Sydney Bucket List
Built around a harbour that's just this pretty. The Opera House on one side, the Bridge on the other, beaches everywhere else. Sydneysiders go swimming to work like it's a normal thing to do. After a few days here, you'll be thinking it is.
Why Sydney belongs on your bucket list
All cities have to fight with nature a bit. Sydney just threw in the towel and went with it. Nature's in charge around here, but in half an hour you can be surfing at Bondi Beach, hiking through coastal scrubland, or whale watching from a sandstone outcropping. Food is pretty underrated around here – Sydney has a multicultural mix that means there's incredible Vietnamese food in one suburb, incredible Lebanese food in the next, incredible Japanese food in the next... no-one's really making a big deal about it. It's just Tuesday. Sydneysiders go swimming at 6 AM, surfing at lunchtime, grilling on the beach at sunset. Not as a special occasion. As a lifestyle. You'll spend your entire holiday here wondering if you should just... move here.
When to go
Spring (September-November) and autumn (March-May) are the peak months. Warm, sunny, comfortable – and fewer people around. Summer (December-February) is hot and crowded – but it's beach time, so who's complaining? Fireworks over the Harbour Bridge on New Year's Eve are the stuff of legend – but book your spot months in advance or you'll be watching it on someone's phone screen. Winter (June-August) is lovely – 15-18 degrees Celsius during the day. Jacket weather. Vivid Sydney (May-June) is a festival that projects enormous lights onto the Opera House – it's pretty incredible.
Must-visit places in Sydney
Sydney Opera House
It looks like sails. Or shells. Or opening envelopes. Nobody agrees and it doesn't matter – it's the most recognisable building in the Southern Hemisphere. It's also a working venue with 1,500+ shows a year, so do yourself a favor and actually attend something – even a cheap matinee. A tour will get you a look at the engineering genius, but sitting inside listening to music with the harbour outside the windows is the real thing. Afterward, grab a drink at Opera Bar on the lower concourse. Harbour Bridge right there. Sunset. Done.
Harbour Bridge BridgeClimb
134 meters above the harbour. 360 degrees of Sydney. Wind in your face. It's the kind of thing that sounds like a tourist trap but absolutely isn't – the views from the top are unparalleled by any other viewing platform in the city. The whole experience takes about 3.5 hours with briefing and gear-up. Twilights (sunset time) climbs are the most popular – and expensive. Worth it. If heights aren't your thing or the price tag stings a bit, walk across the bridge on the pedestrian path instead. Free – and the views are fantastic.
Bondi Beach
Yeah, it's that beach. Golden sand, perfect shape, surfers galore. It's a place that lives up to the hype. The surf's good enough that beginners can get lessons while the pros get their thrills further out. Weekend Bondi Markets are good for local artists' stuff, clothing, and food. But the Bondi experience isn't any one of those things. It's the routine. Swim at the south end in the morning. Coffee at a cafe on the beach. Long, lazy breakfast while the surf comes in. That's it. That's the entire religion.
Bondi to Coogee Walk
Walk along six kilometers of sandstone cliffs, with the ocean crashing away at your feet the entire time. You walk past Tamarama, which locals call "Glamarama" because, well, yes, it does. Anyway, you also walk past Bronte and Clovelly, finally arriving at Coogee Beach. If you're visiting during the time of the year when whales migrate, you might catch a glimpse of the humpbacks from the cliffs. It's surreal, especially considering you're in the middle of the city. Take your time; it's going to take about 2 to 3 hours. Take a rest at Bronte and go swimming at the rock pool. Get yourself a coffee at one of the beachside cafes. Take your time; the walk itself is the point, not the destination.
The Rocks
Walk down cobblestone streets. Sandstone buildings from the 1800s. This is where Sydney was founded by the Europeans, and the oldest pubs are still serving drinks. Take a visit to the Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel, which has been serving drinks since 1841. It brews its own, so sit down in the courtyard and try to process that. Check out the Rocks Markets on the weekends, which are good for local crafts and food. Of course, the real treat is walking through to Dawes Point Park, which is located underneath the Harbour Bridge. It's free, and it's better than just about all the tourist traps you can pay to get.
