Sydney Travel Guide
Stay in Sydney
Best Sydney Boutique Hotels in the City Centre and Inner City for a Sydney Staycation
The best Sydney boutique hotels in the Sydney city centre and inner city for a Sydney staycation have loads of personality and ooze history, from glamorous QT Sydney in the old State Theatre and Gowings ...
Best Sydney Hotels for New Years Eve Fireworks – Hotels with Harbour Views
The best Sydney hotels for New Years Eve fireworks are hotels with harbour views. As the usual fireworks vantage points are closed to the public due to COVID-19, a hotel room with harbour vistas is ...
Book Sydney Accommodation
Eat in Sydney
Spicy Potato Wedges Recipe With Sweet Chilli Sauce and Sour Cream
Our spicy potato wedges recipe takes the classic Australian café, pub and bar snack of potato wedges with sweet chilli sauce and sour cream and gives it a spicy Asian twist. These skin-on potato wedges ...
Best Sydney Restaurants – The Tables You Need to Book Before Your Next Trip
The best Sydney restaurants include everything from chef Peter Gilmore’s Quay, undoubtedly Sydney's most exciting gastronomic experience, and Bennelong in the iconic Sydney Opera House to Neil Perry's Rockpool Bar & Grill in one of ...
Drink in Sydney
Christmas Cocktail Recipes and Tips From Sydney’s Best Bars
When we spent Christmas in Australia last year we shared some Christmas cooking and gift tips from Australia's finest chefs. As we recently left Sydney, where we'd been researching Sydney's small bar scene, among other things, we thought ...
A Local Guide to the Sydney Small Bar Scene
One of the things we love about Sydney is the abundance of small bars that have flourished since new liquor licensing laws in 2008 revitalized the city's drinking scene. With their owners often found behind the ...
Explore Sydney
Our Guide to the Best Inner City Sydney Suburbs to Experience
Like most great cities in the world, the most interesting inner city suburbs of Sydney each have their own distinct identity. Sydney, like Paris, New York and London, is a city of villages, with idiosyncratic ...
24 Hours in Orange for Food and Wine Lovers — A Taste of Orange, New South Wales
Our 24 hours in Orange for food and wine lovers itinerary provides a delicious taste of Orange, a rural town in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. This fabulous food and wine destination, just over the Blue ...
Experience Sydney
Monday Memories: A Portrait Session on Sydney Harbour
It was Australia Day yesterday, 26th January, and while we always feel conflicted on this day that celebrates the official ‘founding’ of Australia in 1788 when the First Fleet arrived from Britain, despite Australia being ...
My Sydney Detour — Become A Sydney Local In A Day
We're on our last leg of My Sydney Detour — a tour aiming to help visitors become a Sydney local in a day that doesn’t feel like a tour at all, but more like a ...
Book Sydney Tours
Absorb Sydney
Absorbing Australian Art at Art Gallery of NSW With the Curator
Last week the winners of Australia’s most important and most talked-about annual art contest, the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes, were announced and the exhibition of finalists opened at the Art Gallery of New South ...
A Local Guide to Sydney Architecture by Local Architect Eoghan Lewis
The Sydney Opera House is Sydney’s most recognisable asset and a cornerstone of Sydney architecture. Every time we return to Sydney and we see it, we’re home. The story behind the commissioning and construction of ...
Shop Sydney
Cooking Quality Australian Produce Home Delivered By Hudson Meats
We love to cook when we settle into places longer than a week, which is why we prefer to use apartment rentals when we travel. There's something comforting about making your own meals after days of eating restaurant ...
Price Check: a Sydney Shopping List
After posting our guide to experiencing Sydney on a Budget and our apartment reviews, it seemed like a good time to do our Price Check: a Sydney Shopping List for you. Despite spending a great ...
Sydney Festivals & Events
Best Sydney Hotels for New Years Eve Fireworks – Hotels with Harbour Views
The best Sydney hotels for New Years Eve fireworks are hotels with harbour views. As the usual fireworks vantage points are closed to the public due to COVID-19, a hotel room with harbour vistas is ...
Enjoying the Campsie Food Festival, Sydney
If further proof than Haymarket's Chinatown or ‘Little Asia’ was needed to attest to Sydney’s multiculturalism and reign as an ethnic foodie capital, Campsie Food Festival offered it. I hadn’t been to Campsie in many years ...
