Visiting Sydney in April. Things to see and do?

[JohnMc]

Getting some vacation in April and I am 20 some hours closer than from home so now looks like a good time. So doing the last minute planning. 
Somewhere in the Darling harbor/The Rocks area looks like the place to stay? Any hotel recommendations? Have found the Powerhouse museum, looks like a couple other museums and will need the requisite photo the Opera house so people on FB will know I went to Australia not Austria. Other must see/do items for the Tech/History enthusiast? Also planning on train day trip to the Blue mountains. Not interested in 5 star dining and actually really liking the Thai food but I would love a good steak, some lamb and proper breakfast sausages when I am there. Any recommendations?  I am also hoping I can locate one of those hobby electronics sets. Looking for something to fill my off time here. Have found the soldering projects here but that would require getting a iron I would end up leaving here.

Thanks in advance, John         

[Halcyon]

Good morning John (most of us are still starting our day).

Both Darling Harbour and The Rocks are quite nice to visit, I prefer The Rocks, it's a lovely part of the city.

There isn't a huge amount in Darling Harbour other than takeaway food and some shops but The Star casino is nearby if that's your thing and as you already mentioned, the Powerhouse Museum is worth a visit.

The Blue Mountains is also definitely worth a visit (there are a few of us forum members who live up there), it's certainly a gorgeous part of the world although a lot of the main lookouts and tourist spots get very busy on the weekends get busy with bus loads of tourists. If you can, go during the week. Driving is a lot quicker than catching the train, if you have the option. The Book of Mormon is currently playing in Sydney, I can't recommend this show high enough. I saw it in Melbourne and it is brilliant.

As for places to stay in Sydney, there are literally hundreds of hotels to choose from depending on your budget. Whenever I've stayed in the city, I usually stay at the Swissotel which is right in the middle of the city or the Shangri-La hotel which is walking distance from The Rocks, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

As for places to eat, can I suggest Kingsleys, it's a bit on the pricier side, but the food is fantastic.

[TerraHertz]

How many days are you here for, and do you want to get out of Sydney and see country/bush scenery? Car touring only, or does bushwalking interest you?
I'd be happy to take you out of Sydney. I'm retired, so have plenty of time.

Here's a 'Sydney in a one day bite' tour suggestion I wrote for a friend coming over from the States. He'd be starting off coming into the city by train from where he was staying in Hurstville. Ha ha, he's Chinese, people who know Hurstville will get the joke.
Of course this quick tour leaves out a lot.

Once in the city, get off at Museum station (underground), come up to surface at corner Liverpool and Elizabeth st. (Underwhelming 1st city view, deliberate.)  Walk NE into park, to Anzac War memorial. Then follow centerline of park north.

Cross Park st. (Australian Museum is on cnr Park & College St, but that one takes all day)
Continue along center tree walk. Archibald Fountain in the park is one of the 'meet me at' icons in Sydney.
Just to the NE of the park, across Prince Albert Rd, is the Hyde Park Barracks Museum. Some buildings from the early days of Sydney settlement, with historical digs, etc.
Back at Archibald fountain head W, and down Market St, one block, to Centerpoint/Sydney Tower Eye, on corner Market & Pitt st.

Go up to the Sydney Tower Eye viewing platform. (they charge)

google maps 360 view from the tower here:  https://tinyurl.com/yaj6lo9u

After seeing the view, you may have set yourself a list of city places to go. But if not...

At ground level, walk W on Market St to George st. You're then going to walk one block Sth to Town Hall station, but you can do it on George St, or through the center ground level of Queen Victoria Blg, or underground in Queen Victoria building. if you go underground it becomes a bit of a maze.

Come up to street level at Town Hall, for the buildings: the old town hall and St Andrews Cathedral.
Next go back underground into Town Hall station. (guess what it's underneath.)
Town Hall front steps on George St are another iconic 'meet me at' place in Sydney.