Bondi Icebergs
A swimming pool cut into the rocks at the south end of Bondi, where the surf crashes over the edge as you swim. The beach and the horizon are in front of you. It's the most photographed swimming pool in Australia, and, not gonna lie, it deserves every one of those snaps. Small entrance fee. Sunday mornings are quiet. There's also the Icebergs Dining Room, which serves modern Australian cuisine and has probably the best restaurant view in Sydney. If the pool is your first stop of the day, the restaurant had better be your last.
Taronga Zoo
Twelve-minute ferry from Circular Quay to a zoo where the backdrop is the harbour. Sky Safari is the gondola ride that whisks you above the animal enclosures, with the city skyline in the background of the giraffes. It's weird, and it's wonderful. First time in Australia? Don't miss the native animals, where you can find the platypus, koalas, and kangaroos. And the Roar and Snore experience, where you camp on the zoo grounds, in a tent, with the animals as your lullaby at night. It's like no other experience. Try it if you can.
Royal Botanic Garden
30 hectares of gardens along the harbour, with the Opera House at one end and the water at the other. Mrs. Macquarie's Point is where you get the postcard shot, where the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are in the one photo. Arrive at dusk, and get ready for the eerie experience of thousands of flying foxes (fruit bats) hanging from the trees, their silhouette against the fading light. It's beautiful, and it's strange, all at once. It's free, it's open every day, and if you're a jogger, the morning run through here is not to be missed.
Barangaroo
Old shipping wharves that have been transformed into a dining and entertainment precinct. Still quite new so it has that fresh feeling. The headland reserve at the north end is a natural landscape that has been returned to its former state with the area having Aboriginal cultural significance. The walking trails are peaceful, and the views of the harbour are spectacular. The restaurants in the south end are where Sydney's top chefs have opened shop, and the prices are steep but not as outrageous as at Circular Quay. The ferry wharf is convenient as it travels to all the places across the harbour.
Manly Beach
The 30-minute ferry trip is half the experience. You leave the Circular Quay, go through the heads, and the next thing you know, you're in the Pacific Ocean. Manly is not at all like Bondi. Manly is more local, more family-oriented, with the pedestrian mall, the Corso, full of surf shops and eateries. The Manly-Spit Bridge walk is one of the best urban walks in the world, through the Sydney Harbour National Park, 10 km long. Rent a surfboard and surf the breaks at the north end. Consistent and easy to surf.
Sydney insider tips
- Opal Card: Tap on, tap off. Works for trains, buses, ferries, and light rail. You can use your credit card or phone. Daily and weekly limits, so you can't accidentally spend too much. The ferry system is the best-kept secret. Harbour cruise, transit prices.
- Sun Protection: No joke. Australian sun on a cloudy day can give you a burn in 15 minutes. Don't be stupid. Get the highest SPF sunscreen you can find. A hat. Sunglasses. Reapply sunscreen as often as you can. The locals take this very seriously, and they're right to.
- Coffee: Sydney has some of the best coffee in the world, and the locals are coffee snobs... in a good way. Go get a flat white at any independent coffee shop. It was invented here, and it's the default coffee order. Chain coffee shops? Forget it. They're rare and mildly looked down upon. Single O, Mecca, Edition... all great places to start.
- Ferry Rides: The ferries aren't just for tourists. They're actual public transportation that happens to have million-dollar views. The Manly ferry, the Taronga Zoo ferry, the Parramatta River ferry... all of them at opal card prices. All with views that cost ten times as much on a paid cruise ship. Take the ferries.
- Tipping: Don't stress about it. Tipping isn't necessary in Australia. Your server will actually earn a decent wage. If someone goes way out of their way to serve you at a fancy restaurant? 10% is a rich thank-you. Nobody's keeping track, though, and it's perfectly normal to leave nothing.
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