Today I’m hosting a post by Emanuele, who takes us to visit Sydney, in Australia, the city of his heart!
Not everyone gets the chance to visit Sydney, partly because it is quite literally on the other side of the world, and partly because it isn’t a place that suits everyone!
I moved to Sydney for a few months, having relatives in the Australian metropolis. To this day it is the only place I would happily live outside Italy.
Australian culture and lifestyle are something entirely of their own.
Sydney reflects that completely, with the addition of astonishing places and a great city as a backdrop. What you will find is public transport and services that always work, general prosperity and constantly helpful people.
It is to all intents and purposes a perfect place with an ideal population, and in this article we’ll get a better idea of what to see in Sydney, the places not to miss and the points of artistic interest that cannot be skipped on your trip.
What to see in Sydney: a city full of attractions
Sydney offers a great many attractions both for visitors and for residents, and I don’t just mean indoor or paid ones.
Sydney looks out over Port Jackson, one of the most beautiful and intricate natural harbours in the world. Besides the skyscrapers, you will be able to take in some of the finest natural scenery on the continent, all there to be visited and explored.
The first of all is of course the symbol of the city, the majestic monument that makes Sydney Harbour instantly recognisable to everyone arriving by sea. I’m talking about the fantastic Sydney Opera House, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, where more than eighteen hundred performances are staged every year.
Its story alone is worth telling, because it is almost unbelievable: the design is by the Dane Jørn Utzon, who won the competition in 1957 with a drawing so daring that it stumped the engineers for years. Construction lasted sixteen years, costs exploded, Utzon left the site before the end and never saw the finished building. The opening came on 20 October 1973 with Queen Elizabeth II, and in 2007 the Opera House became a UNESCO World Heritage Site: one of very few buildings to receive the recognition while its architect was still alive.
If you are in Sydney it is worth seeing even from the outside, but bear in mind that the interiors can only be visited on a guided tour: it is the only way to get in under the sails and see the halls and foyers.
Right beside the theatre there is also the vast Royal Botanic Garden. In this park you can take beautiful walks, have picnics or simply sit on a bench surrounded by incredible birds and colourful parrots. Entry is free.
The ideal place to relax and fully take in the spirit of Australian daily life.
Visiting Sydney between thrills and unique animals
Among the things to do in Sydney there is no missing the adventures either, particularly those involving the animals typical of this land. In Sydney you will in fact find several aquariums and attractions linked to the local fauna.
Specifically, I strongly recommend a visit to Wild Life Sydney Zoo, the Sydney SEA LIFE Aquarium and Taronga Zoo, the last of which is reached by ferry and comes with a view over the harbour that is worth the crossing on its own.
One important clarification, because old guides recommending it still circulate online: the Manly Sea Life Sanctuary closed for good on 28 January 2018. It is still well worth going to Manly, on the F1 ferry from Circular Quay, but for the beach and the walk, not for the aquarium.
If instead you are after attractions without animals, among the things to see in Sydney I recommend the waxworks at Madame Tussauds in Darling Harbour (the famous chain with museums all over the world). The Sydney Tower Eye is splendid too: the tower is 309 metres tall and the observation deck sits at 250 metres, with a 360-degree view over the whole city.
But the attractions of this striking city don’t end there!
To explore Sydney you definitely have to pass through The Rocks, the most characterful district in the city. It faces Circular Quay, in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge, and it is the exact spot where the first European settlement was founded in 1788: today it is a maze of sandstone lanes, full of bars, pubs and restaurants a couple of steps from the water. It is the ideal place for a walk at sunset or a relaxed visit, and at weekends it hosts a good market. From here, with a walk along the harbour, you can reach the Chinese Garden of Friendship at Darling Harbour, a very pretty spot for a romantic meeting, where many Australians take refuge simply to read a book and relax in the absolute quiet of the place.
The Bondi to Coogee walk, a magical route
Finally, if you love nature, breathtaking landscapes and cliffs, the place for you is certainly the fantastic Bondi to Coogee walk, a route that is almost magical in its own way.
It is a path about 6 km long, comfortably covered in two to three hours depending on how often you stop. It is unique of its kind because you set off from Bondi and arrive at Coogee beach, and although these are two very famous beaches, the finest part is in the middle, that is to say the route itself.
Along the walk you pass several beaches, coves, cliffs and even go through a cemetery: this is Waverley Cemetery, one of the most spectacular burial grounds in the world, perched over the ocean, where celebrated figures of Australian culture such as the poet Henry Lawson rest.
This stretch will undoubtedly leave you open-mouthed!
A couple of practical tips, because the route is completely exposed: bring water, a hat and sunscreen, and bear in mind that in summer the Australian sun shows no mercy. For more information you can look at the article published on Tipintravel, which sets out all the stages along the 6 kilometres that make up the Bondi to Coogee walk.
The ones I have told you about are only the main attractions to see in Sydney. In the city and above all in its surroundings there are fantastic places, deserted beaches and impressive cliffs to admire and “contemplate” in the total silence of the great Australian continent.
Museums and art places to visit in Sydney
To explore Sydney you cannot leave out its museums.
This city, like the whole of Australia, has a short colonial history, barely two and a half centuries, although the continent has been inhabited by Aboriginal peoples for over sixty thousand years. In Sydney culture and art are booming and there are several museums and unique architectural works here.
Speaking of Sydney’s museums, you cannot start anywhere but the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the largest museum in the city and one of the most important in the whole of Australia, with Australian, European and Asian art. The big news is that in December 2022 the gallery opened Sydney Modern, a second building designed by the Japanese studio SANAA and connected to the first by a sculpture garden: the museum has effectively doubled, and it is the main reason to go back even if you have been before. Entry to the permanent collection is free, precisely in order to contribute to cultural development.
