This is a guest post from Matilda Lambert.
Sydney is a place that evokes the mind. Ask someone about Sydney and they’ll conjure up the infamous Opera House beneath blue skies and backed by the outstanding harbour Bridge, all brimming with happy, tanned people and more culture and shops than you can shake a stick at. Sounds too good to be true, but Sydney delivers.
Sydney Harbour Bridge
However, there are a hundred articles about Darling Harbour and the white sails, so this tourist is going to take you all down a slightly different path and parade a few of Sydney’s attractions that the world forgets.
Sydney is a vibrant city with far more to offer than the basic, but by no means overrated, harbour and skyscraper package. It’s true, I gurgled happily at the bright lights and architecture as much as anyone else, but alongside my cooing I visited places such as the art and science museums. The array of exhibitions awed and astonished me in equal measure, particularly in the Museum of Contemporary Art. Whilst getting lost, my personal highlight for central Sydney was stumbling upon the Chinese Friendship Gardens just outside Chinatown; a tranquil haven within a city that can overwhelm at every corner. For a day trip, take a train out to the Blue Mountains area, which included enough variations of staggering landscape to fill my camera’s memory card and leave me in a pickle for the remainder of my trip…
Museum of Contemporary art
In truth, it’s the suburbs that make Sydney what it is. The city is a collection of suburbs, each of which has the feel of an escape to the country holiday or seaside town with plenty of attractions in its own right, such as the famous Taronga Zoo in Mosman. What makes Sydney particularly special, however, are the transport links. You don’t have to while away the sweetest hours of the day actually getting to the centre; instead, you pop onto the local ferry – mine from Manly was a little vintage affair – and cruise in style into Darling Harbour, with the same views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge as any tourist boat. Sydney hotels range in price and location widely, so take the time to shop around and take advantage of the suburbs and transport systems to get the best deal.
Koala in zoo
I think what I’m trying to get at here is that Sydney is a limitless city. It doesn’t follow the rules and thinks only of its guests, with a scattering of attractions both familiar and otherwise. With so many ingredients of suburb, landmark and impact, it’s simply a matter of finding the right recipe for you. And perhaps choose location with a degree more sophistication than laughing at the name Manly, as in my case.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Cute coala) I’d like to go to Australia..
Australia is well worth a visit for a couple of weeks.
The Chinese Friendship Garden seems very interesting wish you would have captured a photo or two. Sydney does seem to have a lot more going for it then what I am accustom to reading about. Thanks!
I’m pretty sure I actually have a photo of that somewhere, but can’t find it anywhere on this site. I lived in Sydney for 4 months so am quite familiar with the place.
I lived in sydney for a couple of months (quite a few years back now) and one of my favourite things about living there was hiring a car and going a bit further afield from the main beaches like bondi and manly and exploring the coastline north of the city. Some great spots up that way which don’t tend to make it into the guidebooks
Care to share?
Personally I found Australia pretty much fully covered by guide books, as despite the size, it’s a whole lot of nothing.
Saying that I stumbled across plenty of beaches too driving across Oz. You don’t need to look hard to find your own personal beach there when you’re out of the cities.
Australia is a nice place to visit. All along Sydney is my place. The biggest city on the world’s biggest island, Sydney is a flourishing, multicultural city. Straddling one of the world’s finest harbors, the city is bound together by the notable Harbor Bridge; no visit would be finished without a walk around its traverse, or a move to the highest point of its curve. Downtown uncovers a superb complexity of taking off office high rises blended with comfortable bistros and bars. Local people and sightseers alike are attracted to the verdant green serenity of the Royal Botanic Gardens on the shores of the shining blue harbor. For those looking for a nearer involvement with Australia’s novel fauna, Taronga Zoo and Wild Life Sydney show everything from adorable and cuddly koalas to deadly Inland taipans. In spite of a blasting metropolitan west, Sydney remains a laid-back city by the ocean; wherever you go, you’ll never be a long way from the brilliant sands of Sydney’s eastern shores – none more celebrated than Bondi Beach.