Sydney Local Knowledge
Local Knowledge: Richard Graham from Sydney
Richard Graham is the kind of traveller we identify with. Since the age of five, Richard has travelled to at least one new country every year. Every year. Before starting his tour company, My Sydney ...
A Local Guide to Eating and Drinking in Sydney by Restaurateur John Fink
This local guide to eating and drinking in Sydney comes from John Fink, a Sydney restaurateur and director of some of Australia's best restaurants, including Quay, Bennelong, Otto. We first encountered Mr Fink on Twitter ...
Sydney Resources
How to Help Koalas Hurt and Homeless from Australian Bushfires
How to help koalas hurt and homeless from Australia’s bushfires is a question we’ve been asked by readers in recent days. There are a handful of options for helping Australia’s koalas that we recommend, from ...
Sydney on a Budget – Our Guide to How to Experience Sydney on a Budget
Sydney on a budget is indeed possible. While Australia can be a costly destination to visit, due to its robust economy and value of the Aussie dollar, like Melbourne it is possible to experience Sydney on ...
Sydney Essentials
WHEN TO GO
Dec-Feb Mid-Dec to the beginning Feb are the busiest months with summer school holidays. Beaches are packed and the water is warm.
Mar-May Autumn has the best walking weather, getting crisper as winter approaches and whale watching season begins. Note Vivid Festival may start in May.
Jun-Aug Wet and cold (for Sydney), this is low season for tourism, but the ski season gets fully underway in July.
Sep-Nov Weather warms up but without the humidity of summer, making it a great time to visit.
Health
Sydney has a very good healthcare system, but of course always buy comprehensive insurance. Despite Australia’s reputation for dangerous creatures, you won’t find many of these in urban areas, but if you’re planning to hit the beach (and you should) pay attention to the lifesavers flags and wear sunscreen. Recommended Vaccinations
Visas
Only New Zealanders do not need a visa for Australia. There are myriad classes of visas, but if you’re coming for a holiday (depending which passport you have) and you are staying for less than three months, apply for an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) with a cost of UAD$20. For other visas visit the visa finder page of the Australian Government.
Insurance for Sydney
CURRENCY
CURRENT EXCHANGE RATES
$1.00 USD = 1.36 AUD
€1.00 EUR = 1.60 AUD
£1.00 GBP = 1.87 AUD
The Australian currency is the Australian Dollar (AUD).
ATM machines are all over Australia and generally dispense AUD$10, $50 and $100 notes. Credit and debit cards a almost universally accepted and paying by cash is almost considered quaint on restaurants, supermarkets and hotels. If heading ‘outback’ carry extra cash in case of ATM unreliability.
LANGUAGE
ENGLISH IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF AUSTRALIA.
ELECTRICITY
ELECTRICITY IN AUSTRALIA IS 220 VOLTS. 50 CYCLES/SEC.
LOCAL TIME
CURRENT SYDNEY TIME
Sydney’s Time Zone is (GMT+11)
Sydney’s daylight saving (one hour forward) generally starts in October and finishes in April.
WEATHER
CURRENT SYDNEY WEATHER
- TEMPERATURE
°C | °C - HUMIDITY
% - WIND
m/s - CLOUDINESS
% - SUNRISE
- SUNSET
- MON 26°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
- TUE 27°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
- WED 28°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
- THU 29°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
- FRI 30°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
- SAT 31°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
TRANSPORTATION
AIR/LAND/SEA
Sydney’s main airport (SYD), might be just 8km from the Sydney CBD, but it can be a frustrating journey. There’s a train, however it’s not a dedicated airport line. Take an Uber or a Taxi (about US$35) to the CBD. To get around it’s best to buy an Opal Card which works for Sydney’s embarrasingly ragtag selection of train, bus, ferry and light rail services.
Sydney Daily Costs
Budget
Daily Budget Up To:
US$150
- Hostel dorm bed: US$25–60
- Fast food, pizzas, meat pies: US$5-17
- Short bus/tram/train ride: US$3
Mid Range
Daily Budget From:
US$200–350
- Double room in a Motel/Hotel: US$120–250
- Good cafe lunch: US$20+
- Greyhound Bus (Bris-Syd): US$100
Luxury
Daily Budget From:
US$350+
- Boutique hotel or resort: US$250+
- Negroni Cocktail: US$20+
- Domestic Flight (Bris-Syd): US$100+