The urban area of the Sydney conurbation is immense, so choosing the place to stay in Sydney to be close to what you want or want to see is a smart decision. It must be taken into account that it is also a very expensive city, so it is advisable to know the prices of each area for guidance.
Sydney is the oldest Australian city in the country and also the most populous. The city has two of the monuments with which Australia is recognized worldwide, the Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.
This city is an example of the integration of Australian cultures, but also one of the most expensive cities in the world.
It is an extraordinarily extended city on its territory by the sea, on the edge of the Pacific, in the southeast of the country, in New South Wales. Its urban orography is very varied covered with hills that makes traffic somewhat complicated for those who prefer to see it on foot or by bicycle.
The climate around the city is mild and the best time to visit it is between October and February, in the Australian summer. Especially to enjoy its beaches and water sports in the coves of the area.
The best areas to stay in Sydney
Hotels are expensive in Sydney. The price of the night is usually not below that of a four star in Spain in low season. Thus, sleeping in Sydney, for example in The Rocks, can be daunting if you want to make savings.
The Rocks is the best area to stay in Sydney. It is an exclusive area and the historical center of the city. Prices are only suitable for those who can afford a whim. It must also be said that it is a safe area at any time and time of day.
In contrast, the Newton and Surry Hills area is chosen by those who travel to Sydney with tight budgets. It is just 20 minutes walk from the center. In the place, few stars hotels abound, with adjusted prices and apartments in different formulas. Ideal for backpackers.
Darling Harbor, meanwhile, is a tourist district. The apartments to stay in Sydney here are noticeably more expensive.
In the Darlinghurst and Potts Point areas, accommodation to stay in Sydney is generally cheap, and its nightlife is very lively. This makes them an excellent option to stay in Sydney for young people wanting to explore the night of the city.
Other areas such as Chinatown, Paddington or King Cross offer small hotels and reasonably priced apartments, especially in the low season, which, being a country in the southern hemisphere, has changed its pace in the calendar. To always keep it in mind.
A selection of neighborhoods and districts of Sydney chosen for their heritage values and attending to what is most interesting, includes including on a traveling route to the areas of The Rocks, Darling Harbor, Surry Hills and Newtown, Kings Cross, Paddington, Chinatown, Darlinghurts and Potts Point and Bondi Beach.
The Rocks
A traveling immersion in Sydney can begin by visiting the center, by knowing the area of The Rocks. The Rocks is the historic center of Sydney. The Rocks refers to the rock formation that forms the base of this district of the south center of the city.
The area is markedly cosmopolitan and, at the same time, traditional, in a curious combination. It is also a very safe area at any time.
The neighborhood invites you to stroll through the harbor area, to have a drink in its bars, pubs and restaurants or to shop around the markets that are mounted on its streets every weekend. An experience
An experience is also to visit The Rocks Discovery Museum (in Kendall Line) that transfers the traveler to know how the occupation of the territory was in the first moments of the British colonization and how the city of Sydney was formed. Do not miss in its rooms, the collection of old photographs of the aborigines of the region.
Another recommended activity is to walk along the cobbled streets of old Sydney and, if you want more, enter the exhibitions of Savannah’s Place and Cadman’s cottage that will help you understand something more like that first southern colony. An immersion in the hearth of an old home of the time.
Strolling through the harbor area and the Sydney marina and not taking a picture of the famous bridge, you have no forgiveness.
On the weekend markets, say that they are an institution in the city and something very typical. They have more than two hundred different positions. It can be found from textiles, beauty products and original photographs, to handicrafts, jewelry and art items marketed by their own authors. Open Saturdays and Sundays, reference, Argyle and George streets.
For those who want to look very high, the Sydney Astronomical Observatory proposes observation activities in its 3D projection room. It is on a hill, on Observatory Hill. The gardens of the complex are an extra that must be appreciated on the same visit. Open day and night. Children enter for free.
The famous bridge over Sydney Bay can be visited, you can cross over it and, with it also, you can open a jar of essences to enjoy a more than beautiful contradict of the city. They say that Sydney is the most beautiful harbor in the world. To get to the bridge, your address 3 from Cumberland Street.
To get around the city, a recommendation, the Opal Card, a smart card to take advantage of the combined ferry and bus transport offer. Combinations of Transit Systems buses with all city districts and links of nearby ferries to cross the bay. The Opal Card is very useful. A subway station is also available to go across the bay or to go to the southern neighborhoods.
On the accommodation, The Rocks is not an especially cheap place and you have to look hard to find reasonably priced accommodation at the construction site of the historic city center. The accommodation is especially expensive. Still, if you can afford it, it is undoubtedly the best area to stay in Sydney.
Accommodations in The Rocks
Darling Harbour
The Darling Harbor area is also part of downtown Sydney in the inner bay area east of the Rocks district. The sea and water dominate the attractions of the area.
Thus, the Chinese Garden of Friendship is highly recommended. The Chinese Garden of Friendship is a place of nature, a haven of peace in the bustling center of Sydney. A very balanced mix of exotic trees linked by paths and separated by water ponds.
The garden offers free guided tours that allow you to know the values of this peculiar green area and its history. The garden is on Pier Street.
A touch of local history. The Australian National Maritime Museum. It is a permanent exhibition that takes a tour of the maritime history of Australia. The visit allows you to board three ships anchored at the museum’s dock: a replica of the HM Bark Endeavor, the HMAS Vampire destroyer and the HMAS Onslow submarine.
Other smaller boats can be seen but you cannot board them. It is an experience to live in family and accompanied by children. The museum is located at 2 Murray Street.
