbs. A few worthwhile markets are also scattered across the area.

BALMAIN MARKETMARKET

MAP GOOGLE MAP (www.balmainmarket.com.au; 223 Darling St, Balmain; h9am-3pm Sat; g433, 442, 444, 445, fBalmain)

This small market is set in the grounds of St Andrews Congregational Church. Stalls sell arts, crafts, books, clothing, jewellery, plants, and veg. From the Balmain ferry wharf, head up Thames St to Darling St and turn left.

KIRRIBILLI MARKETSMARKET

MAP GOOGLE MAP (www.kirribillimarkets.com; Burton Street Tunnel, Kirribilli; dMilsons Point)

Kirribilli’s general market (7am to 3pm, 4th Saturday of the month) offers exotic foods and lively harbourside hubbub, and sells everything from vintage clothes to kids gear and all kinds of jewellery. Its other monthly market (9am to 3pm, 2nd Sunday of the month) has an area for art and design, and a separate zone for fashion.

ROZELLE COLLECTORS MARKETSMARKET

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9315 7011; www.rozellecollectorsmarket.com.au; 663 Darling St, Rozelle; h9am-3pm Sat & Sun; g433, 444-445)

One of Sydney’s best bargain-hunter markets, with few tourists. Sift through antiques, collectibles, jewellery, vintage clothes, plants and books, with live folk music, palm readings and exotic food stalls as a backdrop.

2 SPORTS & ACTIVITIES

Getting out on the harbour is easily done, with several places renting out kayaks and SUPs, and offering classes and tours. Harbourside swimming pools are popular spots, while, if you want a broader overview, a scenic flight in a seaplane is a classic upmarket Sydney experience.

SYDNEY HARBOUR KAYAKSKAYAKING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9960 4389; www.sydneyharbourkayaks.com.au; Smiths Boat Shed, 81 Parriwi Rd, Mosman; h9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 7.30am-5pm Sat & Sun, closed Mon & Tue Jun-Sep; gE66, E68, E71, E75-7)

Rents kayaks (from $20 per hour) and stand-up paddleboards (from $25), and leads excellent four-hour ecotours ($125) from near the Spit Bridge.

RUSHCUTTERS BAY PADDLE SPORTSKAYAKING

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Epic Kayaks; %02-9362 1717; https://rushcuttersbaypaddlesports.com.au; d’Albora Marina, 1b New Beach Rd, Darling Point; hire per hour from $25; h9.30am-4pm Tue-Fri, 9am-4.30pm Sat, 9am-3.30pm Sun; g324-5, 328, dEdgecliff)

This professional set-up rents excellent-quality kayaks, with options for all levels of expertise, and stand-up paddleboards from a marina on the east side of Rushcutters Bay. You can also arrange guided kayak tours of the harbour.

NURA DIYACULTURAL

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9969 2777; www.taronga.org.au; Taronga Zoo, Mosman; 90min tour adult/child $99/69; h9.45am Mon, Wed & Fri; gM30, 238, 247, fTaronga Zoo)

Indigenous guides introduce you to native animals at Taronga Zoo and share Dreaming stories about them, giving an insight into traditional Aboriginal life; advance bookings essential.

ROAR & SNOREWILDLIFE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9978 4791; www.taronga.org.au; Taronga Zoo, Mosman; adult/child $335/215; gM30, 238 247, fTaronga Zoo)

An overnight family experience at Taronga Zoo that includes a night-time safari, a buffet dinner, breakfast and tents under the stars.

MURRAY ROSE POOLSWIMMING

MAP GOOGLE MAP (Redleaf Pool; 536 New South Head Rd, Double Bay; g323-326, fDouble Bay) F

Not really a pool at all, family-friendly Murray Rose (named after a champion Olympic swimmer) is a large, shark-netted enclosure that is one of the harbour’s best swimming spots. As one of the closest harbour beaches to the city, it attracts an urbane cross-section of inner-eastern locals. A boardwalk runs around the top of the shark net, and there’s a sought-after floating pontoon.

DAWN FRASER BATHSSWIMMING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9555 1903; www.lmc.nsw.gov.au; Elkington Park, Fitzroy Ave, Balmain; adult/child $5.40/3.70; h7.15am-6.30pm Oct-Nov & Mar-Apr, 6.45am-7pm Dec-Feb; g433, 444-5)

Australia’s all-conquering 1956–64 Olympian Dawn Fraser sacrificed her youth swimming laps at these tidal baths in the harbour. The magnificently restored late-Victorian (1884) timber enclosure picturesquely protects swimmers from underwater undesirables.

NATURAL WANDERSKAYAKING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %0427 225 072; www.kayaksydney.com; Lavender Bay wharf, Lavender Bay; tours $75-160; dMilsons Point)

Offers exhilarating morning kayak tours around the Harbour Bridge, Lavender Bay, Balmain and Birchgrove.

WILD ROPESADVENTURE SPORTS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9932 4246; www.taronga.org.au/wildropes; Taronga Zoo, Bradleys Head Rd, Mosman; 2 courses adult/child $37/32; h9.30am-3pm May-Aug, to 3.30pm Sep-Apr; c; g247, M30, fTaronga Zoo)

These four rope courses at Taronga Zoo offer great views over the zoo and harbour. There’s another one designed for three-to-seven-year-olds ($20). You don’t need to buy zoo entry to access Wild Ropes, but if you’re going to do both, it’s cheaper to buy a combination ticket.

ROSE BAY AQUATIC HIREKAYAKING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %0416 123 339; www.rosebayaquatichire.com; Tingira Reserve, cnr Vickery Ave & New South Head Rd, Rose Bay; kayaks per hour $25; h9am-3pm Sat & Sun or by appointment; fRose Bay)

Based on the beach, this outfit rents simple kayaks for harbour paddles, with Shark Island an obvious destination. Phone ahead if you want a midweek rental. It may close if the forecast is bad.

NORTH SYDNEY OLYMPIC POOLSWIMMING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9955 2309; www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au; 4 Alfred St South, Milsons Point; adult/child $8/4; h5.30am-9pm Mon-Fri, 7am-7pm Sat & Sun; dMilsons Point)

Next to Luna Park is this art-deco Olympic-sized outdoor pool, plus a 25m indoor pool, kids splash zones, a gym ($20.50 with pool access), a crèche and a cafe, all with unbelievable harbour views.

Newtown & the Inner West

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

Newtown & the Inner West

Neighbourhood Top Five

1Carriageworks Grazing your way around the farmers market, scratching your head at conceptual art or being mystified by an avant-garde performance within this capacious complex.

2Nicholson Museum Admiring the fine antiquities and excellent Lego in Sydney University’s fascinating archaeological museum, to be incorporated in 2020 into the Chau Chak Wing Museum.

3White Rabbit Challenging your cultural stereotypes and expanding your mind at Sydney’s best contemporary art gallery.

4Thanh Binh Grabbing a bottle of wine and feasting on quality Asian food here or at dozens of other unpretentious Newtown eateries.

5Powerhouse Museum Exploring the amazingly diverse collection of this outstanding, family-friendly display.

Explore Newtown & the Inner West

The Inner West is a sociological stew of students, urban hippies, lifestyle-focused professional couples, artists and more. At its beginning is Sydney University, a bastion of old-world architecture dominating the tiny suburbs of Camperdown, Darlington and Chippendale.

Chippendale is the focus of the spectacular Central Park precinct, neighbouring Redfern is student central and also has an important Indigenous community. Glebe is home to a long-established Aboriginal community, students, New Agers and cool bookstores. Where stoners and home renovators collide, Newtown shadows sinuous King St, lined with quirky boutiques, bookshops, yoga studios, cafes and Thai restaurants. It’s climbing the social rungs, but is still free-thinking and bolshy. Neighbouring Erskine-ville has an endearing village vibe; beyond here, Alexandria is a former warehouse district sharply on the rise.

Marrickville is very trendy these days, replete with restaurants and quirky bars and cafes. Along Parramatta Rd, Leichhardt still preserves some of its traditional ‘Little Italy’ vibe, Annandale has character all its own, while Petersham, known for its Portuguese community, and Summer Hill have a good selection of cheap eateries.

Local Life

A Camperdown Park When the sun shines, the Newtown tribes descend with their picnic rugs. Even the goths brave the risk of absorbing vitamin D, unpacking their baskets in the adjacent cemetery.

A Pubs The centre of Inner Western social life, whether for watching the footy, grabbing a cheap meal, checking out a band, catching up with mates or hooking up.

A Markets Stock up on organic whatnots at Carriage-works or peruse preloved frocks at Glebe.

Getting There & Away

A Train Redfern is handiest for Darlington and Chip-pendale, while Newtown has four stations (Mac-donaldtown, Newtown, Erskineville and St Peters) on two separate lines. Beyond Newtown, Stanmore, Petersham, Lewisham, Marrickville and Summer Hill all have their own stops. Green Square is good for Alexandria.

A Light Rail Glebe has two light-rail stops (Glebe and Jubilee Park); walk uphill and you’ll reach Glebe Point Rd. The best stop for Ultimo is Paddy’s Market.

A Bus Buses from the city ply Glebe Point Rd (370, 431–433), Parramatta Rd (413, 436–440, 461, 480–483, M10) and City Rd/King St (352, 370, 422–428, M30).

A Parking Street parking is generally available.

Lonely Planet’s Top Tip

Each of the Inner West’s suburbs has a very different vibe, so it’s worth exploring a few of them. There’s not a lot going on during the day on weekdays, so time your visit to Newtown or Glebe for the evening or weekend.

6 Best Drinking Nightlife

A Earl’s Juke Joint

A Courthouse Hotel

A Young Henry’s

A Lazybones Lounge

A Timbah

A Archie Rose Distilling Co.

For reviews, see here

5 Best Vegetarian and Vegan

A Golden Lotus

A Lentil as Anything

A Gelato Blue

For reviews, see here

4 Best Sleeping

A Tara Guest House

A Forsyth Bed & Breakfast

A Old Clare Hotel

A Mandelbaum House

A Mad Monkey Backpackers

A Vulcan Hotel

For reviews, see here

1 SIGHTS
o POWERHOUSE MUSEUMMUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences/MAAS; %02-9217 0111; www.powerhousemuseum.com; 500 Harris St, Ultimo; adult/child $15/free; h10am-5pm; c; jExhibition Centre)

A short walk from Darling Harbour, this cavernous science and design museum whirs away inside the former power station for Sydney’s defunct, original tram network. The collection and temporary exhibitions cover everything from robots and life on Mars to steam trains to climate change to atoms to fashion, industrial design and avant-garde art installations. There are great options for kids of all ages but it’s equally intriguing for adults. Grab a map of the museum once you’re inside. Disabled access is good.

The Powerhouse is due to move to a new location in Parramatta that is set to be completed in 2022.

o WHITE RABBITGALLERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8399 2867; www.whiterabbitcollection.org; 30 Balfour St, Chippendale; h10am-5pm Wed-Sun, closed Feb & Aug; dCentral) F

If you’re an art lover or a bit of a Mad Hatter, this particular rabbit hole will leave you grinning like a Cheshire Cat. There are so many works in this private collection of cutting-edge, contemporary Chinese art that only a fraction can be displayed at one time. Who knew that the People’s Republic was turning out work that was so edgy, funny, sexy and idiosyncratic? It’s probably Sydney’s best contemporary art gallery. There’s an on-site tearoom.

CENTRAL PARKAREA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8096 9900; www.centralparksydney.com; 28 Broadway, Chippendale; h10am-8pm; dCentral)

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, vertical-garden-covered tower, One Central Park. The cantilevered platform high above has been designed to reflect sunlight onto the greenery below. Its lower floors have plenty of food options, cinemas, shops, a supermarket and gallery spaces, while adjacent Kensington St and Spice Alley offer further gastronomic pleasure. Two new Norman Foster–designed apartment towers, Duo, are under construction.

DR CHAU CHAK WING BUILDINGARCHITECTURE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP UTS Business School; %02-9514 2000; www.uts.edu.au; Ultimo Rd, Ultimo; h8am-10pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat & Sun; jPaddy’s Markets, dCentral)

Opened in 2015, this university business school was donated by the father of an alumnus and designed by Frank Gehry. It’s a striking sight, all windows and organic, non-linear walls of corbelled bricks. It’s been good-naturedly nicknamed the ‘Brown Paper Bag’ by locals. Reach it on the Goods Line walkway from Central station.

UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEYUNIVERSITY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9351 2222; www.sydney.edu.au; Parramatta Rd; g412-13, 436, 438-40, 461, 480, 483, M10)

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 wander around. Flanked by two grand halls that wouldn’t be out of place in Harry Potter’s beloved Hogwarts, the sandstone Quadrangle has a Gothic Revival design that tips its mortarboard towards the stately colleges of Oxford. The excellent Nicholson Museum (MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9351 2812; www.sydney.edu.au/museums; University Pl, University of Sydney; h10am-4.30pm Mon-Fri, noon-4pm 1st Sat of month) F will merge with other university collections in the new Chau Chak Wing Museum in 2020.

CARRIAGEWORKSARTS CENTRE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8571 9099; www.carriageworks.com.au; 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh; h10am-6pm; dRedfern) F

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 1988, and in 2007 the artists moved in. It’s now home to various avant-garde arts and performance projects, and there’s usually something interesting to check out; have a look on the website to see what’s on. There’s a very pleasant cafe-bar here and an excellent Saturday morning farmers market.

CAMPERDOWN CEMETERYCEMETERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9557 2043; www.neac.com.au; 189 Church St, Newtown; tours $15; hsunrise-sunset, tours 12.30pm 1st Sun of the month Feb-Dec; dNewtown)

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 here between 1849 and 1942 include Eliza Donnithorne, the inspiration for Miss Havisham in Dickens’ Great Expectations.

2 Neighbourhood Walk

Wild Western Wander

START ERSKINEVILLE STATION

END KING ST

LENGTH 1.5KM; ONE HOUR

Exiting 1  Erskineville train station, turn left and cruise through Erskineville Village. On your left you’ll pass the lavishly tiled 2  Rose of Australia pub, and on your right the defunct 3  Erskineville Town Hall and the art-deco 4  Erskineville Hotel.

Cinematic déjà vu? You may recognise the 5  Imperial Hotel on the Union St corner as the spot from which the bus departed in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. In June 1931 this unassuming side street was the setting for the ‘Battle of Union St’, one of several Great Depression eviction clashes.

Another socialist landmark, 6  Green Bans Park, just before the railway bridge on Erskineville Rd, owes its existence to the construction workers’ green bans of the 1980s and ’90s. that saved this park as well as Woolloomooloo’s Finger Wharf and parts of the Rocks.

Cross the bridge and truck up to King St, Newtown. Across the road is a prominent 7  Martin Luther King mural. Although it was painted without permission in 1991 by a group of artists calling themselves Unmitigated Audacity Productions, it’s become a much-loved symbol of Newtown – so much so that the local council awarded it heritage protection in 2014.

Cut down Mary St to the narrowest slice of 8  Camperdown Memorial Rest Park, Newtown’s green meeting place. Turn right on Lennox St then left into Church St; the evocatively ramshackle 9  Camperdown Cemetery is on your left. Grab a self-guided tour pamphlet from the box near the gate and go exploring.

Leaving the cemetery go straight ahead on Victoria St then turn right into Hordern St (check out the mix of grungy and restored terraces), before hanging left onto a  King Street, Newtown’s pulsing thoroughfare. Above shop level the largely original facades tie the streetscape to its past.

5 EATING

Newtown’s King St and Enmore Rd are among the city’s most diverse eat streets, with Thai restaurants sitting alongside Vietnamese, Greek, Lebanese and Mexican, but the scene is replicated on a smaller scale in nearly every inner west suburb. And when it comes to coffee culture, all roads point this way too.

5 Newtown & Around
o COW & THE MOONICE CREAM $

(%02-9557 4255; 181 Enmore Rd, Enmore; small gelati $6.50; h8.30am-10.30pm Sun-Thu, to 11.30pm Fri & Sat; Wvc; dNewtown)

Forget the diet and slink into this cool corner cafe, where an array of sinful truffles and tasty tarts beckons seductively. Ignore them and head straight for the world’s best gelato – the title this humble little place won in 2014 at the Gelato World Tour title in Rimini, Italy. There’s decent coffee too.

GOLDEN LOTUSVEGAN, VIETNAMESE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8937 2838; www.goldenlotus-vegan.com; 343 King St, Newtown; mains $14-18; h5.30-10.30pm Mon-Wed, noon-3pm & 5.30-10.30pm Thu-Sun; v; dNewtown)

Delicious bowls of pho, crunchy textures and fresh flavour bursts make this perhaps the best of Newtown’s sizeable crop of vegan and vegetarian restaurants. As well as vegetable-based meals, there are lots of dishes involving soy-based chicken and fish substitutes. It’s BYO alcohol.

LENTIL AS ANYTHINGVEGETARIAN $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8283 5580; www.lentilasanything.com; 391 King St, Newtown; donation; hnoon-3pm & 6-9pm Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm & 6-9pm Sat & Sun; v; dNewtown) S

With tasty vegetarian and vegan fare on a voluntary contribution basis, this heartening project brings people together at communal tables. It’s deservedly popular with everyone, from latte-sipping laptoppers to backpackers, students and some people who really need the feed. For those not in the know, the name is a pun on legendary Australian pop-rockers Mental as Anything.

BLACK STAR PASTRYBAKERY $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9557 8656; www.blackstarpastry.com.au; 277 Australia St, Newtown; snacks $4-10; h7am-5pm Sun-Wed, 7am-5.30pm Thu-Sat; v; dNewtown)

Wise folks follow the black star to pay homage to excellent coffee, a large selection of sweet things and a few very good savoury things (gourmet pies and the like). There are only a couple of tables; it’s more a snack-and-run or picnic-in-the-park kind of place. Prepare to queue. Other outposts have cropped up around town.

FAHEEM FAST FOODPAKISTANI $

(%02-9550 4850; 194 Enmore Rd, Enmore; dishes $12-14; h5pm-midnight Mon-Fri, noon-midnight Sat & Sun; v; g423, 426, 428)

This Enmore Rd stalwart offers a totally no-frills dining atmosphere but very tasty and authentic curry and tandoori options served until late. Its Haleem lentil-and-beef curry is memorably tasty, while the brain nihari is another standout, and not as challenging as it sounds.

FLEETWOOD MACCHIATOCAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9557 9291; http://fleetwoodmacchiato.tumblr.com; 43 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville; mains $10-19; h7am-3pm Mon-Fri, 8am-3pm Sat & Sun; Wv; dErskineville)

Top points for the name, but Fleetwood Macchiato backs it up with excellent coffee, delicious cooked breakfasts and heart-winning fusion flavour combinations across various tasty plates. Plus there are great sandwiches and home-made cakes, preserves, pickles, yogurt and mayonnaise.

MARY’SBURGERS $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.getfat.com.au; 6 Mary St, Newtown; mains $13-18; h4pm-midnight Mon-Thu, noon-midnight Fri & Sat, noon-10pm Sun; Wv; dNewtown)

Not put off by the grungy aesthetics, the ear-splitting heavy metal or the fact that the graffiti-daubed building was previously a sexual health clinic and a Masonic Temple? Then head up to the mezzanine of this dimly lit hipster bar for some of the best burgers and fried chicken in town.

VARGABAR ESPRESSOCAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0421 722 833; www.vargabarespresso.com; 10 Wilson St, Newtown; mains $10-16; h7am-3pm Mon-Wed, to 10pm Thu-Sun; W; dNewtown) S

A diminutive dark-pink open-sided cafe with an electric-blue coffee machine, Varga trades on big breakfasts and generates too many hard decisions for 7am. The pesto scrambled eggs or the polenta porridge? Both? Weekend evenings it’s a friendly spot for a cocktail.

GELATO BLUEICE CREAM, VEGAN $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9557 4707; www.facebook.com/gelatoblue; 318 King St, Newtown; 1/2/3 scoops $6/8/9.50; h5-10pm Tue, noon-10pm Wed-Sun; v; dNewtown)

In the heart of bustling Newtown, this gelato place is totally vegan and have some excellent creations. There’s a wide range of delicious flavours.

STANBULITURKISH $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8624 3132; www.stanbuli.com.au; 135 Enmore Rd, Enmore; mains $20-30; h6pm-midnight Wed-Sat, to 10pm Sun; dNewtown)

Hidden by the vintage pink-and-purple facade of a ’60s hair salon, this sophisticated exploration of traditional Istanbul dishes is excellent. The handsomely tiled downstairs bar area is a sociable spot for a shot of raki and some delicious share plates, or head upstairs for more formal dining. Flavours are intense, with an emphasis on Mediterranean seafood and charcoal-grilled meats.

MAGGIE’STHAI $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9516 5270; www.maggiesthai.com.au; 75 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville; mains $18-26; h5-9pm Sat-Wed, 11am-2.30pm & 5-9pm Thu & Fri; v; dErskineville)

Worth the short stroll downhill from the Newtown strip, or as the focus of a night out in pleasant Erskineville itself, this small neighbourhood Thai restaurant is a real gem. A short menu and blackboard specials offer intense, flavour-packed dishes from the open kitchen with great presentation and some unusual flavours. Intelligent service adds to the experience, as does outdoor seating.

3 OLIVESGREEK $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9557 7754; 365 King St, Newtown; mains $24-27, meze dishes $13-16; h5.30pm-midnight Wed-Sun; dNewtown)

There’s something very life-affirming about a good Greek restaurant, and this family-run taberna ticks all the boxes. The decor is restrained, with olive-coloured walls, but there’s nothing restrained about the portions or aromas: mounds of perfectly textured BBQ octopus, big chunks of melt-in-the-mouth lamb kleftiko, warm flatbread, hearty meatballs and more-ish olives. It’s an excellent celebration of traditional eating.

BLOODWOODMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9557 7699; www.bloodwoodnewtown.com; 416 King St, Newtown; share plates $17-32; h5-11pm Mon-Fri, noon-3pm & 5-11pm Sat & Sun; v; dNewtown)

Relax over a few drinks and a progression of small plates (we love those polenta chips!) in the front bar, or make your way to the rear to enjoy soundly conceived and expertly cooked dishes from across the globe. The decor is industrial-chic and the vibe is alternative – very Newtown.

THAI POTHONGTHAI $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9550 6277; www.thaipothong.com.au; 294 King St, Newtown; mains $18-31; hnoon-3pm daily, plus 6-10.30pm Mon-Thu, 6-11pm Fri & Sat, 5.30-10pm Sun; pv; dNewtown)

The menu at this crowd-pleasing restaurant is full of long-time favourites and people still queue for them. The army of staff are efficient and friendly, and the food reliably excellent. Top choice is a window seat to watch the Newtowners pass by. If you pay cash, you get a discount, paid in a local currency only redeemable in the gift shop.

CONTINENTALDELI $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8624 3131; www.continentaldelicatessan.com.au; 210 Australia St, Newtown; charcuterie $10-20; hnoon-11pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun; dNewtown)

It’s a pleasure to sit at the counter at this artfully-designed deli and snack on charcuterie and fish preserves while quaffing a glass of vermouth or a deeply-flavoured amaro. Staff look after you exceptionally well here. The bistro upstairs opens for dinner and weekend lunches and features inventive, well-presented dishes partly based on the deli fare.

STINKING BISHOPSCHEESE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9007 7754; www.thestinkingbishops.com; 63 Enmore Rd, Newtown; 2-/3-/4-cheese boards $21/29/37; h5-9pm Tue-Thu, noon-3.30pm & 5.30-10pm Fri & Sat; v; dNewtown)

A pungent array of artisanal cheeses is the raison d’être of this popular shop and eatery. Choose the varieties you want, pick a wine or craft beer to accompany, and off you go. There are also very tasty charcuterie boards. All its wares are sourced from small producers and available to take home too.

THANH BINHVIETNAMESE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9557 1175; www.thanhbinh.com.au; 111 King St, Newtown; mains $18-28; h5-11pm Mon-Fri, noon-11pm Sat & Sun; v; dMacdonaldtown)

This old Vietnamese favourite isn’t top of the trend meter any more, but it should be for its wide range of consistently delicious dishes. Favourites are soft-shell crab on papaya salad or sinful pork belly and quail eggs in stock. Other dishes get you launching into a wrapping, rolling, dipping and feasting frenzy. Service is always friendly.

5 Glebe

WEDGECAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9660 3313; www.thewedgeglebe.com; cnr Cowper St & Glebe Point Rd; light meals $8-18; h7am-4pm Mon-Sat, 8am-3pm Sun; Wv; g431, 433, jGlebe)

Cut a corridor out of the side of a building, open it to the street and add artful industrial decor and you have the Wedge, which has delicious single-origin espressos and cold brews as well as wholesome, artfully presented breakfasts, sandwiches and lunch specials. The quality and atmosphere are great, and sitting at the sill gazing over the street is a pleasure.

SAPPHO BOOKS, CAFE & WINE BARCAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9552 4498; www.sapphobooks.com.au; 51 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe; light meals $6-19; h8.30am-6pm Mon-Sat, 9am-6pm Sun; v; g431, 433, jGlebe)

Sequestered in the back of a decent second-hand bookshop, friendly Sappho is a beaut bohemian garden cafe-bar, its walls scrawled with generations of graffiti. The coffee’s excellent and there’s a tasty array of breakfasts, salads, and toasted ciabatta and wraps. Wine and tapas kick in after 6pm on some nights, often accompanied by live music. There’s a full vegan menu, too.

DESPAÑATAPAS $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9660 2299; www.despana.com.au; 101 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe; tapas $9-18; h5-11pm Mon-Fri, noon-10pm Sat & Sun; v; g431, 433, jGlebe)

Though service can be a little scatty, there’s some excellent tapas-sharing to be done at this welcoming Glebe restaurant. A good selection of cured meats is backed up by full-of-flavour, loosely Spanish creations, with delicious artichokes, mushrooms and cauliflower dishes complemented by succulent lamb skewers, braised beef cheek and a selection of cheeses. The wine list covers both Spain and Argentina.

TRAMSHEDS HAROLD PARKFOOD HALL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8398 5695; www.tramshedssydney.com.au; Maxwell Rd, Glebe; h7am-10pm; aW; jJubilee Park)

Sydney’s latest foodie hangout is this refurbished centenarian brick tram depot at the northern end of Glebe. It’s a handsome redevelopment with a supermarket, provedores and a selection of modern-thinking eateries, including one specialising in fresh pasta, another in organic meats, a sustainable fish restaurant, a contemporary Middle Eastern, a Spanishy tapas place from the Bodega team and Messina gelati.

o BOATHOUSE ON BLACKWATTLE BAYSEAFOOD $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9518 9011; www.boathouse.net.au; 123 Ferry Rd, Glebe; mains $42-48; h6-10pm Tue-Thu, noon-3pm & 6-11pm Fri-Sun; jGlebe)

The best restaurant in Glebe, and one of the best seafood restaurants in Sydney. Offerings range from oysters so fresh you’d think you shucked them yourself, to a snapper pie that’ll go straight to the top of your favourite-dish list. The views over the bay and Anzac Bridge are stunning. Arrive by water taxi for maximum effect.

GLEBE POINT DINERMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9660 2646; www.glebepointdiner.com.au; 407 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe; mains $32; hnoon-3pm Wed-Sun, 6-10pm Mon-Thu, 5.30-11pm Fri & Sat; g431, jJubilee Park)

A sensational neighbourhood diner, where only the best local produce is used and everything – from the home-baked bread and hand-churned butter to the nougat finale – is made from scratch. The food is creative and comforting at the same time: a rare combination. The menu changes regularly and is backed up by blackboard specials.

WORTH A DETOUR

MARRICKVILLE

Once the slightly frumpy western neighbour of Newtown and Enmore, the suburb of Marrickville has gradually attracted bohemians, artists, students and kooks forced out of Newtown by rising rents. Alongside a great set of pubs and bars (some of which host live music), cafes are Marrickville’s new claim to fame. We suggest you explore the neighbourhood under your own steam. Jump off the train at Marrickville station, turn right and head up Illawarra Rd.

5 Other Suburbs

MARRICKVILLE PORK ROLLVIETNAMESE $

(%0411 167 169; 236a Illawarra Rd, Marrickville; rolls $5-6; h7am-5.30pm; dMarrickville)

Some of Sydney’s best banh mi are served out of this little hole in the wall, where the crisp bread rolls are baked onsite. The pork rolls are delicious, bursting with flavour. There’s a slightly larger outlet on the other side of Marrickville station.

TEXTBOOKBAKERY, CAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9699 6156; www.textbookpatisserie.com.au; 274 Botany Rd, Alexandria; brunch dishes $5-14; h7am-3pm Tue-Sun; Wv; dGreen Square)

A baker and a patissier have teamed up here to produce delicious bread, pies and pastries, and some absolutely amazingly vivid dessert creations: resist if you can. Watch them at work in the open kitchen, inspect the wares then enjoy them in this pleasantly light space or outside. There’s also inventive breakfast and brunch fare and very decent coffee.

