72 hours in Sydney
Day 1:
We decided to base ourselves in Circular Quay for our three night stay in Sydney, choosing the luxurious Four Seasons hotel situated between Circular Quay and the edge of The historic Rocks area. Not only does it afford many of the famous sights and sounds of Sydney within walking distance it is also convenient for using the wonderful transport system including the public ferries, the tram and trains and the local buses.
We started out early on our first full day with a wonderful avocado on toast breakfast at Avenue on George cafe before catching the tram up to the CBD, alighting at the QVB stop. Rather than heading straight to the historic Queen Victoria Building we first off set off for the Sydney Tower Eye to get a view over the city unlike any other. At over 1000 feet tall the Sydney Sky Tower is often in competition with the equivalent tower in Auckland with Sydney taking the record for the higher observation tower while Auckland claims the overall taller structure. Up on floor 82 we could see all over the surrounding suburbs including over to the White Bay cruise terminal where we were due to meet our cruise ship, the Holland America Line MS Noordam, in a few days time. Not only did it give us a lovely view of the city it also gave us a chance to orientate ourselves and work out where to go from here.
Back down on the ground floor we headed out to the 40 acre Hyde park, the oldest park in Sydney and home to the Anzac memorial building. The park is rectangular in shape and has lovely gardens to walk through as well as the interesting museum within the Anzac building. Walking through the park we stumbled upon the magnificent St Marys Cathedral before crossing back into the main CBD area to wander around the historic buildings such as the Town Hall, the Strand Arcade and the Queen Victoria Building, both beautifully restored shopping arcades and the perfect place for us to stop for a spot of lunch.
From here it was a short walk through to Darling Harbour, home to plenty of tourist attractions, cafes and restaurants. We walked along the waterfront through Kings Wharf, passed the impressively modern glass tower block that houses the Crown Casino. Making our way round the casino we entered the Barangaroo Reserve, a beautiful park land sitting at the edge of Millers Point. Walking around the edge of the reserve offers lovely views across the water to Balmain East, North Sydney and the historic Luna Park, as well as watching the colourful parakeets that live in the tress in the reserve.
Leaving the reserve we rounded the corner into the wharf side with waterfront cafes and some swanky looking apartments. Passed the wharfs we reached the end of Dawes point, walking under the Harbour bridge through Dawes Point park rounding the corner to Campbell Cove with the Overseas passenger cruise terminal coming into view. We headed inland to the Rocks area heading up the bridge to the Pylon Lookout. Though we could see people doing the Harbour Bridge Climb, we chose the cheaper and less scary option climbing the 200+ steps up to the top of the south-east bridge pylon. At the top of the pylon there is a magnificent view of the surrounding area as well as a very unique perspective of the Harbour Bridge itself.
Climbing back down was a lot easier and it wasn’t long until we were back out on the edge of the bridge and walking through The Rocks. Stopping for a drink at the historic Glenmore Hotel in the Rocks before making our way back to Campbells Cove for a waterfront dinner at the wonderful 6Head steakhouse, enjoying a delicious burger and bottle of red looking out to The Sydney Opera House. A perfect end to a perfect day.
Day 2:
With so many wonderful breakfast options within a stones throw of our hotel we walked just a few hundred yards down the road from our hotel to a popular local cafe, The Rocks Cafe, sitting outside to eat our delicious avocado on toast. We had decided that today was going to be a beach day so after feeling up we headed to the ferry terminal and jumped on the local ferry to Manly. The ferry ride is in itself a pretty incredible journey with magnificent views of the Harbour bridge and the Opera house from the water and within half an hour we had arrived in Manly and made our way down the Main Street towards the beach.
The bay at Manly is massive and though the weather wasn’t great for us there were plenty of people out walking the promenade and surfers in the rather unfriendly looking sea - in fact so unfriendly that there was a warning on the beach tannoys that a bull shark had been spotted in the bay as we walked from one end of the bay to the other. But with its swanky apartments, surf club, cafes, soft sand, beach volleyball, lido sea pool and long promenade we can see why people flock here in the summer. Walking back to the ferry terminal we stopped for a coffee and a bite to eat at the marvellous Norma’s Deli, a little hidden gem mid way between the beach and the ferry terminal.
Back in Circular Quay we hopped straight off the ferry and onto the bus to Bondi beach. The transport in Sydney is so easy to use and you really don’t need cash in this city at all, everything is contactless and there’s a daily limit on how much you’ll be charged so you don’t need to worry about how much you are using it. The 45 minute bus journey to Bondi took us through some of Sydney’s suburbs, including the expensive suburbs of Darlinghurst, Paddington, Woollahra and Bellevue Hill. We got off at the near end of the beach to visit the lovely Iceberg Club with its magnificent cliffside lido pool. Walking round the bay we passed the pavilion and the beachcombers and surfers making the most of the lively sea. At the far end of the beach you can either come back along the road with its numerous bars and restaurants along the way or, like we did, get back on the bus for the journey back to Circular Quay.
We arrived in Circular Quay in the late afternoon and headed passed the Opera House to the wonderful Royal Botanic Gardens for a lovely early evening stroll as the sun was getting low in the sky and the locals came out after work. Strolling around the headland we had lovely views of the Opera House and the harbour before coming back through the beautiful gardens in time to get a drink and some supper at the fabulous Opera Bar where the food is delicious, there’s usually live music and obviously you have the best view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge you can get.
Day 3:
Our last full day in Sydney and we decided to head out of the city for the magnificent Blue Mountains. Up before it was light we took the local tram to Central station and boarded the train to Katoomba, a two hour ride away. Enjoying the views as we journeyed out of Sydney and towards the mountains we arrived at the station in time for coffee and a breakfast croissant. We decided the most convenient way to see as much as we could in the little time we had was to but a HOHO Blue Mountain Explorer bus pass.
First stop on our tour was Echo point with its stunning views down to the valley. As we were there early the valley was still full of fluffy white low cloud sitting in the bottom of it which made it an even more beautiful sight. We took the short (but very steep) walk from there to the Three Sisters and Honeymoon bridge and by the time we had returned to Echo Point all of the cloud had burnt away. Boarding the bus again we headed to Scenic World to ride the worlds steepest tram, take a trip on Australia’s biggest single line cable car and ride over the valley on the glass bottomed Skyway. After a couple of hours there we boarded the bus again to complete the scenic route in the bus which took us along some beautiful mountain roads. We got off the bus at the quaint little village of Leura for coffee and an ice cream before walking up to the station to catch the train back to Sydney. Both exhausted we spent most of the journey back asleep.
Back at the hotel we quickly showered and changed to head back out to Darling Harbour for dinner at Lotus Barangaroo, one of the many lovely restaurants along the waters edge. With is being a gorgeous Friday evening Darling Harbour was buzzing with people out eating and drinking in the bars as well as walking along the harbour front. A perfect end to our three day stay.
We booked a deluxe full Harbour view room at the Four Seasons hotel directly with the hotel, paying 1,967 AUD for a 3 night stay.
If you enjoyed this blog why not read our review of a Cosmos Jersey Stay and Explore break or our Riviera New Zealand North and South Island tour blogs
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