It would be best to explore Sydney using public transport like trains, buses and ferries, and on foot. It is well connected by an excellent transport system. Click here to get all information on routes, schedules, trip planner, maps, tickets and more.

Currency is Australian Dollar (AUD). Can easily use credit cards everywhere as long as you are aware of any foreign transaction fees charged by your credit card company, if you are travelling from other countries.

Power outlets in the Australia are Type I plug adaptors with 230 V and 50Hz.

Remember, this is the southern hemisphere and so Nov thru Feb is summer which is hot and sunny, and June through August is winter which is cold and a damp. The best time to visit Sydney is from September to November and February to May when the weather is pleasant and the tourist crowd is not at its peak. Also checkout the various seasonal events in the link. However, June to August is considered to be the cheapest time to visit Sydney due to the winter season. If you happen to be in Sydney during the month of May, check the dates for the Vivid festival. Some of the most spectacular projections you will see on the Sydney Opera house for a period of two weeks. It is more than that. Described as lights, ideas, music and food. Not to be missed! Sydney also has one of the most spectacular new year fireworks in the world on Dec 31st.

While English is spoken in Australia, it takes a little effort to decipher the various slangs they use.

• • Sydney Opera House: This is the most recognized structure in the harbor, and an iconic architectural masterpiece. A great place to attend a performance.
  • The Sydney Harbour Bridge: An engineering marvel of its time. One can walk or bike across it or take the fairly expensive climb to the top for breathtaking views of the city.
  • Circular Quay:  A bustling hub from where one can walk to the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and ferries to other parts of Sydney.
  • The Rocks: A historic and artsy area filled with cobblestone streets, historic buildings, lively markets, restaurants, and pubs.
  • Sydney Tower Eye: One can do the Skywalk on the very top of the tower to outdoor viewpoints and get panoramic views of the city. There is a revolving 360 Bar and restaurant. (Personal opinion: I did not care for the skywalk).
  • Taronga Zoo: Near the Sydney Harbour is the Taronga Zoo is home to over 4,000 animals from around the world and makes a great day out. To see Australian specific animals like Kangaroos, Koalas, the Casawary bird etc, the zoo would be a good place to visit.
  • The Royal botanic garden is located near the Opera House, it’s perfect for a leisurely stroll, picnics, and enjoying the views of the harbor. It showcases native and exotic plants. Centennial Parklands features walking and cycling paths, ponds, and wildlife.
  • Art Gallery of New South Wales: This gallery houses a collection of Australian and international art.
  • Hyde Park is a lovely green oasis in the center of the city, to walk, picnic, enjoy fountains.
  • QVB, the Queen Victoria Building is a beautifully architected buiding that houses a lot of good shopping, restaurants on multiple levels, and access to the Town Hall train station.
  • Australian Museum: Showcasing the natural and cultural history of Australia through artifacts, fossils, and interactive displays.
  • Powerhouse Museum: Great for people who enjoy science, technology, design, and innovation.
  • Chinatown: Sydney’s Chinatown, known for its excellent Asian cuisine and bustling markets. Many people do their T-shirts and souvenir shopping in this place.

Darling Harbor

• • Sealife Sydney Aquarium: Located in Darling Harbour, this aquarium lets you see marine life up close, including sharks, sting rays, and colorful coral reefs.
  • Madame Tussauds Sydney: Lifelike wax figures of famous personalities, from actors and musicians to historical figures. Photo-ops!
  • Australian National Maritime Museum: Showcases Australia’s maritime heritage with interactive exhibits, historic ships, and hands-on activities. The museum also features the famous submarine HMAS Onslow.
  • Chinese Garden of Friendship: This serene garden provides a peaceful escape from the busy city. It is designed as a Chinese garden with lush vegetation, koi-filled ponds, and tranquil walking paths.
  • Harbor Cruises: Take a sightseeing/lunch/dinner cruise departing from Darling Harbour.
  • Cockle Bay Wharf and King’s Street Wharf: These areas are known for bars, vibrant dining scene, and a wide range of cuisine options, from seafood to international dishes. It’s a great place for waterfront dining.

Shopping and Popular Events:

• • If you like Opals in your jewelry, you might like to visit shops that have certified Opals.
  • Harbourside Shopping Centre: This shopping center has some shops, boutiques, and restaurants where you can indulge in some retail therapy and dining with views.
  • A pair of cozy UGG boots may be on your shopping list and the city would be a good place to pick one up.
  • For souvenirs which look authentic but are not Australia-made, your destination will be Chinatown which is walkable from the city center. A colorful and lively place to get some fun Tees and shopping done.
  • If you happen to be there during the Vivid Sydney festival during May/June, you will see the Opera House lighted up in spectacular patterns and can watch some world class performances.
  • The other big event worth going to is the New Year’s eve fireworks – Sydney is easily one of the best in the world for their display.