SPICE ALLEYASIAN $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9281 0822; www.spice-alley.com.au; Kensington St, Chippendale; dishes $8-16; h11am-10pm Sun-Wed, to 10.30pm Thu-Sat; v; dCentral)

This little laneway off Kensington St by Central Park is a picturesque outdoor eating hub serving street-foody dishes from various Asian cuisines. Grab your noodles, dumplings or pork belly and fight for a stool. Quality is reasonable rather than spectacular, but prices are low and it’s fun. It’s cashless: pay by card or load up a prepay card from the drinks booth.

The drinks booth is soft-drink only, but you can BYO alcohol; there are two bottleshops nearby.

o GROUNDS OF ALEXANDRIACAFE $$

(%02-9699 2225; www.thegrounds.com.au; 2 Huntley St, Alexandria; dishes $15-26; h7am-4pm Mon-Fri, 7.30am-4pm Sat & Sun; Wc; g348, dGreen Square) S

A quite extraordinary Alexandria spot, the Grounds goes well beyond converted industrial chic. This former pie factory now sports futuristic coffee technology, tip-top baking and delicious food, but it’s the enormous garden setting that has the biggest impact: chickens, a waste-chewing pig and greenery all around. It’s a real sight to behold. You won’t behold it alone though…prepare to queue.

Also here is the Potting Shed (mains $24-37; h11.30am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 10pm Fri, 11am-10pm Sat, to 9pm Sun; Wv), another riot of plants open for evening drinks and food.

KOI DESSERT BARDESSERTS $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9212 1230; www.koidessertbar.com.au; 46 Kensington St, Chippendale; dessert degustation $65; h10am-10pm Tue-Sun; dCentral)

Having made the nation salivate on Master Chef Australia, Reynold Poernomo now produces his fabulous desserts for public consumption at this two-level spot by Central Park. Downstairs is a cafe with scrumptious sweet fare on offer. Pre-book and head upstairs (6pm to 9.30pm) for the ultimate luxury; a four-course dessert degustation. It also does a savoury degustation menu.

ACREMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Camperdown Commons; %02-9194 3100; www.acreeatery.com.au; 31a Mallett St, Camperdown; mains $27-38; hrestaurant noon-10pm Wed-Sat, to 9pm Sun; Wc) S

Part of Camperdown Commons, a conversion of a bowling club into organic farm and family-friendly cafe, eatery and play area, Acre is a breezy, good-looking, open-plan bungalow-style restaurant. Plenty of space between tables, tasty tap beers and excellent, carefully selected produce make this a pleasurable experience. The share plates of meat and fish are great. A shipping container out front serves coffee daily.

o ESTERMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8068 8279; www.ester-restaurant.com.au; 46/52 Meagher St, Chippendale; share plates $18-50; h6-10pm Mon-Thu, 6-11pm Fri, noon-3pm & 6-11pm Sat, noon-6pm Sun; v; dCentral)

Ester exemplifies Sydney’s contemporary dining scene: informal but not sloppy; innovative without being overly gimmicky; hip, but never try-hard. Influences straddle continents and dishes are made to be shared. How do the dishes achieve that much flavour and texture? It’s a seriously impressive place. If humanly possible, make room for dessert.

GRAPPAITALIAN $$$

(%02-9560 6090; www.grappa.com.au; 267-277 Norton St, Leichhardt; mains $28-40; hnoon-3pm Tue-Fri & Sun, 6-10pm Tue-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat, to 9.30pm Sun; jLeichhardt North)

You’ll forget the ugly exterior and main-road location once you enter Grappa, with its polished glassware and crisp tablecloths. It’s the setting for rich, succulent dishes – the delicious daily specials are the way to go – and bounteous wood-fired pizzas. If it’s warm, sit outside on the terrace, sip chianti and think of Tuscany.

6 DRINKING & NIGHTLIFE
o LAZYBONES LOUNGEBAR

(%0450 008 563; www.lazyboneslounge.com.au; 294 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville; h7pm-midnight Mon-Wed, 5pm-3am Thu-Sat, 5-10pm Sun; W; dMarrickville)

Roomy and extravagantly decorated, Lazybones is an excellent bar-lounge with live music nightly and a decent line in cocktails and food. At weekends it gets likeably louche, with a happy crowd dancing until late. Even the bouncers are friendly. There’s a cover charge for the bands ($10 to $20); it’s free later on. Enter on Illawarra Rd.

o TIMBAHWINE BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9571 7005; www.timbahwinebar.com.au; 375 Glebe Point Rd, entrance on Forsyth St, Glebe; h4-10pm Tue-Thu, 4-11pm Fri & Sat, 4-8pm Sun; g431, jGlebe) S

Quite a way down Glebe Point Rd is an excellent independent bottleshop; turn right to find this convivial wine bar it runs downstairs. It’s a lovely space decked out in wood; there’s always something interesting available by the glass, and staff are open to cracking something on demand. Tapas-style food (not Sundays) is tasty, with Australian native flavours and home-grown herbs.

o EARL’S JUKE JOINTBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.facebook.com/earlsjukejoint; 407 King St, Newtown; h4pm-midnight Mon-Sat, 4-10pm Sun; dNewtown)

The current it-bar of the tiny, swinging Earl’s serves craft beers and cocktails to the Newtown hip-erati. It’s hidden behind the down-at-heel facade of the butcher’s shop it used to be, but once in, you’re in swinging New Orleans, with a bar as long as the Mississippi.

o ARCHIE ROSE DISTILLING CO.BAR

(%02-8458 2300; www.archierose.com.au; 85 Dunning Ave, Rosebery; hnoon-10pm Sun & Mon, to 11.30pm Tue-Sat; W; g343, dGreen Square)

This distillery has made quite an impact with its excellent gins and where better to try them than the place itself? The bar is appropriately industrial chic; the mezzanine is a great spot to sit and observe the action. Try different gins in a flight, or pick your perfect G&T combination or cocktail. It also has some decent wine and beer.

THE HENSONPUB

(%02-9569 5858; www.thehenson.com.au; 91 Illawarra Rd, Marrickville; h11am-midnight Mon-Sat, to 10pm Sun; c; g423, 426, 428, M30) Offering something for everyone, this excellent neighbourhood pub sums up the modern Inner West vibe. Sip craft ale in various indoor spaces, watch charcuterie being sliced in the deli/beer shop or order up a plateful of delicious food. The beer garden sees a lot of action, and there’s a great children’s play area here, making it very popular with families.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

ALEXANDRIA

The warehouses of Alexandria, at one time Australia’s largest industrial district, were once the unflattering first glimpse that many visitors got of Sydney as their cab drove them from airport to city. These days though, there’s all sorts going on in this up-and-coming area. Groundbreaking cafes, smart food culture, renovated pubs, creative industries and a range of outlet stores make it well worth discovering. Note the distance between reconstructed areas makes cycling a good option here.

GASOLINE PONYBAR

(%02-9569 2668; www.gasolinepony.com; 115 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville; h5-11.30pm Tue-Thu, 3-11.30pm Fri & Sat, 3-9.30pm Sun; g418, 423, 425, 426, M30, dSydenham)

With a friendly, 30-plus local crowd, this is an excellent bar with streetside seating, local live music and a relaxing backyard area if you don’t fancy the sounds. The food is ok but you’re here for the welcoming atmosphere and that Marrickville vibe.

YOUNG HENRY’SBREWERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9519 0048; www.younghenrys.com; 76 Wilford St, Newtown; hnoon-7pm; dNewtown)

Conviviality is assured in this craft brewery bar, where the beer is as fresh as you’ll get. Basically, they’ve filled a bit of warehouse with high tables, a loud stereo system and a counter to serve their delicious beer, opened the roller door and filled it with happy locals. It doesn’t do eats, but there’s a different food truck outside each weekend.

DUCK INNPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9319 4415; www.theduckinnpubandkitchen.com; 74 Rose St, Chippendale; h11am-11pm Mon-Sat, noon-10pm Sun; W; g422, 423, 426, dRedfern)

What Chippendale does best is a real feeling of neighbourhood despite its proximity to central Sydney. This backstreet pub takes food and drink seriously but is as convivial as they come, spacious with a comfortable buzz and sociable beer garden. There’s an interesting, changing selection of tap beers, 18 wines by the glass and a nice line in shared roast platters; try the duck.

ERSKINEVILLE HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9565 1608; www.theerko.com.au; 102 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville; h11am-midnight Mon-Sat, 11am-10pm Sun; W; dErskineville)

The Erko’s art-deco glory is something to behold, and it also happens to be one of the area’s best pubs. The wood-lined beer garden, local characters, range of curious spaces to drink in, and good pub food served in generous portions makes it a real gem of the community. Unusually for Sydney pubs, it’s even got some street-side tables.

COURTHOUSE HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9519 8273; www.solotel.com.au; 202 Australia St, Newtown; h10am-midnight Mon-Sat, to 10pm Sun; dNewtown)

A block back from the King St fray, the 150-year-old Courthouse is one of Newtown’s best pubs, the kind of place where everyone from goth lesbians to magistrates can have a beer and feel right at home. It packs out for Sydney Swans games. The beer garden is one of Sydney’s best: spacious, sheltered and cheerful, with decent pub food available.

HIVE BARBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9519 1376; www.thehivebar.com.au; 93 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville; hnoon-midnight Mon-Fri, 11am-midnight Sat, 11am-10pm Sun; W; dErskineville) S

In groovy Erskineville village, this breezy little corner bar lures the neighbourhood’s hipsters with food, cocktails – try the Full Scottish Breakfast featuring marmalade and malt whisky – DJs spinning funk and soul, crazy murals and a quiet bolthole upstairs. Order a few plates to share over a glass of vino and pull up a footpath table.

PETERSHAM BOWLING CLUBBEER GARDEN

(%02-9569 4639; www.thepbc.org.au; 77 Brighton St, Petersham; h5-10pm Tue-Thu, 5-11pm Fri, noon-varies Sat, noon-10pm Sun; c; dPetersham)

Fancy a place where you can sip on a craft beer while your kids play safely and make lots of local friends? This is it. A former bowling club (though you can still play) is now a community-focused spot doing good beer and simple food. Parents rock up in droves at the weekends and the children romp on the grass.

NEWTOWN HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9557 6399; www.newtownhotel.com.au; 174 King St, Newtown; hnoon-midnight Mon-Sat, to 10pm Sun; dNewtown)

Once one of Sydney’s most famous gay pubs, this is now a two-level forum for craft beer – there’s a huge range of the stuff – and reliable food. The beer garden and quirky decor win points, but it’s the balcony that is a standout. Perching out here as the sun sets over the Inner West is magic.

ROYAL HOTELPUB

(%02-9569 2638; www.theroyalleichhardt.com.au; 156 Norton St, Leichhardt; h10am-3am Mon-Thu, to 5am Fri & Sat, to midnight Sun; W; g440, 444, M10)

Right on the most pleasant stretch of Norton Street, surrounded by Mediterranean restaurants, this handsome old pub has a fairly uninspiring (but late-opening) downstairs bar but a much nicer upstairs. Tasty food, a riot of plants and great balcony seating make it a very comfortable space. Prepare to be deafened at dusk when the lorikeets come home to roost.

ROCKS BREWERYMICROBREWERY

(%02-9669 3600; www.rocksbrewing.com; Bldg 2, 160 Bourke Rd, Alexandria; h9am-11pm; W; dMascot)

You know you’re in Alexandria when you’re sitting in the middle of an industrial estate, staring at a tall corrugated metal wall, but there are plants and hipsters and expensive burgers and pints of craft beer. This is where the excellent Rocks selection is brewed, and it’s well worth the traipse down here to see what’s on tap.

STAVESMICROBREWERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9280 4555; www.stavesbrewery.com; 4 Grose St, Glebe; hnoon-midnight Thu-Sat, to 10pm Sun; dCentral)

Hidden away by the bulk of the Broadway shopping centre, this small microbrewery has hanging tankards and the industrial paraphernalia of kettle, mash tun, kegs and lines that distinguish a place where beer is the sole focus. It makes some excellent brews, and offers taster portions so you can try ’em all. There’s a little beer garden too and regular live music.

KNOX STREET BARBAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8970 6443; www.knoxstreetbar.com; cnr Knox & Shepherd Sts, Chippendale; h4-10pm Tue & Wed, 4pm-midnight Thu-Sat; dCentral)

A curious semi-underground layout, offbeat decor and an appealingly louche ambience have put this spot firmly on many Inner Westies’ favourites list. DJs keep the crowd ticking, and there are regular burlesque-type events in a little performance space to one side. Homemade sausages, bao, cocktails and hipsters drive the party. Spin the wheel and play cocktail roulette.

LITTLE GUYCOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8084 0758; www.thelittleguy.com.au; 87 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe; h4pm-midnight Mon-Fri, 1pm-midnight Sat, 3-10pm Sun; g431, 433, jGlebe)

Wedged into a typically narrow Glebe terrace house, this livens up the local scene with craft beer, wines, cocktails, events and cosy, almost claustrophobic upstairs drinking spaces. Free popcorn keeps a thirst on you.

CORRIDORCOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0405 671 002; www.corridornewtown.com.au; 153a King St, Newtown; h5pm-midnight Mon, 4pm-midnight Tue-Thu, 3pm-midnight Fri & Sat, 3-10pm Sun; dMacdonaldtown)

The name exaggerates this bar’s skinniness, but not by much. Downstairs the bartenders serve old-fashioned cocktails and some zingy, fruity ones – the passionfruit mojito is a great palate-cleanser – and a good range of wine, while upstairs there’s interesting art (for sale) and a tiny deck. There’s live music some nights.

IMPERIAL HOTELGAY & LESBIAN

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9516 1766; www.imperialerskineville.com.au; 35 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville; hnoon-midnight Mon-Thu, noon-3am Fri & Sat, 11am-midnight Sun; dErskineville)

The art-deco Imperial is legendary as the starting point for The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. This old, late-opening LGBT favourite put on a new frock in 2018, reopening with a mainly vegetarian restaurant and a refurbished basement space for the drag shows.

SLY FOXPUB

(%02-9557 2917; www.slyfox.sydney; 199 Enmore Rd, Enmore; h6pm-3am Wed & Thu, to 6am Fri & Sat; g423, 426, 428, M30)

This late-opener kicks off its week on Wednesdays with Birdcage, one of Sydney’s key lesbian nights. Over the weekend it features live music and DJs taking up the baton until everyone’s booted out into the dawn.

BANK HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8568 1900; www.bankhotel.com.au; 324 King St, Newtown; h11am-1am Mon-Wed, to 2am Thu, to 4am Fri & Sat, to midnight Sun; W; dNewtown)

The Bank didn’t always sport the artful heritage-wood look that it has now, but it has consistently been a Newtown classic in its central railway-side position. Its large retractable-roofed beer garden at the back is a highlight, as is the craft beer bar above it, which always has interesting guest ales on tap. Food is based on Mexican-style barbecue options.

MARLBOROUGH HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9519 1222; www.marlboroughhotel.com.au; 145 King St, Newtown; h10am-4am Mon-Sat, 10am-midnight Sun; dMacdonaldtown)

One of many great old art-deco pubs in Newtown, the Marly has a front sports bar with live bands on weekends and a shady beer garden. Head upstairs for a great balcony, soul food and rockabilly bands at Miss Peaches, or downstairs for all sorts of kooky happenings at the Tokyo Sing Song nightclub on Friday and Saturday nights.

FRIEND IN HANDPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9660 2326; www.friendinhand.com; 58 Cowper St, Glebe; h8am-midnight Mon-Fri, 10am-midnight Sat, 10am-10pm Sun; W; jWentworth Park)

At heart the Friend in Hand is still a working-class pub with a resident loud-mouth cockatoo and a cast of grizzly old-timers and local larrikins propping up the bar. But then there’s all the other stuff: live music, life drawing, poetry readings, crab racing, comedy nights. Strewth Beryl, bet you weren’t expecting that.

3 ENTERTAINMENT
o BALD FACED STAGLIVE MUSIC

(%02-9560 7188; www.baldfacedstag.com.au; 345 Parramatta Rd, Leichhardt; h11am-1am Mon-Thu, to 3am Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun; g413, 436-440, 444, 461, 480, 483, M10)

One of Sydney’s oldest pubs, the Stag is a friendly, down-to-earth place with pool tables and a beer garden. New owners have really ramped up the live-music scene here, with regular gigs in a dedicated space that tend to be at the heavier end of the spectrum. It’s a cracking spot.

LEADBELLYLIVE MUSIC

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9557 7992; www.theleadbelly.com.au; 42 King St, Newtown; h6pm-midnight Tue-Thu, 6pm-1am Fri & Sat; g352, 370, 422, 423, 426, 428, M30, dMacdonaldtown)

This dark and atmospheric bar does seriously good cocktails and some excellent jazz and bluesy live music at weekends. There are also pizzas and other food, so that’s your whole night sorted.

LANSDOWNE HOTELLIVE MUSIC

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8218 2333; www.thelansdownepub.com.au; 2 City Rd, Chippendale; hnoon-3am Mon-Sat, to midnight Sun; g412, 413, 422, 423, dCentral)

This famous Sydney venue is back in action after a period of closure. It’s a likeably no-frills rock pub downstairs, with graffiti on the walls and food served until 2am. Upstairs, there are gigs most nights; prepare for around $20 cover charge at weekends, depending on the band(s).

FOUNDRY 616LIVE MUSIC

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9211 9442; www.foundry616.com.au; 616 Harris St, Ultimo; jPaddy’s Markets, dCentral)

With live Australian and international contemporary jazz several times a week, this atmospheric and thoughtfully programmed venue has been a great shot in the arm for the Sydney live-music scene. Good-value meals are available if you want a table.

CAMELOT LOUNGELIVE MUSIC

(%02-9550 3777; www.camelotlounge.com; 19 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville; h6pm-late Thu-Sun; dSydenham)

In increasingly hip Marrickville, this eclectic little venue hosts jazz, world music, blues, folk, comedy, cabaret and all manner of other weird stuff. There are two bars; it’s worth booking online or getting here early as it often sells out. The atmosphere is one of sit-down-and-appreciate rather than stand and dance. It’s very close to Sydenham station. Check the website for shows outside open nights.

ENMORE THEATRELIVE MUSIC

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9550 3666; www.enmoretheatre.com.au; 130 Enmore Rd, Newtown; hbox office 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat; g423, 426, 428, dNewtown)

Originally a vaudeville playhouse, the elegantly wasted, 2500-capacity art-deco Enmore now hosts medium-sized touring acts, plus theatre, ballet and comedy.

DENDY NEWTOWNCINEMA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9550 5699; www.dendy.com.au; 261 King St, Newtown; adult/child $22/15.50; hsessions 10am-9.30pm; dNewtown)

Follow the buttery scent of popcorn into the dark folds of this plush cinema, screening first-run, independent, world films.

PALACE CENTRAL SYDNEYCINEMA

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9190 2290; www.palacecinemas.com.au; Level 3, Central Park, 28 Broadway, Chippendale; dCentral)

This new cinema on the top floor of the Central Park plaza offers intimate moviegoing in great comfort, with luxurious seats in 13 small-capacity screens. It’s licensed and you can take drinks in. The Platinum cinemas (tickets around $42) offer waiter service, food menus and a private bar and lounge.

WORTH A DETOUR

SYDNEY OLYMPIC PARK

More than just Games nostalgia, the 640-hectare Sydney Olympic Park, 14km west of the city centre, is a sprawling sustainable world unto itself, using recycled water and solar power. In the post-Olympic years the surrounding land has been transformed into nature reserves, 35km of cycleways and residential enclaves.

The train deposits you at the heart of the complex, near the main venues. It’s also possible to arrive by ferry, though the wharf is at the far northern tip of the complex, 3.5km away. The best way to explore is by bike; they are available for hire from Bike Hire @ Sydney Olympic Park (%02-9746 1572; www.bikehiresydneyolympicpark.com.au; Bicentennial Park; mountain bike per 1/2/4/8/24hr $15/20/30/40/50; h8.30am-5.30pm; dOlympic Park).

ANZ Stadium (%02-8765 2000; www.anzstadium.com.au; Olympic Blvd, Sydney Olympic Park; tours adult/child $29/19; htours 11am, 1pm & 3pm daily, gantry 9am Fri-Wed; dOlympic Park) was custom-built for the 2000 Olympics at a cost of $690 million, and now accommodates an 83,500-person crowd. The atmosphere can be electric, but Sydneysiders were staggered when a government proposal to rebuild it at enormous cost was aired in 2017… watch this space. The Aquatic Centre (%02-9752 3666; www.aquaticcentre.com.au; Olympic Blvd, Sydney Olympic Park; adult/child $8/6; h5am-9pm Mon-Fri, 6am-8pm Sat & Sun Oct–Mar, 5am-9pm Mon-Fri, 6am-7pm Sat & Sun Apr-Sep; dOlympic Park) contains the actual record-shattering pool that was used in the 2000 Olympics.

The Brickpit Ring Walk (Australia Ave; hsunrise-sunset; dOlympic Park) F is a circular walkway supported 18m above an abandoned brickworks, now a water-filled wildlife habitat.

7 SHOPPING

Newtown and Glebe are hot spots for anything punky, alternative, socialist, greenie, intellectual or noir. King St, Newtown, has interesting boutiques, second-hand stores, downmarket antique shops and (along with Glebe Point Rd) some of the city’s best bookstores. New homewares stores strike the fear of gentrification into the hearts of long-term locals.

o MITCHELL ROAD ANTIQUE & DESIGN CENTREANTIQUES, VINTAGE

(%02-9698 0907; https://mitchellroad.wordpress.com; 17 Bourke Rd, Alexandria; h10am-6pm; dGreen Square)

This extraordinary vintage and antique market is a warehouse full of retro chic, whether you are after original 1970s Lego, pre-loved rocking horses, a Georgian coronation tea set or Bakelite telephones. For some it will be a dive into a past known only from movies, for others a trip down memory lane.

o CARRIAGEWORKS FARMERS MARKETMARKET

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; http://carriageworks.com.au; Carriageworks, 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh; h8am-1pm Sat; dRedfern) S

Over 70 regular stallholders sell their goodies at Sydney’s best farmers market, held in a heritage-listed railway workshop. Food and coffee stands do a brisk business and vegetables, fruit, meat and seafood from all over the state are sold in a convivial atmosphere.

LITTLE BOTTLESHOPWINE

(MAP GOOGLE MAP Glebe Liquor; %02-9660 1984; www.glebeliquor.com.au; 375 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe; h10am-8pm Mon-Sat, to 7pm Sun; g431, jGlebe)

One of Sydney’s best bottleshops for those interested in Australian wine, this unassuming place features an excellent curated selection of small-vineyard wines from quality regions. Look out for their own 2037 (Glebe’s postcode) bottlings. It runs a wine bar downstairs.

GLEEBOOKSBOOKS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9660 2333; www.gleebooks.com.au; 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe; h9am-7pm Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm Sun; g431, 433, jGlebe)

One of Sydney’s best bookshops, Gleebooks’ aisles are full of politics, arts and general fiction, and staff really know their stuff. Check its calendar for author talks and book launches.

GROUNDS MARKETSMARKET

(%02-9699 2225; https://thegrounds.com.au; 2 Huntley St, Alexandria; h9am-3.30pm Sat & Sun; g348, dGreen Square)

Alexandria’s favourite factory-garden-farm-cafe hosts these excellent markets, with a rotating crop of crafty stallholders and delicious baked treats.

REVOLVE RECORDSMUSIC

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9519 9978; www.revolverecords.com.au; 65 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville; hnoon-6pm Mon-Wed, 11.30am-7pm Thu & Fri, 10am-6pm Sat & Sun; dErskineville)

Vinyl hounds should head here, just up from Erskineville station for a treasure-trove of second-hand records of all types.

DEUS EX MACHINAFASHION & ACCESSORIES

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8594 2800; www.deuscustoms.com; 102-104 Parramatta Rd, Camperdown; h9am-5pm Mon-Fri,10am-4pm Sat & Sun; g436-440)

This kooky showroom is crammed with classic and custom-made motorcycles and surfboards. A hybrid workshop, cafe and offbeat boutique, it stocks men’s and women’s threads, including Deus-branded jeans, tees and shorts.

GLEBE MARKETSMARKET

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; www.glebemarkets.com.au; Glebe Public School, cnr Glebe Point Rd & Derby Pl; h10am-4pm Sat; g431, 433, jGlebe)

The best of the west: Sydney’s hipster inner-city contingent beats a course to this crowded retro-chic market. There are some great handcrafts and design on sale, as well as an inclusive, community atmosphere.

BETTER READ THAN DEADBOOKS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9557 8700; www.betterread.com.au; 265 King St, Newtown; h9.30am-9pm Sun-Wed, to 10pm Thu-Sat; dNewtown)

This is our favourite Newtown bookshop, and not just because of the pithy name and the great selection of Lonely Planet titles. Nobody seems to mind if you waste hours perusing the beautifully presented aisles, stacked with high-, middle- and deliciously low-brow reading materials.

2 SPORTS & ACTIVITIES

HOLEY MOLEYMINIGOLF

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %1300 727 833; www.holeymoley.com.au; 387 King St, Newtown; per 9 holes $16.50; hnoon-midnight Mon-Fri, 10am-midnight Sat & Sun; dNewtown)

The craziest round of minigolf you’ll ever play features some outrageously inventive holes in what was once the Sandringham Hotel. Some reference the pub’s past, with guitars and pool tables, while others draw on popular culture. Drinks and cocktails are on hand, but you’ll be drinking out of plastic. The food is poor.

Manly

Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Shopping

Sports & Activities

Manly

Neighbourhood Top Five

1Manly Beach Splashing about on this long, lovely strand, Sydney’s second most famous stretch of golden sand, and fully embracing the local lifestyle by learning to surf.

2Manly Scenic Walkway Hopping between headlands and beaches along this beautiful walk following the harbour shoreline.

3North Head Exploring the wild, rugged surrounds of this section of Sydney Harbour National Park and gasping at the glorious views of the mouth of the harbour.

4Store Beach Hiring a kayak and paddling to this isolated, bush-lined cove that’s only accessible from the water.

5Q Station Delving into the sad and spooky history of this historic quarantine complex on a guided tour.

Explore Manly

Laid-back Manly clings to a narrow isthmus between ocean and harbour beaches abutting North Head, Sydney Harbour’s northern gatepost. With its shaggy surfers and relaxed locals, it makes for a refreshing change from the stuffier harbour suburbs nearby.

The Corso connects Manly’s ocean and harbour beaches; here surf shops, burger joints, juice bars and pubs are plentiful. The refurbished Manly Wharf has classier pubs and restaurants, and there are some good cafes and small bars scattered around the back streets.

In summer, allocate a day to walking and splashing about. In winter, it’s worth heading over for a quick look around, if only for Sydney’s best ferry journey. The great walks on North Head and the Manly Scenic Walkway to the Spit Bridge are very worthwhile at any time.

Local Life

A Surfing A fair proportion of Manly residents live to surf, squeezing in a few hours riding the swell before or after work. The beach’s three surf lifesaving clubs are hubs of community life.

A Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The local rugby league team are neighbourhood heroes, having won the premiership twice in the last decade. Home games are played further north at Brookvale, but Manly’s pubs are lively places to watch matches.

A Cafes They may not be as self-consciously hip as they are in Surry Hills and Newtown, but Manly has its own dedicated band of baristas bringing quality coffee to those in the know.

Getting There & Away

A Ferry Frequent direct ferries head from Circular Quay to Manly, making this the best (and most scenic) way to go. Regular Sydney ferries take 30 minutes for the journey while fast ferries take just 18 minutes. There’s also a fast-ferry service to Barangaroo and routes to Taronga Zoo and Watsons Bay.

A Bus Express bus E70 takes 35 to 40 minutes to get to Manly Wharf from near Wynyard Station, while its weekend equivalent 170 takes longer. From Manly Wharf, useful routes include 132 and 171 (Balgowlah Heights and Clontarf), 135 (North Head), 136, 139 (Freshwater and Curl Curl) and 143 and 144 (Spit Bridge).

A Car Street parking is restricted and/or metered in central Manly and near the beach.

Lonely Planet’s Top Tip

If you don’t have a spare four hours to traverse North Head on foot, hire a bike. Otherwise, rent a kayak and paddle between the secluded bays facing the harbour. Beautiful little Store Beach can only be reached from the water.

