Sydney holidays

Boasting the iconic 1 km Bondi Beach, life at Bondi revolves around the sea. Busy Campbell Parade hugs the beach line and is brimming with trendy cafés, restaurants, takeaway food venues, boutiques, and surf gear shops. It’s where locals, tourists, and backpackers all congregate. Don’t miss the 4 km (2.5-mile) clifftop walk from Bondi Beach to Clovelly

Definitely the place for a traditional Yum Cha experience, Chinatown offers a multitude of dining choices. Set just at the southern tip of the central business district, it bustles with activity later into the evenings than most city-centre neighbourhoods. Dixon Street’s pedestrian mall is the hub, with herbalists, greengrocers, boutiques, food halls, and modern shopping malls within a 0.5-km radius.

Built on an iconic harbour and bordered by the expansive Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain parkland on the east, the city centre offers shopping experiences from the sophisticated to the bargain basement, with restaurants and cafés to match. Backpackers, international visitors, and the local business crowd all rub shoulders here.

An easy downhill walk from the city centre, and also accessible by monorail, Darling Harbour is home to Sydney’s main convention and exhibition facilities, and also acts an entertainment hot spot. Overlooking the water on Cockle Bay are pulsating night-and-day bars, cafés, and restaurants, plus an aquarium, wildlife park, and free maritime museum. The nearby Chinese Gardens provide a serene distraction.

Sandwiched between Kings Cross and its more chic neighbour, Paddington, the suburb of Darlinghurst is a vibrant, open-24-hours mix of terrace houses, hip bars, nightclubs, and a multitude of restaurants with menus ranging from top value to top dollar. Head for Stanley Street’s inner city version of Little Italy for pasta.

Kings Cross is an eclectic collection of bars, shops, cafés, budget accommodation, and adult entertainment venues. Radiating out from Darlinghurst Road and Macleay Street, this area is the place to be for an uncensored nightlife experience. It is also peppered with some of the city’s most popular restaurants – from the cheap and cheerful, to the hip and stylish.

North Sydney’s equivalent of Bondi Beach is easily accessed via a beautiful 30-minute ferry trip from Circular Quay near the city centre. Visitors and locals alike flock here for its relaxed beach and café culture and the 1.5-km ocean foreshore. The more sheltered Shelly Beach, Little Manly, and Fairlight are also well worth a visit.

Paddington is Sydney at its most cutting edge. Bordered by 360-hectare Centennial Park, the many tree-lined streets are home to a wealth of small galleries, boutiques, cafés that spill onto the footpath, swanky pubs, top restaurants, and gourmet food providores and delis. Sydney’s up and coming flock here each weekend for the latest finds in local designer fashion. The main drag is Oxford Street, where the popular markets are held every Saturday in the Uniting Church grounds.

Mascot revolves around airport operations - both domestic and international. A number of hotels are conveniently positioned for hasty transfers, catering to the business market and those requiring accommodation between flights. A number of discount outlets are within 2 km (1.5 miles), and seaside cafés are a handy 4 km (2.5 miles) away at Brighton-Le-Sands. The central business district is 12 km (7.5 miles) north of here.

Hugging the harbour, this district is a monument to sensitive urban planning, with well-preserved cobbled lanes and a Colonial streetscape marking it as Sydney’s oldest district. Locals and visitors mingle here amid designer boutiques, al fresco cafés, lively pubs, galleries, museums, and some of the city’s best restaurants. The weekend markets are not to be missed.