Among the things to visit in Sydney there is also the oldest museum in the whole of Australia: the Australian Museum, founded in 1827 and in its current home since 1857, exactly opposite Hyde Park. It is a natural history museum entirely devoted to Australian nature and Pacific cultures. Inside you will find both world-class permanent exhibitions and temporary events. Here too, entry to the permanent collections is free.
Sydney, a city full of art
Among the other most important museums in Sydney there is certainly the more recent Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), overlooking Circular Quay right opposite the Opera House. This institution, opened in 1991, immediately became a reference point across Australia for contemporary art. It is one of the most famous museums in Sydney, visited every year by thousands of tourists from all over the world, curious to get closer to art in its most modern and current form.
Other significant museums are the Powerhouse Museum, the Susannah Place Museum and the Rocks Discovery Museum, smaller institutions but well worth visiting on a slightly longer stay in the city.
The city’s main churches, although inspired by European architecture, were built on the spot using local sandstone. St Mary’s Cathedral is notable, in neo-Gothic style, as is St James’ Church, the oldest church in the city, designed in 1819 by the architect Francis Greenway, who had arrived in Australia as a convict.
What has Florence got to do with Sydney?
Besides the museums, there are also other important artistic attractions within the city, in particular churches, statues and buildings.
A curiosity not many people know is that in the very centre of the city there is a twin of a statue in Italy. It is one of the symbols of Florence, the Porcellino, reproduced as a bronze copy and placed exactly in front of the entrance to Sydney Hospital, one of the city’s main hospitals. Here too, as in Florence, people rub its snout for good luck, with the difference that the coins left in the little fountain go to the hospital as a donation.
A small link binding the Australian metropolis to our own Florence!
In short, despite the country’s short colonial history, from the very beginning there was an effort to keep pace with the rest of the world in art and culture. If you decide to visit Sydney you will certainly manage, with a little dedication, to fully appreciate Australian art too, and I particularly recommend seeking out the sections of Aboriginal art: the Art Gallery of NSW has a very fine one, and it is the most authentically Australian thing you will see.
Where and what to eat in Sydney
In this city there really are lots of places to eat typical food and otherwise. Sydney is a great metropolis, rich in different cultures, which has been able to take the best of other culinary traditions and create dishes of its own to taste and discover.
If there is one place to find something good it is certainly The Rocks area. Here you can choose between dozens and dozens of restaurants, pubs, bars and bistros where you can eat any kind of dish, from a simple hamburger to more distinctive foods such as kangaroo or crocodile meat. The downside is that, being a very touristy area, you have to be careful: dinner can cost 100 to 150 Australian dollars a head.
Worth trying in Sydney Harbour, near the Opera House, is fish and chips, a one-dish meal of fish and chips, all strictly fried and to be eaten hot!
For real enthusiasts I’ll also flag one interesting address.
At Flemington station, about twenty minutes by train from central Circular Quay, you will find the Sydney Markets, the largest wholesale and retail market in the whole of Australia, a place crammed with produce arriving straight from farms across the continent.
The best moment to go?
Saturday morning for sure, when all the traders are keen and in a hurry to sell what is left from the week and you can buy fruit, vegetables and typical foods at genuinely knockdown prices. This is where you find the true essence of typical Australian food!
How to get around Sydney
Visiting Sydney is not as difficult as it might seem: it will take you very little to settle into this city!
To get around I recommend public transport. Transport runs regularly and works excellently, and precisely for that reason it is fairly expensive.
To save on travel it is worth buying an Opal card, the rechargeable pass with which you can take all public transport, with the advantage of using the combinations and offers to spend less. With this card there is a maximum daily and weekly spend, beyond which you travel free, and on Sundays the cap is much lower. These days, as an alternative, you can also pay directly with a contactless card or your phone by tapping the readers: fares and caps are the same, so if you are staying only a few days it is the most convenient option.
One tip: the ferry is a public transport service like any other, so the crossing to Manly or Taronga costs the same as an ordinary ticket and gives you the best view of the harbour there is. It is the cheapest sightseeing cruise in the city.
As for paid attractions, there are combined passes bundling several tickets (Sydney Tower Eye, aquarium, zoo, Madame Tussauds) which pay off if you visit at least three. The one entry I recommend booking separately is the Opera House tour, because it is the only way in and the slots fill up.
Changing money: some tips for saving
Another thing to consider in order to visit Sydney without surprises is changing your European money into Australian.
The currency here is the Australian dollar, which is worth less than the euro, so when you change your money you will find yourself with nominally greater spending power. Careful though: the cost of living in Sydney is high, so the advantage is less noticeable than you might imagine.
To change money in Sydney I recommend avoiding the bureaux de change at airports and stations, where commissions are high. Alternatively you can always use the cash machines and withdraw Australian dollars directly there, or use a card designed for travel. Bear in mind that Australia is a country where almost everything is paid by card; you really need very little cash in your pocket.
When to visit Sydney?
If instead you are wondering what the best time to visit Sydney is, the answer is actually a little complicated!
Sydney is on the east coast of Australia, in the southern hemisphere, where the seasons are the reverse of ours: their summer is our winter. So if you are after summer heat, the best period starts in October and ends around March.
In the other months of the year the climate stays mild too: Sydney winters average around 17 degrees at their highest and it never snows in the city, so you don’t need a winter wardrobe, at most a jacket for the evenings and the wind.
If you have to pick a moment in the year, it is definitely worth making the most of the warm, sunny months of January or February. On that occasion you can also witness the magnificent Sydney New Year, one of the first in the world to enter the new year thanks to the time zone, with the fireworks over the Harbour Bridge that half the planet watches.
And you, what appeals to you most about Sydney: the sails of the Opera House, or a walk along the cliffs between Bondi and Coogee?
