| Brief Guide to the Top Ten Things to do in Sydney |
| 1. Sydney Opera House |
|
Cities love to have icons - positive visual images that are immediately brought to mind whenever the city is mentioned. And of all modern city icons in the world, Sydney Opera House reigns supreme: a stunning cluster of white shells on a promontory overlooking a magnificent harbour, a building like no other. The tortured history of its creation is almost as famous as the building itself. In 1957, on the basis of a sketch, the Danish architect Jørn Utzon (born 1918) won an international competition to design the opera house and oversee its construction. Making this a reality proved an engineering headache, with the result that the building had to be radically revised, cost seven times the original budget, and took fourteen years to complete - by which time Utzon has walked out. It was finally opened in 1973, to huge acclaim. 'Opera house' is a bit of a misnomer: the four auditoriums play host to a broad range of cultural events, including concerts, ballet, plays, musical shows and film. One-hour guided tours of the equally spectacular interior are available throughout the day.
www.sydneyoperahouse.com |
| 2. Sydney Harbour Bridge |
|
For a while when it was first completed in 1932, Sydney Harbour Bridge was the longest single-span bridge in the world, and represented a great engineering triumph. With a main span of 503m (1650ft) and a total length of 1149m (3770ft), it provided a vital link between the North Shore and Sydney City (and the Central Business District) on the south side of the harbour. It remains the world's widest long-span bridge: its width of 49m (160ft) includes eight lanes of road, two rail tracks, a cycle path and a footway. Although the object of great national pride, Sydneysiders (as the residents of Sydney are known) promptly applied their talent for understatement by nicknaming it 'The Coathanger'. But this reflects an essential truth about its famous silhouette: a very simple shape has been employed to create a structure of enormous strength. The bridge has its own museum, called Pylon Lookout, which is set in the south-eastern pylon (tower); it tells the story of the bridge's construction, and there's a magnificent view of the harbour from the top level, 87m (285ft) above mean sea level. Alternatively, the 'BridgeClimb' will take you to the very top of the bridge, 134m (415ft) above mean sea level, in an exhilarating 3½-hour guided adventure on the upper catwalks and ladders.
www.pylonlookout.com.au www.bridgeclimb.com |
| 3. Art Gallery of New South Wales |
|
Founded in 1874, this is Sydney's best art collection, and the second largest in Australia (after the National Gallery of Victoria). Housed in a coolly elegant neoclassical building, dating originally from 1896-1909, it includes work by many of the big names of Western art such as Rubens, Canaletto, Delacroix, Van Gogh, Rodin, Pissarro, Monet, Bonnard, Picasso, and Giacometti, and it also has a good selection of contemporary artists such as Gilbert and George and Antony Gormley. But more notable still is its collection of work by the great Australian artists, including classic landscapes by Arthur Streeton and Hans Heysen, work by Russell Drysdale, Arthur Boyd, Sidney Nolan and Brett Whiteley, and by leading contemporary artists such as Mike Parr and Imants Tillers. There's also an excellent collection of sculpture and painting by Australian Aboriginal artists, plus art and artefacts from Asia and the Pacific Islands.
www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au |
| 4. Harbour cruises |
| Sydney Harbour (or, more properly, Port Jackson) is famed as one of the greatest and most beautiful natural harbours in the world. To appreciate its majesty, and get the best views of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, take a harbour cruise. Boats leave from Circular Quay (between the Opera House and Bridge). The most popular excursion goes from Circular Quay to Manly, Sydney's best beach resort, where there's a good range of places to eat, drink and shop, plus the Oceanworld aquarium (big sharks, Barrier Reef sealife, venomous snakes). Alternatively, by hiring a water taxi, you can take a picnic to Shark, Goat, Clark and Rodd Islands in the middle of the harbour, which form part of the National Parks and Wildlife Service. |
| 5. The Rocks |
|
This is where the passengers and crew of Australia's First Fleet, bringing the first European settlers to the continent, landed and set up camp in 1788. Known as the Rocks, the old town quarter retains something of its historic air, with cobbled lanes and a collection of old buildings. It includes Sydney's oldest building, Cadman's Cottage, built 1815-16; and the Susannah Place Museum, a small folk museum in a set of terrace houses dating from 1844, which evokes the daily life of ordinary Sydneysiders in the 19th and 20th centuries. Lying between Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, The Rocks has become a popular attraction, with shops (and a weekend craft market), historic pubs, and hotels famed for their views. Those interested in modern art should look out for the temporary exhibitions mounted by the prestigious Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) located in a large Art Deco building between The Rocks and West Circular Quay.