Take the train over the Harbor bridge to Milsons Point (1st station after the bridge.) (single, non-return ticket)
Use Burton St (I think) to go under the bridge train & roads to get to the East side of bridge, and the bridge pedestrian walkway.
(West side is cycleway, the East side is pedestrians.)
Walk south over the harbor bridge. Curse the bloody anti-suicide fencing. Especially since you are soon going to be at Nth Head, atop 200' cliffs with easily bypassed railings. (This is Sydney's preferred suicide spot.)

At Sth end walk through The Rocks area (kinda trendy) to the water's edge towards the ferry terminals.
Museum of Contemporary Art is on your right just before you get to the ferries. Takes hours to tour it.
Continue to main ferry terminal. Get a ferry to Manly. They all have some outdoors decks, for best view. The ferry route goes past the Opera House, giving the nice view from the water.
At Manly, you can walk East to Manly beach (another icon. Buy some chips or something and try to eat them on the beach, vs the world's most aggressive sea gulls.)

Get a taxi to North Head cliff lookout. (Walkable, but a waste of time.) Has a great view back across the harbor to the city.
Taxi back to the Manly ferry terminal, return to Circular Quay. (Don't be tempted to get a taxi all the way back to the city, it's a f*ckaround. Btw, Taronga Zoo is also best reached by ferry from Circular Quay.)
From the Circular Quay ferry terminal walk around the shore to the Opera House.
Then continue on Eastwards around the shore into the Royal Botanical Gardens. (A large area, if you want to see it all, get a map.)
If you leave the gardens via Art Gallery Rd (Eastern side) then you'll pass by the Art Gallery of NSW. More hours to see that.

Coming back via Art Gallery Rd you can walk to St James station (there are several entrances at the Nth of Hyde Park) or you can walk down to the Domain Car park entrance (building in middle of a field here: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.8707372,151.2153891,21z/data=!3m1!1e3) and take the longest moving underground walkway in Southern Hemisphere to St James station.

-------
The Powerhouse museum isn't in that path. You can walk to it from the CBD, or get the train to Central and walk from there. As always, the first thing to do in any new city is buy a street map. Sydney is nice in that it's small enough that a map of the central area fits on a single sheet. Also all train stations can provide a map of the rail system. There are no 'train tickets' as such any more, just an RF-tap based card system. Ask at stations.

I can also arrange 'urbex' type experiences too, if you're into that kind of thing.

[RandallMcRee]

As a tourist for a few weeks in Sydney some years ago I was most impressed by taking the hydrofoil from Sydney Harbour (leaving near the Opera House IIRC) and going to Bondi beach. Looked around there, came back. Very cheap and impressive harbour tour.

Fits in with the walk above.

[TerraHertz]

As a tourist for a few weeks in Sydney some years ago I was most impressed by taking the hydrofoil from Sydney Harbour (leaving near the Opera House IIRC) and going to Bondi beach. Looked around there, came back. Very cheap and impressive harbour tour.

Fits in with the walk above.

Err... I think you've mixed up Bondi and Manly beaches? Check a map. Bondi is on the coast Sth of Sydney, not in the harbor. The ferries don't go outside Sydney harbor heads, and to get to Bondi they'd have to. And there's no jetty at Bondi, being directly exposed to the Pacific Ocean. Manly beach is a short distance across a peninsular, from the Many ferry terminal which is inside the harbor, but the beach is on the Pacific coast.

Btw, the hydrofoil is fun because it's fast. But if you want enough time to really enjoy the views, get a slow ferry.

[mikeselectricstuff]

If you're into beaches, by all means go look at Bondi, but then head further round to the smaller ones further round the coast which get much less crowded.
ISTR Manley was also very nice, also less crowded.

[AlfBaz]

If you do hire a car, well worth it to see things other than Sydney, head north up to the Hawkesbury River. Some great sites up that way.