5 Best Eating

A Good Hope

A Papi Chulo

A Boathouse Shelly Beach

A Belgrave Cartel

A Hugos Manly

For reviews, see here

2 Best Beaches

A Manly Beach

A Shelly Beach

A Store Beach

A Reef Beach

A The beach at Q Station

For reviews, see here

4 Best Sleeping

A 101 Addison Road

A Q Station

A Manly Bunkhouse

A Cecil Street B&B

For reviews, see here

1 SIGHTS
o MANLY BEACHBEACH

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; fManly)

Sydney’s second most famous beach is a magnificent strand that stretches for nearly two golden kilometres, lined by Norfolk Island pines and midrise apartment blocks. The southern end of the beach, nearest the Corso, is known as South Steyne, with North Steyne in the centre and Queenscliff at the northern end; each has its own surf lifesaving club.

o NORTH HEADNATIONAL PARK

(%1300 072 757; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; North Head Scenic Dr, Manly; hsunrise-sunset; g135) F

About 3km south of Manly, spectacular, chunky North Head offers dramatic cliffs, lookouts, pretty paths through the native scrub and sweeping views of the ocean, the harbour and the city. It’s great to explore by bike or on foot. Grab a map and plot your own path through the headland, which takes in former military barracks, WWII gun emplacements, a quarantine cemetery and a memorial walk commemorating Australia’s military. At the tip, Fairfax Lookouts offer dramatic clifftop perspectives.

o STORE BEACHBEACH

(hdawn-dusk; fManly)

A hidden jewel on North Head, magical Store Beach can only be reached by kayak (you can hire them from Manly Kayak Centre) or boat. It’s a breeding ground for fairy penguins, so access is prohibited from dusk, when the birds waddle in to settle down for the night.

SHELLY BEACHBEACH

(Bower St, Manly; fManly)

This pretty, sheltered, north-facing ocean cove is an appealing 1km walk from the busy Manly beach strip. The tranquil waters are a protected haven for marine life, so it offers wonderful snorkelling. It’s a popular place for picnickers.

Q STATIONHISTORIC BUILDING

(Quarantine Station; %02-9466 1551; www.qstation.com.au; 1 North Head Scenic Dr, Manly; hmuseum 10am-4pm; g135) F

From 1837 to 1984 this sprawling historic complex in beautiful North Head bushland was used to isolate new arrivals suspected of carrying disease. These days it has been reborn as a tourist destination, offering appealing accommodation and tours. Shuttle buses whisk you from reception down to the wharf, where there’s a lovely beach, a museum in the old luggage store telling the site’s story, an information desk and a cafe. Nearby is a bar and restaurant.

The quarantine station was an attempt to limit the spread of cholera, smallpox, influenza and bubonic plague. Passengers were accommodated according to the class of their ticket. Sandstone inscriptions record the names of ships laid up here; gravestones the names of those who never left.

Tours run to a daily or weekly schedule and must be prebooked; contact the office. The 2½-hour Ghostly Encounters tour ($49 to $55) runs nightly and rattles some skeletons; three-hour Extreme Ghost Tours ($75) take it a step further and try to summon the spirits. The two-hour daytime Quarantine Station Story tour ($35) highlights the personal stories of those who worked and waited here, while the 45-minute Wharf Wander ($18) is a truncated version for those short on time.

REEF BEACHBEACH

(Beatty St, Balgowlah Heights; g171)

This beautiful little cove is on the Manly Scenic Walkway in the Sydney Harbour National Park. It’s got turquoise water and great views across to Manly.

MANLY COVEBEACH

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; fManly)

Split in two by Manly Wharf, this sheltered enclave has shark nets and calm water, making it a popular choice for families with toddlers. Despite the busy location, the clear waters have plenty of appeal.

MANLY ART GALLERY & MUSEUMMUSEUM

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9976 1421; www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au; West Esplanade, Manly; h10am-5pm Tue-Sun; fManly) F

A short stroll from Manly Wharf, this passionately managed community gallery maintains a local focus, with changing, locally relevant exhibitions and a small permanent collection that includes an excellent ceramics gallery. There are lots of old Manly photos to peer at too.

CORSOSTREET

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; fManly)

The quickest route from the Manly ferry terminal to Manly’s ocean beach is along the Corso, a part-pedestrian mall lined with surf shops, pubs and sushi bars. Kids splash around in the fountains and spaced-out surfies shuffle back to the ferry after a hard day carving up the swell.

ST PATRICK’S COLLEGEHISTORIC BUILDING

(www.stpatricksestate.org.au; 151 Darley Rd, Manly; hgrounds sunrise-sunset; g135, fManly)

Southeast of Manly’s centre, this enormous Gothic Revival college (1889) lords over the rooftops from its hillside position. It used to be a seminary but is now a management college; it doubled as Jay Gatsby’s house for Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 film version of The Great Gatsby. You can roam the grounds and admire the building from outside.

2 Neighbourhood Walk

Manly Scenic Walkway

START MANLY WHARF

END SHELLY BEACH

DURATION 9.5KM; 2½ TO 3½ HOURS

Exploring North Head is a real highlight of Manly. Try to do this walk on a weekday, when the trails are much quieter. It makes a great late afternoon option.

Turn right from the ferry, picking up a North Head map from 1  Hello Manly as you go. Follow the curve of Manly Cove, then take Stuart St to flat Collins Beach. Head up to North Head Scenic Dr and take a right. After 700m, you’ll come to a roundabout and the reception centre for 2  Q Station, the intriguing former quarantine complex. (Shortcut: the 135 bus from Manly Wharf can bring you here).

Just before the roundabout, take the metal walkway leading off to the left. Follow it up through attractive native scrub, then take a right at the T-junction near the Barracks complex to reach a couple of spectacular 3  viewpoints, one along the Northern Beaches, one across the harbour. The path arrives at the evocative 4  Third Quarantine Cemetery; turn left to reach 5  North Fort, where there’s information and a cafe (open until 4pm).

Beyond this complex of buildings is 6  Australia’s Memorial Walk, a commemorative footpath honouring the armed forces. Turn right at the T to explore the spectacular clifftop 7  Fairfax Lookouts, right at the mouth of the harbour.

Retrace your steps and continue on the Memorial Walk, then pass a series of WWII 8  gun emplacements along a camouflaged road. A detour to the right leads to 9  Hanging Swamp, a shallow wetland that is often dry.

Continue on this scenic, partly cobbled road, designed in the 1920s as a WWI memorial. After passing the entrance to a water company complex, take the a  Bluefish track to your right. This winds down across sandstone outcrops, offering magnificent sea views. Squeeze through a low door in a sturdy wall and you’ll emerge in the carpark just above b  Shelly Beach.

5 EATING

BAREFOOT COFFEE TRADERSCAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0415 816 061; www.barefootcoffee.com.au; 18 Whistler St; snacks $3-7; h6.30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 7am-5pm Sat & Sun; v; fManly)

Run by surfer lads serving fair-trade organic coffee from a closet-sized open-to-the-breeze shop, Barefoot epitomises Manly cool. Food is limited but the Belgian chocolate waffles go magically well with a macchiato. The coffee is deliciously smooth. There’s a larger cafe (MAP; 1 Wentworth St; light meals $6-19; W) on Wentworth St.

CHICA BONITAMEXICAN $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9976 5255; www.chicabonita.com.au; Shop 9, 9 The Corso; tacos $6, other dishes $10-16; h11.30am-3.30pm & 6-10.30pm Tue-Fri, 11am-3.30pm & 5.30-10.30pm Sat & Sun; fManly)

This upbeat place rises above its unprepossessing location: straddling the end of a dingy shopping arcade, with carpark views. It offers zingy, inventive Mexican fare from lunchtime burritos to evening tacos, with good margaritas and other cocktails on hand to wash them down. It’s easiest to enter from the corner of Whistler St and Market Pl.

GOOD HOPEMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9977 0194; www.goodhopemanly.com.au; 10 Belgrave St; share plates $16-38; h4-11pm Tue-Fri, 2-11pm Sat, 10.30am-6pm Sun; fManly)

Handsomely designed, with a wall of wine and darkly elegant decor, this is a welcome recent Manly arrival. It offers share plates of innovative and surprising quality in an enjoyable relaxed atmosphere. Sunday brunch is a feast at $35, or $65 beefed up with bottomless Mimosas (champagne and orange juice).

BOATHOUSE SHELLY BEACHCAFE $$

(%02-9974 5440; www.theboathousesb.com.au; 1 Marine Pde; kiosk mains $12-19, restaurant mains $18-29; h7am-4pm; Wv; fManly)

This sweet little spot on picturesque Shelly Beach makes a top venue for breakfast juices, brunches, fish ’n’ chips, oysters or daily fish specials, served either in the restaurant section or from the kiosk. There’s pleasantly shady outdoor seating. No bookings taken.

BELGRAVE CARTELCAFE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9976 6548; www.belgravecartel.com.au; 6 Belgrave St; small plates $6-18, mains $16-26; h6am-2pm Mon & Tue, 6am-midnight Wed-Fri, 7am-midnight Sat, 7am-10pm Sun; W; fManly)

This well-established cafe does perhaps Manly’s best espresso in a soothing vintage atmosphere with a couple of laneway-style outdoor tables. Breakfasts and Sunday brunches are guaranteed to please, as is the selection of Italian share plates. By night, there’s an appealing small-bar scene with cocktails and wine.

PAPI CHULOLATIN AMERICAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9114 7341; www.merivale.com.au/papichulo; Manly Wharf; mains $32-45; hnoon-10.30pm Mon-Sat, to 9pm Sun; v; fManly)

Casually stylish, this light-filled location on Manly Wharf has a vague vibe of the decadent Latin American tropics suggested by its artfully distressed wood and brick, age-spotted mirrors and lazily spinning fans. Drop in for excellent cocktails or order from the short, top-quality menu, with inventive dishes riffing around smoked and barbecued meats and fish, crunchy vegetables and opulent burgers.

HUGOSMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8116 8555; www.hugos.com.au; Manly Wharf; pizzas $25-29, mains $34-39; hnoon-midnight Mon-Fri, 11.30am-midnight Sat & Sun; W; fManly)

Occupying Manly’s primo location on the wharf, Hugos has super views from its open windows and sought-after outdoor deck. Relax on the banquette seating and sip a cocktail, then tuck in to delicious pizzas or an Italian-inflected menu of seafood and yummy desserts. It serves pizza all day; it’s also a decent place to just slide in for a beer.

6 DRINKING & NIGHTLIFE

Manly has a sandy party scene revolving around the Corso and Manly Wharf. A scattering of small bars add character.

o MANLY WHARF HOTELPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9977 1266; www.manlywharfhotel.com.au; East Esplanade; h11.30am-midnight Mon-Fri, 11am-1am Sat, 11am-midnight Sun; Wc; fManly)

Just along the wharf from the ferry, this remodelled pub is all glass and water vistas, with loads of seating so you’ve a good chance of grabbing a share of the view. It’s a perfect spot for sunny afternoon beers. There’s good pub food, too (mains $22 to $30), with pizzas, fried fish and succulent rotisserie chicken all worthwhile.

DONNY’SCOCKTAIL BAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9977 1887; www.donnys.com.au; 7 Market Lane; h6-11pm Mon, 4pm-midnight Tue-Fri, noon-midnight Sat, noon-10pm Sun; fManly)

This two-level bar-restaurant is an atmospheric spot for a great night-time cocktail if you can read the menu in the low-lit speakeasy ambience. Sweet-toothers will love the sugar-and-coffee hit that is the Sticky Date Espresso, while the ginned-up ‘detox’ option is served to look like you’re having a healthy pot of tea in case your personal trainer drops by.

It does some smart fusion food, too, and has regular live bands.

4 PINESMICROBREWERY

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9976 2300; www.4pinesbeer.com.au; 29/43-45 East Esplanade; h11am-midnight; W; fManly)

Local brewing concern 4 Pines has set up this handsome double-decker venue opposite the ferry wharf. Some of the beer is brewed here, and you can sip it on the balcony while munching on a tasty pulled-pork burger or a range of other pricey but tasty bar fare. Evening-only downstairs has the same menu, but with table service and no outlook.

HOTEL STEYNEPUB

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9977 4977; www.hotelsteyne.com.au; 75 The Corso; h9am-2am Mon-Sat, to 3am Thu, to midnight Sun; W; fManly)

With something for everyone, the Steyne is a Manly classic that’s big enough to get lost in: it’s like a village of its own with various bars and eating areas around the sociable central courtyard, which goes loud and late most nights. The rum-focused Moonshine bar has a balcony with beach views.

BAVARIANBEER HALL

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9977 8088; www.thebavarian.com.au; Manly Wharf; h11am-midnight Mon-Fri, 9am-midnight Sat & Sun; W; fManly)

At the ferry wharf, this open-sided bar offers numerous local and imported brews. The pork knuckles and pretzels are delicious; sausages are the best wurst option.

7 SHOPPING

Surf shops are where it’s at in Manly; there’s not much of a retail scene beyond that.

BUDGY SMUGGLERSSPORTS & OUTDOORS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0404 026 836; www.budgysmuggler.com.au; 22 Darley Rd, Manly; h9am-5pm; fManly)

This cheeky Northern Beaches swimwear brand appropriates a well-known Australian slang term for Speedos (think it through) and runs with it. Colourful men’s and women’s swimmers come in national colours, thematic designs or create-your-own.

MANLY LIFE SAVING CLUBSPORTS & OUTDOORS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9977 2742; www.manlylsc.com; South Steyne, Manly; hshop 10am-4pm Mon & Fri, 10.30am-4.30pm Tue-Thu, 9.30am-2.30pm Sat, 8am-3.30pm Sun; fManly) S

Support this local institution by nipping upstairs to check out its worthwhile surf shop.

ALOHA SURFSPORTS & OUTDOORS

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9977 3777; www.alohasurfmanly.com; 42 Pittwater Rd, Manly; h9am-6pm Fri-Wed, to 7pm Thu; fManly)

This quality surf shop offers longboards, shortboards, bodyboards, skateboards and surfing fashion. The owner is a proper surfer and can give local advice.

WORTH A DETOUR

GO WILD IN THE SUBURBS

Lane Cove National Park (%weekdays 02-8448 0400, weekends 02-9472 8949; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; Lady Game Dr, Chatswood West; per car $8; h9am-6pm Apr-Sep, 9am-7pm Oct-Mar; g545, 550, dNorth Ryde) This lovely park, surrounded by North Shore suburbia, flanks the Lane Cove River, which spills into the harbour. It’s a great place to stretch out on some middle-sized bushwalks and is on the Great North Walk. It’s home to dozens of critters, including some endangered owls and toads. If you visit in spring, the water dragons will be getting frisky and the native orchids and lilies will be flowering. The information office (%02-8448 0400; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; Lady Game Dr, Chatswood West; h9am-4pm Mon-Fri) near the main entrance has a cafe.

There’s a boatshed (%0418 600 695; Riverside Dr, Lane Cove National Park, Macquarie Park; h10am-5pm Sat & Sun, plus noon-5pm weekdays late-Dec–Jan; g545, 550, dNorth Ryde) on Lane Cove River that rents out rowboats and kayaks, but swimming isn’t a good idea. You can also cycle or grab one of the many barbecue spots. There’s a good campground (%02-9888 9133; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/camping-and-accommodation; Plassey Rd, Macquarie Park; unpowered/powered camp sites for 2 people $41/43, cabins from $148, luxury tents $220; pnWs; dNorth Ryde) here too, and some sections are wheelchair accessible.

You can reach the park easily from North Ryde station; from Chatswood station, the 545 and 550 buses can drop you close to the main entrance.

2 SPORTS & ACTIVITIES

MANLY KAYAK CENTREKAYAKING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9976 5057; www.manlykayakcentre.com.au; Manly Wharf, Manly; hire per 1/2/4/8hr from $25/45/55/75; h9am-5pm; fManly)

Hire a kayak or paddleboard from this set-up near Manly Wharf Hotel or their street office at Discover Manly (MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9976 5057; www.discovermanly.com.au; 1/40 East Esplanade, Manly; h9am-6pm Oct-Mar, to 5pm Apr-Sep; fManly). You’ll be provided with a life jacket, paddling instruction and tips on secluded beaches to visit. There are large paddleboards suitable for the whole family. Four-hour kayak tours at weekends cost $109. It’s best to book hires ahead.

MANLY OCEAN ADVENTURESBOATING, WILDLIFE

(%1300 062 659; www.manlyoceanadventures.com.au)

Blast out to sea in a speedboat, following the coastline from Manly all the way to Bondi (per person $85). From May to November it also offers whale watching excursions (per person $90). Its booking office is at Discover Manly.

MANLY BIKE TOURSCYCLING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8005 7368; www.manlybiketours.com.au; Belgrave St, Manly; hire per hr/day from $16/33; h9am-6pm Oct-Mar, to 5pm Apr-Sep; fManly)

Hires out bikes and provides maps and suggested routes for self-guided tours. There’s a big variety of bikes available and it’s right across from the ferry wharf. Key lockers are available for you to store gear while you ride.

MANLY SURF SCHOOLSURFING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9932 7000; www.manlysurfschool.com; North Steyne Surf Club, Manly; g136, 139, fManly)

Reliable and well-established, this outfit offers two-hour surf lessons year-round (adult/child $70/55), as well as private tuition. It’s a fair bit cheaper if you book a multi-class package. Also runs surf safaris up to the Northern Beaches, including two lessons, lunch, gear and city pick-ups ($120).

PRO DIVEDIVING

MAP (%02-9977 5966; www.prodivesydneymanly.com; 9 Sydenham Rd, Brookvale; h10am-5pm Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm Sat, 10am-4pm Sun; gB1, 168, 178, 180)

Offers everything from outings with double boat dives ($219) and double shore dives ($119) to three-day open-water courses ($499). Check its website for discounts on courses.

DIVE CENTRE MANLYDIVING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9977 4355; www.divesydney.com.au; 10 Belgrave St, Manly; h8.30am-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm Sat & Sun; fManly)

Offers snorkel safaris ($75), two-day learn-to-dive PADI courses (from $495), guided shore dives (one/two dives $145/175) and boat dives (two dives $225).

MANLY TO THE SPIT BRIDGE

The wonderful western section of the Manly Scenic Walkway is a 10km path between the ferry wharf and the Spit Bridge.

It traces the harbour shore west from Manly, past opulent harbour-view properties and then through a rugged 2.5km section of Sydney Harbour National Park that remains much as it was when the First Fleet sailed in.

Turn left out of the ferry, grabbing a map (also downloadable) from Hello Manly as you go, head along Manly Cove and pick up the path at the end of the beach. After 700m you’ll reach Fairlight Beach, where you can scan the view through the heads. Yachts tug at their moorings as you trace the North Harbour inlet and after 2km you’ll come to Forty Baskets Beach. Cross the bridge at high tide or go for a paddle. Kookaburras cackle as you enter the national park and approach Reef Beach.

The track becomes steep, sandy and rocky further into the park. The views from Dobroyd Head are unforgettable – look out for the deserted 1930s sea shacks at the base of the Crater Cove cliff. Further along, take a moment to examine the Aboriginal rock carvings on an unsigned ledge left of the track before taking the turnoff to Grotto Point Lighthouse.

Becalmed Castle Rock Beach is at the western end of the national park. From here the path winds around the rear of some houses to Clontarf Beach, where there’s a wide stretch of sand and the walk’s only real eating stop. Sandy Bay follows, and then Fisher Bay, before you reach the Spit Bridge. From the other end of the bridge you can either take the bus back to Manly or into the city.

Want more? It’s easy to link this walk to Balmoral Beach and beyond.

MANLY SURFBOARD RENTALSSURFING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9976 0591; www.manlysurfhire.com.au; 49 North Steyne, Manly; surfboard hire per 1hr/4hr/day $20/40/50; h9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 8.30am-6pm Sat & Sun; fManly)

Right opposite the beach, this shop hires out long and short boards, as well as all the paraphernalia. There’s no need to book; just turn up with a credit card for the deposit and away you go.

SKATER HQSKATING, CYCLING

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8667 7892; www.skaterhq.com.au; 49 North Steyne, Manly; skate & board hire per hr/day $20/30; h9am-6pm Mon-Sat, to 5pm Sun; fManly)

Hires out bikes, scooters, skateboards, inline skates and roller skates, with safety gear included.

Day Trips from Sydney

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

Right on Sydney’s northern fringes, this spectacular zone of bushland and water exemplifies this part of the state’s natural beauty.

Northern Beaches

Wilder and more distant than Sydney’s eastern strands, these are a must-see, especially for surfers. Although you’ll most likely approach them as a day trip, they’re very much part of the city.

Blue Mountains

With stunning natural beauty, this Australian highlight has huge eucalypts that form a dense canopy across the landscape of deep, often inaccessible, valleys and chiselled sandstone outcrops.

Parramatta

Historic buildings from the very earliest days of European settlement stand alongside ambitious modern development aimed at making Sydney’s geographc midpoint a second city hub.

Royal National Park

This wonderful coastal park, protecting 15,091 hectares and stretching inland from 32km of beautiful coast, is the world’s second-oldest national park (1879).

TOP SIGHT

KU-RING-GAI CHASE NATIONAL PARK

This spectacular 14,928-hectare park forms Sydney’s northern boundary. It’s a classic mix of sandstone, bushland and water vistas, taking in over 100km of coastline along the southern edge of Broken Bay, where it heads into the Hawkesbury River. There are two unconnected principal sections.

West Head

This central section of the park is a spectacular wilderness, with awe-inspiring vistas over Pittwater and Broken Bay, hidden beach communities, Aboriginal engravings and great walking tracks down to perfect little coves. It’s accessed off Mona Vale Rd in Terrey Hills or via boat from Palm Beach. West Head itself, 14km from the main road, offers a sensational lookout point over the Palm Beach peninsula and north to Lion Island and across Broken Bay. There’s also a precipitous trail down to a WWII emplacement. Other trailheads are signposted along the road.

About 3.5km short of West Head is the Basin Track, which offers an easy stroll to a good set of Indigenous engravings. Approximately 2.5km further is the Basin, a shallow round inlet where there is a beach (day visitors adult/child $3/2) and camping area. Access is via the Basin Track or by boat from Palm Beach. A branch off the Basin Track heads down to the remote, carless beachside suburbs of Mackerel Beach and Currawong (Little Mackerel) Beach, also accessible by ferry from Palm Beach.

About 1km short of West Head, the Resolute picnic area has faint Indigenous ochre handprints nearby at Red Hands Cave. Also from here, the Resolute Track heads past an Aboriginal engraving site on a 3km loop that takes in pretty Resolute Beach. You can push on a little (some wading required) to Mackerel Beach, allowing you to return via the Basin Track.

Normally elusive, lyrebirds are conspicuous at West Head during their mating season, from May to July.

Bobbin Head

This lovely section of the park has two entrance points joined by a road that snakes through glorious bushland down to Cowan Creek, a tributary of the Hawkesbury River. Its fame as a beauty spot has made it prime weekend picnic territory since the 1930s, but midweek you’ll have it to yourself. Excellent bush tracks run from both entrances down to Bobbin Head itself, where there’s an information office (%02-9472 8949; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; Bobbin Head Rd, Mt Colah; h10am-noon & 12.30-4pm, from 9am late-Dec–Jan; g577 from Turramurra station, dMt Colah), boat hire and a couple of eateries.

Three kilometres from Bobbin Head, on the road up to Mt Colah, the Kalkari Discovery Centre (%02-9472 9300; Ku-ring-gai Chase Rd, Mt Colah; h9am-5pm; dMt Colah) F has a small exhibition and a short loop track that has some great information about local tree species and also gives you the chance to see eastern grey kangaroos and other wildlife.

Buses from Turramurra station will drop you at the end of Bobbin Head Rd, where you have a choice of two tracks to reach the bottom (3.5km and 6.5km), one beginning at a curious sandstone sphinx carved by a war-wounded soldier as a WWI memorial. From the Mt Colah entrance, follow the Kalkari and Birrawanna tracks (6km). Another trail leads in from near Mt Ku-Ring-Gai station (5.5km). You can also get here on a cruise from Palm Beach.

DON’T MISS

A West Head lookout

A Basin Track

A Bobbin Head

A Kalkari Discovery Centre

PRACTICALITIES

A %02-9472 8949

A www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au

A per car per day $12, landing fee by boat adult/child $3/2

A hsunrise-sunset

Northern Beaches

Explore

There are a couple of dozen beaches, stretching from Manly in the south to magnificent Palm Beach in the north. They are all spectacular and nearly all offer excellent surfing when conditions are right.

Though nearly all the beaches are reached easily enough by public transport, consider hiring a car to beach-bum at your leisure. It’s worth spending a full day or more exploring this area, climbing to the Barrenjoey Lighthouse, having a beer overlooking Pittwater at the Newport Hotel (Newport Arms Hotel; %02-9997 4900; www.merivale.com.au/thenewport; cnr Beaconsfield & Kalinya Sts, Newport; h10am-midnight Mon-Fri, 9am-midnight Sat, 9am-11pm Sun; Wc; g188, 199, L90) and perhaps a special seafood meal somewhere.

The Northern Beaches are quite a ways from the city centre, so make an early start of it to make the most of the day.

The Best…

A Sight Palm Beach

A Place to Eat Pilu at Freshwater

A Place to Drink Newport

Top Tip

Check the surf forecasts before you head up here, as conditions can vary widely between individual beaches.

Getting There & Away

A Bus Key routes are the B1, running express from Wynyard Station to Mona Vale (to extend to Newport by 2019), and the 199 from Manly to Palm Beach via all the beach suburbs; a combination is usually the fastest way to get to the beach you want. The slower L90 runs to Palm Beach from Wynyard. Other buses run from Chatswood and North Sydney.

A Car It’s around 30km from downtown to this area’s middle beaches by road, and 45km to Palm Beach. Parking at the beaches is mostly quite expensively metered or timed.

Northern Beaches

1 Sights

1 Barrenjoey Lighthouse  B1

2 West Head  B1

5 Eating

3 Boathouse Palm Beach  B1

4 Jonah’s  B1

5 Limáni  B3

6 Pilu at Freshwater  B4

Pilu Baretto  (see 6)

6 Drinking & Nightlife

7 Newport  B2

2 Sports & Activities

8 Narrabeen Lagoon Trail  A3

9 Pro Dive  A4

1 SIGHTS

The following sights are ordered from south to north.

o PALM BEACHBEACH

(Ocean Rd, Palm Beach; g199, L90)

Long, lovely Palm Beach is a crescent of bliss, famous as the setting for cheesy TV soap Home & Away. The 1881 Barrenjoey Lighthouse punctuates the northern tip of the headland in an annexe of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The suburb Palm Beach has two sides, the magnificent ocean beach, and a pleasant strip on Pittwater, where the calmer strands are good for young kids. From here you can get ferries (%02-9974 2411; www.fantasea.com.au/palmbeachferries; Barrenjoey Rd, Palm Beach; each way adult/child Pittwater ferries $8.10/4.05, Broken Bay ferries $11.60/5.80; hoffice 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun; g199, L90) to other picturesque Pittwater destinations, as well as Ku-Ring-Gai National Park.

DEE WHYBEACH

(The Strand, Dee Why; gE76, 136, 199)

A no-fuss curve of family beach fronted by chunky apartments, some good cafes and ubiquitous surf shops. Grommets hit the waves and mums hit the rock pool at the southern end of the sand, which has a kid-friendly paddle pool next to it.

NARRABEENBEACH

(Ocean St, Narrabeen; gB1, 155, 185, 188, 199)

Immortalised by the Beach Boys in ‘Surfin’ USA’, long, spectacular Narrabeen is hard-core surf turf – get some experience before hitting the breaks. Not the best for swimming, but there is a pool. At the far northern end of the beach, there’s good paddling for young children on the lagoon side of the strand. Back from the centre of the beach, you can check out the lagoon trail (www.warringah.nsw.gov.au; Narrabeen; gB1, 185, 188, 199).

AVALONBEACH

(Barrenjoey Rd, Avalon; gL90, 188, 199)

Caught in a sandy ’70s time warp, Avalon is the mythical Australian beach you always dreamed of but could never find. Challenging surf and sloping, tangerine-gold sand have a boutique headland for a backdrop. There’s a sea pool at the southern end. Good, cheap eating options abound in the streets behind.

WHALE BEACHBEACH

(Whale Beach Rd, Whale Beach; g199, L90)

Sleepy Whale Beach, 3km south of Palm Beach, is well worth seeking out – a paradisiacal slice of deep, orange-tinted sand backed by pines and flanked by steep cliffs; it’s a good beach for surfers and families. There’s a sea pool at its southern end.

BARRENJOEY LIGHTHOUSELIGHTHOUSE

(%02-9451 3479; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; Palm Beach; gL90, 199) F

This historic sandstone lighthouse (1881) sits at the northern tip of the Northern Beaches in an annexe of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. You’ve got two route options – stairs or a winding track – for the steep hike to the top, but majestic views across Pittwater and the peninsula are worth the effort. On Sundays short tours (adult/child $5/2) run half-hourly from 11am to 3pm; no need to book. The top is also good for whale watching.

5 EATING & DRINKING

PILU BARETTOCAFE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9938 3331; www.pilu.com.au; Moore Rd, Freshwater; dishes $12-22; h6.30am-3.30pm Mon-Wed, to 9pm Thu-Sun; g139, E65)

It may be attached to the upmarket Pilu restaurant, but this casual deck cafe is an altogether more relaxed affair. It’s a top spot for Italian-influenced pre-surf breakfasts, delicious post-surf lunches or evening grazing. Dishes include suckling-pig rolls, pasta specials and bar snacks. The coffee is great, but so is the Sardinian wine by the glass.