www.mca.com.au (Museum of Contemporary Art) |
| 6. Darling Harbour |
|
The old port in central Sydney has been developed in recent decades as a focal point for tourism and entertainment. The star of its attractions is the Sydney Aquarium, a huge complex that includes underwater walkways for close-up views of sharks and rays. It provides a wonderful opportunity to see the myriad creatures that inhabit the Great Barrier Reef, as well as penguins, seals, crocodiles and platypuses. The Australian National Maritime Museum has historical exhibits that underline the country's close bond with shipping; it includes a replica of James Cook's ship The Endeavour. The Powerhouse Museum is an extraordinary collection of nearly 400,000 objects from the fields of science and technology, design, the decorative arts, transport, engineering, industry, plus Australian history and society. Darling Harbour also has an Imax cinema, the serene Chinese Garden of Friendship, a casino, a large shopping centre packed with souvenirs, and plenty of places to eat and drink, including the colourful and still very active Sydney Fish Market.
www.darlingharbour.com.au www.sydneyaquarium.com.au www.anmm.gov.au (National Maritime Museum) www.powerhousemuseum.com www.chinesegarden.com.au |
| 7. Sydney Tower |
|
The Observation Deck on this skyscraper gives you a superlative 360° view over the city from a height of 250m (820ft). Built in 1970-81, the tower (also referred to as the AMP Tower and Centrepoint) measures 309m (1014 ft) to its tip; its spindly lollypop form is secured by 56 cables that act as guys. High-speed lifts whisk you to the top of the tower, where there are restaurants and a coffee lounge. Ticket prices include OzTrek, a simulated ride at the base of the tower that leads you through Australia's cultural history and geography using a 180° cinema screen.
www.sydneyskytour.com.au |
| 8. Macquarie Street and Royal Botanic Gardens |
|
Macquarie Street runs through the Central Business District from Hyde Park to Circular Quay. It is named after Lachlan Macquarie, the influential governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821; he oversaw the transition of Australia into more than just a penal colony. In so doing, he founded a number of public buildings at the Hyde Park end of the street, notably the Hyde Park Barracks (formerly housing male convicts, now home to a museum about convict life), and the St James Church, which was recently listed as one of the world's great buildings by Dan Cruickshank, in his television series 'Around the World in 80 Treasures'. Both of these buildings were designed by Francis Greenway, a British-born architect convicted for forgery and transported to Australia in 1814. Macquarie also founded the Rum Hospital, which still has Sydney Hospital in the central section; the south wing became the Mint Building, where money was minted from 1854 to 1926, and north wing became Parliament House, which contains the legislative chambers of the parliament of New South Wales. Macquarie Street is also the location of the splendid neo-Gothic Government House (built 1837-45), with its surrounding historic garden. Adjacent to this is the Royal Botanic Garden, 24 hectares (60 acres) of open green space. Founded in 1816, it presents a wide variety of plants from around the world, as well as uniquely Australian plants and flowers. The glass pyramid of the Sydney Tropical Centre contains exotic ferns, orchids, carnivorous plants and many other hot-climate species. Mrs Macquarie's Chair, carved out of a rock ledge in these gardens, is a famous viewpoint overlooking Sydney Harbour.
www.rbgsyd.gov.au |
| 9. Taronga Zoo |
|
Spectacularly located in Mosman on the North Shore of the harbour, Taronga Zoo has animals from all over the world - but this is of course the perfect place to be introduced to many of Australia's unique species, such as kangaroos, dingoes, wallabies, wombats, koalas and kookaburras. It is paired with the more spacious Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, 400km (250 miles) inland.
www.zoo.nsw.gov.au |
| 10. The Beach |
| This is an essential part of the Sydney experience. There are excellent beaches both north and south of the harbour, many of them equipped with good bars and restaurants. Manly (see Harbour Cruises above) has its own beach, plus others within walking distance of the ferry terminal, such as Shelly Beach in Cabbage Tree Bay. A string of other beaches lead out either side of the peninsula; for example, the less crowded Dee Why Beach is a 15-minute bus journey further north. The famous and ever-busy Bondi Beach is south of Sydney Harbour, and closer to the city centre. Bronte Beach and Coogee Beach, yet further to the south, also have their loyal devotees. |
| Comments, copyright and linking |
|
Comments on this brief guide would be welcome. Also, please let us know if you do put in a link to this guide from your website and we will try to reciprocate with a link from us to your site.
Copyright: these pages are protected by copyright and reproduction of this material is strictly prohibited. Copyright belongs to Giant Games Limited, owner of the briefguides.co.uk and onlineshopping.co.uk websites. © 1997-2006 Giant Games Limited, but you are welcome to have a link to this webpage. |