An hour down the coast is good to. Once you're on the F6 to Wollongong keep a look out for the Helensburgh turn off, head out to Stanwell Tops and take the coast road down to Wollongong via the Sea Cliff Bridge. Beaches galore down the coast from Wollongong

[RandallMcRee]

Mix something up? Me? 30 years ago?  No!

Yep, of course you are correct--but I *did* go to Bondi, just at some other point in the trip!

Btw, the hydrofoil is fun because it's fast. But if you want enough time to really enjoy the views, get a slow ferry.

Yeah, I'm impressed by fast. Great ride. Slow ferries are booooring.

[Brumby]

Hate to be a party pooper - but the hydrofoil ferry services haven't run on Sydney harbour for quite a few years now.  They had more than their fair share of breakdowns and were expensive to run.

They have catamarans these days.

[jonovid]

any NSW National Park has dropbears  phascolarctos cinereus 

[Halcyon]

Go up to the Sydney Tower Eye viewing platform. (they charge)

I also don't want to be a party pooper however that's temporarily closed due to a suicide the other day.

[vk6zgo]

If you're into beaches, by all means go look at Bondi, but then head further round to the smaller ones further round the coast which get much less crowded.
ISTR Manley was also very nice, also less crowded.

Jeez! If they're smaller than Bondi, they must be tiny!

[vk6zgo]

Hate to be a party pooper - but the hydrofoil ferry services haven't run on Sydney harbour for quite a few years now.  They had more than their fair share of breakdowns and were expensive to run.

They have catamarans these days.

I thought so!
I've got a photo somewhere of a hydrofoil from way back in 1970.

[EEVblog]

Once in the city, get off at Museum station (underground), come up to surface at corner Liverpool and Elizabeth st. (Underwhelming 1st city view, deliberate.)  Walk NE into park, to Anzac War memorial. Then follow centerline of park north.

I recommend coming from the airport via train and hoping off at Circular Quay station, because when you hop out, BAM, there is the opera house and harbour bridge view right from the train platform.

Yes on the underground moving walkway, Manly Ferry etc.

Don't take the train to the blue mountains, it's slow and difficult to access stuff.
Hire a car and do a driving loop up the great western highway and back down via the bells line of road, or vice versa.
Go on the worlds steepest incline railway at scenic world, up and back, it's awesome, sit at the very front if possible.

Totally depends on how many days you have here.

[EEVblog]

If you're into beaches, by all means go look at Bondi, but then head further round to the smaller ones further round the coast which get much less crowded.
ISTR Manley was also very nice, also less crowded.

Sydney literally has more than a hundred world class beaches.
The Bondi to Bronte walk is famous:
http://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/recreation/places_of_interest/waverley_walks/bondi_to_bronte_coastal_walk

[EEVblog]

Getting some vacation in April and I am 20 some hours closer than from home so now looks like a good time. So doing the last minute planning. 
Somewhere in the Darling harbor/The Rocks area looks like the place to stay?

Both areas are great and you should visit them, but the Rocks is the traditional Sydney place to stay, or somewhere else on the harbou. Bridge view rooms usually cost a lot extra.
Darling Harbour is just a small inlet that used to be old docks, you can't really see the actual main harbour from there.

[glarsson]

The Bondi to Bronte walk is famous:
http://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/recreation/places_of_interest/waverley_walks/bondi_to_bronte_coastal_walk

Why are dogs only allowed to walk there after eight in the evening?

[TerraHertz]

I also don't want to be a party pooper however that's temporarily closed due to a suicide the other day.

Only the Skywalk (I didn't even know that existed.) The observation deck remains open.

Jeez! If they're smaller than Bondi, they must be tiny!

Oddly enough my favorite is Little Bay, which really is tiny.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.980403,151.2506854,914m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
Very excellent snorkelling there.

Don't take the train to the blue mountains, it's slow and difficult to access stuff.
Hire a car and do a driving loop up the great western highway and back down via the bells line of road, or vice versa.
Go on the worlds steepest incline railway at scenic world, up and back, it's awesome, sit at the very front if possible.

