Sydney Things to Do Tips by martin_nl

The first thing you should go to when you're in Sydney is Circular Quay. This is such a lively place. Many ferries depart here, such as the ferry to Manly, to the Olympic Park and many other locations on the northern shore of the harbour. Main sights and attractions here are of course the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. You will also find the Museum of Contemporary Art here and a very old sail boat. Closeby are the Rocks, which is a very nice part of the city to stroll through. There is also a big tourist information office here with zillions of brochures of god knows what you want to do in Sydney and surroundings.

This is like so many other spots in the city great to just sit and relax on one of the benches and look at all the people and boats passing by.

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Directions: Right in between the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

On the first day I came to Sydney, it was a bit of a grey day and when we went to Circular Quay and saw the Opera House I wasn't all that impressed by it. However when I took the ferry to Manly it was a beautiful day and I couldn't stop myself from snapping more and more pictures. It looks great in sunny weather since the white tiles on the roofs reflect the sun in a great way. What a sight!!!

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Directions: Circular Quay

One of the main sights is the Harbour Bridge. There are many cool spots to get a good view of it. You can take the Manly ferry and you'll have a cool view from the water. From Circular Quay you can have a cool view aswell. If you walk through the Rocks area and walk under the bridge to the other side there is a sort of platform and you can view the bridge from the other side. The best place to make a picture is probably from Mrs. Maquarie Point in the Royal Botanic Gardens. You can frame both the Opera House and the Bridge into one picture.

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Directions: Circular Quay

If you have some spare money and fancy climbing the Harbour bridge you can! Just sign up well in advance and get a time on which you can climb the bridge. Great views guarenteed and I'm sure the walk is a thrill aswell. I haven't done this myself, but I did walk from one side of the bridge to the other side.

If you don't have enough money to spend either you could also visit one of the towers on the bridge. This will take you quite high too, and gives you grand views of Circular Quay and the harbour!

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Directions: Cicular Quay

The Rocks was the first european settlement in Australia. It wasn't a very nice nice place and it hasn't been for a very long time. Development in the 70's turned everything for the better, and also into the historic precinct that it still is nowadays. It's wonderful to walk around here, especially in the weekend when it is at it's most lively, with live music and of course the Rocks Market. In the Rocks you will also find the Observatory and the start of the Harbour Bridge!

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Directions: The area in between the Harbour Bridge and Circular Quay.

Every weekend in the Rocks you will find a very nice, but busy and touristic market, the Rocks Market. It's great to browse through all the stuff for sale here. Most of it is Australiana, and though usually more expensive then in the rest of Australia you have everything here. So if you want to buy everything at one place before leaving the country this would be a good place to do so. And if not, it's nice to see what's on sale in the rest of the country and a good place to compare prices.

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Directions: The Rocks.

The first building at the same place where you will now find the Observatory, used to stand a windmill and that was also the first european building. The Observatory houses some of the oldest astronomical instruments of Australia. Entrance to the Observatory is free. However if you want to have a peek through the telescopes you have to make an appointment for the evening and then you do have to pay a few dollars.

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Phone: 02 9217 0458
Address: Watson Road
Directions: The Observatory can be found on Observatory Hill, The Rocks.
Website: http://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au/home.asp

The Royal Botanic Gardens in my opinion is one of the main sights in Sydney. The gardens are beautiful and very varied. You can walk to a sort of rain forest vegetation, huge gardens with big green carpets and there are many animals to be found. Some of the animals I saw were bats, cockatoos and the Rainbow Lorikeet. You can see one of these parrots on the picture right in between the three red flowers from the Bottlebrush bush. In the gardens you can also see the Government House.

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Directions: The green area east of the Opera House.

For me a reason to stay in Sydney for 2 months also had to do with the fact that I really wanted to celebrate New Years Eve here. I have seen the fireworks of Sydney on tv many times and heard good things about the parties in the city on that night. Of course I had to experience this for myself and so I did together with friends from the hostel.

The place we were this evening was Mrs. Maquarie's Point in the Botanic Gardens. We had a pretty good view over the harbour and saw the fireworks perfectly. It was very busy here but everyone was having a good time. The drinks weren't very expensive either!!

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Directions: Everywhere in the city around the harbour on 31st of December.

The stretch of green in between the Botanic Gardens and Hyde Park is called the Domain. This is a fantastic place in the summer, not just to have a picnic, but also for all the festivals that are organised here. Think of Carols in the Domain, NYE, Sydney Festival, concerts and loads of other activities. The Art Gallery is also situated in the Domain.

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Directions: South of Botanic Gardens and northeast of Hyde Park.
Website: http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/