A weekend in Sydney
You’re in Sydney on business – lucky you. This is one of the world’s great cities, famous for its opera house, harbour bridge, beaches and year-round sunshine. But if you’ve only got a short while here, don’t panic. The sights can be done in a day, leaving plenty of time to experience the rest of the city.
It’s 5pm and business is over: “Bonza mate”, as the locals say. Start the evening with colleagues at Woolloomooloo Wharf, a popular destination for city slickers who want to dine al fresco with a stunning view of the city’s skyline. To blow the budget, try Otto’s (
ottoristorante.com.au) – an Italian restaurant with an embarrassment of accolades from the press including Conde Nast Traveller, Vogue and the Sydney Morning Herald. Tom Cruise used to be a regular.
If that’s too much, try Nove Cucina (
ottoristorante.com.au). It’s owned by the same people, has the same views and is cheaper. After dinner the Tilbury (
tilburyhotel.com.au) is good for drinks. It’s less than three minutes’ walk away and has an outdoor roof terrace, DJ and cocktails.
The next day is the day to do the sights. A good place to start is at the Rocks (
therocks.com) down by the harbour. Originally home to the Cadigal indigenous people and the site of the first European settlement, this is now a good place to browse and brunch.
It’s also at the base of the Harbour Bridge (
bridgeclimb.com), so if you’re feeling up to it, take the tour and climb up. It takes three-and-a-half-hours for the round trip. The views are worth it but booking is essential.
Once back down to earth, The Quay (
quay.com.au) and Aria (
ariarestaurant.com.au) are both good restaurants on the edge of Sydney Harbour. Both have views of the bridge as well as your next destination, the Opera House (
sydneyoperahouse.com). This needs no introduction, and a visit is a must. One-hour tours cost $32 (£14) and you don’t need to book, although discounts are available if you book online. After the Opera House, take a walk in the Botanic Gardens (
rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/royal_botanic_gardens) at dusk and watch the fruit-bats come out – a truly remarkable sight.
From here the evening beckons. Sydney’s restaurant scene is independent, thriving and competitive. The newly opened Universal Republic in Darlinghurst is the current hot tip. It’s hard to get into and is ideal for diners with ‘cosmopolitan tastes and deep pockets’, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. But those spending pounds won’t find prices too way out – although $17 for a cocktail is at Sydney’s top end.
Other hot spots include Tetsuya’s (
tetsuyas.com), recently voted one of the world’s best restaurants, Guillaume (
guillaumeatbennelong.com.au) at the Opera House for formal dining, or the Pier (
pierrestaurant.com.au) for seafood. For a cheaper option, try the Grand National (
sydneypubguide.net/pubs/Grand_National.aspx) pub in Paddington or the Bill Granger (
bills.com.au/front.htm) restaurants. For nightclubs later, head to Kings Cross.
The next morning it’s time to work off the night before with a classic Sydney walk – along the coast from Bronte to Bondi (
waverley.nsw.gov.au/council/parks/parks/coastwalk.asp). Catch the 378 bus to Bronte and walk or jog back 3.5km to Bondi, Australia’s most famous beach. The reputation is grander than the stretch of sand, but the surfers and, in season, packed beach, definitely have an appeal. Breakfast places abound but if you’re there for lunch try Sean's Panaroma (
seanspanaroma.com.au).
From Bondi head back towards the city to explore the pubs of Paddington for lunch and the Museum of Contemporary Art (
mca.com.au). Or if you’re feeling flush stop at Rose Bay and take one of two seaplanes (
sydneybyseaplane.com.au) (
seaplanes.com.au) to Palm Beach in the north for lunch at Jonah’s (
jonahs.com.au/index.html), on the clifftop overlooking Whale Bay. Depart 12.30pm and get back for 4pm. Expensive at $340, but what an end to your 48 hours.