If he has time and interest, I'll see if I can take him out to Kanangra Walls (via Jenolan.) On the way, if he's hard core, some old coal mines in Lithgow area. Maybe Newnes Gardens of Stone?

[meeko]

I met up with my cousin and her husband (who, at the time, lived near Brisbane) in Sydney a few years ago on my trip around the world.  I arrived the evening before them, and was planning to take the train in from the airport.  When I got there, though, the line was shut down for maintenance, so they were running busses, and there was a huge lineup.    On the plus side, they were waiving the fare.

We stayed at the Vibe Hotel Sydney, https://vibehotels.com/hotel/sydney, a couple of blocks from Central Station.  It's on the pricey side (though any decent place in central Sydney is pretty expensive), but clean and comfortable, and in a good location.

I spent my first day wandering from there through Hyde Park and around the CBD, to the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, then met them at Circular Quay to go for a harbour cruise on the Soren Larsen (http://www.sydneytallships.com.au/cruise-sydney-harbour/afternoon-discovery-cruise/), and back to the hotel.  The cruise was neat, but probably not really worth $54.  I got free tickets through work, though, so score!

Our second day, we walked around Darling Harbour and Chinatown (the biggest in Australia, though it's still pretty small compared to, say, San Francisco), then back to the hotel for a swim before supper and a night tour of the Observatory (https://maas.museum/event/sydney-observatory-night-tours/), which was cool.  We got to see Venus through the original telescope brought by Captain Cook, as well as Venus and the Moon through their newer scopes.  I don't remember it being $27, though...

Third day, we took the ferry across to Manly Beach, to visit friends of theirs.  They were going to stay at the friends' place for the night, but I was flying out that evening, so I took the bus and train back across the bridge to the hotel, picked up my luggage, and caught the train back to the airport.

[JohnMc]

Thank you to everyone that replied.

Not into the Casino thing. Normally make a trip to Las Vegas every year for a trade show. Think they may have got $100 in gambling out of me in 10 years. Casinos are sometimes a good place for food though.

Will try to make my Blue Mountains trip on a week day to avoid the rush. Will be taking the train I think. Don't drive much at home and you drive on the wrong side of the road. So will not be getting a car.

Went with the Swissotel.

Only there for a couple days.  Normally getting out in the bush would interest me but don't think I will have time this trip. Also I have half finished the one pair of good hikers I brought with me. They are the one thing I can't find here for clothing. Largest I have seen is US 11.5  and I am a 13-14   

Will print that walking tour out gives me a good place to start.

Not much of a beach person. Live in a beach town in Canada and have not been in the water in about 5 years. That being said there is the impression in North America that Australian beaches are full of hot Aussie women going topless or wearing barely there bikinis. If there is any truth to that I am there. Seriously will probably go to one just so I can stick my feet in a different piece of ocean.     

[mikeselectricstuff]

Thank you to everyone that replied.

Not into the Casino thing. Normally make a trip to Las Vegas every year for a trade show. Think they may have got $100 in gambling out of me in 10 years. Casinos are sometimes a good place for food though.

Will try to make my Blue Mountains trip on a week day to avoid the rush. Will be taking the train I think. Don't drive much at home and you drive on the wrong side of the road. So will not be getting a car.

Went with the Swissotel.

Only there for a couple days.  Normally getting out in the bush would interest me but don't think I will have time this trip. Also I have half finished the one pair of good hikers I brought with me. They are the one thing I can't find here for clothing. Largest I have seen is US 11.5  and I am a 13-14   

Will print that walking tour out gives me a good place to start.

Not much of a beach person. Live in a beach town in Canada and have not been in the water in about 5 years. That being said there is the impression in North America that Australian beaches are full of hot Aussie women going topless or wearing barely there bikinis. If there is any truth to that I am there. Seriously will probably go to one just so I can stick my feet in a different piece of ocean.   

