Beach blonde and sun soaked, Sydney lives up to Australian expectations. With a breathtaking harbor in the center of the city, a café culture, a buzzing nightlife, and business and arts meeting point, Sydney is rightfully the state capital of New South Wales. Australia’s oldest and largest city doesn’t show its age too much. Perhaps its all the exercise Sydney seems to get, keeping it so young.
To see where Sydney was born, head to The Rocks, site of the first landing of the British from Plymouth in 1788. Surrounding The Rocks, visitors will find winding streets riddled with sandstone cottages. Some of the city’s oldest pubs rest in this section of town, so stop, rest your feet, and cool off with an Australian brew.
The first image you may see of Sydney is hard to miss. The Sydney Opera House sits on the city’s harbor, sculpted effortlessly with its curvy architecture. The Sydney Opera House became a symbol for the city when it first opened in 1973. Apart from appearing on postcards, the opera house is just that, hosting 3,000 performances a year here. It contains the Concert Hall, The Playhouse, the Opera Theater and the Drama Theater.
Another symbol of the city lies or stretches rather in the Sydney Harbor Bridge, which opened in 1932. An engineering marvel, the bridge took 8 years and around 1,400 workers to build. The daring can walk on top of the bridge, above the cars and traffic. The walk puts strollers up 50 storeys high. The walk also lends insights into the intricacy of the Sydney Harbor Bridge’s construction.
Sydney is known for its love of the great outdoors. One of the city’s and world’s most famous beaches rests on the shores of Bondi Beach. The one kilometer long crescent of sand sits between two rocky headlands. Just 15 minutes from Sydney’s city center, beach goers can enjoy the coastal walk from Bondi’s southern end to the Coogee coast. There is also a popular Sunday market held here. Closer to the city, travelers can still take in the natural aspects to Sydney at the Royal Botanic Gardens. Spreading out across 30 hectares of land and right in the city’s core, the gardens house over one million specimens.
To see the world’s largest permanent display of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art there is only one place to go in town, the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The collection also details Australian art, from the early colonial period to the mid 20th century. The Art Gallery truly holds it all with even an Asian collection, delighting all tastes and nearby geographical points.
Get on Sydney’s level at the Sydney Tower. Resting 250 meters above Market Street, Sydney’s tallest buildings has no fear of heights. Viewers can take in sights of the city, harbor, Olympic Park, and up to 100 kilometers to the north, all from the Sydney Tower’s vantage point.
Despite the wealth of things to do indoors in Sydney, everyone seems to be outside, living life to its fullest and appreciating their city’s natural position. Travelers can surf at Bondi during the day, sail under the Harbor Bridge in the afternoon and end the day with a jog along the Coogee cliff tops. Sydney appears to always have her running shoes on.
