Sydney

NSW’s main art gallery includes a solid collection of 19th- and 20th-century Australian artists, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, big names of European art history and international contemporary artists, plus a fine Asian collection. There are also regular blockbuster touring shows from overseas galleries. It also hosts the controversial Archibald Prize, an annual portraiture competition.

Phone:

+61 (0) 2 9225 1700

Opening hours:

10am-5pm Thur-Tue; 10am-9pm Wed

Address:

Art Gallery Road, the Domain

Set in the heavenly harbour, its cream wings reminiscent of the sails of the First Fleet, the Sydney Opera House is the city’s most famous asset. It took 14 years and $102 million (??specify Australian dollars?) to build. In its five auditoria, the Opera House holds 2,400 opera, concert, theatre, film and dance performances every year. Attend a performance if you have the chance; otherwise, take one of the daily guided tours.

Phone:

Box office +61 (0) 2 9250 7777; information +61 (0) 2 9250 7111; tours +61 (0) 2 9250 7250

Opening hours:

Box office 9am-8.30pm Mon-Sat; 2hrs prior to performance time on Sun. Tours every 30mins 9am-5pm daily. Open late on performance nights

Address:

Bennelong Point, Circular Quay

On first sight, it comes as no surprise that Sydney Harbour Bridge has been declared ‘one of the seven wonders of the modern world’. The refurbished Pylon Lookout is well worth a visit for the magnificent open-air views from the top. To reach it, climb 200 steps past three levels of exhibits celebrating the history of the bridge. The more intrepid can take a guided tour to the top of the bridge itself with only a harness and a plunge between you and the waters of the harbour!

Phone:

+61 (0) 2 9240 1100

Opening hours:

10am-5pm daily

Address:

Accessible via stairs on Cumberland Street

This working fishing port has trawlers in Blackwattle Bay, wholesale and retail fish markets, shops, a variety of indoor and outdoor eateries, and picnic tables on an outdoor deck. It’s the largest market of its kind in the southern hemisphere, and you won’t find more varieties of fish on sale anywhere else other than in Japan. There’s even a Sydney Seafood School nearby.

Phone:

+61 (0) 2 9004 1100

Opening hours:

7am-4pm daily

Address:

Corner of Pyrmont Bridge Road & Bank Street, Pyrmont, west of the city centre

Bondi Beach is anything but a romantic strolling-in-the-moonlight sandy spot. It’s the funkiest ocean beach and the closest to the city. It also boasts some of the best eating and drinking holes in the city – Sydney’s beautiful people wouldn’t be seen anywhere else. Fully kitted out for surfers, there are numerous places to hire wetsuits and surfboards.

Phone:

N/a

Opening hours:

N/a

Address:

Bondi Beach, Eastern Suburbs, 7km from the centre

The legendary Annandale is the place to see hot up-and-coming bands and to catch overseas talent performing ‘secret’ shows for fans. The sound is reasonable and the upper level at the rear is given over to tables and chairs for the terminally rocked out. The Annandale also hosts weekly cult movie nights, pub trivia and Sunday markets.

Phone:

+61 (0) 2 9550 1078

Opening hours:

11am-midnight Mon-Sat; 11am-10pm Sun

Address:

Corner of Parramatta Road & Nelson Street, Annandale

Walk into this small bar and ask Alexx Swainston to make you a drink. One of the best bartenders in the land, she’ll look you up and down and maybe ask you what kind of mood you’re in. It’s not unusual to see a regular come in complaining of a sore throat and a broken heart only to have both cured in a single cocktail!

Phone:

+61 (0) 2 9326 9000

Opening hours:

6pm-1am Tue-Sat

Address:

22 Challis Avenue, Macleay Street, Potts Point

Sydney’s restaurants offer some of the best seafood in the world and there’s no better place to start than this popular fish caff. The sashimi bar is top-notch, while the fish and chips must be tasted to be believed; the note suggesting you eat with your fingers is entirely superfluous. There is no other way.

Phone:

+61 (0) 2 9332 4803

Opening hours:

6pm-10pm Mon-Sat

Address:

132 Darlinghurst Road, between Liverpool & Burton Streets, Kings Cross

You’ve got plush timber and leather trimmings framing views of the Bridge, Quay and Opera House on the one hand, and Matt Moran’s fresh and lively bistro-gone-glam food on the other. Hit the Peking duck consommé, then the roast Murray cod, and go for broke on the outstanding wine list.

Phone:

+61 (0) 2 9252 2555

Opening hours:

12.30pm-2.30pm, 5.30pm-11.30pm Mon-Fri; 5.00pm-11.30pm Sat; Sun 6pm-10.30pm

Address:

1 Macquarie Street, East Circular Quay

The building has wonderful intact art deco styling and decorative plasterwork and, thanks to a revamp in the early 2000s, a 25m indoor pool, state-of the-art gym, spa and sauna have been added to the famed 50m heated outdoor pool. The views from the pool itself and the terraced concrete seating above it are stupendous and there are a couple of snazzy eateries to boot.

Phone:

+61 (0) 2 9955 2309

Opening hours:

5.30am-9pm Mon-Fri; 7am-7pm Sat, Sun

Address:

4 Alfred Street South, at the foreshore, Milsons Point