From what I remember, Blue Mountains by train is quite do able, and here was a bus that went round all the various attractions, and you could hop on & off whenever if you want to walk for a bit & look at scenery etc.
Don't miss Katoomba Scenic railway
 

[nctnico]

If you're into beaches, by all means go look at Bondi, but then head further round to the smaller ones further round the coast which get much less crowded.
ISTR Manley was also very nice, also less crowded.

Sydney literally has more than a hundred world class beaches.

Just checking to write a note on the bucket list: is it safe to swim there? I'm not talking about currents but I'm more concerned about deadly sea creatures.

[mikeselectricstuff]

If you're into beaches, by all means go look at Bondi, but then head further round to the smaller ones further round the coast which get much less crowded.
ISTR Manley was also very nice, also less crowded.

Sydney literally has more than a hundred world class beaches.

Just checking to write a note on the bucket list: is it safe to swim there? I'm not talking about currents but I'm more concerned about deadly sea creatures.

I beleive they have shark nets.

[vk6zgo]

Sydney is too far South for the really scary stuff like Box Jellyfish, Crocs, Stonefish,Cone Shells, etc.
A lot of New South Wales beaches have shark nets, and anyway, shark attacks are really quite rare, anywhere around Australia. (It is a very long coastline).

What can be dangerous at any ocean beach, are what is commonly called "rips" in Oz.
These can sweep an unwary swimmer out well out of their "comfort" zone, & require a rescue.

The general rule is to swim at patrolled beaches, & even there, "swim between the flags".
You can probably Google a lot of information about Australian beaches.

[TerraHertz]

Just for reference: https://wanderingwolfchild.com/2017/05/14/my-top-10-must-do-in-sydney/

Is it safe to swim at Sydney beaches? Why yes. I've only been stung by bluebottles three times, had to be embarrassingly rescued from rips twice, and just once had a blue ringed octopus latch onto my arm. Cute little thing didn't even bite me. If you go walking around the tidal rocks, do be careful not to step on spiny sea urchins. The spines are a total bitch to dig out.
Oh, and don't taunt the sting rays.

[JohnMc]

 What is with every animal in Australia trying to kill you? Before someone says oh but you have bears in North America. True but you are not going to find a bear in your shoes or sleeping bag and if you are going into bear country you take a gun for just incase. 

[BillyD]

Are the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb tours still running? Did one a few years ago and it was good fun.

[Brumby]

Yes.

https://www.bridgeclimb.com/

[IDEngineer]

Sydney = Luna Park! We had a fantastic time and I'd love to go again.

[JohnMc]

Was at the store this morning buying a travel sim for the trip. Store clerk asked Australia not Austria? I almost 

 

[Halcyon]

I hope you'll update this thread during your travels! We expect photos too. Feel free to PM if you run out of ideas.

[JohnMc]

Well yesterday was my first day here. Popped into a Jaycar near the hotel, Walked the bridge, Had a look around Darling harbor, the maritime museum and got the FB photo of the Opera house so people knew I was in Sydney. Some still had to ask    Had some good fish & chips and called it a day as I hadn't slept since 5am Thailand time the day before

Started today with a good breakfast at Darling harbor. With real sausages. For those that have not been to Thailand what you get for breakfast sausages tastes suspiciously like chicken hotdogs. Did the Powerhouse museum. Not bad but somethings just didn't fit. They are currently running a wedding dress exposition.    Had a great steak at Vic's at the fish markets, back by way of Darling harbor to see some of the boat show and popped back to my hotel to check in with the world. 

[Brumby]

Welcome!

Sounds like your first two days have been a good start.

How did you find the weather?  It's been unusually warm of late ... so much so that we are having some of our spring flowering happening on the wrong side of Winter!

[JohnMc]

Weather has been great. Very hard for me to say as a Canadian but after spending almost four months in Thailand in the 30's I was worried I might find the 20's cool.

[Halcyon]

Yep we've have some brilliant weather and not too humid. You could almost swear it was still summer. How's the hotel? Do you get a decent view from your room?