24 hours in Sydney
This can be tricky because most people want to see the three main sights – Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Bondi – in a day. So a classic day might start with breakfast at the Rocks, an Opera House tour then to Bondi for lunch at Sean’s Panaroma or at the clifftop Icebergs dining room (
idrb.com). Take your passport to prove you’re a visitor to get access to the private club area. Then head back to the city centre for shopping in Paddington or the city centre before taking in a show at the Wharf theatre (
sydneytheatre.com.au) or the Opera House.
Alternatively, after touring the Opera House forget about Bondi and instead catch the ferry (
sydneyferries.info) to Manly across the harbour. This 30-minute trip provides remarkable views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge and benefits from being a commuter route – it’s real rather than touristy. Manly beach is also a much nicer, bigger beach than Bondi. Lunch at Will and Toby’s (
willandtobys.com.au) beachside café cum restaurant or walk north along the beach to Pilu’s at Freshwater Bay (
piluatfreshwater.com.au/home.html) for some delicious Sardinian cooking. Take the boat back for the evening in the city.
If you want to take the idea of a boat trip further, charter a water taxi (
watertaxis.com.au) to tour the bay or simply take it to Watson’s Bay for fish and chips at Doyles (
doyles.com.au), a Sydney staple since 1885.
For shoppers, the day might be best spent poking around the galleries and designer shops of Paddington and Woollahra (
cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/AboutSydney/CityLocalities). This area of inner-city south Sydney is trendy and hip, and only a 15-minute taxi ride from the Opera House. Paddington market (
paddingtonmarkets.com.au) is on Saturdays 10am to 4pm, and showcases the best of Australian arts, crafts and design across 250 outdoor stalls.
Paddington is also close to Surry Hills (
cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/AboutSydney/CityLocalities), another hip district with cafes, galleries and eclectic restaurants. Try Bodega (
smh.com.au/news/restaurant-reviews/bodega) for tapas, Longrain (
longrain.com.au) for Thai or Restaurant Foveaux (
foveaux.com.au) for cocktails and modern Australian food.
You could of course turn your back on the city for the day and head to the hills instead. The Blue Mountains are a World Heritage site and a two-hour drive to the west of the city. A day spent here can give you an insight into the vast uniqueness of Australia. Tread Lightly Eco Tours (
treadlightly.com.au) has various options, including bushwalks, 4WD trips and Aboriginal tours. The tours get you back for the evening, so you would still be able to take in the classic Sydney sights from your table on the balcony at Café Sydney (
www.cafesydney.com). It’s one of Sydney’s most iconic restaurants and is on the rooftop of the19th century Customs House building overlooking the harbour. Its focus is seafood and seasonal produce.
One hour in Sydney
The city is built around the harbour, with the iconic Harbour Bridge joining north and south Sydney. The city’s CBD is on the southern side, the same side as the Opera House, and is a very manageable size – everything is either a walk or a short taxi-ride away. So if you have just an hour to spend in this city, you can still achieve quite a lot.
George Street is the CBD’s busiest street and extends from the harbour in the north to Central Station in the south. Street numbering on all Sydney streets start at the harbour and move out, so it’s easy to work out how to get around. Downtown Sydney is like any other big Western city – high-rise buildings of glass and steel coupled with occasional architectural gems from history. If you’re looking for a good place to have a business breakfast, try Bills Café in the nearby districts of Surry Hills or Woollahra (
bills.com.au). Coffee is a big thing, too – Sydney prides itself on proper coffee, and has rejected the international chains in favour of numerous home-grown independent cafes. People often meet for a coffee instead of doing lunch.
If your hour in Sydney is completely business-free, you could try to squeeze in as many of the iconic sights as possible. One hour is too long to take the ferry to Manly – if you had two you could do it, and take in all the sights just by staying on the boat there and back. Sixty minutes are, however, enough to drop you in Circular Quay, walk around the Opera House, snap the Harbour Bridge, and have a quick drink beside the harbour. It’s not really enough, but it would scratch the sightseeing itch and leave you wanting more.
