Must-see attractions in Sydney

Definitively Sydney, Bondi is one of the world’s great beaches. It’s the closest ocean beach to the city centre (8km away), has consistently good (though…

Sydneysiders love their giant 'coathanger', which opened in 1932. The best way to experience this majestic structure is on foot. Stairs and lifts ascend…

A spectacular mix of sandstone, Australian bushland and tranquil water vistas, this 14,928-hectare park forms Sydney’s northern boundary. It’s located 20…

Lovely Watsons Bay, east of the city centre and north of Bondi, was once a small fishing village, as evidenced by the heritage cottages that pepper the…

A 12-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay, this forested harbour hillside is full of kangaroos, koalas and similarly hirsute Australians, plus numerous…

Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, this magnificent building is Australia's most famous landmark. Visually referencing a yacht's sails, it's a…

About 3km south of central Manly, spectacular North Head offers dramatic cliffs, lookouts, secluded beaches, pretty paths through the native scrub, and…

This central section of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a spectacular wilderness, with awe-inspiring vistas over Pittwater and Broken Bay, hidden beach…

With its neoclassical Greek frontage and modern rear, this much-loved institution plays a prominent and gregarious role in Sydney society. Blockbuster…

As well as regular tanks, this impressive complex has large pools that you can walk through – safely enclosed in Perspex tunnels – as an intimidating…

Beneath a soaring roof, the Maritime Museum sails through Australia’s inextricable relationship with the sea. Exhibitions range from Indigenous canoes to…

Southeast of the Opera House, this garden was established in 1816 and features plant life from around the world. Within the gardens are hothouses with…

Studded with photogenic industrial relics, convict architecture and art installations, fascinating Cockatoo Island (Wareamah) opened to the public in 2007…

Scratched out of the sand in 1888 in grand Victorian style, Sydney’s biggest park is a rambling 189-hectare expanse full of horse riders, joggers,…

Built in the 1850s, Sydney’s copper-domed, Italianate sandstone observatory squats atop Observatory Hill, overlooking the harbour. Inside is an intriguing…

This noble brick building was designed by the convict architect Francis Greenway to house prisoners arriving in the colony. Now a flagship museum, the…

Acclaimed local artist Brett Whiteley (1939–1992) lived fast and without restraint. Many of his multimillion-dollar paintings were created in this hard-to…

Now dwarfed by 20th-century apartments, Colonial Secretary Alexander Macleay's elegant Greek Revival mansion was one of the finest houses in the colony…

Divided into four displays – Warrane (pre-1788), Colony (1788–1820), Port (1820–1900) and Transformations (1900 to the present) – this small, excellent…

This piscatorial precinct on Blackwattle Bay shifts around 15 million kilograms of seafood annually, and has retail outlets, restaurants, sushi and oyster…