The Best Things to Do in Sydney

Gallery director Adrian Newstead sources bark paintings, sculptures, and ceremonial artifacts from Aboriginal artists throughout Australia and curates works for local and international shows.

North of the harbor on Lavender Bay, Clark Park is an ideal spot for a picnic away from the bustle. On the western end, curious visitors discover the garden Wendy Whiteley created from a landfill. 5- to 10-minute walk from Luna Park. This appeared in the August/September 2013 issue.

Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the Sydney Opera House was inspired by its dramatic setting on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, a location that’s long been sacred to the native Gadigal people. While construction took 16 years, including four years to figure out the spherical solution to the icon’s soaring sails, any controversies melted away when the masterpiece was completed in 1973. The same outside-the-box thinking that built the shell-shaped sculpture seeps through its walls today in the form of boundary-pushing opera, theater, and dance as well as contemporary music and mind-opening lectures. The landmark is also home to the beloved Opera Bar and Bennelong Restaurant upstairs, where diners can eat pavlova shaped like the landmark in which they sit.

The Queen Victoria Building has been central to culture and commerce in Sydney since 1898. Covering a full city block with the Town Hall train station entrance on the ground floor, it’s hard to miss and easy to get to. For a perfect Sunday in Sydney, sip high tea under the crystal chandelier-laden ceiling of the QVB ballroom. True to English tradition, single-estate teas are served in floral Royal Albert china, and petite sandwiches, petit fours, scones, and pastries are ordered by the tier. Make time for admiring the mix of art deco details and shopping the maze of independent and international stores on your way to or from the Tea Room on the third floor.

Carved by ocean inlets that meet vertical cliffs, Sydney is a city that’s defined by nature. And in less than an hour, travelers can visit Royal National Park to the south, the world’s second oldest national park, established in 1879. “The Royal,” or “Nasho” as its sometimes called, is most famous for its 16-mile Coast Track, which undulates up rugged bluffs and down to rocky coves from Bundeena to Otford. Veteran trekkers can accomplish the hike in a single day, but most people divide the journey into a two-day backpacking trip with an overnight at North Era campground. Whales migrate along the coast from June to November, and swimming spots like Figure 8 Pool and the waterfall-fed Wattamolla lagoon beckon hikers in summer.

The most high-adrenaline way to see Sydney Harbour, BridgeClimb has been dressing up locals and travelers in jumpsuits and safety harnesses to ascend “The Coathanger” since 1998. Along the way, they learn fun facts about the Sydney Harbour Bridge, like how it was built using six million rivets, which bridge workers tossed to each other when they were white hot and ready to weld. You’ll also gain a new appreciation for the Sydney Opera House as well as the world’s deepest natural harbor, which just so happens to be the birthplace of European Australia. At the top, strike your favorite Zoolander pose, or try “the koala,” which Ben Stiller invented during his climb.

Sydney’s 158-acre botanic garden, which hugs the harbor between Mrs Macquarie’s Chair and the Sydney Opera House, is home to nearly 9,000 plant species. Depending on the season of your visit, you might seek out spring peaches and wisteria or tropical orchids and summer lotus flowers. On any occasion, don’t miss descendants of the 200-million-year-old Wollemi pine, a dinosaur of a conifer only discovered in 1994. The gardens are also studded with sculptures from historical statues to modern works by Bronwyn Oliver, Paul Selwood, and Keld Moseholm. The quartz-and-sandstone Wurrungwuri depicts an Aboriginal shield once used by the traditional owners of this land. Tours are offered throughout the year, including a 1.5-hour Aboriginal history tour on the food and medicinal properties of native Australian plants.

The Australian collection here includes almost 19,000 pieces ranging from paintings and decorative arts to modern photography, pop art, and screen-printing. The Yiribana Gallery is renowned for some of the best permanent and rotating exhibits of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in the world. Every Wednesday evening, the museum hosts Art After Hours, an inspiring night of workshops, talks, and live entertainment that lasts until 10pm. Once you’ve finished exploring the galleries, duck behind the museum outside to find Brett Whiteley’s whimsical Almost Once, a sculpture of two massive matchsticks, one burnt out, the other waiting to be ignited. In 2017, the New South Wales government committed $244 million to help transform the gallery into an expanded future museum called the Sydney Modern, slated to open in 2021.

Australia’s first museum was opened in 1827 in Sydney with the goal of showcasing unique specimens relating to the country’s fascinating natural history. Initially called the Sydney Museum or Colonial Museum, the institution was renamed the Australian Museum in 1836 and reopened in its current location on Williams Street in 1857. The small collection of curiosities has grown to more than 18 million objects of cultural or scientific significance. The museum also plays a leading role in natural and cultural research on Australia and the Pacific, and offers a rotating slate of exhibitions, events, overnight experiences for kids, and even ecology-focused trips abroad. In 2017, a new permanent collection called 200 Treasures debuted, featuring crystals, skeletons, and a Roro feather headdress from Papua New Guinea.