BOATHOUSE PALM BEACHCAFE $$

(%02-9974 5440; www.theboathousepb.com.au; Governor Phillip Park, Palm Beach; mains $18-29; h7am-4pm; Wv; g199, L90)

Sit on the large timber deck right by the sand at Pittwater or grab a table on the lawn – either option is alluring at Palm Beach’s most popular cafe. The food (try the legendary fish and chips or the vibrant salads) is nearly as impressive as the views – and that’s really saying something. No bookings are taken.

o PILU AT FRESHWATERSARDINIAN $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9938 3331; www.pilu.com.au; Moore Rd, Freshwater; 3 courses à la carte $95, 5-/7-course tasting menu $115/130; hnoon-2.30pm & 6-10pm Tue-Sat, noon-2.30pm Sun; g139, E65)

Housed within a heritage-listed beach house overlooking the ocean, this multi-award-winning Sardinian restaurant serves specialities such as oven-roasted suckling pig and traditional flatbread. Your best bet, however, is to plump for the tasting menu and thereby eliminate any possible order envy. There are some excellent wines on offer here – many of them Sardinian – beautifully decanted and served.

o JONAH’SMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(%02-9974 5599; www.jonahs.com.au; 69 Bynya Rd, Whale Beach; 2/3/4 courses $88/115/130; h7.30-9am, noon-2.30pm & 6.30-11pm; W; g199, L90)

Perched above Whale Beach, luxurious Jonah’s has fabulous perspectives over the ocean. The food is easy on the eye too, with immaculate presentation and excellent fish dishes. For the ultimate Sydney indulgence, take a seaplane from Rose Bay, order the seafood platter for two and stay overnight in one of the ocean-view rooms (dinner, bed and breakfast per person $522).

LIMÁNISEAFOOD $$$

(%02-9970 1999; www.limani.com.au; 11 Narrabeen St, Narrabeen; mains $28-45; hnoon-2.30pm & 6-9pm daily, to 10pm Fri & Sat; c; gB1, 185, 188, 199)

With its peaceful outlook over the Narrabeen lagoon, upstairs Limáni (there’s a lift) is especially lovely at sunset. It’s a cheerful, likeable place specialising in quality seafood with a distinct Mediterranean accent. The big windows make appreciating the setting easy. It also makes a tempting lunch stop after a walk around the lagoon.

Blue Mountains

Explore

The foothills begin 65km inland from Sydney, rising to an 1100m-high sandstone plateau riddled with valleys eroded into the stone. There are eight connected conservation areas in the region, offering truly fantastic scenery, excellent bushwalks (hikes), Aboriginal engravings and all the canyons and cliffs you could ask for.

Although it’s possible to day-trip from Sydney, consider staying a night (or longer) so you can explore the towns, do at least one bushwalk and eat at some of the excellent restaurants. The hills can be surprisingly cool throughout the year, so bring warm clothes.

The Best…

A Lookout Evans Lookout, Blackheath

A Village Leura

A Walk Grand Canyon Walk

Top Tip

There are limited local bus services run by Blue Mountains Bus (%02-4751 1077; www.bmbc.com.au), but it’s often easiest to get the train between towns. In Katoomba and Leura, two competing hop-on, hop-off bus services are a good way to get around the main sights with little fuss, but walking between most of them isn’t too burdensome either.

Getting There & Away

Trains (%13 15 00; www.sydneytrains.info) run hourly from Sydney’s Central Station to Katoomba and beyond via a string of Blue Mountains towns. The journey takes two hours to Katoomba and costs $8.30 on an Opal card.

It takes approximately 1½ hours to drive from central Sydney to Katoomba.

Need to Know

A Location Katoomba is 120km west of central Sydney.

A Tourist Information Echo Point Visitors Centre Katoomba (%1300 653 408; www.bluemountainscitytourism.com.au; Echo Point Road; h9am-5pm)

Blue Mountains

1 Sights

1 Blackheath  B3

2 Blue Mountains National Park  D3

3 Katoomba  C4

4 Leura  C3

5 Scenic World  C4

2 Sports & Activities

6 Golden Stairs Walk  B4

7 Grand Canyon Walk  C3

1 SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES
o GOLDEN STAIRS WALKHIKING

(Glenraphael Dr)

If you have your own transport, you can tackle the Golden Stairs Walk, a less congested route down to the Ruined Castle (a famous rock formation) than the track leading from Scenic World. It’s a steep, exhilarating trail leading down into the valley (about 7km, five hours return). Take plenty of water.

o GRAND CANYON WALKHIKING

(Evans Lookout Rd, Blackheath)

This spectacular 5km circuit plunges you from Evans Lookout into the valley for a memorable walk along the ‘Grand Canyon’ before looping back up to the road about 1.5km short of the lookout. Though strenuous on the descent and ascent, it’s one of the area’s shadier walks and takes most people around three hours.

o LEURAVILLAGE

Leura, 3km east of Katoomba, is a gracious, affluent town, fashioned around undulating streets, unparalleled gardens and sweeping Victorian verandas. The Mall, the tree-lined main street, offers rows of country craft stores and cafes for the daily tourist influx.

KATOOMBAVILLAGE

From Leura, it’s only 2km to Katoomba, the region’s main town, whose often-misty steep streets are lined with art deco buildings. The population here is an odd mix of working-class battlers and hippyish refugees from the big smoke, all of whom seem to cope with the huge numbers of tour buses and tourists who come to ooh and aah at the spectacular view of the Jamison Valley and the Three Sisters rock-formation towers from the Echo Point viewing platforms.

SCENIC WORLDCABLE CAR

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-4780 0200; www.scenicworld.com.au; cnr Violet St & Cliff Dr; adult/child $43/23; h9am-5pm)

This long-time favourite offers spectacular views. Ride the glass-floored Skyway gondola across the gorge then the vertiginous Scenic Railway, billed as the steepest railway in the world, down the 52-degree incline to the Jamison Valley floor. From here you can wander a 2.5km forest boardwalk (or hike the 12km, six-hour-return track to the Ruined Castle rock formation) before catching a cable car back up the slope.

BLACKHEATHVILLAGE

From Blackheath, the next town on the highway, you can enjoy amazing views from Perrys Lookdown, Pulpit Rock, Govetts Leap and Evans Lookout. Crowds here aren’t as oppressive as at Katoomba’s Echo Point. Blackheath is also the gastronomic centre of the region, with some excellent restaurants operating between Thursday and Sunday.

4 SLEEPING & EATING

There’s a good range of accommodation in the Blue Mountains, but book ahead during winter and for Friday and Saturday nights. Leafy Leura is your best bet for romance, while Blackheath is a good base for hikers; Katoomba is more built-up, although it does have excellent hostels.

A good selection of restaurants studs the region, with Blackheath and Leura the two little gourmet capitals. Katoomba has plentiful cafes, and major supermarkets for stocking up on trekking supplies.

Check www.lonelyplanet.com/australia/new-south-wales/blue-mountains for specific sleeping and eating recommendations.

Parramatta

Explore

Parramatta’s key historic houses take you right back to the earliest days of the colony. Three of them are situated close together about 1.5km east of Parramatta station, so if they’re your first target, you may want to alight at the closer Harris Farm station. On the other side of the centre is lovely Parramatta Park and the other key sight, Old Government House.

Dropping by the enthusiastic riverside visitor centre is a must; it’ll give you all sorts of ideas for activities and events. Contacting them before your visit to see what’s on is a good idea.

The riverbank is an obligatory stroll through the heart of town, a walk that can be extended in either direction; the Church St eating strip is another pleasant ramble.

Parramatta is undergoing major change as its centre is redeveloped and innovative architecture is being employed. You won’t be short of things to look at across town.

The Best

A Sight Elizabeth Farm

A Place to Eat Courtney’s Brasserie

A Place to Drink Uncle Kurt’s

Top Tip

The ferry is a lovely way to reach Parramatta, but the train is substantially quicker. Coming here one way and heading back the other might be the best way to make the most of your time.

Getting There

A Train Trains run from central Sydney to Parramatta on the T1 and Blue Mountains lines very regularly (25 to 30 minutes).

A Ferry Ferries on the F3 line run from Circular Quay to Parramatta along the river (1½ hours). Occasionally, the river level means the ferry doesn’t quite make it to Parramatta, so they’ll offer a connecting bus from Rydalmere.

Need to Know

A Location 23km west of central Sydney

A Tourist Office Parramatta Heritage & Visitor Information Centre

1 SIGHTS

ELIZABETH FARMHISTORIC BUILDING

(%02-9635 9488; www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au; 70 Alice St, Rosehill; adult/child $12/8; h10am-4pm Wed-Sun; dRosehill, dHarris Park (when Rosehill is closed))

Elizabeth Farm contains part of Australia’s oldest surviving colonial building (1793), built by renegade pastoralist and rum trader John Macarthur. Heralded as the founder of Australia’s wool industry, Macarthur was a ruthless capitalist whose politicking made him immensely wealthy and a thorn in the side of successive governors. The pretty homestead is now a hands-on museum where you can recline on the reproduction furniture and thumb through Elizabeth Macarthur’s letters.

EXPERIMENT FARM COTTAGEHISTORIC BUILDING

(%02-9635 5655; www.nationaltrust.org.au; 9 Ruse St, Harris Park; adult/child $9/4; hguided tours 10.30am-3.30pm Wed-Sun; dHarris Park)

This colonial bungalow stands on the site of Australia’s first official land grant. In 1789 Governor Phillip allocated 12 hectares to emancipated convict James Ruse as an experiment to see how long it would take Ruse to wean himself off government supplies. The experiment was a success, and Ruse became Australia’s first private farmer. He sold the land to surgeon John Harris, who built this house around 1835. It’s decked out in period style with lovely early colonial furniture.

OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSEHISTORIC BUILDING

(%02-9635 8149; www.nationaltrust.org.au; Parramatta Park, Parramatta; adult/child $14/6; h10am-4pm Tue-Sun; dParramatta)

The country residence of the early governors, this elegant Georgian Palladian building in Parramatta Park is now a preciously maintained museum furnished with original colonial furniture. It dates from 1799, making it the oldest remaining public building in Australia. Temporary exhibitions add to the building’s interest and there’s a vine-draped courtyard restaurant.

PARRAMATTA PARKPARK

(www.parrapark.com.au; cnr Pitt & Macquarie Sts, Parramatta; h6am-6pm Apr-Sep, to 8pm Oct-Mar; dParramatta)

This 85-hectare riverside park has a democratic feel as locals descend on it to run, laze, picnic or go to a concert. The site of successful 18th-century attempts to grow food for the new colony, it was appropriated as a type of country estate by the governors before being given over to the public in 1858. Its important colonial-historical remnants include Old Government House a dairy dating from 1813, a ruined observatory and an elegant former bath house. Tours to visit the dairy ($12) run twice monthly and by appointment; check dates online.

5 EATING & DRINKING

PORT BARITALIAN $$

(%02-9687 8823; www.portbar.com.au; 36 Charles St, Parramatta; mains $20-34; h9am-10pm Mon-Fri, 8am-10pm Sat, 7am-10pm Sun; W; fParramatta, dParramatta)

Opposite the wharf in Parramatta, this is popular throughout the day for everything from breakfast to beers on the terrace. It offers authentic, family-run Italian food that’s bright and flavour-packed. Sitting outside here is a real pleasure, with the view over the river and the ferries doing their tight end-of-the-line turn.

COURTNEY’S BRASSERIEMODERN AUSTRALIAN $$$

(%02-9635 3288; www.courtneysbrasserie.com.au; 30 Charles St, Parramatta; bar menu $12-15, restaurant mains $34-40; hrestaurant noon-3pm & 5-10pm Tue-Fri, 5.30-10pm Sat; v; fParramatta, dParramatta)

Just up from the wharf, this local institution offers quality fare using locally sourced, high-quality ingredients. There are degustation options with matched wines and a vegetarian menu: vegetables in general are delicious here. The bar and terrace is a pleasant spot, serving a casual snack menu.

DARCY STREET PROJECTCOFFEE

(%1300 824 324; www.darcystproject.com.au; Horwood Pl, Parramatta; h6am-1pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sat; dParramatta) S

This heartening social enterprise trains up young people as baristas, with a particular focus on refugee and disadvantaged communities. It’s a great spot to drop in for a chat or for a cup of excellent coffee. It also runs regular events like tea tastings; check its Facebook page for info.

UNCLE KURT’SCOCKTAIL BAR

(%0401 585 026; www.facebook.com/unclekurts; Horwood Pl, Parramatta; h4-10pm Tue-Thu, to midnight Fri, 6pm-midnight Sat; dParramatta)

This dingy, small, graffiti-strewn bar deliberately plays up its downbeat location at a corner of a multistorey carpark. The drinks, however, are very high-class, with imaginative, expertly prepared cocktails, gin-and-tonics served in cut-glass tumblers and New York deli–style sandwiches.

Royal National Park

Explore

This prime stretch of wilderness is at the city’s doorstep, and encompasses secluded beaches, vertiginous cliffs, scrub, heath, rainforest, swamp wallabies, lyrebirds and raucous flocks of yellow-tailed black cockatoos.

The Best…

A Surf Garie Beach

A Water Activities Audley Boat Shed

A Place to Stay Beachhaven

Getting There & Away

Cronulla Ferries (%02-9523 2990; www.cronullaferries.com.au; adult/child $6.60/3.30) travels to Bundeena from Cronulla, accessible by train from Sydney.

You can also get a train to Waterfall and hike into the park from there.

Need to Know

A Location 35km south of central Sydney.

A Tourist Information Royal National Park Visitor Centre (%02-9542 0648; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; 2 Lady Carrington Dr, Audley; h8.30am-4.30pm)

1 SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

BUNDEENATOWN

(Bundeena Dr)

The sizeable town of Bundeena, on the southern shore of Port Hacking opposite Sydney’s southern suburb of Cronulla, is surrounded by the park and has a lovely curving beach. From here you can walk 30 minutes towards the ocean to Jibbon Head, which has another good beach and interesting Aboriginal rock art. Bundeena is the starting point of the coastal walk.

GARIE BEACHBEACH

(www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; Garie Beach Rd)

Three kilometres down a turn-off from the main road, this excellent surf beach is a picturesque spot. Like all of the Royal National Park surf beaches, swimming can be treacherous. There’s a toilet but no other facilities despite the large building complex, though the beach is patrolled on summer weekends.

WATTAMOLLA BEACHBEACH

(www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; Wattamolla Rd)

About halfway along the coast, Wattamolla Beach is one of the park’s favourite picnic spots and gets pretty busy in summer. It has the great advantage of having both a surf beach and a lagoon, allowing for safe swimming. There’s also a waterfall; jumping is popular but strictly prohibited. The beach is 3.3km from the main road, accessed from very near the Bundeena turn-off.

AUDLEY BOAT SHEDKAYAKING, CYCLING

(%02-9545 4967; www.audleyboatshed.com; 150 Audley Rd, Audley; h8.30am-5pm)

At this historic boat shed you can hire rowboats, canoes and kayaks (per hour/day $20/45) for a paddle up Kangaroo Creek or the Hacking River. It also rents aqua bikes (per half-hour $15) and mountain bikes (per hour/day $16/34). Staff are good for a chat about the area too.

4 SLEEPING & EATING

Bundeena has limited but appealing lodging options, while the park itself manages three excellent self-catering cottages.

Bush camping is allowed at certain sites both here and in the adjacent Heathcote National Park, but you must obtain a permit (from $12 per site) from the visitor centre.

Bundeena has a couple of cafes and takeaways, as well as a large supermarket.

BONNIE VALE CAMPGROUNDCAMPGROUND $

(%1300 072 757; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; Sea Breeze Lane, Bundeena; 2-person site $34; pn)

This campground is 1.5km west of central Bundeena and has pleasant, flat, grassy sites. It’s right by the water, with both sheltered bay beach and river estuary for swimming. It is well equipped, with toilets, hot showers, electric barbecues and picnic tables.

o BEACHHAVENB&B $$$

(%02-9544 1333; www.beachhavenbnb.com.au; 13 Bundeena Dr, Bundeena; r $300-350; psaW)

Right on gorgeous Hordens Beach, this classy B&B is run by a welcoming couple who offer two fabulous rooms. Both have a kitchenette, a king bed with plush fabrics, and some fine antique furnishings, as well as a generously stocked fridge and lovely patio area. Beach House is right by the sand, while Tudor Cottage is tucked away in a little subtropical garden.

4Sleeping

Sydney offers a vast quantity and variety of accommodation, especially concentrated in the downtown, Rocks and Darling Harbour areas. Even so, the supply shrivels up under the summer sun, particularly around weekends and big events, so be sure to book ahead. Prices, even in the budget class, are high; city-centre hotels charge stratospheric rates.

Hotels

There are hotels scattered throughout Sydney, but you’ll find the international chains with all their bells and whistles in Circular Quay and the city centre. The suburbs and beaches host a diverse bunch of boutique escapes, from heritage-listed terrace houses to sleek apartments and beach bungalows.

Nearly all hotels operate flexible pricing, so be sure to book your stay well in advance for the best rates.

Hostels

Sydney’s hostels range from the sublime to the sublimely grotty. A clump of flashpacker-style blocks encircling Central station have raised the bar, offering en-suite bathrooms, air-conditioning, rooftop decks and, in one case, a pool. Private rooms in such places are often on par with midrange hotels – and in many cases the prices aren’t all that different either. You’ll find smaller, cheaper hostels in Kings Cross, Glebe and at the beaches.

B&Bs & Guesthouses

We’ve used the term guesthouses to refer to places that are bigger and less personal than the average B&B, but are smaller and offer fewer services than your average hotel. Guesthouses may or may not offer free breakfast. There aren’t masses of B&Bs in Sydney, but there are a few real gems.

Rates & Seasons

These days, all but the smallest hotels vary their prices depending on the season, special events, day of the week (weekends tend to be more expensive) and, most importantly, occupancy. We’ve listed an average high-season price at fairly short notice, so hopefully you’ll pay less with a bit of planning; be aware that you may pay more booking last minute or at peak times.

The summer high season lasts from around December to March, with the absolute peak being between Christmas and New Year (especially New Year’s Eve). Prices also shoot up again in late February/early March in the lead up to Mardi Gras.

Breakfast

Many hotels offer a continental buffet breakfast, but it’s worth asking about room-only rates, as they can be much cheaper – and exploring Sydney’s cafes is part of the fun. Some hostels offer free toast and cereal. Not all B&Bs offer full cooked breakfasts, or do so only at weekends; check in advance.

Lonely Planet’s Top Choices

Sydney Harbour YHA Million-dollar harbour views on a youth-hostel budget.

QT Sydney Fun, sexy and completely over the top.

Cockatoo Island Camping in the heart of the city.

ADGE Boutique Apartment Hotel A kaleidoscopic twist on the ubiquitous serviced apartment.

Ovolo 1888 Fabulous and friendly in a former Pyrmont wool warehouse.

Tara Guest House Sensational Inner West hospitality.

Best B&Bs

Tara Guest House Wonderfully welcoming in a fabulous house.

Forsyth Bed & Breakfast Two striking designer rooms.

Simpsons of Potts Point Impeccable hospitality in this Potts Point mansion.

Bondi Beach House Homelike and casual beach vibe.

101 Addison Road Beautiful antique-furnished home.

Best Boutique Hotels

QT Sydney Stylish, sassy and brilliant rooms.

Establishment Hotel Tailor-made for a decadent Sydney stay.

Ovolo 1888 Darling Harbour Historic warehouse turned great hotel.

Harbour Rocks Hotel Excellent small hotel in historic Sydney.

Old Clare Hotel Imaginative and striking rooms.

Spicers Beautiful Potts Point terrace conversion.

Best By Budget

$

Blue Parrot Backpackers As homelike as a hostel can get.

Sydney Harbour YHA Upmarket hostelling with super harbour views.

Cockatoo Island Glamping in the middle of the harbour.

$$

Tara Guest House Strikingly good Inner West B&B.

Dive Hotel Right across from Coogee Beach.

Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel Spacious, light rooms in a marvellous location.

$$$

QT Sydney Stylish, glamorous, fun and central.

ADGE Boutique Apartment Hotel Check out that carpet!

Ovolo 1888 Brilliant industrial conversion near Darling Harbour.

Best Heritage Hotels

Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel Bed down in a traditional Rocks boozer.

Tara Guest House Beautifully maintained heritage villa.

Ovolo Hotel Woolloomooloo In the historic wharf.

Ovolo 1888 Great conversion of a wool store.

Harbour Rocks Hotel Sensitive transformation of colonial buildings.

NEED TO KNOW

Price Ranges

The following price ranges refer to a double room in high season:

$ less than $200

$$ $200-350

$$$ more than $350

Useful Websites

Home-share and apartment rental can provide some relief from the high hotel prices, but nothing comes cheap.

A Sydney.com (www.sydney.com) Official tourism website, including accommodation listings.

A Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com/australia/sydney/hotels) Accommodation listings.

Checking In & Out

Check-in is normally 2pm, although most places are flexible if the room is ready, or at least let you stow your luggage. Check-out is often as early as 10am; it doesn’t hurt to request a later time.

Where to Stay

4Circular Quay & The Rocks
o SYDNEY HARBOUR YHAHOSTEL $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8272 0900; www.yha.com.au; 110 Cumberland St; dm $56-64, d $180-250; naiW; dCircular Quay) S

Any qualms about the unhostel-like prices will be shelved the moment you head up to the ample rooftop space of this sprawling, modern hostel and see the superb views of Circular Quay. Very well run, the hostel has en-suite four- and six-berth dorms and a selection of decent-value-for-Sydney private rooms. There are also a host of sustainability initiatives in place.

LORD NELSON BREWERY HOTELPUB $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9251 4044; www.lordnelsonbrewery.com; 19 Kent St; r incl breakfast $210-250; naW; dCircular Quay)

Built in 1836, this atmospheric sandstone pub has a tidy set of seven upstairs rooms, with exposed stone walls and dormer windows with harbour glimpses. They are all en suite; one is smaller and cheaper than the others. The downstairs microbrewery is a welcoming place for a pint and a meal. Rates include breakfast.

o HARBOUR ROCKS HOTELBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8220 9999; www.harbourrocks.com.au; 34 Harrington Street; r $300-550; naiW; dCircular Quay)

This deluxe boutique hotel on the site of Sydney’s first hospital has undergone a chic and sympathetic transformation from colonial warehouse and workers’ cottages to a series of New York loft–style rooms, with high ceilings, distressed brick and elegant furnishings. It maintains a historic feel and has a great little garden balcony terrace.

PULLMAN QUAY GRAND SYDNEY HARBOURAPARTMENT $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9256 4000; www.pullmanquaygrandsydneyharbour.com; 61 Macquarie St; apt $550-800; pnaiWs; dCircular Quay)

With the Opera House as its neighbour, the building complex known locally as ‘The Toaster’ has a scorching-hot location. These well-designed contemporary apartments, large and well-equipped, set you in Sydney’s glitzy heart, encircled by restaurants, cocktail bars and that attention-seeking harbour. The small number of rooms and blend of residents and visitors gives it a quiet ambience.

Rooms have lots of glass to make the most of the vistas. Harbour views cost around $100 more than the ones looking over to the Botanic Gardens. The hotel’s bar, Hacienda, is a likeable and lively spot.

PARK HYATTHOTEL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9256 1234; www.sydney.park.hyatt.com; 7 Hickson Rd; r $1170-1690; pnaiWs; dCircular Quay)

At Sydney’s most expensive hotel the impeccable service levels and facilities are second to none, as is the location on the waterfront promenade. With full-frontal views across Circular Quay, you can catch all the action from your bed, balcony or bathtub. From the rooftop pool you feel you can almost touch the Harbour Bridge. A most luxurious urban experience.

LANGHAMHOTEL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9256 2222; www.langhamhotels.com; 89-113 Kent St; r $450-700; pnaiWs#; dWynyard)

This opulent hotel eschews excessive glitz in favour of an antique ambience. It’s a true five-star stay, featuring an afternoon turn-down service, an in-house pastry kitchen, a page-long pillow menu and an extravagant pool and spa experience, where guests can swim under a star-dazzled ceiling. Works of art dot the building, giving it a different feel to other CBD hotels.

SIR STAMFORDHOTEL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9252 4600; www.stamford.com.au; 93 Macquarie St; r $320-450; pnaWs; dCircular Quay)

With an old-fashioned ambience a world away from the city-slicker styling of most Sydney hotels, Sir Stamford leaves a grand first impression with its waistcoated staff, glittering chandeliers and gilt-framed portraits. The huge rooms – plush carpeting, sofas, marble bathrooms and pictures of English country life – are lovely, service is a strong point and there’s a sundeck with a tiny pool. The bar is beautiful; it’s worth swinging by for a G&T even if you’re not staying.

HOTEL PALISADEPUB $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9018 0123; www.hotelpalisade.com.au; 35 Bettington St; standard r $280-320, deluxe $400-480; nW; g311, dCircular Quay)

These eight rather gorgeous rooms above a quality pub make a characterful Sydney address. Standard doubles are cute if compact; deluxe ones have much more room to move. Wall paintings, mosquito nets, stylish fridges and harbour views; the rooms feel very upbeat and light. Portable air-con units are available and a basic breakfast in a nearby cafe is included.

4City Centre & Haymarket
o RAILWAY SQUARE YHAHOSTEL $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9281 9666; www.yha.com.au; 8-10 Lee St; dm $38-44, d $113-144; naiWs; dCentral)

A lovely piece of industrial renovation has converted Central station’s former parcel shed into a really appealing hostel, in a great location but away from the bustle. Dorms with corrugated roofs and underfloor-heated bathrooms are spotless; some are actually in converted train carriages. There’s a cafe and laundry facilities.

The future of this hostel was in some doubt at time of research as redevelopment of Central Station was being contemplated by the NSW government.

SYDNEY CENTRAL YHAHOSTEL $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9218 9000; www.yha.com.au; 11 Rawson Pl; dm $37-52, d $117-153; pnaiWs; dCentral) S

Near Central station, this 1913 heritage-listed monolith is the mother of all Sydney YHA properties. The renovated hostel includes everything from a travel agency to an in-house cinema. The rooms are brightly painted and the kitchens are great, but the highlight is sweating it out in the sauna, then cooling off in the rooftop pool.

GRACE HOTELHOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9272 6888; www.gracehotel.com.au; 77 York St; r $230-380; pnaWs; dWynyard)

The sumptuous neo-Gothic exterior makes this 1920s building a Sydney landmark, and its stylish art-deco interior adds impact. By comparison the rooms are bland, but they are pleasant and commodious, and facilities are excellent. Best is the atmosphere downstairs, with a decent Irish pub, piano lounge and busy eateries; it’s a real hub of activity.

HYDE PARK INNHOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9264 6001; www.hydeparkinn.com.au; 271 Elizabeth St; apts $220-308; pnaW; dMuseum)

Right on the park, this relaxed place offers brightly decorated studio rooms with kitchenettes, deluxe rooms with balconies and full kitchens, and some two-bedroom apartments. All have flat-screen TVs with cable access and some have microwaves and kitchenettes. Breakfast and parking is included in the rate, making it great value for central Sydney.

ULTIMOHOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9281 5555; www.theultimo.com.au; 37 Ultimo Rd; r $190-295; naW; jPaddy’s Markets, dCentral)

Right in the heart of the southern bit of Chinatown, this neat boutique hotel is modern and comfortable. Standard rooms aren’t huge, but the friendly staff will often upgrade you if they can. There’s a lightly carried astrology theme, which runs to local recommendations based on star sign, but you can delve further into your horoscope charts, with personalised readings.

o QT SYDNEYBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8262 0000; www.qthotelsandresorts.com/sydney-cbd; 49 Market St; r $360-540; pnaiW; jQueen Victoria Building, dTown Hall)

Fun, sexy and relaxed, this ultra-theatrical, effortlessly cool hotel is located in the historic State Theatre (MAP GOOGLE MAP; %box office 13 61 00; www.statetheatre.com.au; 49 Market St; tours adult/child $22.50/14.50; htours 10am & 1pm Mon-Wed). Art-deco eccentricity is complemented by quirky extras in the rooms, which are distinct and decorated with real style and flair – there’s a definite wow factor. Service is personable and upbeat; there’s also a luxurious spa plus a fashionable bar and grill.

ESTABLISHMENT HOTELBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9240 3100; www.merivale.com.au; 5 Bridge Lane; r $350-500; naiW; dWynyard)

In a discreet laneway, this designer boutique hotel in a refurbished 19th-century warehouse evokes Asia with its incense aromas and dark-wood fittings. There are two principal room styles: ‘light’ (all white-and-tan contemporary colouring) and sexier ‘dark’ (with wooden floorboards and a nocturnal feel). Decadent nights out are assured with the company’s numerous acclaimed bars and restaurants right around you.

PRIMUS HOTEL SYDNEYHOTEL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8027 8000; www.primushotelsydney.com; 339 Pitt St; r $300-480; pnaWs; dTown Hall)

In the former Water Board building, this slick conversion has magnificent lobby space with red pillars and glorious art-deco details. There’s space to spare here, with wide corridors and ample, commodious rooms; excellent service is a noteworthy feature. Though the pool itself is tiny, the deck surrounding it is a fabulous spot; the bar here is open to the public.

