Sydney Information
Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, is Australia's oldest and largest city with a population of around 3,986,700. Sydney is built around a huge harbour and hosts many tourist attractions as well as a number of beaches, bays and a couple of national parks.
Sydney has many influences upon its style. Aboriginal sites and engravings can still be seen from the original occupiers, the Eora tribe. The city also has an anglo-mediterranean style and a growing Chinese and Asian influence.
The city is divided into North and South by the Sydney Harbour, with both Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel connecting them. Most of the tourist attractions are in the South part of the city, with a large business and residential area in the North.
The South part of the city consists of The Rocks and Circular Quay to the North, with the Central Station marking the South. Darling Harbour marks the West and there are a number of parks to the East.
National parks
Sydney offers a number of wonderful National Parks surrounding the attractive city. The Sydney Harbour National Park is made up of several islands and bushland around the harbour. It offers Aboriginal carvings, history, views and walks. The areas included as part of the National Park are Ashton Park, Dobroyd Head, Fort Denison, Goat Clarke, Middle Head, Nielsen Park, North Head, Rodd Island, Shark Island and South Head.
Botany Bay National Park is situated south of Sydney on Botany Bay. The beautiful National Park offers plenty of fabulous walking trails around the bay. There is an interesting Discovery Centre Ph: (02) 9668 9111, which tells the history of the area, and the story of the first European landing in Australia. There is also a monument at Kurnell for the arrival of Captain Cook.
Further south off of Port Hacking are both the Heathcote National Park and the Royal National Park. There are some fantastic walking trails within the Heathcote National Park, as well as a number of pleasant swimming pools. You can also bush camp within the park, which is a great way to see the rugged and beautiful Australian bushland.
Adjoining Heathcote National Park is the Royal National Park which continues along the coastline. There are some fabulous beaches within the Royal National Park, as well as wonderful clifftop scenery. A fantastic walk is the coastal walk which is 26km long, but well worth following. Along the way you will pass the pretty Wattamolla Beach, as well as Burning Beach, Era Beach and Garie Beach which are all great surfing spots. There are also a number of shorter walking trails throughout the park. To get a walking permit you should phone the Visitors Centre Ph: (02) 9542 0648.
You should also get permits for bush camping within the Royal National Park from the Visitors Centre. There is also a camping site at Bonnie Vale, as well as the Garie Beach YHA (members only), and the Imperial Hotel. You can get to the Royal National Park along the Princess Highway from Sydney and Wollongong or along the wonderful coastal road from Wollongong. There is also a train service which runs to nearby Loftus. There is also a ferry service to Bundeena, run by the Cronulla National Park Ferries Ph: (02) 9523 2990.
North of Sydney near Broken Bay and Palm Beach is the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park. There are a number of fabulous walking trails around the beautiful bushland of the National Park. Several trails include the America Bay Trail, the Gibberagong Trail and the Sphinx Trail, as well as the Basin Trail and the Garigal Trail where you can see some fantastic Aboriginal Rock Engravings.
West Head gives fantastic views over Broken Bay, and although you can't swim there (due to sharks) there are some great swimming spots at the Basin and Illawong Bay. You can also camp at the Basin Ph: (02) 9972 7378 as well as at the Pittwater YHA Ph: (02) 9999 5748, which is just south of the basin. You can get to the park driving from Colah, Church Point, Terrey Hills and Turramurra. If you don't have your own transport then Shorelink Buses Ph: (02) 9457 8888 run a service from Turramurra into the park. There is also a ferry service from Palm Beach, run by the Palm Beach Ferry Service Ph: (02) 9918 2747 to the Basin and Bobbin Head.
Beaches
There are a number of Southern beaches, the main and most famous being Bondi Beach. From Bondi Beach you can walk all the way to Coogee, which is a very pleasant clifftop walk. Once you are around Mackenzies Point you will come to Tamarama, another great surfing beach set in a small cove. It can get a bit rough here, so be careful, although is a great beach to relax on.
Further South again is Bronte, a small beach surrounded by parkland, and lined with cafes. Bronte is another good surfing spot, although does get rough. If you just fancy swimming, then there is a good ocean pool. Further south, Clovelly is a pleasant family beach, with Gordon Bay offering great scuba diving.
Sydney also hosts numerous beaches to the North, with the main one being Manly. Beautiful beaches and coves head 30km North of Manly, with Palm Beach marking the end.
Palm Beach is great for surfing as are Curl Curl, Dee Why and Narrabeen, other beaches along the way. Palm Beach is also the setting for Home and Away, a great place to visit if you are a fan. If you are lucky, you may even catch the cast and crew in action!
For spectacular views and landscape visit the headlands of Whale Beach and Bigola. If you enjoy sailing visit Pittwater, an inlet off of Broken Bay. There are several buses that you can take to get to the beaches from the city and from Manly.