Beaches, Walks, Parks and Views in the City and Suburbs

Sydney’s Beaches

• • Bondi Beach: One of Sydney’s most famous beaches, Bondi is great for swimming, surfing, or simply relaxing on the sands. The coastal walk from Bondi to Coogee is also recommended.
  • Manly Beach: Easily accessible by ferry, Manly Beach is a popular spot for swimming and water sports. There are walking and biking pathways. There is a pedestrian mall, lined with shops and restaurants.
  • There are many other beautiful beaches like Cronulla, Coogee, Bronte, Palm beach et al.

Parks, Walks and Views

There are many scenic bay walks to enjoy beautiful waterfront views and explore coastal landscapes. Some popular bay walks in Sydney and the Darling Harbour are:

• • Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park: This park is known for its pretty waterways, and one can go kayaking, boating, fishing, and hiking.
  • Garigal National Park: Located in Sydney’s northern suburbs, this park offers a network of bushwalking trails along the tranquil waterways of Middle Harbour.
  • There are other parks within the city itself like Lane Cove National Park, that one typically explores as a local.
  • There are many short and long walks that give beautiful views of the Sydney harbor.
  • One particularly tranquil and beautiful spot is Wendy Whiteley’s Secret Garden in Lavender Bay. One can walk to MacMahons point from there, and then on to Milsons Point.
  • Darling Island Wharf to Pyrmont Bridge: This short walk offers panoramic views of the Darling Harbour area and the Sydney skyline.
  • Darling Harbour to Circular Quay: Stroll along the waterfront promenade from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay for picturesque views of Sydney’s skyline, the Opera House, and the Harbour Bridge.
  • Mrs Macquarie’s Chair is another spot for beautiful views.
  • Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk: While not technically a bay walk, this coastal walk offers stunning views of the Pacific Ocean and includes several beautiful beaches along the way. You can start at Bondi Beach and follow the path to Coogee Beach, passing by Tamarama Beach, Bronte Beach, and Gordon’s Bay. The walk offers opportunities for swimming, picnicking, and taking in the coastal scenery.
  • Manly Scenic Walkway: This walkway starts at The Spit Bridge and takes you along the shoreline of Middle Harbour before reaching Manly Beach. Along the way, you’ll pass through lush bushland, rocky cliffs, and hidden beaches. It’s an excellent way to explore Sydney’s northern coastline.
  • Darling Harbour to Circular Quay: Enjoy a leisurely stroll along the waterfront promenade from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay. This scenic walk offers picturesque views of Sydney’s skyline, the Sydney Opera House, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It’s a great way to take in the city’s iconic landmarks.
  • Balmain Peninsula Walk: Starting at Ballast Point Park, this walk takes you around the Balmain Peninsula, offering views of Sydney Harbour, historic architecture, and charming streets. You can extend the walk to include the nearby Birchgrove and Mort Bay Park.
  • The Rose Bay to Watsons Bay walk: In Watsons, explore the nearby South Head and Gap Bluff. The Gap is a dramatic ocean cliff offering stunning views.

• • Royal National Park: Located south of Sydney, this park features beautiful coastal cliffs, pristine beaches, hiking trails, camping, picnicking, and local wildlife.
  • Stanwell Tops is an idyllic point near Wollongong offering spectacular views and activities like hang gliding and paragliding. Nearby is the Stanwell park beach, a great place to picnic and hangout. A short drive away is a Hindu Venkateshwara temple. The nearby Simbio wildlife park is a good place to see koalas and cuddle them.
  • The nearby Woollongong has the large Nan-Tien Buddhist temple.

• • Blue Mountains National Park: A short drive from Sydney, the Blue Mountains offers rugged landscapes, valleys and vistas. Home to the Three Sisters rock formation, it is a good place to go bushwalking and rock climbing.
  • The nearby Jenolan Caves is a must-see for huge and grand limestone rock formations, stalactites and stalagmites.

