Where:

Sydney,

New South Wales, Australia.

Last Visited:

numerous times 1990 onwards

Why Go:

It's a busy place. If you can handle big bustling cities, there is a lot to offer, as you would expect from Australia's most populated city.

Highlights:

• Sydney Harbor Bridge: If you are lucky you can book a guided climb up to the peak of the bridge. If not, there in a small museum and lookout at the southern column that is worth a look.
• Manly Ferry: You can take a relatively cheap ride on the Manly ferry for an inside view of the harbor.
• The Rocks: located close to the city centre, it is the original Sydney town. Here you will find shops built in the historical buildings, interesting lane ways and courtyards, and some of Sydney's oldest pubs.
• Darling Harbour: food, shopping and hanging out.
• Powerhouse Museum: A fascinating modern museum
• Opera House: an icon of Sydney. You can walk around it, go to a show, or even a Backstage Tour
• Shopping: the city has all the major stores. Also head on down Oxford St for the top fashion places. Also Darling Harbour.
• Markets: Paddington St Markets (Saturday) has all the usual plus some more. There is also Paddy's market (Thurs-Sun) in Haymarket and Flemington, Glebe MArkets (Sat), Bondi Beach Markets (Sun) and Sydney Fish Markets (every day).
• Kings Cross: full of colour, interesting for cruising around and people watching
• Beaches: close to the city there are many great beaches - Bondi, Coogee, Dee Why, Curl Curl, Cronulla, Bronte.

Lowlights:

• As with most large cities, there traffic is pretty bad if you are not used to it.
• Also, as people are busily going about their business, there may appear to be rude. Maybe they just are.

Eating & Drinking:

• places to eat: City, Darling Harbour, Chinatown, Watson's Bay for Fish and Chips

Other things you should know about:

• The largest city in Australia, but not the capital city, as it is often mistaken.

More information:

• see also the photos of Sydney