MERITON SUITES KENT STREETAPARTMENT $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8263 5500; www.meritonsuites.com.au; 528 Kent St; apts $256-446; pnaWs; dTown Hall)

There’s a lot to be said for staying in a serviced apartment, not least the ability to be able to wash your undies whenever the need arises. Each of the one- to three-bedroom apartments in this modern tower has laundry facilities and a full kitchen complete with a dishwasher. Not that you’ll want to cook, with Chinatown at your feet.

4Darling Harbour & Pyrmont
o OVOLO 1888 DARLING HARBOURBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8586 1888; www.ovolohotels.com; 139 Murray St, Pyrmont; r $230-400; naiW; jConvention Centre)

In a heritage-listed wool store, this stylish gem combines industrial minimalism with the warmth of ironbark-wood beams, luxury appointments and engaged staff. Rooms range from the aptly named Shoebox to airy lofts and attic suites with harbour views. The minibar is complimentary, and if you book direct you get to enjoy free drinks and canapes at the daily happy hour.

ADINA APARTMENT HOTEL DARLING HARBOURAPARTMENT $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9249 7000; www.adinahotels.com.au; 55 Shelley St, Central Sydney; apt $280-450; paWs; fBarangaroo, dWynyard)

Heaven is a swish, spacious apartment where people clean up after you. That’s exactly what happens at this low-rise development just off King Street Wharf. All apartments have kitchens, and all but the studios have laundry facilities and balconies. They are all very roomy, and there’s a great atrium pool and gym area.

4Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

BIG HOSTELHOSTEL $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9281 6030; www.bighostel.com; 212 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills; dm $35-40, s/d $99/120; naiW; dCentral)

A bright and breezy, no-frills hostel with a rooftop terrace and a crowded but decent communal area and 24-hour kitchen. Dorms do the job, with lockers, high ceilings and enough space. The four-bed ones cost a little more but have a bathroom and small TV. The price is good for central Sydney; continental breakfast is included. Wi-fi is free downstairs only.

CAMBRIDGE HOTELHOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9212 1111; www.cambridgehotel.com.au; 212 Riley St, Surry Hills; r $199-399; pnaiWs; g301-2, 352)

You couldn’t wish for a more conveniently situated hotel for restaurant and bar life than this urban bolt-hole. Modern and upbeat, this offers several grades of understated contemporary rooms, many of which have private balconies with city-skyline vistas. Staff are very cheery and welcoming. Downstairs, happening Baccomatto Osteria serves brilliant Italian food, including the hotel breakfast.

57 HOTELHOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9011 5757; www.57hotel.com.au; 57 Foveaux St, Surry Hills; r $188-449; naW ; dCentral)

Converted from a technical college, this hotel goes to town on modish grey, black and chocolate colouring. Rooms vary widely, from the extremely compact shoebox twins to large, light king-bedded rooms on the corners of the building. We love the doggie towel rails. Free coffee and morning pastries in the lobby lounge are great for a quick breakfast on the hoof.

KIRKETON HOTELBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9332 2011; www.kirketon.com.au; 229 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst; r $149-389; naW; dKings Cross)

You might feel like you’re in a David Lynch movie as you wander the red-lit mirrored corridors at this stylish spot. Four grades of rooms start small and add space and bigger beds as you go up. They are pared-back, dark-coloured and minimalist, offering good value and comfort. Staff are incredibly friendly and one of Sydney’s best cocktail bars is on-site.

MEDUSABOUTIQUE HOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 1000; www.medusa.com.au; 267 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst; r $225-405; naiW#; dKings Cross)

Winding across two back-to-back terraces, Medusa has a curious interior layout and eye-catching rooms in three sizes with large beds, art-deco features and regal furnishings (the best face the courtyard). You are guaranteed warm personal service from the excellent staff. Small touches such as the Aesop toiletries and Lindt chocolates add points, and the tremendous location is a real plus.

MANOR HOUSEBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9380 6633; www.manorhouse.com.au; 86 Flinders St, Darlinghurst; r $180-280; pnaWs; g396-9)

This time-tripping 1850s mansion, complete with extravagant chandeliers, moulded ceilings, Victorian tiling and fountains tinkling in the garden, was once a glamorous Sydney icon (check the photos of stars that stayed here in the lounge). These days it has been bypassed but offers authentic, slightly dated charm, very fair prices and pleasant service. The king rooms are especially lovely.

o ADGE BOUTIQUE APARTMENT HOTELAPARTMENT $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8093 9888; www.adgehotel.com.au; 222 Riley St, Surry Hills; apt $400-650; pnaW; g301-2, 352)

Modern, catchy and bold, ADGE puts a clever, upbeat twist on the ubiquitous serviced apartment experience. The idiosyncratic but very comfortable two-bedroom apartments have gloriously striped liquorice-allsort carpets, floor-to-ceiling windows, quality kitchens with Smeg fridges and appealing balconies. Little extras, including a welcome drink and turn-down service, add points. It’s an ideal urban experience and great value for two couples.

4Kings Cross & Potts Point
o BLUE PARROT BACKPACKERSHOSTEL $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9356 4888; www.blueparrot.com.au; 87 Macleay St, Potts Point; dm $40-46; niW; dKings Cross)

If Polly wanted a cracker of a hostel she’d head to this brilliant spot run with real enthusiasm by a pair of sisters. It’s a personal experience that feels more like a share-house (but cleaner!). There’s a great courtyard and high-ceilinged dorms with good bunks and mattresses. Netflix, Playstation, free SIM cards and a BBQ add points.

KINGS CROSS BACKPACKERSHOSTEL $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9331 0520; www.kingscrossbackpackers.com.au; 79 Bayswater Rd, Kings Cross; dm $40-48; naiW; dKings Cross)

Nicely set in a quieter part of the Cross, this is a well-run place with renovated, air-conditioned, clean dorms that sleep four to 12 and come with lockers and under-bed storage. The kitchen-lounge and roof terrace are the places to hang out. Security is good and the price fair. Breakfast is included, but it’s a couple of blocks away.

HOTEL 59B&B $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9360 5900; www.hotel59.com.au; 59 Bayswater Rd, Kings Cross; s $105, d $135-145; naW; dKings Cross)

With just nine simple, spotless comfortable rooms, family-run Hotel 59 offers great bang for your buck on the quiet but still very convenient part of Bayswater Rd. The owners are genuinely helpful and attentive and the cafe downstairs does whopping cooked breakfasts (included in the price) for those barbarous Kings Cross hangovers.

MARINERS COURTHOTEL $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9320 3800; www.marinerscourt.com.au; 44-50 McElhone St, Woolloomooloo; r $145-170; pnaiW; g311, dKings Cross)

Once a naval retirement home, this is now an under-the-radar hotel on a quiet street. It hasn’t been modified much, so is solid rather than flash, but offers excellent value for this location and simple, comfortable rooms with jug, fridge and either balcony or courtyard. Other pluses are the complimentary hot-breakfast buffet, pool table and sun deck. Good wheelchair access.

JACKAROO HOSTELHOSTEL $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9332 2244; www.jackaroohostel.com; 107-109 Darlinghurst Rd, Kings Cross; dm $34-38, r with/without bathroom $99/89; niW; dKings Cross)

There’s no handier hostel in Kings Cross than this, with rooms right above the station. The vibe is bustling and youthful – it’s a fun, welcoming, clean spot with basement lounge, small kitchen, rooftop terrace and rooms that vary in size but are mostly on the cramped side. Not all have in-room lockers. A no-frills breakfast is included.

SIMPSONS OF POTTS POINTBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9356 2199; www.simpsonshotel.com; 8 Challis Ave, Potts Point; r $270-380; pnaiW; g311, dKings Cross)

At the quiet end of a busy cafe strip, this 1892 villa has been affectionately restored with decorative flourishes of yesteryear. The stunning interior brings art, elegance and cosy luxury right through the handsome public areas and dozen guest rooms. The downstairs lounge is perfect for a game of chess and a complimentary sherry. Service is personalised and highly competent.

o OVOLO HOTEL WOOLLOOMOOLOOHOTEL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9331 9000; www.ovolohotels.com.au; 6 Cowper Wharf Rdwy, Woolloomooloo; r $400-700; pnaiWs; g311, dKings Cross)

Superbly set in Woolloomooloo Wharf, this excellent smart-casual hotel has extremely friendly young staff and very likeable features. ‘Superoo’ rooms are mostly either road-facing or skylit, so for water views upgrade to a ‘deluxe’ (facing east) or ‘city’ (facing west) room. It’s ultra-characterful with long corridors, industrial machinery and unusually shaped, artfully designed rooms, some split-level. A Sydney standout.

o SPICERSBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9357 3200; www.spicerspottspoint.com; 122 Victoria St, Kings Cross; r $320-760; pnaW; dKings Cross)

This expert conversion of three Victorian-era terraces adds a touch of class to leafy Victoria Street. The charming front rooms have original features and, in some cases, a balcony; the more modern back rooms are brighter and have lift access. Rates include an excellent buffet and à la carte breakfast, evening cocktail and in-room snacks. Service is faultless and personal.

4Paddington & Centennial Park

HUGHENDENHOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9363 4863; www.thehughendenhotel.com.au; 14 Queen St, Woollahra; r $220-350; pnaW#; g333, 352, 380, 389, 440, M40)

This Victorian Italianate guesthouse has plenty of quirky charm and a recent refit has left it looking spruce. Rooms range from ‘cosy’ (which are small) to spacious terrace apartments on the roof. Proper artworks on the walls, ceiling roses, chintzy furniture, a courtyard garden and a pleasant cafe are features. Staff are welcoming.

MRS BANKSBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9331 8111; www.mrsbankshotel.com.au; 259 Oxford St, Paddington; standard r incl breakfast $300-400; pnaW; g333, 352, 380, 440, M40)

A very cute conversion of a centenarian former Commonwealth Bank branch, this boutique hotel has 30 rooms that look very sleek in shades of grey and black. The standard ones are compact but very comfortable and stylish; the more spacious studio suite doesn’t usually cost a whole lot more. Rooms are set back from the street so noise isn’t a problem.

4Bondi, Coogee & the Eastern Beaches

BONDI BACKPACKERSHOSTEL $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9130 4660; www.bondibackpackers.com.au; 110 Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach; dm $41-48, d without bathroom $104-114; niW; g333, 380-2)

Wake up to a view of Australia’s most famous beach, grab your free surfboard, cross the road and jump into the waves…you’re in backpacker dreamland, right? With simple, clean, comfortable dorms and private rooms, lots of free activities and a sizeable roof terrace with super vistas, this makes an excellent base.

BONDI BEACHOUSE YHAHOSTEL $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9365 2088; www.yha.com.au; 63 Fletcher St, Tamarama; dm $30-36, tw & d without bathroom $90, d/f $110/180; nW; g361, 381)

Perched on a hillside between Bondi and Tamarama Beaches, this 95-bed art-deco hostel is the best in Bondi. Dorms sleep four to eight and come with wooden floors and spacious lockers; some of the private rooms have ocean views – all are clean and well maintained. Facilities include a cinema room, spacious common areas, a courtyard barbecue and a rooftop deck with top views.

DIVE HOTELBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9665 5538; www.divehotel.com.au; 234 Arden St, Coogee; standard r $215-230, ocean-view r $325-385; pnaiW#; g313-14, 353, 372-3)

In a cracking location right across the road from the beach, this relaxed, family-run affair is, thankfully, very inaccurately named. Simple, likeable contemporary rooms come with fridges, microwaves and small stylish bathrooms fitted with mosaic tiles and stainless steel sinks. Sociable continental buffet breakfast in an appealing indoor-outdoor area is a highlight, as are the personable owners and their friendly dogs.

BONDI BEACH HOUSEGUESTHOUSE $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9300 0369; www.bondibeachhouse.com.au; 28 Sir Thomas Mitchell Rd, Bondi Beach; s $130, d $175-320; pnaW; g333, 380-2)

In a tranquil pocket behind Campbell Pde, this charming place offers a homely atmosphere with rustic-chic furnishings and a well-equipped communal kitchen. Though only a two-minute walk from the beach, you may well be tempted to stay in all day – the courtyard and terrace are great spots for relaxing, and the breezily arty rooms are conducive to long sleep-ins.

o QT BONDIAPARTMENT $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8362 3900; www.qtbondi.com.au; 6 Beach Rd, Bondi Beach; apt $399-720; pnaWs; g333, 380-2)

Colourful, chic and appropriately beachy, this newish apartment hotel is steps from the sand and offers a very appealing combination of facilities, location and attitude. All the rooms and suites are exceedingly spacious, with light-coloured furniture and an airy feel. King Deluxe rooms and above have balconies, but there are no ocean views. All rooms have kitchenette, bathtub and laundry facilities.

RAVESI’SBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9365 4422; www.hotelravesis.com; 118 Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach; r $285-525; pnaW; g333, 380-2)

Perfectly placed Ravesi’s is right across from the beach. It’s a great spot to fulfil that living-at-Bondi dream. There are just a dozen rooms; the four side-view rooms are good value, while the pick of them are the deluxe split-level suites and three up top with amazing, uninterrupted views of the sea. Pack earplugs if in a room above the always-heaving bar.

4Around the Harbour
o COCKATOO ISLANDCAMPGROUND $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-8969 2111; www.cockatooisland.gov.au; Cockatoo Island; camp sites $45-50, simple tents $88-99, 2-bed tents $150-175, apt from $265, houses from $625; W; fCockatoo Island)

Waking up on an island in the middle of the harbour is an extraordinary Sydney experience. Bring your own tent (or just sleeping bags) or ‘glamp’ in a two-person tent complete with a double bed on the water’s edge. Non-campers will enjoy the elegant houses and apartments. For self-caterers, there’s a well-equipped camp kitchen; for everyone else, there are two cafes and bars.

GLENFERRIE LODGEGUESTHOUSE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9955 1685; www.glenferrielodge.com; 12a Carabella St, Kirribilli; s/d without bathroom $89/128, d $188; pniW#; fKirribilli, dMilsons Point) S

Set in a grand 19th-century house in a peaceful Kirribilli location very close to the ferry (or a pleasant stroll to the city across the bridge), this lodge offers excellent Sydney value for modern rooms, mostly sharing gym-style bathrooms. It’s a sizeable, slightly chaotically run complex with a kitchen-cafe area and a garden with a playground. If you book direct, breakfast is included.

o WATSONS BAY BOUTIQUE HOTELBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP %02-9337 5444; www.watsonsbayhotel.com.au; 10 Marine Pde, Watsons Bay; r $259-599; pnaW; g324, 325, 380, fWatsons Bay)

The ferry pulls up right by this chic hotel in a charming beachside hamlet. Rooms are light and spacious with a lounge area and slick glassed-in en-suites; many have balconies. Harbour-facing rooms have great views but expect some noise from the buzzing on-site Beach Club; split-level duplexes are great for families. Rates include breakfast, and bikes and beach towels are provided.

4Newtown & the Inner West
o MANDELBAUM HOUSEGUESTHOUSE $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9692 5200; www.mandelbaum.usyd.edu.au; 385 Abercrombie St, Darlington; s/d without bathroom $75/98, d/apt $135/170; hDec–mid-Feb; pnaiW; dRedfern) S

One of the University of Sydney’s residential colleges, this sweet spot makes a great place to stay in summer. It’s a small, genuinely friendly place with a personal welcome, a not-for-profit ethos and a range of comfortable rooms, some of which share excellent bathrooms. The location is great for exploring the local cafe and bar scene. It’s terrific value.

MAD MONKEY BACKPACKERSHOSTEL $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8705 3762; www.madmonkeybroadway.com.au; 20 City Rd, Chippendale; dm $38-48; naW; g412-13, 422-23, dCentral)

There’s a lot to like about this friendly, well-equipped hostel in a top location. Dorms are tight but have very decent mattresses, while bathrooms are above average with hairdryers and straighteners on hand. There’s a guaranteed social life with party buses and free entry to major Saturday nightclubs, plus free comfort food to aid recovery the next day. Breakfast and Netflix included.

o TARA GUEST HOUSEB&B $$

(%02-9519 4809; www.taraguesthouse.com.au; 13 Edgeware Rd, Enmore; d with/without bathroom $248/215; nW; g426)

A couple who engages with and really appreciates their guests have created a wonderful place here in a character-packed 1880 house. The striking rooms are luminous, soaring spaces with fabulous features. Avant-garde nude art adds character, while Oscar the dog, free airport transfers and gourmet communal breakfasts are other highlights. Standout hospitality makes this one of Sydney’s best options.

o FORSYTH BED & BREAKFASTB&B $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9552 2110; www.forsythbnb.com; 3 Forsyth St, Glebe; d $195-235; naW; g431, jGlebe)

This boutique hideaway in a lovely part of Glebe is an enticing spot with just two stunning designer rooms: modern, uncluttered, and graced with well-chosen art. Rozelle has a lovely balcony and spacious en suite, while Asian-inflected Blackwattle has a tiny bathroom and its own sitting room. The owner provides faultless hospitality, solicitous advice and quality breakfasts in the Japanese-inspired garden.

VULCAN HOTELBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9211 3283; www.vulcanhotel.com.au; 500 Wattle St, Ultimo; r $180-300; naW; dCentral)

A grungy pub and band venue back in the 1990s, the Vulcan is now a likeable boutique hotel smartly kitted out in olive drab. The pleasant contemporary rooms vary in size and orientation; the superiors are substantially larger and lighter than the compact standards. Some have kitchenettes or balconies. Breakfast (extra cost) is served in the sunny ground-floor cafe.

URBAN HOTELBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8960 7800; www.theurbannewtown.com.au; 52-60 Enmore Rd, Newtown; r $229-319; naiW; dNewtown)

A couple of minutes’ walk from Newtown station and surrounded by great bars and eats, this casual hotel offers edgy industrial-styled studio accommodation. The Urban stands out from the crowd with a slew of extras such as kitchenette with coffee-pod machine, free minibar stocked with local craft beers and relaxed check-in and -out options. The huge mural on the facade is by noted street artist Fintan Magee and is a commentary on the rising cost of housing in Sydney.

OLD CLARE HOTELBOUTIQUE HOTEL $$$

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8277 8277; www.theoldclarehotel.com.au; 1 Kensington St, Chippendale; r $300-600; pnaWs; dCentral)

A sensitive brewery-office conversion is now a 62-room hotel in a primo Chippendale location. Rooms are well back from noisy Broadway, and high-ceilinged and easy-on-the-eye, with artful bespoke details such as the lamps made of salvaged toolshed paraphernalia. Superior categories are appreciably larger but the cheapest rooms still have king beds, attractive amenities and a good sense of space.

4Manly

101 ADDISON ROADB&B $

(%02-9977 6216; www.bb-manly.com; 101 Addison Rd, Manly; r $185-200; pnW; g135, fManly)

This sumptuously decorated 1880s cottage is perched on a quiet street close to the beach and ferry wharf. The delightful host only takes bookings for one or two people at a time – meaning you’ll have free rein of the antique-strewn accommodation, including a private lounge with a grand piano.

MANLY BUNKHOUSEHOSTEL $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9976 0472; www.bunkhouse.com.au; 35 Pine St, Manly; dm/d $44/108; pniW; g151, 158-59, fManly)

An easy walk from the beach, this laid-back hostel with funky paintings on the walls has a distinct surf vibe. High-ceilinged en-suite dorms have plenty of room to move and lots of storage space, making them popular with long-termers. The renovated private rooms (also en suite) are a good deal. There’s a great backyard with a BBQ.

CECIL STREET B&BB&B $

(MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9977 8036; www.cecilstreetbb.com.au; 18 Cecil St, Fairlight; s $120-160, d $140-200; pnW; g142, fManly)

This low-key B&B is in a handsome Federation-style brick home on a hill above Manly. The two simple but tastefully decorated rooms make the most of high ceilings, leadlight windows and polished timber floors. They share a modern bathroom and small sitting room. The only downside is the steep hike back from the beach.

Q STATIONLODGE $$

(%02-9466 1500; www.qstation.com.au; 1 North Head Scenic Dr, Manly; r $259-399; pnaW; g135, fManly)

Hidden away in shrubland rolling down to a beautiful harbour beach, the former quarantine station offers a wide variety of accommodation. Minibuses shuttle you around this sizeable complex of historic buildings; rooms have their own balconies and many have harbour views. Kayaks, bikes and snorkels are available, and there’s an on-site cafe and restaurant. It’s an out-of-the-way, utterly relaxing spot.

Understand Sydney

SYDNEY TODAY

Despite vertiginous housing costs and transport snags, Sydney remains sunny and upbeat.

HISTORY

From millennia of Eora custodianship, to a colony founded on convicts and rum, to today’s thriving metropolis.

THE ARTS

Sydneysiders take their place among the world’s best, right across the artistic spectrum.

ARCHITECTURE

From survival architecture to British influence and on to the evolution of a local style.

Sydney Today

With over five million residents, Sydney is Oceania’s biggest and brightest city, dominating NSW politically and economically. Australia may’ve escaped recession during the global economic turmoil of recent years but much of that was due to a resources boom that’s now a receding echo. Sydneysiders who aren’t on the high salaries enjoyed by many are struggling with expensive living costs and soaring house prices. The latter finally stopped climbing in late 2017; a pause on the way up or the beginning of a crisis?

BEST ON FILM

Finding Nemo (2003) Animated feature following an adventurous clownfish who finds himself captive in a Sydney aquarium.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) Sydney drag queens road-tripping to Alice Springs.

Muriel’s Wedding (1994) Both a good laugh and genuinely affecting; Toni Collette’s Muriel reinvents her frumpy Abba-tragic self.

Strictly Ballroom (1992) Breakthrough Aussie comedy set in the surreal world of competitive ballroom dancing.

BEST IN PRINT

The Lieutenant (Kate Grenville, 2008) The names are changed but Grenville’s fascinating chronicle of first contacts with the Eora people rings true.

Leviathan (John Birmingham, 1999) A gritty history exploring Sydney’s seamier side, written in the tone of an unauthorised biography.

The Playmaker (Thomas Keneally, 1987) A fictionalised account of First Fleet life.

Voss (Patrick White, 1957) Nobel Prize–winner White contrasts the unforgiving outback with Sydney colonial life.

Housing

If Sydneysiders seem utterly obsessed by real estate, it’s for good reason. A Demographia survey released in 2017 rated Sydney as the second least affordable city (behind Hong Kong) in which to buy a house within the English-speaking world. Median house prices ($1.02 million) are 12 times higher than median household incomes ($84,600) – a ratio of 3:1 is considered affordable, above 5:1 severely unaffordable.

For those Sydneysiders for whom home ownership seems like an unattainable dream, there’s a double whammy to face: renting is unaffordable too. The median rental is now $520 per week (in Melbourne it’s $385) and stories abound of hordes of people turning up to showings of even the crummiest flats. For those on the fringes, it’s hardest: Anglicare estimated that out of 13,447 properties advertised for rent in 2017, only 26 were affordable and appropriate for households on income-support payments.

Talk of a bubble abounded, and prices finally stopped rising in late 2017. Whether this was the beginning of a substantial correction or a pause for breath was yet to be seen.

Many Sydneysiders blame overseas investment for the vertigo-inducing prices, but there are other factors too, including geographical limits to the city, rapid population growth and educational institutions ever-hungrier for overseas students. The silver lining and partial cause? In most surveys of the world’s most liveable cities, Sydney rates in the top 10.

Merivale

Is there no end to this group’s makeover of the Sydney pub scene? It started as a clothing boutique decades ago, and has continued since the death of founder John Hemmes, with his son, Justin, taking over. Since opening phenomenally successful Establishment in 2000 and Ivy in 2007, the group has acquired over 50 pubs, restaurants and other hostelries, many of them in canny suburban locations to take advantage of local demographics and the lack of lockout laws. The template for the total revamp of each one is clear: open spaces; light, stylish but casual decor; and a variety of areas offering different drinking and eating experiences. Excellent cuisine is just about guaranteed. It’s very Sydney and Merivale shows no signs of stopping, with a new pub acquisition seemingly announced monthly.

Terrorism

While a deadly 2014 hostage-taking in Martin Place bore some of the hallmarks of a terrorist attack, it was soon revealed that the perpetrator was a lone gunman with mental health problems and a criminal record, unaligned with any terrorist group.

Sydney’s Muslim community roundly condemned the attack and fears of a backlash were dissipated by messages of solidarity from leaders of other faiths and everyday Australians.

Nevertheless, the threat of a terrorist attack is still extant. It’s not helped by current political strategy from both major parties to play on the politics of race and fear, seen as a major vote-winner in conservative areas.

Transport

Transport is one of the city’s biggest political hot potatoes. Most travellers will find it surprisingly easy and reasonably pleasant to get around using public transport, but for those residents not living in suburbs served by train lines, the daily commute involves traffic snarls or expensive tolls…usually both.

Infrastructure improvement is on the way: there’s a new light rail line being opened in 2019; two big underground metro projects on the way that include a new tunnel under the harbour; and a couple of major road links being – controversially – dug. But a rapidly growing population and more medium-density housing in outer suburbs mean such measures are unlikely to solve the traffic problem by themselves.

History

Although go-getting modern Sydney may not seem particularly interested in the past, it’s surprisingly easy to catch glimpses of what’s gone before. Ancient rock carvings still adorn the headlands, people continue to travel along convict-hewn roads and large chunks of the harbour look much as they did when the First Fleet breezed in and changed absolutely everything. Stories of convicts who became pillars of society are numerous, reflected today in the city’s modern ‘anyone can be anything’ optimism.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

Indigenous Australian society has the longest continuous cultural history in the world. Mystery shrouds many aspects of Australian prehistory, but it has long been thought that the first humans probably came here from Southeast Asia around 50,000 years ago.

Fascinating recent DNA studies have confirmed these theories and shed further light. It seems that ancestors of modern Indigenous peoples left Africa around 70,000 years ago, arriving in Australia (then joined to New Guinea and Tasmania) some 50,000 years ago; though some archaeological evidence suggests it may have been even longer ago than this.

By 30,000 years ago, individual Indigenous groups were already genetically separate from each other, meaning that Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population comprises an extraordinarily genetically diverse bunch of people who, over time, physically adapted to the harsh Australian environment.

Indigenous Australians were traditionally tribal people, living in extended family groups. Knowledge and skills obtained over millennia enabled them to use their environment extensively and sustainably. Their intimate knowledge of animal behaviour and plant harvesting ensured that food shortages were rare.

The comparative simplicity of Indigenous technology contrasted with a deeply sophisticated cultural life. Religion, history, law and art were integrated in complex stories and ceremonies, which depicted ancestral beings who created the land and its people, as well as prescribing codes of behaviour. What is loosely translated as ‘songlines’ is the foundation of traditional Indigenous life, a system that embodies past and future, the ancestors and the shape of the land. It is navigation aid, received wisdom, ecological record and the core of Indigenous identity; the inheritance of two thousand generations and an indelible bond between person and place.

When the British arrived at Sydney Cove in 1788, it’s estimated that there were between 500,000 and one million Indigenous people across Australia, with between 200 and 250 distinct regional languages. Governor Arthur Phillip estimated that around 1500 Aboriginal Australians lived around Sydney at first contact, but his figures can’t be relied upon.

The coastal people around Sydney were known as the Eora (which literally means ‘from this place’), broken into clans such as the Gadigal (Cadigal) and the Wangal. Three main languages were used by Aboriginal Australians in the area, encompassing several dialects and subgroups. Although there was considerable overlap, Ku-ring-gai was generally spoken on the northern shore, Dharawal along the coast south of Botany Bay, and Dharug and its dialects from the harbour to the Blue Mountains.

As Indigneous society was based on tribal family groups, a coordinated response to the European colonisers wasn’t possible. Without any ‘legal right’ to the lands they lived on – the British declared Australia to be terra nullius, meaning ‘land belonging to no one’ – Australia’s Indigenous people were dispossessed. Some were driven away by force, some were killed, many were shifted onto government reserves and missions, and thousands, including most of the Gadigal, succumbed to foreign diseases introduced by the Europeans.

Communities that had survived for dozens of millennia before the arrival of the settlers were changed – often shattered – forever.

Indigenous Australians were probably the first people in the world to make polished, edge-ground stone tools; to cremate their dead; and to engrave and paint representations of themselves and the animals they hunted.

The early days of the colony weren’t for softies – the threat of starvation hung over the settlement for at least 16 years. The Second Fleet arrived in 1790 with more convicts and supplies. A year later, following the landing of the Third Fleet, Sydney’s population had swelled to around 4000.

The Arrival of British Sails

When the American War of Independence disrupted the transportation of convicts to North America, Britain lost its main dumping ground for undesirables and needed somewhere else to put them. Joseph Banks, who had been Lieutenant James Cook’s scientific leader during the expedition in 1770, piped up with the suggestion that Botany Bay would be a fine new site for criminals.