• • About 3 hours from Sydney, Port Stephens (Nelson Bay) is known for its huge, moving sand dunes. This is a wonderful place to go sandboarding. Also one can do sand safaris, ride camels, hike and go whale watching.
  • Whale Watching: Sydney offers excellent opportunities for whale watching during the annual migration season (May to November). Several tour operators offer boat trips to see these magnificent creatures up close. Here are some of the best spots to go whale watching.

• • If you are a lover of wine, there are any number of wonderful vineyards one can visit. Hunter Valley (Vineyards) is a good place to spend a day or two, sample wines, and visit the lovely storybook garden. In many of these vineyards we see kangaroos freely hopping around.

Australia is a delight when it comes to finding good vegetarian food and some great fusion foods. With so much Asian influence, there are some wonderful tastes created with an emphasis on fresh food.

​Shopping centers/malls commonly have food courts and often one can find the usual chains with one or two vegetarian options. Of specific mention though are the Turkish Pide’ which is sort of a long hollow bread stuffed with things like spinach, tomato, cheese, mushroom, onion if it is a vegetarian pide’. It sort of is the Pizza’s cousin.

​You will also see the Turkish Gozleme’ being made and it is like a stuffed flatbread and could be rolled with spinach or potato or cauliflower and cheese etc. This one is the Indian Paratha’s cousin.

The wholesome Korean Bibimbap is not to be missed and can be quite commonly found. Get it made and served in the stone bowl and if you are not an egg-eater, opt that out and have the rest.

Stepping away from vegetarian for a minute: If you are in a group with a fish-lovers, and you must step into the historic and iconic place they want to absolutely visit, a mecca for the locals, bang on the beach, then you are perhaps at Doyles on the Watsons Bay beach. Its fish, fish, fish (and chips), but don’t despair, you could get yourself a side dish or two like salads, garlic bread, steamed vegetables, mashed potatoes, and chips. Your friends will thank you for your ultimate sacrifice and their enjoyment of the freshly cooked fish they have just had 🙂

Go to the page on global vegetarian cuisines, you are interested to know more about Pides, Gozlemes, Bi Bim Bap and other food from different countries that have made it mainstream.

As you have seen, I can’t stop sharing multiple pictures of the Opera house/bridge in various angles and on cloudy days and sunny days!

Having lived in Sydney for 4 years, 2008 to 2012 as expats, and visiting it multiple times because we couldn’t stay away, speaks for something. Experiencing everyday life, working, sending kids to school, music, soccer, tennis, hanging out with friends, were all the experiences that made us like the lifestyle downunder. Our house in itself was remarkable because of its glass walls that let us sit in our living room and watch the bush (trees) and some wildlife like owls, wild turkeys, huge lizards, the colorful rainbow lorikeets and more! For the first time ever, we were given the responsibility of a cat names Roger Nelson Williams! The owner of the house we lived in had this cat as a pet and one of the conditions of renting the house, while they were away for 4 years working in Dubai, was that we feed Roger! Needless to say, we developed a certain degree of affection towards this creature who followed the kids uphill to the school and often came into a stroll at the kitchen waiting for his food.

After life in the US where kids are pretty much driven by the parent for activities, it was a big change to have them walk or take a bus or train at the ages of 10 and 6 just like other Aussie kids their age. This gave us more free time for certain activities that I enjoyed other than my work. Like being part of a music circle where I got to sing, listen and organize music sessions or taking the bikes out for rides along a beach. Our life also became more group-centric than couple centric. It was closer to the life we had enjoyed in the UK on a different expat assignment. Very different from the US lifestyle. The only annoyance was stores closing early or having no drive-through ATM but with time we realized that these were minor inconveniences in the big scheme of things. It was also the first time we had a pet cat and that was quite an experience for each of us in different ways. We had an amazing time watching a live England vs Australia cricket match in the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Attending a performance in the Opera House was another memorable experience. We watched George Benson and a couple of plays.

Each experience of living abroad has made our life richer in so many aspects.

In addition to places mentioned in the highlights section of this blog, we got to travel to many parts of Australia – to different scenic regions of New South Wales (all not listed in this blog), Canberra, Melbourne and surrounds, and the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Port Douglas, Palm Cove in Queensland, visits to New Zealand and so on. These will be covered in other blog posts.

The below pictures are of our various experiences – biking around in Sydney, concerts in the Opera House, sliding down the huge sand dunes in Nelson Bay/ Port Stephens, watching a cricket match between Australia and England (the Ashes), my parents’ fascination with the aquatic life and reefs during the visit to the aquarium, up the Sydney Tower etc. And of course, a final gallery of different moods of the Opera House 🙂 and more.