Three Days in Sydney: Australia’s Beautiful Harbor City

Sydney is a marvelous city with an outsized personality. It is worldly, cosmopolitan and architecturally stunning. The city boasts an eclectic mix of beaches, parks and funky neighborhoods. 

Sydney seamlessly integrates greenery into its cityscape. Forested parks ring the city’s outskirts and penetrate deep into its heart. A stunning natural harbor frames views of towering skyscrapers. It is a place where nature lives hand in hand with some of humankind’s most notable architectural feats. 

 

THREE DAY SYDNEY ITINERARY

I spent three days in Sydney, on a ten day trip that included visits to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road. My original plan was to take my parents to Cuba. But, after an unsuccessful attempt at traveling standby to the Caribbean, we found ourselves on a 15 hour flight to the Land Down Under instead. 

Australia is notoriously expensive and Sydney is no exception. In order to stick to our budget, we stayed in the University of Sydney dorms (a perfect budget option for those visiting Sydney during school holidays), ate at inexpensive eateries and took full advantage of the city’s convenient and easy-to-use transportation system.

During our three days in Sydney, we divided my time between the city’s architectural highlights, its beaches and its nearby Blue Mountains.

 

DAY 1: THE SYDNEY HARBOR

On our first day in Sydney, we visited the city’s landmark attractions and soaked in its pretty harbor views. In order to travel seamlessly around the city, we purchased a public transportation pass.

Public transportation in Sydney centers on the reloadable Opal Card. The Opal Card is valid for buses, boats and trains. It is a pay-as-you-go system that caps off at $15 dollars per day ($5 on Sundays) and encompasses many of the neighborhoods and beaches within the Sydney city limits and beyond.

• CIRCULAR QUAY

We began our visit to Sydney at Circular Quay. A beehive of activity, Sydney’s Circular Quay is the city’s heart and main transportation hub. It is central to most of the city’s major attractions, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Royal Botanic Gardens, The Rocks and the Sydney Opera House.

• THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

From Circular Quay, we made our way toward Australia’s most iconic manmade landmark—the Sydney Opera House.

The world-famous opera house faces the skyscrapers of Circular Quay and sits a stone’s throw away from the Royal Botanic Gardens. It is an innovative and dazzling urban sculpture, a masterpiece of 20th century architecture and one of the most recognizable buildings in the world.  

Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the architectural masterpiece resembles the sails of a yacht. Its commanding presence is the defining feature of Sydney.

The interior of the Sydney Opera House contains five performance spaces for dance, concerts, opera and theatre.

• THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN

Dating back to 1816, The Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney is the oldest scientific institution in Australia. It is among the most important historic botanical institutions in the world and an undeniable highlight of any Sydney itinerary.

The Royal Botanic Garden is free to visit and home to lush foliage and flowers from around the world. It is the perfect place to sit back, relax, and soak in views of the Sydney Opera House and harbor.

• SYDNEY HARBOR BRIDGE

From the resplendent gardens, we made my way toward the imposing Sydney Harbor Bridge. The iconic bridge is Sydney’s second most important landmark after the Opera House. As the world’s largest steel arch bridge, it represents an impressive feat of ingenuity and engineering. 

Adventurous travelers hoping to witness the Sydney Harbor from above, can attempt to climb the Harbor Bridge as part of a tour. The bridge climb costs nearly $200 per person.

Despite its steep price, it is considered one of the top things to do in Sydney.

• THE ROCKS

The Rocks is an early convict settlement that lies at the southern end of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The area was once associated with drunk sailors and prostitutes.

Today, the neighborhood has transformed into a pleasant area to visit. Filled with brewpubs, shops and cobbled streets, it is a great place to grab a bite to eat and wander around.  

 

DAY 2: THE BEST OF SYDNEY’S BEACHES

On our second full day in Sydney, we used our Opal Cards to soak up the sun at the beach and enjoy the city’s coastal views. Sydney is home to some of Australia’s most popular beach breaks. On warm days, their golden shores fill with families, beach-loungers ad sun-kissed surfers. 

• MANLY BEACH

The first stop on our Sydney beach itinerary was the popular stretch of sand at Manly Beach.

Manly Beach is vibrant and bustling. It is a magnet for shoppers, a haven for surfers, a great place to visit with kids, and a launching pad for nature walks along the harbor shores.

“Only seven miles from Sydney and a thousand miles from care” is a phrase often quoted when describing Manly. And it was immediately easy to see why. The beach feels worlds away from the city’s skyscrapers, its traffic and its suit-clad businesspeople. 

• BONDI BEACH

After our morning at Manly, we headed over to the famous Bondi Beach. Like

Manly Beach, Bondi is a favorite place for tourists and Sydneysiders to hit the waves, lie in the sand and soak up a bit of Vitamin D. It is also the starting point of the Bondi to Coogee trail–a deservedly popular coastal walk that extends into Sydney’s eastern suburbs. 

• THE BONDI TO COOGEE COATAL WALK

The coastal walk is six kilometers long and features stunning views, sandy beaches, neighborhood parks and rock formations. Along the walk, opulent buildings line immaculate crescents of golden sand and sculpted, sandstone cliffs face a tumultuous, azure ocean. 

The walk is a definite must when visiting the Harbor City. 

If I’d had more than three days in Sydney and its surroundings, I would have loved to discover one of the city’s other coastal walks.

 

DAY 3: DAY TRIP TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS FROM SYDNEY

Engrossed by Sydney’s natural beauty and greenery, we decided to spend the third day of our Sydney itinerary in the beautiful UNESCO-recognized Blue Mountains. Home to more than one hundred kinds of eucalypts and over 400 different animal species, this pristine wilderness is one of the most famous natural attractions in New South Wales.

Sydney’s public transportation network extends past the city’s western suburbs, to the town of Katoomba—the gateway to the Blue Mountains National Park.

• KATOOMBA

Katoomba lies two hours from Sydney by train and is an optimal launching point for hiking and admiring the sweeping mountain views. Katoomba is the biggest town in the mountains. It has a great selection of food and accommodation, and is a logical base for exploring the surrounding wilderness. 

The town of Katoomba itself is quaint and picturesque. Its downtown looks like the set of a Western film. I half expected to see cowboys sauntering by on their horses.

• THE BLUE MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

From Katoomba, we walked to some of the most recognizable viewpoints overlooking the Blue Mountains National Park. There, we marveled at the triplet spires of the Three Sisters, gazed out over the vast expanse of eucalyptus-covered land and set out to explore the park’s scenic trails. 

Had it not been for the looming rain cloud, my inadequate footwear or the pesky flies that swarmed me during my Blue Mountains day trip, I would have likely spent more time hiking the trails that extend beyond the main observation areas. But as the flies and the weather and my shoes would have it, I headed back toward Sydney after a few hours in the Blue Mountains and spent my last evening in the city strolling around the Darling Harbor.

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Sydney is full of things to see. And despite walking from sunrise till sunset to explore as many nooks and crannies as possible, my three days in Sydney barely scratched the surface.

I may not have originally intended to visit Australia, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time visiting the attractions in Sydney and beyond.

And while my visit to Sydney did little to quell my desire to visit Cuba, it was nevertheless the beginning of a wonderful and unexpected ten day jaunt to my sixth and penultimate continent.