The 11 ships of the First Fleet landed at Botany Bay in January 1788 – a motley crew of 730 male and female convicts, 400 sailors, four companies of marines, and enough livestock and booze to last two years. The majority of the convicts had been sentenced to seven or 14 years of transportation (shipment to a penal colony) for astonishingly minor crimes such as the theft of bread or handkerchiefs.

Captain Arthur Phillip didn’t take to Botany Bay’s meagre natural supplies. He weighed anchor after only a few days and sailed north to the harbour Cook had named Port Jackson, where he discovered a crucial source of fresh water in what he called Sydney Cove (Circular Quay). The day was 26 January 1788, now celebrated as Australia Day (many Indigenous Australians refer to it as ‘Invasion Day’).

Convicts were put to work on farms, roads and government building projects, but Governor Phillip believed prosperity depended on attracting free settlers (to whom convicts would be assigned as labourers) and on the granting of land to officers, soldiers and worthy emancipists (convicts who had served their time).

Historical Novels

The Lieutenant (Kate Grenville)

The Playmaker (Thomas Keneally)

Oscar & Lucinda (Peter Carey)

The Harp in the South (Ruth Park)

Wild Colonial Boys

When Governor Phillip went back to England in 1792 due to failing health, army officer Francis Grose took over. Grose granted land to officers of the New South Wales Corps, nicknamed the Rum Corps. With so much money, land and cheap labour in their hands, this military leadership made huge profits at the expense of small farmers. They began paying for labour and local products in rum. Meeting little resistance (everyone was drunk), they managed to upset, defy, outmanoeuvre and outlast three governors, the last of which was William Bligh, the famed captain of the mutinous ship HMAV Bounty. In 1808 the Rum Corps, in cahoots with powerful agriculturalist John Macarthur, ousted Bligh from power in what became known as the Rum Rebellion.

The Rum Rebellion was the final straw for the British government – in 1809 it decided to punish its unruly child. Lieutenant Colonel Lachlan Macquarie was dispatched with his own regiment and ordered the New South Wales Corps to return to London to get their knuckles rapped. Having broken the stranglehold of the Rum Corps, Governor Macquarie began laying the groundwork for social reforms.

20th-Century Trials

The Commonwealth of Australia came into being on 1 January 1901 and New South Wales (NSW) became a state of the new Australian nation. Yet Australia’s legal ties with, loyalty to, and dependency on Britain remained strong. When WWI broke out in Europe, Australian troops were sent to fight in the trenches of France, at Gallipoli in Turkey and in the Middle East. This was a first test of physical stamina and strength for the nation, and it held its own, although almost 60,000 of the 330,000 troops perished in the war. A renewed patriotism cemented the country’s confidence in itself. But, in the wake of so much slaughter, many Australians also questioned their relationship with their old colonial overlords. The bond between Britain and Australia was never quite the same.

If Australia was now notionally independent, the same could not be said for its Indigenous peoples. From 1910 to the end of the 1960s, a policy of ‘cultural assimilation’ allowed Indigenous children (usually of mixed race) to be forcibly removed from their families and schooled in the ways of white society and Christianity. Around 100,000 children (dubbed the ‘stolen generations’) were separated from their parents in this way, causing untold stress and damage to the nation’s Indigenous community.

Meanwhile, Australia’s economy grew through the 1920s until the Great Depression hit the country hard. By 1932, however, Australia was starting to recover due to rises in wool prices and a revival of manufacturing. With the opening of the Harbour Bridge in the same year, Sydney’s building industry gained momentum and its northern suburbs began to develop.

In the years before WWII, Australia became increasingly fearful of the threat to national security posed by expansionist Japan. When war broke out, Australian troops again fought beside the British in Europe. Only after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor did Australia’s own national security begin to take priority. A boom with a net barrage to prevent submarine access was stretched across the entrance channels of Sydney Harbour, and gun fortifications were set up on rocky harbour headlands.

Unlike the Northern Territory’s capital city, Darwin, which was heavily damaged by Japanese bombings, Sydney escaped WWII virtually unscathed – although on 31 May 1942, three Japanese M24 midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour, sank a small supply vessel and lobbed a few shells into the suburbs of Bondi and Rose Bay.

Ultimately, the US victory in the Battle of the Coral Sea protected Australia from Japanese invasion and accelerated Australia’s shift of allegiance from mother Britain to the USA.

The aftermath of WWII, along with postwar immigration programmes, made Australia more appealing to migrants from Europe. Australia experienced new growth and prosperity, Sydney’s population exploded and the city’s borders spread west.

Eventually Australia came to accept the US view that communism threatened the increasingly Americanised Australian way of life. The trade-union movement remained strong, however, particularly in the big cities such as Sydney. In 1965 the government sent troops to serve in the Vietnam War, even though Britain did not.

In 1967 a national referendum was held on whether to allow Indigenous people the right to vote, which was passed by 90% of eligible voters. Meanwhile, civil unrest over conscription to Vietnam eventually helped to oust the incumbent centre-right Liberal Party and bring about the election of their left-wing opposition, the Australian Labor Party (ALP), in 1972, the first time in 23 years that it had held power.

During Labor leader Gough Whitlam’s short stint as prime minister, the government withdrew Australian troops from Vietnam, abolished national military service and put the final nail in the coffin of the White Australia Policy. His ousting by the governor-general in 1975 generated calls for a republic (a referendum on the issue was voted down in 1999, though Sydney voted in favour of it).

During the Vietnam War years, the face of Sydney changed again, as American GIs flooded the city. Kings Cross provided the kind of adult R&R the troops desired.

Transition to the New Millennium

A booming 1980s economy saw Sydney skyscrapers spring up, while the bicentennial celebrations in 1988 also boosted the city’s ego.

Indigenous issues slowly started to make their way into the national debate. In 1992 a landmark High Court case overturned the principle of terra nullius and, in a later court case, the Wik decision declared that pastoral leases do not necessarily extinguish native title, and that Indigenous Australians could still claim ancestral land under white ownership. The implications of this ruling are still being resolved.

In 1997 the damning Bringing Them Home report was tabled in federal parliament, which graphically detailed the harm done to the stolen generations of Indigenous Australians. A quarter of a million Sydneysiders marched across Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2000, calling on the government to apologise for the historical systematic ill treatment of Australia’s first people. It took until 2008 and a change of federal government for the apology to take place (delivered by Labor prime minister, Kevin Rudd).

Sydney welcomed the millennium with a boom of fireworks and a combination of excitement and scepticism about the upcoming 2000 Olympics. Once they rolled around, all doubts were dispelled and Sydneysiders embraced the Games with much passion and good cheer. The rosy glow lingered long after the flame was extinguished, and the effect on tourism to the city has been pronounced.

The 2004 election of colourful Clover Moore as lord mayor was perhaps a reaction to a growing frustration with state politics. An independent politician, she came with none of the baggage of her rivals on either side of Australia’s left–right divide. She also embraces many of the issues for which Sydney is famed, such as environmental sustainability and gay rights. She was most recently re-elected in 2016.

In the 2011 state elections, the Liberal–National Coalition celebrated a landslide win over Labor, who had been in power for the previous 16 years (but had been through four leaders since 2008). The Coalition were re-elected in 2015 but when it comes to politics, Sydneysiders are a cynical bunch, and many view both major political parties with similar mistrust.

TIMELINE

40,000 BC

The Eora people live in Sydney, split into several separate tribes including the Dharug-speaking Gadigal around Sydney Cove. Ku-ring-gai–speaking people occupy the North Shore.

AD 1770

Lieutenant James Cook lands at Botany Bay and claims Australia for the British; he writes of the Indigenous population: ‘all they seem’d to want was us to be gone’.

1788

The First Fleet drops anchor in Botany Bay, followed by Frenchman La Pérouse five days later. The British decide Botany Bay is unsuitable and head north to Port Jackson.

1790

A Bidjigal man, Pemulwuy, spears to death a convict game hunter. A British revenge mission fails and Pemulwuy goes on to lead Indigenous resistance until he’s shot in 1802.

1791

It’s estimated that only a handful of Gadigal people survive, their numbers decimated by the smallpox that arrived with the First Fleet. The Gadigal have no natural immunity to the disease.

1810–1821

Governor Macquarie begins an ambitious architectural program to establish a true settlement. Emancipated convict Francis Greenway’s public buildings now line Macquarie St.

1842

The transportation of convicts to NSW effectively ceases; over the course of the previous half-century 150,000 people had been dumped in the colony.

1861

The government enacts the White Australia policy, aimed at restricting the number of Chinese immigrants. The policy isn’t completely dismantled until 1973.

1900

Bubonic plague kills 103 people in Sydney’s overcrowded and unhygienic slums; as a result, large areas of substandard housing, particularly around the Rocks, are cleared and rebuilt.

1902

Women are granted the right to vote; the same right isn’t extended to Indigenous Australians until after a referendum held 65 years later.

1932

Sydney’s second-most-famous icon, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, opens to traffic.

1942

Japanese submarines enter Sydney Harbour and fire torpedos. Two subs are destroyed in the harbour boom net; the wreckage of a third is discovered off Sydney’s Northern Beaches in 2006.

1959

Construction of the much-admired Sydney Opera House gets underway, but it doesn’t open for performances until 1973, after a long and turbulent period of construction.

1988

Darling Harbour is transformed from an ailing mass of wharves and warehouses into a tourist precinct to coincide with the city’s (and Australia’s) bicentennial.

1990s

Sydney booms as a film-making centre, churning out classics such as The Matrix, Strictly Ballroom, Shine, Muriel’s Wedding and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

1999

A referendum seeking to abandon the monarchy and turn Australia into a republic is defeated, with 55% of voters against. However, in Sydney, 68% vote in favour of a republic.

2000

Sydney stages a dazzling Olympic Games, at which Australia wins 16 gold medals – in fourth place overall after traditional powerhouse nations USA, Russia and China.

2003

Linda Burney, a member of the stolen generations, becomes the first Indigenous member of the NSW state parliament. In 2016 she became the first national Indigenous MP.

2017

Sydney celebrates as a nationwide postal survey says yes to gay marriage. It becomes law in December.

The Arts

While it can’t match New York or London in terms of the volume of theatres, galleries or performance venues, Sydney nevertheless lays claim to a robust arts scene. And as opposed to taking the sniffy, superior attitude so prevalent in many artsy societies, Sydney has a laid-back, open-minded approach to its artistic pursuits. Influencing the local arts scene is the constant redefinition of the city’s identity, with the beach and Sydney’s many multicultural facets also chiming in.

Aboriginal Art

Australian Indigenous art is one of the oldest forms of creativity in the world, reflecting 50,000 years of presence in Australia. Art has always been integral to Indigenous life – a connection between the past and the present, the supernatural and the earthly, the people and the land. Art is a reflection of Aboriginal peoples’ ancestral Dreaming (Creation), when the earth’s physical features were formed by the struggles between powerful supernatural ancestors. Ceremonies, rituals and sacred paintings are all based on the Dreaming.

Traditional methods and spiritual significance are fastidiously maintained in Aboriginal art, often finding a counterpart in Western materials (acrylic paint, glass, artificial fibres, aluminium) – the results can be wildly original interpretations of traditional stories and ceremonial designs.

Sydney’s city centre and the Rocks are full of cheap-and-nasty tourist shops hocking varnished boomerangs and mass-produced didgeridoos – they’re best avoided. To ensure that you make an informed, authentic purchase and don’t perpetuate the non-Aboriginal cash-in on Aboriginal art’s popularity, buy from an authentic dealer selling original art, and if the gallery doesn’t pay their artists up front, ask exactly how much of your money will make it back to the artist or community. Another good test is to request biographical information on artists – if a gallery can’t produce it, keep walking.

Top Aboriginal artists to look for include Mabel Juli, Eubena Nampitjin, Rosella Namok, Gloria Petyarre, Kathleen Petyarre, Minnie Pwerle, Jimmy Pike, Paddy Japaljarri Stewart, Rover Thomas, Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri and Judy Napangardi Watson.

Indigenous art reflects the deep spiritual connection that Australia’s Indigenous inhabitants have to the land. This ancient artistic tradition reflects tribal law, personal history and the natural and supernatural worlds.

Literature

Australia’s literary history harks back to Sydney’s convict days. New experiences and landscapes inspired the colonists to commit their stories to the page. Though many early works have been lost, some – like Marcus Clarke’s convict drama For the Term of His Natural Life (1870) – have become legendary.

By the late 19th century, a more formal Australian literary movement was developing with the Bulletin, an influential magazine promoting egalitarian and unionist thinking. Well-known contributing authors of the time included Henry Lawson (1867–1922), who wrote short stories about the Australian bush, and poet AB ‘Banjo’ Paterson (1864–1941), who penned Waltzing Matilda and The Man from Snowy River.

My Brilliant Career (1901), by Miles Franklin (1879–1954), is considered the first authentic Australian novel. The book caused a sensation when it was revealed that Miles was actually a woman.

Multi-award-winning Australian authors of international stature include Patrick White (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1973), Thomas Keneally (Booker Prize winner, 1982), Peter Carey (Booker Prize winner 1988 and 2001) and Kate Grenville (Commonwealth Writers’ Prize winner 2006). Other Sydney authors of note include David Malouf, Mandy Sayer, Shirley Hazzard, Eleanor Dark and Ruth Park.

Visual Art

Sydney’s first artists were the people of the Indigenous Eora nation. Figures of animals, fish and humans can still be seen engraved into sandstone outcrops in Bondi and around the harbour. In the Blue Mountains, ancient hand stencils decorate cave walls.

In the colony’s early days, the first foreign-born painters applied traditional European aesthetic standards to Australia’s bleached light, raggedy forests and earthy colours: as such, they failed to capture the landscape with any certainty. In the early 19th century, John Glover (a convict) adopted a different Australian landscape-painting style, using warm earth tones and more precise depictions of gum trees and mountains in his work.

The first significant art movement in Australia, the Heidelberg School, emerged around the 1890s. Using impressionistic techniques and favouring outdoor painting, the school represented a major break. Painters such as Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton were the first to render Australian light and colour in this naturalistic fashion. Originally from Melbourne, they established a Sydney artists’ camp at Little Sirius Cove in Mosman in 1891, which became a focal point for local artists. Roberts and Streeton depicted what are now considered typically Australian scenes: sheep shearers, pioneers, bushrangers…all powerful stimulants in the development of an enduring national mythology.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Sydney painters such as Grace Cossington Smith and Margaret Preston began to flirt with modernism. French-influenced Nora Simpson kick-started the innovative movement, experimenting with cubism and expressionism.

In the 1960s Australian art drew on multiculturalism and abstract trends, an eclecticism best represented by the work of Sydney artist Brett Whiteley, an internationally celebrated enfant terrible who painted sexy, colourful canvases. His Surry Hills studio has been preserved as a gallery.

Drawing on pop-culture images for much of his work, Martin Sharp is most famous for his theatrical posters and record covers (including Cream’s Disraeli Gears and Wheels of Fire).

Other contemporary artists of note include photographers Tracey Moffatt and William Yang, painters Tim Storrier, Ben Quilty, Keith Looby, Judy Cassab and John Olsen; and performance artist Mike Parr. Check out Woolloomooloo’s Artspace for avant-garde work. For some quirky wearable art, check out artist Reg Mombassa’s work for surfwear label Mambo, available at most surf shops.

Music

In the 1970s and ’80s Australia churned out a swag of iconic pub rockers, with Sydney bands AC/DC, INXS and Midnight Oil at the forefront. Other major Sydney acts formed during this period include the Hoodoo Gurus, the Beasts of Bourbon, Radio Birdman, Men at Work, the Celibate Rifles, Icehouse, the (earlier) Easybeats and the Sunnyboys.

During the ’90s and noughties, when guitar bands came back into vogue, contrary Sydney popped a pill and headed to the disco. Most of the significant Australian acts of the era formed elsewhere, with the exception of garage rockers the Vines and the Cops, hard rockers Front End Loader, cartoon punks Frenzal Rhomb, singer-songwriter Alex Lloyd and jangly sentimentalists the Whitlams. In the meantime, Sydney’s most successful musical export was children’s novelty act the Wiggles.

However, things have been looking up in recent years, with the city turning out the likes of electro popsters the Presets, indie rockers the Preatures and the Jezabels, folky siblings Angus and Julia Stone, and alternative rock lads Boy & Bear.

Australia loves its pop stars and dance divas: while Melbourne can lay claim to Kylie Minogue, Sydney makes do with Delta Goodrem and Natalie Imbruglia. Then there’s homegrown boyband 5 Seconds of Summer, which hit number one in 11 countries in 2014 with its self-titled debut album.

Sydney loves to cut a rug, and you’ll find a bit of everything being played around the dance clubs, from drum and bass to electro. Homegrown dance music is made by the likes of RÜFÜS, Flume, Flight Facilities, Bag Raiders and Art vs Science, and spun by popular DJs such as Timmy Trumpet, Tigerlily, Alison Wonderland and J-Trick.

Classical music fills the air at the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Conservatorium and various city venues such as the exceptional City Recital Hall. Opera Australia keeps itself busy through 250 performances per year. It’s based at the Sydney Opera House for seven months of the year. Notable Australian opera singers you might be able to catch performing include Cheryl Barker. And no discussion of Sydney’s musical legacy is complete without mentioning Dame Joan Sutherland (1926–2010), the Eastern Beaches lass who became one of the greatest opera singers of the 20th century.

SYDNEY PLAYLIST

A ‘Somewhere in Sydney’ (Skyhooks, 1976) A cast of curious Sydney characters populate Sin City in this song by a seminal 70s Melbourne rock group.

A ‘Khe Sanh’ (Cold Chisel, 1978) Classic Oz rock song about a Vietnam vet’s return. Other Sydney songs by Cold Chisel include ‘Breakfast at Sweethearts’, ‘Tomorrow’, ‘Numbers Fall’ and ‘Letter to Alan’.

A ‘Bliss’ (Th’ Dudes, 1979) Kiwi rockers score speed in Coogee and falafels in Kings Cross.

A ‘Power and the Passion’ (Midnight Oil, 1982) Peter Garrett vents about Sydney. Listen also to Midnight Oil songs ‘Wedding Cake Island’, ‘In the Valley’ and ‘Section 5 (Bus to Bondi)’.

A ‘Reckless’ (Australian Crawl, 1983) Glacial ’80s pop track citing the iconic Manly ferry.

A ‘Incident on South Dowling’ (Paul Kelly, 1986) The Melbourne bard turns his pen to Sydney. Listen also to Kelly’s ‘From St Kilda to Kings Cross’, ‘Randwick Bells’ and ‘Darlin’ It Hurts’.

A ‘Harbour Town’ (Icehouse, 1990) A celebration of hedonistic Sydney nights from this legendary Sydney synthpop band.

A ‘My Drug Buddy’ (the Lemonheads, 1992) Evan Dando gets wasted in Newtown.

A ‘God Drinks at the Sando’ (the Whitlams, 1999) The band named after Australia’s grooviest prime minister digs into Sydney’s best and worst on Love this City.

A ‘Darlinghurst Nights’ (the Go-Betweens, 2005) Sad Darlinghurst memories get an airing.

Theatre

Sydney provides something for all thespian tastes, from mainstream blockbuster musicals at major venues to small theatre companies staging experimental, exciting works in the inner-city suburbs.

The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Kensington is a breeding ground for new talent, and stages performances of students’ work. The city’s biggest name in theatre is the Sydney Theatre Company (STC). Established in 1978, it provides a balanced program of modern, classical, local and foreign drama, and attracts solid talent across the board.

Smaller theatre companies presenting genuinely innovative work include the much-loved Company B at the Belvoir St Theatre; the Griffin Theatre Co at the Stables; and Red Line Productions at the Old Fitz Theatre.

Stage performers to watch for in local productions include Deborah Mailman, Oscar-nominee Jackie Weaver, Marcus Graham, John Howard (not that one), Robyn Nevin and Barry Otto. And, of course, Sydney’s resident colony of movie stars pop up from time to time in stage roles.

Australia saw some of the world’s earliest attempts at cinematography. In 1896, just one year after the Lumière brothers opened the world’s first cinema in Paris, one of their photographers, Maurice Sestier, came to Sydney where he made the country’s first films and opened its first cinema.

Cinema

Since Fox Studios opened in Moore Park in 1998, Sydney has starred in various big-budget blockbusters such as The Matrix trilogy (featuring numerous Sydney skyscrapers), Mission Impossible 2 (Elizabeth Bay and Sydney Harbour) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Cockatoo Island). Sydneysider Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, Australia and The Great Gatsby were made here, as were numerous other films set everywhere from Antarctica (Happy Feet II) to a galaxy far, far away (the Star Wars prequels).

Yet more emblematic of the soul of Sydney cinema is the decidedly low budget Tropfest, where thousands of locals shake out their blankets in Parramatta Park to watch entries in the largest short-film festival in the world.

One of the most successful early Australian films was The Sentimental Bloke (1919), which included scenes filmed in Manly, the Royal Botanic Garden and Woolloomooloo. The cavalry epic Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940), in which Cronulla’s sand dunes stood in for the Sinai, was a highlight of the locally produced films of the 1930s to the 1950s, many of which were based on Australian history or literature.

Government intervention reshaped the future of the country’s film industry through the 1970s. Sydneysiders who benefited from the subsequent renaissance in the Australian industry included Oscar-nominated director Peter Weir (who made such films as Gallipoli, Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show and Master and Commander) and Oscar-winners Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman.

The 1990s saw films that cemented Australia’s reputation as a producer of quirky comedies about local misfits: Strictly Ballroom (with locations in Pyrmont and Marrickville), Muriel’s Wedding (Parramatta, Darlinghurst, Darling Point and Ryde) and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Erskineville). Sydney actors who got their cinematic start around this time include Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, New Zealand–born Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger and Toni Collette.

The new millennium got off to a good start with the likes of Lantana and Finding Nemo, but since then it’s fair to say that Sydney has failed to set big screens alight.

Architecture

Modern Sydney began life in Sydney Cove and the area immediately around it has been the hub of the city ever since. It’s no surprise, then, that central Sydney gives the best insight into how the city’s architecture has matured from shaky, poorly crafted imitation to confident autonomy, peaking with its glorious opera house.

The Lay of the Land

Ever since Captain Arthur Phillip slurped from the Tank Stream, water has shaped Sydney’s development. The Tank Stream now runs in brick culverts beneath the city, but in the early days of the First Fleet it defined Sydney. Phillip used the stream to separate convicts on the rocky west from the officers on the gentler eastern slopes, hemming in the convicts between the harbour on one side and the soldiers on the other. Following this pattern, government institutions were concentrated to the east of the stream, while industry set up shop on the western side of town. Social differences were thus articulated, establishing a pattern that can still be seen in Sydney more than 200 years later.

Aboriginal campsites used to lie near fresh water on Sydney Harbour’s north-facing shore – and the colonists took their cue from the original inhabitants. The south side of the harbour catches the winter sun, and is relatively sheltered from chilly southerly winds.

In one of history’s great coincidences, Frenchman Jean Compte de la Pérouse arrived at Botany Bay days after the First Fleet. That event and fierce competition from other colonial powers meant there was a perceived threat of invasion from the outset. As a consequence, the navy appropriated much of the harbour foreshore. This was fortunate indeed – much of the land was not built upon, conserving these regions as wilderness while the rest of Sydney clambered up around them.

For some glimpses of typical Sydney inner-city residential styles, make your way to Paddington, Potts Point or Elizabeth Bay. The backstreets of these dense suburbs include superbly restored Victorian terrace houses, art-deco apartments and modern housing.

An Architectural History

The men and women who arrived in the First Fleet were staggeringly ill-prepared for the realities of building in their new, raw environment. The British powers-that-be had failed to include an architect on board and shoddy workmanship, poor tools and the colony’s temporary vibe conspired against long-term success.

A significant change to this ad-hoc approach was heralded by the appointment of Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1810, who viewed good architecture as an essential component of a thriving, healthy society. The arrival of several architects, including the transfigurative Francis Greenway, a convict transported for forgery, helped change Sydney’s built environment. The prevailing Georgian architecture of Britain was echoed in many buildings that sprang up at this time.

Throughout the 19th century, colonial architects still looked to Britain for inspiration, but broader European influences were also seen, from the neoclassical Town Hall to the early-Gothic style of St Mary’s Cathedral.

In the wake of independence, 20th-century architects questioned traditional approaches and sought new ways to adapt buildings to Sydney’s extraordinary setting. In the centre, meanwhile, the scrapping of height restrictions in the ’50s sparked Sydney’s love affair with skyscrapers. Modernism was influential, with such architects as Harry Seidler embracing diverse international attitudes and the opening of Utzon’s Sydney Opera House in 1973 a watershed moment, even if he wasn’t there to see it. Of course, a walk around central Sydney still shows the legacy of British influence. Today’s buildings, however, are much more locally sensitive.

Much of the more innovative contemporary architectural work in Sydney happens away from the public gaze as fancy home redevelopments.

Modern Times

The spate of skyscraper construction that hit central Sydney following the lifting of height restrictions has defined the skyline. For a while, the city’s older buildings were in danger of being neglected. That changed for the bicentennial celebrations of 1988, when cultural heritage soared up the agenda. As well as the refurbishment of Macquarie St and Circular Quay, developers turned their eye towards Darling Harbour. Critics condemn today’s Darling Harbour as a tacky Las Vegan aberration, but few fail to be amazed at how completely this once-disused industrial space has been transformed. Redevelopment is ongoing, with many of the 1988 buildings replaced by modern precincts.

Historic buildings that have been redeveloped for new uses with effect include the Mint and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on Macquarie St, the Customs House at Circular Quay, and the wharves at Walsh Bay – all great examples of how thoughtful and sympathetic contemporary design can inject new life and energy into an area.

The other defining event that cemented Sydney architecture’s place on the world map was the 2000 Olympic Games. Many of the buildings and infrastructure developed around Homebush Bay were world-class.

The most significant recent constructions sit on either side of Broadway on the city’s southern flank: One Central Park by internationally acclaimed architect Jean Nouvel, and Frank Gehry’s Dr Chau Chak Wing Building at the University of Technology, Sydney. New developments at Darling Harbour, Circular Quay and throughout the CBD also exhibit striking modern design.

The redevelopment of the Barangaroo area into three towering office buildings, a skyscraper casino and a public park has been more controversial, and the selling off of longtime public housing in adjacent Millers Point has reawakened perpetual Sydney concerns about the close relationship between property developers and state government.

GREEN BUILDINGS

Environmental concerns have rocketed up the agenda in Sydney over the past decade, and local architecture hasn’t been immune. The Olympic Games quickened architects’ thinking on sustainability issues, and there are several developments around Olympic Park that highlight the ‘sustainable’ agenda of the Games. The first thing you’ll probably see when you arrive is the Olympic Park Rail Station, admired for its natural light, ventilation and striking shell-like design. The modernist blocks of Newington Apartments, originally the Olympic Village, also emphasise natural light, energy conservation and water recycling. While you’re in the ‘hood, sneak a peek at the sleek grace of Peter Stutchbury’s Archery Pavilion.

Since the Olympics, buildings like 30 The Bond in Millers Point and One Central Park in Chippendale have raised the bar for eco-friendly design and energy efficiency.

Of course, sustainable building isn’t limited to big financial and infrastructure developments – new and recycled ‘green’ residential projects are also coming on apace. One stellar example is the converted 19th-century Chippendale terrace house at 58 Myrtle St, which the owner/designer bills as ‘Sydney’s first sustainable house’ (see www.sustainablehouse.com.au).

Transport

Arriving in Sydney

Sydney Airport

Central Station

Sydney Coach Terminal

Overseas Passenger Terminal

Getting Around

Bicycle

Boat

Bus

Car & Motorcycle

Taxi

Train

Light Rail (Tram)

Tours

Boat Tours

Bus Tours

Walking Tours

Transport

ARRIVING IN SYDNEY

The vast majority of visitors to Sydney arrive at Sydney Airport, 10km south of the city centre. Trains and buses arrive from other parts of Australia.

Flights, cars and tours can be booked online at lonelyplanet.com/bookings.

Sydney Airport

Also known as Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney Airport (%02-9667 6111; www.sydneyairport.com.au; Airport Dr, Mascot), just 10km south of the centre, has separate international (T1) and domestic (T2 and T3) sections, 4km apart on either side of the runways. Each has left-luggage services (%02-9667 0926; www.baggagestorage.com.au; 24hr suitcase/carry-on $16/13), ATMs, currency-exchange bureaux and rental-car counters, and trains, buses and shuttles depart from both.

Train

Trains from both the domestic and international terminals, connecting into the main train network, are frequent (every 10 minutes), quick (13 minutes to Central) and easy to use, but airport tickets are charged at a hefty premium (up to $18.50 to the City Centre). If there are a few of you, it can be cheaper to catch a cab. The cheapest way is to catch the bus to Rockdale station (route 400, 12 minutes) and then catch the regular train to Central (15 minutes).

Taxi

Fares from the airport are approximately $45 to $55 to the city centre, $55 to $65 to North Sydney and $90 to $100 to Manly.

