What to see, eat and do in Sydney

Stunning beaches and coastal walks pair beautifully with a creative scene Asian-inspired food, finds David Whitley
Jacaranda trees in full bloom in Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Destination NSW
David Whitley17 February 2020

See

For visitors, Sydney’s nerve centre is Circular Quay, from where ferries trundle off all over the harbour. Take the trip to Manly if you want the beach and pubs; or Watsons Bay for seaside fish and chips, wild bushland in Sydney Harbour National Park and epic harbour views.

Take a walk from Circular Quay instead, and you quickly end up in the Royal Botanic Garden (rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au), which is brimming with rare native plants and trees, plus more than its fair share of cheeky, inquisitive birds.

Elsewhere, four to six-mile walks can be turned into a full day out. The route from Rose Bay to Watsons Bay packs in the glamour of Sydney with hidden harbour beaches and outrageously expensive waterside mansions. From the Spit Bridge to Manly, there are aboriginal engravings, waterfalls and national parkland. And the classic Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach clifftop walk strings together several top beaches.

Bondi coastal walk
James Horan; Destination NSW

Do

The classic activity is clambering up the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It’s pricey — tickets cost from $268 (£143; bridgeclimb.com), but the views from the top are genuinely astonishing.

But stepping away from postcard Sydney can be rewarding, too. The neighbourhoods around the Central Station — Surry Hills, Chippendale and Ultimo — have undergone vast overhauls recently. Sydney Architecture Walks (sydneyarchitecture.org) runs $49 (£26) walking tours taking in everything from the traditional terraced housing to the wavy, crumpled Frank Gehry building at the University of Technology Sydney.

The Newtown neighbourhood is arguably Sydney’s coolest, though, and Culture Scouts (culturescouts.com.au) runs a $65 (£35) street art tour that shows you the area’s murals before finishing with a beer at craft brewery Young Henrys.

Street art in Newtown
Anna Kucera/Destination NSW

Eat

Sydney has wholeheartedly embraced food from across Asia, and it’s at its best when it mixes things up. Spice Alley (spicealley.com.au) in Chippendale features hawker-style stalls selling dishes from Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.

But Chin Chin (chinchin.sydney), in hip restaurant hotspot Surry Hills, does the Asian fusion thing with the most flamboyance. Order the $69 (£37) Feed Me menu, and you’ll get a steady stream of whatever dishes the chef is most enthused about at the time.

Hawker-style stalls in Spice Alley, Chippendale
Destination NSW

For harbourside dining, 6head (6head.com.au) is in a moodily lit, colonial era former warehouse on the Bridge side of Circular Quay. Steak is the speciality, with wagyu cuts costing from $46 (£25).

For pre-dinner drinks, Maybe Sammy (maybesammy.com) at Circular Quay goes in for ostentatious hostmanship, with drinks themed on classic Las Vegas resorts. It’s one of many small bars that have transformed Sydney’s once pub-heavy drinking scene. Other top choices include rum specialist Grandma’s Bar (grandmasbarsydney.com.au) and the Wild West pastiche of Shady Pines Saloon (shadypinessaloon.com).

Boats moored inside Watsons Bay
Destination NSW

Stay

The Paramount House Hotel (paramounthousehotel.com) in Surry Hills takes over a former movie company headquarters, and arguably has the city’s most talked-about coffee shop on-site, as well as free yoga sessions on the roof. Doubles go from $275 (£147), room only.

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