Sydney Museums
| The Art Gallery NSW |
Location: |
Art Gallery Road , The Domain |
Telephone: |
General +61 2 9225 1700
Information +61 2 9225 1744 |
Opening Hours: |
Daily 10:00 to 17:00 (except Christmas Day & Good Friday)
Wednesday 10:00 to 21:00 |
| The Australian Museum |
Location: |
6 College Street (opposite Hyde Park ) |
Telephone: |
+61 2 9320 6000 |
Opening Hours: |
Daily 09:30 to 17:00 (except Christmas Day) |
| The Australian National Maritime Museum |
Location: |
2 Murray Street , Darling Harbour |
Telephone: |
+61 2 9298 3777 |
Opening Hours: |
Daily 09:00 to 17:00
Daily 09:00 to 18:00 in January
Closed Christmas Day |
| The Discovery Museum |
Location: |
2 - 8 Kendall Lane , The Rocks |
Telephone: |
1800 067 676, or
+61 2 9240 8552 |
Opening Hours: |
Daily 10:00 to 17:00 (except Christmas Day & Good Friday) |
| The Justice & Police Museum |
Location: |
Cnr Phillip & Albert Streets, Circular Quay |
Telephone: |
+61 2 9252 1144 |
Opening Hours: |
Weekends 10:00 to 17:00
Daily 10:00 to 17:00 (January Only) |
| The Macleay Museum |
Location: |
Gosper Lane (off Science Road ), University of Sydney |
Telephone: |
+61 2 9036 5253 |
Opening Hours: |
10:00 to 16:30 Monday to Friday |
| The Museum of Australian Currency Notes |
Location: |
Reserve Bank of Australia
65 Martin Place , Sydney |
Telephone: |
+61 2 9551 9743 or 9762 |
Opening Hours: |
Monday to Friday 10:00 to 16:00 (Business day only) |
| The Museum of Contemporary Art |
Location: |
Circular Quay West |
Telephone: |
+61 2 9245 2400 |
Opening Hours: |
Daily 10:00 to 17:00 (Closed Christmas Day) |
| The Museum of Sydney |
Location: |
Cnr Bridge & Phillip Streets Circular Quay |
Telephone: |
+61 2 9251 5988 |
Opening Hours: |
Daily 09:30 to 17:00 (except Christmas Day & Good Friday) |
| The Powerhouse Museum |
Location: |
500 Harris Street, Ultimo |
Telephone: |
+61 2 9217 0111 |
Opening Hours: |
Daily 10:00 to 17:00 (Closed Christmas Day)
School Holidays 09:30 to 17:00 |
| Pylon Lookout |
Location: |
Cumberland Street (on the Harbour Bridge ). |
How to Get There: |
By Train: alight at Circular Quay & walk past the Museum of Contemporary Art to Argyle Street , turn right and walk to Cumberland Street . |
Telephone: |
+61 2 9240 1100 |
Opening Hours: |
Daily 10:00 to 17:00 (except Christmas Day) |
| The Sydney Observatory |
Location: |
Watson Road , Observatory Hill, The Rocks |
Telephone: |
+61 2 9241 3767 |
Opening Hours: |
Weekends 10:00 to 17:00
(Except Good Friday & Christmas Day |
| The Sydney Jewish Museum |
Location: |
148 Darlinghurst Road , Darlinghurst. |
Telephone: |
+61 2 9360 7999 |
Opening Hours: |
Sunday to Thursday 10:00 - 16:00
Fridays 10:00 - 14:00
Closed Saturday & Jewish Holidays |
Sydney Emergency
Being a large city you have to take the usual precautions of looking after your bags and not displaying expensive belongings, not walking alone (especially at night).
If you need medical assistance there are various places that you can go to:
KINGS CROSS TRAVELLER'S CLINIC
Suite 1
13 Springfield Avenue
Kings Cross
Ph: (02) 9358 3376
Open: Monday - Friday & Saturday am
SYDNEY HOSPITAL
Macquarie Street
Ph: (02) 9382 7111
THE TRAVELLERS MEDICAL AND VACCINATION CENTRE
Level 7
428 George Street
Ph: (02) 9221 7133
Open: Monday - Friday & Saturday am
For personal problems try The Wayside Chapel which is a crisis centre:
THE WAYSIDE CHAPEL
29 Hughes Street
Kings Cross
Ph: (02) 9358 6577
Two other numbers that you can contact are:
LIFELINE: Ph: 13 11 14
For police, ambulance or the fire brigade telephone 000
Being a large city you have to take the usual precautions of looking after your bags and not displaying expensive belongings, not walking alone (especially at night).
If you need medical assistance there are various places that you can go to:
KINGS CROSS TRAVELLER'S CLINIC
Suite 1
13 Springfield Avenue
Kings Cross
Ph: (02) 9358 3376
Open: Monday - Friday & Saturday am
SYDNEY HOSPITAL
Macquarie Street
Ph: (02) 9382 7111
THE TRAVELLERS MEDICAL AND VACCINATION CENTRE
Level 7
428 George Street
Ph: (02) 9221 7133
Open: Monday - Friday & Saturday am
For personal problems try The Wayside Chapel which is a crisis centre:
THE WAYSIDE CHAPEL
29 Hughes Street
Kings Cross
Ph: (02) 9358 6577
Two other numbers that you can contact are:
LIFELINE: Ph: 13 11 14
For police, ambulance or the fire brigade telephone 000