Shuttle

Airport shuttles head to hotels and hostels in the city centre, and some reach surrounding suburbs and beach destinations. Operators include KST Airporter (%02-8339 0155; www.kst.com.au; airport to CBD adult/child $14/12), Metro Shuttle (%0415 243 168; www.metro-shuttle.com.au; airport to city $15), Airport Shuttle North (%02-9997 7767; www.asntransfers.com; to Manly 1-/2-/3-people $44/53/63) and Manly Express (%02-8068 8473; www.manlyexpress.com.au; airport to Manly 1-/2-/3-people $40/55/65).

Bus

Service from the airport is limited to the 400 route between Burwood and Bondi Junction (55 minutes), which departs roughly every 20 minutes and stops at both the domestic and international terminals.

Central Station

Intercity trains pull into the old (‘Country Trains’) section of Sydney’s historic Central station (MAP GOOGLE MAP; Eddy Ave; dCentral), in the Haymarket area of the southern inner city. From here you can connect to the suburban train network or follow the signs to Railway Sq for suburban buses.

Sydney Coach Terminal

Long-distance coaches arrive at Sydney Coach Terminal (MAP; %02-9281 9366; h7am-6pm; dCentral) at Central station. From here you can access the suburban train network, buses and light rail. The coach terminal office is upstairs in the main railway concourse.

Overseas Passenger Terminal

Many cruise ships dock at the Overseas Passenger Terminal (MAP; %02-9296 4999; www.portauthoritynsw.com.au; dCircular Quay) at Circular Quay, right in the heart of town, between the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House and near Circular Quay station. Others pull in at White Bay Cruise Terminal, in Balmain, from where ferries and taxis can run you into the centre.

GETTING AROUND

Transport NSW (%131 500; www.transportnsw.info) coordinates all of the state-run bus, ferry, train and light-rail services. You’ll find a useful journey planner on its website. The system-wide Opal transport card is necessary for travel. The TripView app is very useful for real-time public transport info and journey planning

Bicycle

Sydney traffic can be intimidating, but there is an increasing number of separated bike lanes; see www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au. Helmets are compulsory.

Bicycles can travel on suburban trains for free. Bikes also ride for free on Sydney’s ferries but are banned from buses.

Many cycle-hire shops require a hefty credit-card deposit. For hire, see the following; there are many more operators around town:

A Bonza Bike Tours (MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9247 8800; www.bonzabiketours.com; 30 Harrington St, the Rocks; tours from $99; hoffice 9am-5pm; dCircular Quay)

A Bike Buffs (MAP GOOGLE MAP; %0414 960 332; www.bikebuffs.com.au; adult/child $95/70; dCircular Quay)

A Manly Bike Tours (MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-8005 7368; www.manlybiketours.com.au; Belgrave St, Manly; hire per hr/day from $16/33; h9am-6pm Oct-Mar, to 5pm Apr-Sep; fManly)

Dockless bike-share schemes have taken off in a big way, though their long-term viability has been questioned. Operators are oBike, ofo and Reddy Go; download their apps and ride away.

THE OPAL CARD

Sydney’s public transport network runs on a smartcard system called Opal (www.opal.com.au).

The card can be obtained (for free) and loaded with credit (minimum $10) at numerous newsagencies and convenience stores across Sydney. When commencing a journey you’ll need to touch the card to an electronic reader, which are located at the train station gates, near the doors of buses and light-rail carriages, and at the ferry wharves. You then need to touch a reader when you complete your journey so that the system can deduct the correct fare. You get a discount when transferring between services, after a certain number of journeys in the week, and daily charges are capped at $15.40 ($2.60 on Sundays). You can use the Opal card at the airport train stations, but none of the aforementioned bonuses apply.

You can still buy single tickets (Opal single trip tickets) from machines at train stations, ferry wharves and light-rail stops, or from the bus driver. These are more expensive than the same fare using the Opal card, so there’s not much point unless you don’t think you’ll use $10 worth of transport during your Sydney stay.

You can purchase a child/youth Opal card for those aged four to 15 years; they travel half-price. For student and pensioner discount Opal cards, you have to apply online.

Boat

A Most Sydney ferries (%131 500; www.transportnsw.info) operate between 6am and midnight. The standard Opal card one-way fare for most harbour destinations is $5.88; ferries to Manly, Sydney Olympic Park and Parramatta cost $7.35.

A Private company Manly Fast Ferry (%02-9583 1199; www.manlyfastferry.com.au; adult one-way $9.10) offers boats that blast from Circular Quay to Manly in 18 minutes. Other routes include Manly to Darling Harbour, and an appealing Manly–Watsons Bay–Rose Bay–Manly route ($15 return). Opal cards are not valid on this service.

A Captain Cook Cruises (MAP GOOGLE MAP; %02-9206 1111; www.captaincook.com.au; Wharf 6, Circular Quay; from $35; dCircular Quay) and Sydney Harbour EcoHopper (%02-9583 1199; www.sydneyharbourecohopper.com.au; 24hr pass adult/child $45/25) offer hop-on, hop-off services with several stops around the harbour.

Water Taxis

Water taxis are a fast way to shunt around the harbour (Circular Quay to Watsons Bay in as little as 15 minutes). Companies will quote on any pick-up point within the harbour and the river, including private jetties, islands and other boats. All have a quote generator on their websites; you can add in extra cruise time for a bit of sightseeing. It’s much better value for groups than singles or couples.

Water-taxi companies:

Fantasea Yellow Water Taxis (%1800 326 822; www.yellowwatertaxis.com.au; h8am-9pm, prebooking required for service outside these hrs)

H2O Maxi Taxis (%1300 420 829; www.h2owatertaxis.com.au)

Water Taxis Combined (%02-9555 8888; www.watertaxis.com.au)

Bus

A The bus network is extensive, with Transport NSW (%131 500; www.transportnsw.info) operating from around 5am to midnight, when less frequent NightRide services commence.

A Bus routes starting with an M or E indicate express routes; those with an L have limited stops; all are somewhat quicker than the regular bus lines.

A There are several bus hubs in the city centre: Wynyard Park by Wynyard train station; Railway Sq by Central train station; the QVB close to Town Hall station; and Circular Quay by the ferry and train stop of the same name.

A Use your Opal card to ride buses; tap on when you board, and remember to tap off when you alight, or you’ll be charged the maximum fare.

Car & Motorcycle

Avoid driving in central Sydney if you can: there’s a confusing one-way street system, parking’s elusive and expensive, and parking inspectors, tolls and tow-away zones proliferate. Conversely, a car is handy for accessing Sydney’s outer reaches (particularly the beaches) and for day trips.

Driving & Parking

Australians drive on the left-hand side of the road. Overseas visitors can drive with their domestic driving licences; if they are not written in English you’ll officially need a translation or international driving permit. Speed limits in Sydney are generally 60km/h (50km/h in some areas), rising to 100km/h or 110km/h on motorways. Seat belts are compulsory; using hand-held mobile phones is prohibited. A blood-alcohol limit of 0.05% (the same level is called 0.5% in many other countries) is enforced with random breath tests and hefty punishments. If you’re in an accident (even if you didn’t cause it) and you’re over the alcohol limit, your insurance will be invalidated. For further information, see www.rms.nsw.gov.au.

Sydney’s private car parks are expensive (around $15 per hour); public car parks are more affordable (sometimes under $10 per hour). The city centre and Darling Harbour have the greatest number of private car parks, but these are also the priciest. Street parking (from $2.50 to $8 per hour) machines take coins and cards.

The cheapest way to park in the city centre is to prebook online; Wilson Parking has particularly attractive rates. The website www.parkopedia.com is very helpful for finding the cheapest rates around where you want to park.

Toll Roads

There are hefty tolls on most of Sydney’s motorways and major links (including the Harbour Bridge, Harbour Tunnel, Cross City Tunnel and Eastern Distributor). The tolling system is electronic, meaning that it’s up to you to organise an electronic tag or visitors’ pass through any of the following websites: www.roam.com.au, www.linkt.com.au, www.tollpay.com.au or www.myetoll.com.au. Note that most car-hire companies supply e-tags.

Hire

Car-rental prices vary depending on season and demand. If you take a small car for a few days, you can hope to find deals around the $25-a-day mark.

The big players have airport desks and city offices (mostly around William St, Darlinghurst). Local firms also compete on rates and quality.

For motorbike hire, try Bikescape (%02-8123 0917; www.bikescape.com.au; cnr Parramatta Rd & Young St, Annandale; h9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat; dStanmore).

Car-rental companies:

Ace Rentals (%02-9222 2595; www.acerentalcars.com.au)

Avis (%02-9246 4600; www.avis.com.au; 200 William St, Woolloomooloo; h7.30am-6pm Mon-Fri, 7.30am-4.30pm Sat & Sun; dKings Cross)

Bayswater Car Rental (%02-9360 3622; www.bayswatercarrental.com.au; 180 William St, Woolloomooloo; h7am-6.30pm Mon-Fri, 8am-3.30pm Sat, 9am-3.30pm Sun; dKings Cross)

Budget (%02-8255 9600; www.budget.com.au; 93 William St, Darlinghurst; h7.30am-5.45pm Mon-Fri, to 4.15pm Sat & Sun; dKings Cross)

Europcar (%02-8255 9050; www.europcar.com.au)

Hertz (%02-9360 6621; www.hertz.com.au; 65 William St, Darlinghurst; h7.30am-5.30pm Mon-Fri, 8am-1pm Sat & Sun; dSt James)

Jucy (%1800 150 850; www.jucy.com.au)

Sixt (%02-8354 0914; www.sixt.com.au; 151 William St, Darlinghurst; dKings Cross)

Thrifty (%02-8374 6177; www.thrifty.com.au; 85 William St, Darlinghurst; h7.30am-4.30pm Mon-Fri, 7.30am-noon Sat & Sun; dKings Cross)

Taxi

A Metered taxis are easy to flag down in the central city and inner suburbs, except at changeover times (3pm and 3am).

A Fares are regulated, so all companies charge the same. Flagfall is $3.60, with a $2.50 ‘night owl surcharge’ after 10pm on a Friday and Saturday until 6am the following morning. After that the fare is $2.19 per kilometre, with an additional surcharge of 20% between 10pm and 6am.

A The ride-sharing app Uber operates in Sydney and is very popular. Other apps such as GoCatch offer ride-sharing and normal taxi bookings.

A For more on Sydney’s taxis, see www.nswtaxi.org.au.

Major taxi companies:

Legion Cabs (%13 14 51; www.legioncabs.com.au)

Premier Cabs (%13 10 17; www.premiercabs.com.au)

RSL Cabs (%02-9581 1111; www.rslcabs.com.au)

Silver Service (%133 100; www.silverservice.com.au)

Taxis Combined (%132 227; www.taxiscombined.com.au)

CLIMATE CHANGE & TRAVEL

Every form of transport that relies on carbon-based fuel generates CO_2, the main cause of human-induced climate change. Modern travel is dependent on aeroplanes, which might use less fuel per kilometre per person than most cars but travel much greater distances. The altitude at which aircraft emit gases (including CO_2) and particles also contributes to their climate change impact. Many websites offer ‘carbon calculators’ that allow people to estimate the carbon emissions generated by their journey and, for those who wish to do so, to offset the impact of the greenhouse gases emitted with contributions to portfolios of climate-friendly initiatives throughout the world. Lonely Planet offsets the carbon footprint of all staff and author travel.

Train

A Sydney Trains (%13 15 00; www.sydneytrains.info) has a large suburban railway web with relatively frequent services, although there are no lines to the northern or eastern beaches.

A Trains run from around 5am to midnight – check timetables for your line. They run till a little later at weekends. Trains are replaced by NightRide buses in the small hours. These mostly leave from around Town Hall station.

A Trains are significantly more expensive at peak hours, which are from 7am to 9am and 4pm to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday.

A A short one-way trip costs $3.46 with an Opal card, or $2.42 off-peak.

Metro

A Sydney Metro (www.sydneymetro.info) is a massive new infrastructure project. The first phase, running from Chatswood to Sydney’s northwest, should be operational in 2019. The second phase, linking Chatswood to three new downtown underground stations via a new harbour tunnel and on out to the west, will take longer. Opal cards will be used on the service.

Light Rail (Tram)

A Trams run between Central station and Dulwich Hill, stopping at Chinatown, Darling Harbour, the Star casino, Sydney Fish Market, Glebe and Leichhardt en route.

A Opal-card fares cost $2.15 for a short journey and $3.58 for a longer one.

A A second light rail line will open in 2019. It will run from Circular Quay down George St right through the city centre to Central station, then veer east through Surry Hills, head past the Sydney Cricket Ground and on to Kingsford, with a branch veering to Randwick.

TOURS

Organised tours can be a useful way to get around if you’re short on time or prefer to have things organised for you. For localised tours, refer to the neighbourhood chapters.

Boat Tours

There’s a wide range of harbour cruises available, from paddle steamers to maxi yachts and jet boats. If you’re pinching pennies, take the return ferry trip to Manly.

Whale-watching boats run from May to November. As well as spotting cetaceans, these give you a pretty good look at the harbour as well as the Heads and a perspective from the ocean.

Bus Tours

The standard double-decker bus tours are available, as well as private minibus tours around town. There are lots of tours to day-trip destinations such as the Blue Mountains or Hunter Valley, too.

Walking Tours

There are plenty of guided walking tours on offer. These normally focus on the Rocks and CBD area, and come in general and thematic flavours (architecture, ghost tours etc). If you prefer flying solo, we’ve put together a walking tour in most of the neighbourhood sections. The City of Sydney (%02-9265 9333; www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au) publishes a series of walking-tour pamphlets, available from information kiosks and downloadable from its website.

Directory A–Z

Customs Regulations

Discount Cards

Electricity

Emergency & Important Numbers

Etiquette

Internet Access

Legal Matters

Medical Services

Money

Opening Hours

Public Holidays

Safe Travel

Taxes & Refunds

Telephone

Time

Toilets

Tourist Information

Travellers with Disabilities

Visas

Work

Directory A-Z

Customs Regulations

Entering Australia you can bring in most articles free of duty, provided customs officers are satisfied they’re for personal use and that you’ll be taking them with you when you leave. See www.border.gov.au for more information.

A There’s a duty-free quota per person of 2.25L of alcohol (if you’re over 18 years of age), 25 cigarettes (yes, you read that right) plus an open packet and dutiable goods up to the value of $900 ($450 if you’re under 18).

A Amounts of more than A$10,000 cash (or its equivalent) must be declared.

A Authorities take biosecurity very seriously, and are vigilant in their efforts to prevent introduced pests getting into the country. Be sure to declare all goods of animal or vegetable origin. Dispose of any fresh food and flowers and check. If you’ve recently visited farmland or rural areas, it’s best to scrub your shoes before you get to the airport; you’ll also need to declare them to Customs.

Discount Cards

Sydney Museums Pass (www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au; adult/child $24/16) Allows a single visit to each of 12 museums in and around Sydney, including the Museum of Sydney, Hyde Park Barracks, Justice & Police Museum and Susannah Place. It’s valid for a month and available at each of the participating museums. It costs the same as two regular museum visits.

Ultimate Sydney Pass (adult/child $99/70) Provides access to the high-profile, costly attractions operated by British-based Merlin Entertainment: Sydney Tower Eye (including the Skywalk), Sydney Sea Life Aquarium, Wild Life Sydney Zoo and Madame Tussauds. It’s available from each of the venues, but is often considerably cheaper online through the venue websites. If you plan on visiting only some of these attractions, discounted Sydney Attractions Passes are available in any combination you desire.

PRACTICALITIES

Newspapers The main daily newspapers are the Sydney Morning Herald (www.smh.com.au; news, entertainment), the Daily Telegraph (www.dailytelegraph.com.au; sports and rabble-rousing) and the Australian (www.theaustralian.com.au; nationally distributed right-wing broadsheet).

TV Sydney’s main free-to-air TV channels include ABC and SBS (public broadcasters, generally offering more worthy fare), and the commercially driven Seven, Nine and Ten networks and their affiliated channels.

Australia Post (%13 76 78; www.auspost.com.au) is efficient and has branches throughout the city. It costs $1 to send a postcard or a standard letter within Australia. Airmail letters cost $2.10 to New Zealand, $2.30 to the Asia Pacific region and $3 to the rest of the world.

Smoking Not permitted indoors in public places (including offices, shops, bars, restaurants, cafes, hospitals) or outdoors in playgrounds, public sports grounds, transport stops, entrances to public buildings and outdoor dining areas. Some pubs have outdoor smoking areas, but you aren’t allowed to eat in them, even if you want to.

Vaping Banned in Australia, though this may change.

Electricity

Emergency & Important Numbers

Emergency | % 000
Police (non-emergency) | % 131 444
Australia’s country code | % 61
International access code | % 0011

Etiquette

Greetings Greet both men and women by shaking hands or a kiss/air kiss for friends (it’s not custom for straight Aussie blokes to kiss each other though).

Dinner Bring wine, flowers or chocolates if you are invited to someone’s house for a meal.

Restaurants Splitting restaurant bills is standard practice.

Parties If you’re asked to ‘bring a plate’ to a party, it means bring food.

Public Transport Offer seats on crowded buses, trains and ferries to older people or parents with kids.

Bargaining Not usual in shops but sometimes OK at some markets.

Escalators Stand on the left, walk on the right.

Internet Access

A By far the easiest way to access the internet is to buy a local prepaid SIM card, pop it in your (unlocked) phone and sign up for a data package. Expect to pay around $2 for the SIM, then $30 to $50 for a month of calls, texts and data.

A Nearly all hotels and hostels provide wi-fi connections, although some, especially top-end places, charge for the service, or make the free service so slow that you are virtually forced to pay for ‘premium’ access.

A Many cafes and bars offer free wi-fi. Most public libraries and shopping centres also offer it.

A Pay-as-you-go wi-fi hot spots are common in busy areas such as airports.

A Because of the greater access to free connections, internet cafes are thin on the ground these days.

Legal Matters

A Australia is very strict when it comes to driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs. There is a significant police presence on the roads, and they have the power to stop your car and see your licence (you’re required to carry it), check your vehicle for roadworthiness and insist that you take a breath test for alcohol or a drug test. The legal limit is 0.05 blood alcohol concentration (measured as grams per 100mL, equivalent to what many other countries would call 0.5). If you’re over, you face a hefty fine and other sanctions.

A First offenders caught with small amounts of illegal drugs are likely to receive a fine rather than go to jail, but a conviction may affect your visa status.

A If you remain in Australia after your visa expires, you will officially be an ‘overstayer’ and could face detention and expulsion, and then be prevented from returning to Australia for up to three years.

Medical Services

Anybody can access the health system in Sydney, but unless you have insurance or reciprocal cover, you’ll have to pay. Look for doctors that ‘bulk bill’; these are the cheapest as they charge only as much as the national health insurance scheme, Medicare, reimburses.

Money

There are ATMs everywhere and major credit cards are widely accepted, though there’s often a surcharge.

ATMs

Central Sydney is chock-full of banks with 24-hour ATMs that will accept debit and credit cards linked to international networks. Most banks place a A$1000 limit on the amount you can withdraw daily. You’ll also find ATMs in pubs and clubs, although these usually charge slightly higher fees. Shops and retail outlets usually have EFTPOS facilities, which allow you to pay for purchases with your debit or credit card; contactless is usually available. Some places like supermarkets offer ‘cash out’, which means they charge your card more and hand over the difference in cash.

Changing Money

A Exchange bureaux are dotted around the city centre, Kings Cross and Bondi.

A Shop around, as rates vary and most charge some sort of commission. The best rates are usually found online.

A The counters at the airport are open until the last flight comes in; rates here are significantly poorer than they are in the city.

Credit Cards

Sydneysiders rarely seem to use cash these days, with locals going for contactless ‘tap’ payments. Visa and MasterCard are widely accepted at shops, restaurants, pubs and hotels. Diners Club and American Express are less widely accepted. A credit card surcharge or minimum transaction amount is common.

Currency

A The unit of currency is the Australian dollar, which is divided into 100 cents.

A Notes are colourful, plastic and washing-machine-proof, in denominations of $100, $50, $20, $10 and $5.

A Coins come in $2, $1, 50c, 20c, 10c and 5c. The old 2c and 1c coins have been out of circulation for years, so shops round prices up (or down) to the nearest 5c.

A Travellers cheques are something of a dinosaur these days, and they won’t be accepted everywhere. It’s easier not to bother with them.

Tipping

A In Sydney most service providers don’t expect a tip, so you shouldn’t feel pressured into giving one.

A The exception is restaurants, where a tip of 10% or so is standard.

A People tend to round up to the nearest dollar or more in taxis.

A Tipping in bars is uncommon but on the increase, especially if there’s fancy cocktail wizardry involved.

Opening Hours

Opening hours vary very widely. The following are approximations:

Restaurants noon–2.30pm and 6pm–10pm, sometimes shut Sunday or Monday

Cafes 7am–4pm

Pubs 11am–midnight Monday to Saturday, noon–10pm Sunday

Shops 9.30am–6pm Monday to Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 9.30am–8pm Thursday, 11am–5pm Sunday

Banks 9.30am–4pm Monday to Thursday, 9.30am–5pm Friday

Offices 9am–5.30pm Monday to Friday

Public Holidays

On public holidays, government departments, banks, offices and post offices shut up shop. On Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Anzac Day and Christmas Day, most shops are closed.

New Year’s Day 1 January

Australia Day 26 January

Easter (Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Monday) March/April

Anzac Day 25 April

Queen’s Birthday Second Monday in June

Labour Day First Monday in October

Christmas Day 25 December

Boxing Day 26 December

A Many public holidays cleverly morph into long weekends (three days), and if a major holiday such as New Year’s Day falls on a weekend, the following Monday is a holiday.

A Something else to consider when planning a Sydney visit is school holidays, when accommodation rates soar and everything gets hectic. Sydney students have a long summer break that includes Christmas and most of January. Other school holidays fall around March to April (Easter), late June to mid-July, and late September to early October.

Safe Travel

A Sydney’s wonderful beaches must be treated with healthy respect. People drown every year from rips and currents. Swim between the flags.

A Police in Sydney have little tolerance for minor transgressions or drug use. Random searches are common in clubs and random drug testing is now conducted on drivers.

A Sydney’s sun is fierce in summer – do as the locals do, applying a hat and plenty of sunscreen.

Taxes & Refunds

A There’s a 10% goods and services tax (GST) automatically added to almost everything you buy, Australia-wide. If you purchase goods with a total minimum value of $300 from any one store within 60 days of departure from Australia, the Tourist Refund Scheme entitles you to a refund of any GST paid.

A Keep your receipts and carry the items on board your flight as hand luggage (or get them checked before you check them in); you can get a refund at the designated booth located past Customs at Sydney airport (see www.border.gov.au for more information).

Telephone

A Public telephones, which can still be found around town, take phonecards, credit cards and occasionally coins (if the slots aren’t jammed up).

A Australia’s country code is 61.

A Sydney’s area code is 02 (drop the zero when dialling into Australia).

A International access code is 0011 (used when dialling other countries from Australia).

A Toll-free numbers start with the prefix 1800, while numbers that start with 1300 are only the cost of a local call.

Mobile Phones

Australia’s digital network is compatible with most international phones. Local SIM cards are cheap, so bring an unlocked handset. Local mobile numbers begin with 04. Using mobiles while driving is prohibited unless hands-free.

Time

Sydney is on Eastern Standard Time (EST), which is 10 hours ahead of GMT/UTC. That means that when it’s noon in Sydney it’s 6pm the day before in Los Angeles, 9pm the day before in New York, 2am in London, 4am in Johannesburg, 11am in Tokyo and 2pm in Auckland. Running from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April, Daylight Savings Time is one hour ahead of standard time. This, plus daylight saving in the northern hemisphere, means that for most of the above examples, the difference is usually an hour either side.

Toilets

A Public toilets are free, but there aren’t that many of them around.

A Stations, parks and shopping centres are good bets.

Tourist Information

Sydney Visitor Centre (%02-8273 0000; www.sydney.com; cnr Argyle & Playfair Sts; h9.30am-5.30pm, to 6pm Dec & Jan; dCircular Quay) Sydney’s principal tourist office is in the heart of the historic Rocks district

City of Sydney Information The council operates a good tourist information desk in the Customs House (www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au; Alfred St, Circular Quay; h9am-8pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat & Sun; dCircular Quay) as well as kiosks in Martin Place (www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au; Martin Pl; h9am-5pm daily, to 9pm Fri & Sat mid-Nov–mid-Feb; dMartin Place), Chinatown (www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au; Dixon St, Haymarket; h11am-7pm daily, until 9pm Fri & Sat Nov-Feb; dTown Hall) and Kings Cross (%0477 344 125; www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au; cnr Darlinghurst Rd & Springfield Ave, Kings Cross; h9am-5pm daily, to 9pm Fri & Sat mid-Nov–mid-Mar; dKings Cross).

Hello Manly (%02-9976 1430; www.hellomanly.com.au; East Esplanade, Manly; h9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat & Sun; fManly) This helpful visitors centre, just outside the ferry wharf and alongside the bus interchange, has free pamphlets covering the Manly Scenic Walkway (www.manly.nsw.gov.au; fManly;) and other Manly attractions, plus loads of local bus information.

Parramatta Heritage & Visitor Information Centre (%02-8839 3311; www.discoverparramatta.com; 346a Church St, Parramatta; h9am-5pm; dParramatta) Knowledgeable staff will point you in the right direction with loads of brochures and leaflets, info on access for visitors with impaired mobility, and details on local Aboriginal cultural sites.

Travellers with Disabilities

Compared with many other major cities, Sydney has great access for citizens and visitors with disabilities. Central districts and suburban centres are well endowed with kerb cuts and tactile pavement indicators.

Download Lonely Planet’s free Accessible Travel guide from http://lptravel.to/AccessibleTravel.

Hearing-impaired travellers Most of Sydney’s major attractions offer hearing loops and some can arrange sign-language interpreters. To make sure your needs can be met, contact venue staff in advance.

Vision-impaired travellers Many new buildings incorporate architectural features that are helpful, such as tactile floor indicators at the top and bottom of stairs. Sydney’s pedestrian crossings feature catchy beep-and-buzz sound cues.

Wheelchair access Most of Sydney’s main attractions are accessible by wheelchair, and all new or renovated buildings must, by law, include wheelchair access. Older buildings can pose some problems, however, and some restaurants and entertainment venues aren’t quite up to scratch. Most of the National Trust’s historic houses are at least partially accessible.

Parking permits Contact Roads & Maritime Services (%13 22 13; www.rms.nsw.gov.au), who can supply temporary parking permits for international drivers with disabilities.

Visas

All visitors to Australia need a visa – only New Zealand nationals are exempt, and even they receive a ‘special category’ visa on arrival.

A Visa application forms are available from Australian diplomatic missions overseas, travel agents or the website of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (%1300 363 263, 02-6275 6666; www.border.gov.au).

A Citizens of 24 European countries are eligible for an eVisitor, which is free and allows visitors to stay in Australia for up to three months. These must be applied for online, and they are electronically stored and linked to individual passport numbers, so no stamp in your passport is required. It’s advisable to apply at least 14 days prior to the proposed date of travel to Australia. Applications are made at www.border.gov.au.

A An Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) allows visitors to enter Australia any time within a 12-month period and stay for up to three months at a time (unlike eVisitor, multiple entries are permitted). Travellers from qualifying countries can get an ETA through any travel agent or overseas airline registered with the International Air Transport Association (IATA). They make the application for you when you buy a ticket and they issue the ETA, which replaces the usual visa stamped in your passport. It’s common practice for travel agents to charge a fee for issuing an ETA (in the vicinity of US$25). This system is available to passport holders of some 33 countries, including all of the countries that are eligible for eVisitor.

A Eight of the countries that are eligible for ETA but not eVisitor can make their application online at www.eta.immi.gov.au, where a $20 fee applies. Those countries are Brunei, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the USA. Taiwanese must apply in person.

A If you are from a country not covered by eVisitor or ETA, or you want to stay longer than three months, you’ll need to apply for a visa. Tourist visas cost from $140 and allow single or multiple entry for stays of three, six or 12 months and are valid for use within 12 months of issue.

A Visitors are allowed a maximum stay of 12 months, including extensions. Visa extensions are made through the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, and it’s best to apply at least two or three weeks before your visa expires.

A Young visitors (aged 18 to 30) from Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan and the UK are eligible for a Working Holiday Visa (417), which allows you to visit for up to one year and gain casual employment. The emphasis of this visa is on casual and not full-time employment, so you’re only supposed to work for any one employer for a maximum of six months. A first visa must be obtained prior to entry to Australia and can be applied for at Australian diplomatic missions abroad or online. You can’t change from a tourist visa to a Working Holiday visa once you’re in Australia. You can apply for this visa up to a year in advance, which is worthwhile, as there’s a limit on the number issued each year. Conditions include having enough money to support yourself, a return air ticket or sufficient funds for a return or onward fare, and a fee of $440 is charged. At the time of research the government was considering extending the age limit up to 35.