The museum is currently undergoing an expansion and refurbishment in the leadup to the blockbuster exhibition, Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh, which will debut in 2021. The museum will remain open during renovations.

Set on the western side of Circular Quay, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) is the country’s leading institution for modern art. While access to touring international exhibitions from the likes of Tatsuo Miyajima and Annie Leibovitz incurs an entrance fee, the permanent collection of more than 4,000 contemporary works by Australian and Torres Strait Islanders, from Gary Carsley to Lena Yarinkura—plus a rare collection of artist notebooks, music, letters, and sketches—is always free. Come on Wednesday night when the gallery is open until 9 p.m., or for the adults-only Art Bar on the last Friday of the month. The rooftop café offers occasional live music and DJs plus glittering views of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge after dark.

In the 1850s, a rugged hill overlooking Sydney Harbour was capped with the Sydney Observatory at the behest of English astronomer and clergyman William Scott. What started as a sandstone structure used primarily for time-keeping and navigation developed into an observatory that has been illuminating the southern sky for more than a century. Sydney has much more light pollution today, but the original retractable copper dome does a good job of blocking it out to bring distant constellations and nebulae into view. The resident astronomer will target planets such as Jupiter and Saturn as well as only-in-the-southern-hemisphere sights such as the Southern Cross constellation or the astronomer’s favorite: Jewel Box, a rare cluster of glimmering stars whose different colors reflect distinct ages.

Travelers should visit Taronga Zoo as much for its harbor views as for the 4,000 resident animals (who get to see them all day long). Ferry 15 minutes from Circular Quay and take an optional Sky Safari cable car, included in the ticket price, and you’re in an exotic land of giraffes, elephants, and bongos as well as native echidnas, wombats, and Tasmanian devils. Wildlife tours, zookeeper talks (including impressive bird shows), and special events such as the Twilight at Taronga summer concert series are on the calendar, and a tented camp accommodates overnight guests who help feed select animals before a sunset dinner set against the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Tent cabins feature decks that lure campers out of bed for sunrise.

Famous as the site of the 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney Olympic Park is full of history. It also hosts a plethora of modern events from the National Rugby League Grand Final to concerts by the likes of the Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran to the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Many of the world-class venues offer tours to cater to sports fans of certain stripes. Over 20 miles of running and cycling trails include the seven-mile River Heritage Circuit, which starts next to the Parramatta River and circles sports venues, an armory, woodlands, and wetlands where frogs and birds call out at dusk. End on a high note at one of the park’s many vantage points like Woo-la-ra hill.

A coveted venue for any band on the rise, the Oxford Art Factory has hosted Courtney Barnett, The Growlers, and Sylvan Esso, among many other emerging local and international acts. The intimate brick-walled space—inspired by Andy Warhol’s Factory in New York during the ’60s—is a flourishing music and art space in a formerly thriving nightlife district that has recently come upon hard times. The spirit of the place offers hope that there are no shortage of music fans in Sydney and that the cultural scene around Oxford Street is destined to bounce back. In addition to live music, the Oxford Art Factory books art shows and festivals.

The final home and workplace of the late Australian artist Brett Whiteley is now a museum that holds rotating exhibits of Whiteley’s work shown on weekends as well as monthly events such as poetry readings and classical music performances. The upstairs is frozen in time: dipped brushes are ready to create their next masterpiece; reference books are opened to the last page Whiteley saw; vinyl records sit waiting to be played. All of this plus a wall of photos, graffiti, and quotes from contemporaries like Bob Dylan paints an intimate portrait of an artistic genius who died of a methadone overdose in 1992. Entrance and events are free, and you don’t need to book ahead. Just show up ready to be inspired.

Since opening in 1819, Australia’s first barracks has housed British convicts, female immigrants, destitute elderly women, courtrooms, and government offices until it was finally declared a museum in 1979. During a twice-daily tour, or with the help of an audio guide, visitors get a glimpse of how high-skill prisoners lived, worked, and slept (on hammocks) during the 19th century—often freely working in the city by day but sleeping alongside more than 1,000 thieves, conspirators, bank robbers, pirates, and bushrangers by night. Offered in the original convict bakehouse and store, a house-made pot pie, burger, or cake with a schooner of beer at Bakehouse is a welcome end to the experience. Outside, freedom has never felt so good.

For a glimpse of Sydney‘s high society, visit Vaucluse House, a beautiful villa and garden in the Eastern Suburbs near Watsons Bay. A gothic revival mansion built in 1803, Vaucluse House once belonged to ex-convict Sir Henry Browne Hayes, who was shipped to Australia from England for abducting a banker’s daughter. Some punishment. The mansion also served as the home of writer, explorer, and local dignitary William Charles Wentworth. Once you’re done eyeing the antiques and memorabilia, check out the tropical gardens and settle in for a cup of English breakfast and a warm scone at the well-appointed tearoom. There’s also Milk Beach and the Hermitage Foreshore Track nearby, a gorgeous coastal walk for those looking for a little more adventure.