A Nationals from Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Peru, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the USA, Uruguay and Vietnam between the ages of 18 and 30 can apply for a Work and Holiday Visa (462) prior to entry to Australia. Once granted, this visa allows the holder to stay for up to 12 months and undertake temporary employment to supplement a trip. Conditions vary depending on nationality; there are educational and English-language requirements. The application fee is $440.

A Both the Working Holiday Visa and the Work and Holiday Visa can be granted a second time if the holder undertakes certain types of work (eg agriculture, construction) in regional Australia for three months.

Work

A There are strict regulations governing overseas visitors working in Australia; see www.border.gov.au for details.

A A working-holiday visa allows for a stay of up to 12 months, but the emphasis is on casual, or incidental, employment rather than a full-time job, so working full-time for longer than six months with any one employer is not allowed. See Visas for details of working-holiday visa eligibility.

A The best places to seek work are the websites Gumtree (www.gumtree.com.au) and Seek (www.seek.com.au). Many hostels will help find you work (though it won’t be highly paid).

A To serve alcohol in NSW, you need to pass a course, the RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol). You can do it online. See www.liquorandgaming.nsw.gov.au.

A To work, you’ll need to apply for a Tax File Number (TFN). See the website of the Australian Taxation Office (%13 28 61; www.ato.gov.au) for details.

Behind the Scenes

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WRITER THANKS

Andy Symington

It’s always a great pleasure roaming around Sydney, and one that is facilitated thanks to many extremely helpful people along the way. I am particularly grateful to Corinna Mazurek for some excellent cafe investigations; to Toni, Daniel Beech, Portia Tshegofatso Loeto, Matt Beech and Peter Smith for sterling research company; to Raquel Bloom and colleagues for so much information; to my family for their support and to Tasmin Waby and Niamh O’Brien at LP.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Cover photograph: Sydney skyline at sunset, Rudy Balasko/Shutterstock ©

Illustrations Sydney Harbour by Javier Zarracina

THIS BOOK

This 12th edition of Lonely Planet’s Sydney guidebook was researched, written and curated by Andy Symington. The previous two editions were written by Peter Dragicevich and Miriam Raphael. This guidebook was produced by the following:

Destination Editors Tasmin Waby, Niamh O’Brien

Senior Product Editor Kate Chapman

Product Editor Heather Champion

Senior Cartographer Julie Sheridan

Book Designers Catalina Aragón, Gwen Cotter

Assisting Editors Rebecca Dyer, Bruce Evans, Trent Holden, Ali Lemer, Lorna Parkes, Monique Perrin

Cover Researcher Wibowo Rusli

Thanks to Ronan Abayawickrema, Susan Armstead, Hannah Cartmel, Tamsin Davies, Sandie Kestell, Angela McKay, Angela Tinson
eBook thanks to Julie J. Dodkins, Craig Kilburn, Wayne Murphy, John Taufa and Juan Winata.

Sydney Maps

MAP INDEX

Circular Quay & the Rocks

City Centre

Haymarket

Darling Harbour & Pyrmont

Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

Kings Cross & Potts Point

Paddington & Centennial Park

Bondi

Coogee

Around the Harbour

Newtown & the Inner West

Manly

City Maps

Circular Quay & the Rocks

1 Top Sights

1 Royal Botanic Garden  G4

2 Sydney Harbour Bridge  D1

3 Sydney Opera House  F2

1 Sights

4 Argyle Cut  C3

5 Barangaroo Reserve  A2

6 Cadman’s Cottage  D3

7 Campbell’s Storehouses  D2

8 Customs House  E5

9 Garrison Church  C3

10 Government House  F4

11 Justice & Police Museum  E5

12 Macquarie Place  D5

13 Museum of Contemporary Art  D4

14 Observatory Hill  B3

15 Pylon Lookout  D1

16 Rocks Discovery Museum  D3

17 SH Ervin Gallery  B4

18 Suez Canal  D4

19 Susannah Place Museum  C4

20 Sydney Observatory  B4

21 Walsh Bay  C2

5 Eating

22 Altitude  C4

23 Aria  F3

24 Barcycle  C2

Cafe Sydney  (see 8)

25 Fine Food Store  D3

26 Gantry  D1

27 Gateway Sydney  E5

28 Quay  D3

29 Saké  C3

6 Drinking & Nightlife

30 Argyle  D3

31 Australian Hotel  C4

Blu Bar on 36  (see 22)

32 Bulletin Place  D5

33 Cruise Bar  D3

34 Endeavour Tap Rooms  D3

35 Fortune of War  D4

36 Glenmore Hotel  C3

37 Harts Pub  C5

38 Hero of Waterloo  C3

39 Hotel Palisade  B3

40 Opera Bar  F3

41 Theatre Bar at the End of the Wharf  C1

3 Entertainment

42 Australian Theatre for Young People  C2

Bangarra Dance Theatre  (see 47)

43 Dendy Opera Quays  F4

Opera Australia  (see 3)

44 Roslyn Packer Theatre  B2

45 Sydney Conservatorium of Music  F5

Sydney Dance Company  (see 47)

Sydney Opera House  (see 3)

46 Sydney Symphony Orchestra  D3

47 Sydney Theatre Company  C1

Wharf Theatres  (see 47)

7 Shopping

48 Australian Wine Centre  D5

49 Craft NSW  D3

50 Gannon House Gallery  D3

51 Opal Minded  D3

Sorry Thanks I Love You  (see 13)

52 The Rocks Markets  D2

2 Sports & Activities

53 Bike Buffs  C3

Bonza Bike Tours  (see 57)

54 BridgeClimb  D3

55 Captain Cook Cruises  D4

56 Choochoo Express  F3

Dave’s Brewery Tours  (see 37)

57 The Rocks Ghost Tours  D3

58 The Rocks Walking Tours  D3

4 Sleeping

59 Harbour Rocks Hotel  D4

Hotel Palisade  (see 39)

60 Langham  B4

61 Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel  B3

62 Park Hyatt  D2

63 Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour  F4

Shangri-La  (see 22)

64 Sir Stamford  E5

65 Sydney Harbour YHA  C4

City Maps

City Centre

1 Top Sights

1 Art Gallery of NSW  G3

1 Sights

2 Anzac Memorial  E7

3 Archibald Memorial Fountain  E4

4 GPO Sydney  C3

5 Great Synagogue  D5

6 Hyde Park  E6

7 Hyde Park Barracks Museum  E4

8 Macquarie Street  E3

9 Martin Place  C3

10 Museum of Sydney  E1

11 Parliament House  E3

12 Queen Victoria Building  C5

13 St Andrew’s Cathedral  C6

14 St James’ Church  E4

15 St Mary’s Cathedral  F4

16 State Library of NSW  E2

17 State Theatre  C4

18 Sydney Hospital  E3

19 Sydney Tower Eye  D4

20 Sydney Town Hall  C6

21 The Domain  F3

22 The Mint  E3

5 Eating

23 Alpha  D6

24 Azuma  E2

25 BBQ King  B7

26 Bentley Restaurant & Bar  D2

27 Bodhi  F5

28 Central Baking Depot  B2

Chiswick at the Gallery  (see 1)

29 Cross Eatery  B3

Est  (see 45)

30 Grounds of the City  C5

31 Gumshara  B7

32 Lot 1  C3

33 Mercado  C2

34 Mr Wong  C1

35 Pablo & Rusty’s  D5

36 Peace Harmony  B3

37 Prime  C3

38 Restaurant Hubert  D2

39 Rockpool Bar & Grill  D2

40 Rollz  C1

Spice Temple  (see 39)

41 Sydney Madang  C7

42 Tetsuya’s  B7

6 Drinking & Nightlife

43 Barber Shop  C4

44 Baxter Inn  B4

45 Establishment  C1

46 Frankie’s Pizza  D2

47 Grandma’s  B5

48 Grasshopper  C4

49 Ivy  C2

50 Marble Bar  C5

51 Mojo Record Bar  C3

52 O Bar  C1

Palmer & Co  (see 73)

53 Redoak Boutique Beer Cafe  B4

54 Rook  C4

55 Ryan’s Bar  C1

56 Slip Inn & Chinese Laundry  B3

57 Stitch  B3

58 Uncle Ming’s  B2

3 Entertainment

59 City Recital Hall  C2

60 Metro Theatre  C7

State Theatre  (see 17)

7 Shopping

61 Abbey’s  C5

62 David Jones  D4

63 Fairfax & Roberts  D3

64 Karlangu  B2

65 Kinokuniya  C5

66 Paspaley  C3

Queen Victoria Building  (see 12)

67 Red Eye Records  C5

68 RM Williams  C4

69 Strand Arcade  C4

70 Strand Hatters  C4

Westfield Sydney  (see 19)

2 Sports & Activities

71 Cook & Phillip Park Aquatic & Fitness Centre  F5

4 Sleeping

72 Adina Apartment Hotel Sydney  B6

73 Establishment Hotel  D1

74 Grace Hotel  C3

75 Hyde Park Inn  D7

76 Meriton Suites Kent Street  C7

77 Primus Hotel Sydney  C6

78 QT Sydney  C4

City Maps

Haymarket

1 Sights

1 Central Station  C3

2 Chinatown  B2

5 Eating

3 Chat Thai  C2

4 Chonsiam  D2

5 Golden Century  B2

6 Happy Chef Seafood Noodle House  B2

7 Yok Yor  D2

7 Shopping

8 Paddy’s Markets  B2

4 Sleeping

9 Railway Square YHA  B4

10 Sydney Central YHA  C3

11 Ultimo  B3

City Maps

Darling Harbour & Pyrmont

1 Sights

1 Anzac Bridge  A2

2 Australian National Maritime Museum  C2

3 Barangaroo South  D1

4 Chinese Garden of Friendship  D4

5 Harbourside  C3

6 Madame Tussauds  D2

7 Star Casino  C2

8 Sydney Fish Market  B3

9 Sydney Sea Life Aquarium  D2

10 Wild Life Sydney Zoo  D2

5 Eating

11 Anason  D1

12 Bea  D1

Café Court  (see 7)

13 Cafe Morso  C1

14 Cirrus  D1

15 Flying Fish  C1

16 LuMi  C2

17 Malaya  D2

Momofuku Seiōbo  (see 7)

Sokyo  (see 7)

6 Drinking & Nightlife

18 Home  D3

19 Peg Leg  C3

20 Pyrmont Bridge Hotel  C2

Smoke  (see 12)

3 Entertainment

21 ICC Sydney  D4

22 Monkey Baa Theatre Company  D4

Sydney Lyric Theatre  (see 7)

2 Sports & Activities

23 Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre  C4

24 James Craig  C2

Sydney Seafood School  (see 8)

25 Sydney Showboats  D2

26 Whale Watching Sydney  D3

4 Sleeping

27 Adina Apartment Hotel Darling Harbour  D2

28 Ovolo 1888 Darling Harbour  C3

City Maps

Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

1 Sights

1 Australian Centre for Photography  D3

2 Australian Design Centre  E1

3 Australian Museum  C1

4 Brett Whiteley Studio  D7

5 Green Park  F3

6 National Art School  E3

7 Sydney Jewish Museum  F3

5 Eating

8 4Fourteen  E5

9 A Tavola  F2

Baccomatto Osteria  (see 88)

10 Bar Coluzzi  F2

11 Bar H  B3

12 bills  G3

13 bills  D5

14 Bishop Sessa  C7

15 Bodega  B5

16 Bourke Street Bakery  D7

17 Buffalo Dining Club  G2

18 Chaco  D2

19 Dead Ringer  E4

20 Devon  B6

21 Don Don  D3

22 El Loco  C5

23 Erciyes  C8

24 Firedoor  B4

25 Folonomo  E5

26 Formaggi Ocello  D5

27 fouratefive  D7

Gratia  (see 25)

28 Infinity Bakery  G2

29 Le Monde  C5

30 Longrain  C3

31 Malabar  G2

32 Messina  F2

33 Mohr Fish  C6

34 Muum Maam  B6

35 Nada’s  B7

36 Nomad  B3

Paramount Coffee Project  (see 69)

37 Porteño  B6

38 Red Lantern on Riley  D1

39 Reuben Hills  C5

40 Single O  B4

41 Spice I Am  B3

42 Spice I Am  F2

43 Toko  D6

44 Trovata  D1

6 Drinking & Nightlife

45 Arq  E4

46 Artificer Coffee  D6

47 Beresford Hotel  E5

48 Button Bar  C5

49 Colombian Hotel  D3

50 Della Hyde  D2

51 Dolphin Hotel  D5

Eau-de-Vie  (see 89)

52 Green Park Hotel  F3

53 Hotel Harry  C3

54 Local Taphouse  E5

55 Love, Tilly Devine  D1

56 Palms on Oxford  E3

57 Pocket Bar  D3

58 Reformatory Caffeine Lab  B5

59 Shady Pines Saloon  D3

60 Shakespeare Hotel  C6

61 Stonewall Hotel  E3

62 This Must Be The Place  E4

63 Vasco  D8

64 Wild Rover  B3

65 Winery  D4

66 Wyno  B6

3 Entertainment

67 Belvoir St Theatre  B7

68 Eternity Playhouse  D3

69 Golden Age Cinema & Bar  C3

70 Oxford Art Factory  D2

71 SBW Stables Theatre  G2

72 Slide  C2

73 Venue 505  B7

7 Shopping

74 Ariel  D3

75 Artery  F2

76 Baby Likes to Pony  E4

77 Bookshop Darlinghurst  E4

78 House of Priscilla  D2

79 Makery  D3

80 Robin Gibson Gallery  F2

81 Route 66  D3

82 Sax Fetish  E3

83 Title  D7

84 Zoo Emporium  D4

4 Sleeping

85 57 Hotel  C5

86 ADGE Boutique Apartment Hotel  D3

87 Big Hostel  B3

88 Cambridge Hotel  D3

89 Kirketon Hotel  F2

90 Manor House  E5

91 Medusa  F2

City Maps

Kings Cross & Potts Point

1 Sights

1 Artspace  B2

2 Coca-Cola Sign  C4

3 Elizabeth Bay House  D2

4 Embarkation Park  C1

5 Fitzroy Gardens  D3

6 McElhone Stairs  C1

7 Woolloomooloo Wharf  B1

5 Eating

8 Aki’s  B1

9 Apollo  D2

10 Butler  C3

11 Chester White  C3

12 China Doll  B1

13 Cho Cho San  D2

14 Douce France  D3

15 Farmhouse  D4

16 Fish Shop  D1

17 Fratelli Paradiso  D1

18 Harry’s Cafe de Wheels  B2

19 Ms G’s  C3

20 Otto Ristorante  B1

21 Piccolo Bar  D3

22 Room 10  D3

23 Yellow  D1

6 Drinking & Nightlife

24 Candy’s Apartment  C4

25 East Sydney Hotel  A3

26 Kings Cross Hotel  C4

27 Monopole  D2

28 Old Fitzroy Hotel  B3

29 Potts Point Hotel  C3

30 Roosevelt  D3

31 Tilbury  B2

32 World Bar  C4

3 Entertainment

33 Happy Endings Comedy Club  C4

34 Hayes Theatre Co  D3

Old Fitz Theatre  (see 28)

4 Sleeping

35 Blue Parrot Backpackers  D2

36 Hotel 59  D4

37 Jackaroo Hostel  C4

38 Kings Cross Backpackers  D4

39 Mariners Court  C2

40 Ovolo Hotel Woolloomooloo  B1

41 Simpsons of Potts Point  C1

42 Spicers  C3

City Maps

Paddington & Centennial Park

1 Sights

1 Centennial Park  F7

2 Entertainment Quarter  C7

3 Federation Pavilion  G7

4 Five Ways  D3

5 Moore Park  A6

6 Neild Avenue Maze  C2

7 Paddington Reservoir Gardens  C4

8 Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation  D3

9 Victoria Barracks  B4

5 Eating

10 Ampersand Cafe & Bookstore  B3

11 Bistro Moncur  F5

12 Buon Ricordo  C2

13 Centennial Homestead  E7

14 Chiswick  G4

15 Lucio’s  E4

16 Marta  D1

17 Paddington Alimentari  D4

18 Saint Peter  D4

19 St Claudes  E5

6 Drinking & Nightlife

20 10 William Street  D4

21 Four in Hand  E3

22 Lord Dudley Hotel  F4

23 The Paddington  D4

24 Unicorn  B3

25 Wine Library  E5

3 Entertainment

26 Chauvel Cinema  C4

27 Comedy Store  C7

28 Hordern Pavilion  C7

29 Hoyts Entertainment Quarter  C7

30 Moonlight Cinema  G6

31 Palace Verona  A3

32 Sydney Cricket Ground  C6

33 Sydney Football Stadium  C5

7 Shopping

34 Aesop  B3

35 Alicia Hollen  C4

36 Australian Galleries  E3

37 Berkelouw Books  A3

38 Christopher Day Gallery  E4

39 Dinosaur Designs  D4

40 Elle Zeitoune  B3

41 EQ Foodies and Farmers Market  C7

42 Ginger & Smart  B3

43 Paddington Markets  D5

44 Poepke  D4

45 Pour Tous  D4

46 Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery  E3

47 Sass & Bide  B3

48 Scanlan Theodore  B3

49 Simon Johnson  F5

50 Stills Gallery  C2

51 Verne Jewels  E5

52 Wagner Contemporary  E2

53 Zimmermann  B3

2 Sports & Activities

54 Centennial Parklands Equestrian Centre  C8

55 Moore Park Golf Club  B8

56 Parklands Tennis Centre  B8

57 SCG Experience  B5

58 Skater HQ  C7

4 Sleeping

59 Hughenden  E5

60 Mrs Banks  D4

City Maps

Bondi

1 Top Sights

1 Bondi Beach  C2

1 Sights

2 Aboriginal Rock Engravings  D1

3 Bondi Pavilion  C2

4 Tamarama Beach  B4

5 Eating

5 A Tavola  B2

6 bills  B2

7 Bondi Hardware  B2

8 Bondi Trattoria  B3

9 Bondi’s Best  D2

10 Bonditony’s Burger Joint  B1

Crabbe Hole  (see 12)

11 Earth Food Store  B2

Funky Pies  (see 10)

12 Icebergs Dining Room  B3

13 La Piadina  B1

14 Le Paris-Go  B2

15 Lox Stock & Barrel  B1

16 Macelleria  B2

17 Organic Republic  B1

18 Sean’s Panaroma  C2

19 Trio  B3

6 Drinking & Nightlife

20 Anchor  B3

21 Beach Road Hotel  B1

Bucket List  (see 3)

Icebergs Bar  (see 12)

22 Neighbourhood  B2

23 North Bondi RSL  D2

3 Entertainment

Bondi Openair Cinema  (see 3)

7 Shopping

24 Aquabumps  B2

25 Bondi Markets  C1

26 Gertrude & Alice  B2

27 Surfection  B2

2 Sports & Activities

Bondi Icebergs Pool  (see 12)

28 Let’s Go Surfing  D2

4 Sleeping

29 Bondi Backpackers  B2

30 Bondi Beach House  B3

31 Bondi Beachouse YHA  B4

32 QT Bondi  B1

33 Ravesi’s  B2

City Maps

Coogee

1 Sights

1 Clovelly Beach  C2

2 Coogee Beach  B3

3 Dolphin Point  C3

4 Waverley Cemetery  C1

5 Eating

5 A Fish Called Coogee  B3

6 Barzura  B4

7 Cafe de France  B4

8 Little Kitchen  B4

9 Sugarcane  B4

10 Three Blue Ducks  C1

6 Drinking & Nightlife

11 Clovelly Hotel  C2

12 Coogee Bay Hotel  B3

13 Coogee Pavilion  B3

2 Sports & Activities

14 Clovelly Bowling Club  D2

15 Giles Baths  C3

16 Gordons Bay Underwater Nature Trail  C2

17 McIver’s Ladies Baths  B4

18 Pro Dive  B3

19 Ross Jones Memorial Pool  B4

20 Wylie’s Baths  B4

4 Sleeping

21 Dive Hotel  B4

City Maps

Around the Harbour

1 Sights

1 Admiralty House  D5

2 Balls Head Reserve  B4

3 Balmain  B2

4 Balmoral Beach  F3

5 Camp Cove  H4

6 Chinamans Beach  F2

7 Chowder Bay Beach  F4

8 Cobblers Beach  G3

9 Cockatoo Island  A5

10 Cremorne Point  E5

11 Double Bay  E7

12 Dr Mary Booth Reserve Foreshore Walkway  D5

13 Fort Denison  D5

14 Garden Island  E5

15 Kirribilli  D5

16 Kirribilli House  D5

17 Lady Bay  H3

18 Luna Park  C5

19 Macquarie Lighthouse  H5

20 Mary MacKillop Place  C4

21 May Gibbs’ Nutcote  D4

22 McMahons Point  C5

23 Middle Head  G3

24 Milk Beach  G5

25 Nielsen Park  G5

26 Obelisk Beach  F3

27 Parsley Bay  H5

28 Shark Island  F5

29 South Head  H3

30 Taronga Zoo Sydney  E4

31 Vaucluse House  G5

32 Watsons Bay  H4

33 Wendy Whiteley’s Secret Garden  C4

5 Eating

Aqua  (see 61)

34 Athol Hall Cafe  E4

35 Bathers’ Pavilion  F2

36 Catalina  G6

Doyles on the Beach  (see 32)

Dunbar House  (see 32)

37 Efendy  A1

38 Gunners Barracks Tea Room  F4

39 Harvest  A2

40 Kazbah  A1

41 One Ford Street  B2

42 Regatta  F6

Ripples  (see 61)

43 Ripples Chowder Bay  F4

44 Riverview Hotel & Dining  A1

Sails on Lavender Bay  (see 22)

45 Zumbo  B2

6 Drinking & Nightlife

46 Greenwood Hotel  C4

47 London Hotel  B2

48 Rag & Famish  C4

49 Sheaf  E7

50 The Cottage  B2

Watsons Bay Beach Club  (see 32)

51 Welcome Hotel  A2

3 Entertainment

52 Ensemble Theatre  D4

53 Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace  D3

54 Sunset Cinema  C3

7 Shopping

55 Balmain Market  B2

56 Kirribilli Markets  C4

57 Rozelle Collectors Markets  A2

2 Sports & Activities

58 Dawn Fraser Baths  A1

EastSail  (see 63)

59 Murray Rose Pool  F6

60 Natural Wanders  C4

61 North Sydney Olympic Pool  C5

Nura Diya  (see 30)

Roar & Snore  (see 30)

62 Rose Bay Aquatic Hire  G6

63 Rushcutters Bay Paddle Sports  E7

64 Sydney Flying Squadron  D4

65 Sydney Harbour Kayaks  E1

Wild Ropes  (see 30)

4 Sleeping

Cockatoo Island  (see 9)

66 Glenferrie Lodge  D5

Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel  (see 32)

City Maps

Newtown & the Inner West

1 Sights

1 Camperdown Cemetery  B6

2 Carriageworks  E6

3 Central Park  G3

4 Chau Chak Wing Museum  E3

5 Dr Chau Chak Wing Building  G2

6 Nicholson Museum  D3

7 Powerhouse Museum  G1

8 University of Sydney  D3

9 White Rabbit  G3

5 Eating

10 3 Olives  B7

11 Acre  B4

12 Black Star Pastry  B6

13 Bloodwood  B7

14 Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay  C2

15 Continental  B6

16 Despaña  E2

17 Ester  G4

18 Fleetwood Macchiato  C7

19 Gelato Blue  B6

20 Glebe Point Diner  B2

21 Golden Lotus  B7

22 Koi Dessert Bar  G3

23 Lentil as Anything  B7

24 Maggie’s  C7

25 Mary’s  B6

26 Sappho Books, Cafe & Wine Bar  E2

27 Spice Alley  G3

28 Stanbuli  A7

29 Stinking Bishops  A7

30 Textbook  G8

31 Thai Pothong  B6

32 Thanh Binh  C5

33 Tramsheds Harold Park  A2

34 Vargabar Espresso  B6

35 Wedge  E2

6 Drinking & Nightlife

36 Bank Hotel  B7

37 Corridor  C5

38 Courthouse Hotel  B6

39 Duck Inn  F4

40 Earl’s Juke Joint  B7

41 Erskineville Hotel  C7

42 Friend in Hand  E2

43 Hive Bar  C7

44 Imperial Hotel  C7

45 Knox Street Bar  F3

46 Little Guy  E2

Marlborough Hotel  (see 37)

47 Newtown Hotel  C6

48 Rose of Australia  C7

49 Staves  E3

50 Timbah  B2

51 Young Henry’s  A7

3 Entertainment

52 Dendy Newtown  B6

53 Enmore Theatre  A7

54 Foundry 616  G2

55 Inner West Openair Cinema  E4

56 Lansdowne Hotel  F3

57 Leadbelly  D5

58 New Theatre  B8

Palace Central Sydney  (see 3)

Performance Space  (see 2)

7 Shopping

59 Better Read Than Dead  B6

Carriageworks Farmers Market  (see 2)

60 Deus Ex Machina  B3

61 Glebe Markets  E3

Gleebooks  (see 26)

Little Bottleshop  (see 50)

62 Revolve Records  C7

2 Sports & Activities

63 Holey Moley  B7

4 Sleeping

64 Forsyth Bed & Breakfast  B2

65 Mad Monkey Backpackers  F3

66 Mandelbaum House  E5

67 Old Clare Hotel  G3

68 Urban Hotel  A7

69 Vulcan Hotel  F2

City Maps

Manly

1 Sights

1 Manly Art Gallery & Museum  A4

2 Manly Beach  C3

3 Manly Cove  B4

4 The Corso  C3

5 Eating

5 Barefoot Coffee Traders  C4

6 Barefoot Coffee Traders  C3

7 Belgrave Cartel  B3

8 Chica Bonita  C3

9 Good Hope  B3

10 Hugos  B4

11 Papi Chulo  B4

6 Drinking & Nightlife

12 4 Pines  C4

13 Bavarian  B4

14 Donny’s  C3

15 Hotel Steyne  C3

16 Manly Wharf Hotel  B4

7 Shopping

17 Aloha Surf  C2

18 Budgy Smugglers  C4

19 Manly Life Saving Club  D4

2 Sports & Activities

20 Discover Manly  C4

Dive Centre Manly  (see 9)

21 Manly Bike Tours  B4

22 Manly Kayak Centre  C4

23 Manly Surf School  C1

24 Manly Surfboard Rentals  C3

Skater HQ  (see 24)

4 Sleeping

25 Cecil Street B&B  A2

26 Manly Bunkhouse  B1

OUR STORY

A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their fi rst travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies. Lonely Planet was born.

Today, Lonely Planet has offi ces in Franklin, London, Melbourne, Oakland, Dublin, Beijing and Delhi, with more than 600 staff and writers. We share Tony’s belief that ‘a great guidebook should do three things: inform, educate and amuse’.

OUR WRITERS

Andy Symington

Andy has prowled the globe insatiably, speaks several languages and is passionate about human rights and international development issues. After studying archaeology and psychology, he worked in the navigation business and, for some time, in educational and community theatre before long travels through South America eventually saw him wind up in Edinburgh, selling whisky to the Scots. Andy first became involved in writing when someone cannily contracted him to contribute to a pub guide; his formidable research on that title broke a man but launched a career.

Since then, Andy has written or worked on over a hundred books and other updates for Lonely Planet (especially in Europe and Latin America) and other publishing companies, and has published articles for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites. He part-owns and operates a rock bar, has written a novel and is currently working on several fiction and non-fiction writing projects. Originally from Australia, Andy now lives in Northern Spain. When he’s not off with a backpack in some far-flung corner of the world, he can probably be found watching the local football side or tasting local wines after a long walk in the nearby mountains.

Published by Lonely Planet Global Limited

CRN 554153

12th edition – December 2018

ISBN 978 1 78868 166 7

© Lonely Planet 2018 Photographs © as indicated 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, and no part of this publication may be sold or hired, without the written permission of the publisher. Lonely Planet and the Lonely Planet logo are trademarks of Lonely Planet and are registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Lonely Planet does not allow its name or logo to be appropriated by commercial establishments, such as retailers, restaurants or hotels. Please let us know of any misuses: lonelyplanet.com/ip.

Although the authors and Lonely Planet have taken all reasonable care in preparing this book, we make no warranty about the accuracy or completeness of its content and, to the maximum extent permitted, disclaim all liability arising from its use.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Welcome to Sydney

Sydney’s Top 10

What’s New

Need to Know

Top Itineraries

If You Like

Month by Month

With Kids

Like a Local

For Free

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Entertainment

Shopping

Sports & Activities

LGBTQ+ Sydney

Beaches

Neighbourhoods at a Glance

Circular Quay & the Rocks

City Centre & Haymarket

Darling Harbour & Pyrmont

Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

Kings Cross & Potts Point

Paddington & Centennial Park

Bondi, Coogee & the Eastern Beaches

Around the Harbour

Newtown & the Inner West

Manly

Day Trips from Sydney

Sleeping

Understand Sydney

Sydney Today

History

The Arts

Architecture

Transport

Directory A-Z

Behind the Scenes

Sydney Maps

Our Writers