More. The Darling Quarter Playground. The Darling Quarter is an amusement park for children. It has a water playground, a climbing net and, best of all, a popular 21-meter flying fox. For parents, there is a cafe, a restaurant and a kiosk nearby.
The park is free and can be enjoyed on any day of the year. It is enjoyed by both the people of Sydney and visitors who come from outside and can be an ideal way to interact with neighbors. Despite being very popular, there is always room for everyone. Address: 1-25 Harbor Street.
For shopping, a preferred place in the area, the Harborside Mall. Fashion, restaurants, gift items and much more to discover. It is located on the waterfront and is accessible from the city center through the Pyrmont Bridge.
More to see in the area. The Sea LIFE Sydney Aquarium and the LIFE Sydney Zoo. The Sea LIFE Sydney Aquarium is a great city aquarium. The most striking thing about the aquarium is a transparent tunnel that allows you to walk as if submerged between sharks, rays and fish that swim freely forming small schools.
It is very easy to make amazing photos. There is everything, penguins, dugongs, sharks and an incredible number of tropical fish in all ranges of colors. It is essential to go with children. The address: 1-5 of Wheat Road.
The aquarium is close to the LIFE Sydney Zoo and the combined visit to the two enclosures is almost mandatory. The LIFE Sydney Zoo allows you to meet and approach the most representative animals of Australia.
You can enter the kangaroo and wallabys enclosure and, best of all, feed them with your own hands. Poisonous snakes of the country, lizards of all sizes and, of course, koalas, are some of the stars of this theme park that throbs.
Finally, one more attraction, the Darling Harbor Carousel. It is the typical old carousel that has been in operation since it was placed there in 1892. It is the attraction of its oldest type in Australia and a work of art.
Darling Harbor is a neighborhood dominated by tourism, a favorite among visitors to sleep in Sydney. It has an offer of accommodation, like The Rocks, something expensive. An interesting fact about transport, the 555 bus is free and runs through the center, through the St George area. It is a circular line.
Darling Harbour Hotels
Surry Hills and Newtown
Surry Hills, is a district located inland, immediately west of Paddington. In Surry Hills, for those who prefer to rest with a green background making routes through Sydney, there is a recommended park, the Harmony Park. To walk, to eat something on the grass and to walk the family dog. It is located next to the Sydney police headquarters.
Surrey Hills is a district full of temples of different confessions that can join in an itinerary to form a peculiar route. 13 churches and mosques are spread over its apples.
Theatrical. The Belvoir Theater, at number 25 on the same street, is a small theater that offers functions with contemporary pieces in a simple atmosphere. You have to be attentive to your billboard.
More. On 104 Riley Street, in what is now a large mansion, lived the owner of a large brothel in the area. Named Kate Leigh, she became an alcohol and cocaine trafficker in the 1920s and 1930s. Leigh was the leader of one of the street gangs, the Razor Gangs of Sydney.
An adventure. The Railway Central Station, the Sydney Central Railway Station, is located in the area, in Haymarket. Therefore, it is a perfect location for those who want to be connected to other Australian cities for a trip through the geography of the country.
Long-distance trains connect Sydney with the main cities in the country. The CountryLink links Brisbane with Sydney every day, while the Indian Pacific service connects it with Perth. Connections also in the station area with Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport.
As regards the Newton area, the neighborhood is located southwest of the historic center of Sydney, about four miles from downtown. Newton emerged as an agricultural and residential area of the city in the 19th century. The name takes its name from a grocery store open on the site at that time, the New Town Store, the Nueva New Town Store ’.
An interesting activity in the area is to discover the styles of the large number of theme bars in the district. Newton is also an area of historic pubs. One of them, perhaps the most famous, that of El Trocadero, was rehabilitated in its original modernist style in 2007.
Newton is also known for his musical events. Feastability, a massive gastronomic event, the Sydney Fringe, of alternative art, or the Newton Festival, famous for its live music.
In the Newton area, the Transit Systems bus lines 422, 426 and 428 operate, which are heirs to the numbers of the trams that circulate in the area and that today allow travelers to connect with other neighborhoods and with the center of Sydney .
Surry Hills and Newton are ideal districts to stay in Sydney in case you travel with the right money.
Hotels in Surry Hills and Newtown
King Cross
The Kings Cross neighborhood is southeast of The Rocks, further inland, but, how could it be otherwise, with good views of the bay. It is a fundamentally commercial neighborhood.
The place is known colloquially as The Cross, but it is also popular for being a district with a lot of nightlife. In the first decades of the twentieth century, the district was the place of residence of a large group of Australian artists.
In Kings Cross, the iconic Fuente del Alamein deserve special attention, for the fallen Australians in that battle of World War II; the Jewish Museum in Sydney; the historic train and subway station, the local fire station built in 1912 and the Les Girls building, today a hotel, where Carlotta, a famous drag queen, offered its more than alternative show between 1963 and 1993.
For the devotees of the strange, at 91 Riley Street you can find an Australian Museum of Magical Arts.
In this neighborhood there is an offer of low budget hotels and very fair qualities. It has good communications with Transit Systems bus lines. If you do not have a very comfortable budget this may be a district to consider to stay in Sydney.
King Cross Hotels
Paddington
The Paddington neighborhood is located next to Kings Cross, somewhat further east and about four miles from The Rocks. In Paddington, you have to see two churches, the Oxford Street Unified, completed in neo-Gothic style, and the Catholic of San Francisco de Asís, in the same street.
The first is reminiscent of British Victorian temples of the late nineteenth century, the second is a brick church with a huge rose window on the facade.
The offer of hotels and apartments to stay in Sydney in the area is very variable and you have to look hard to find prices and locations with added value.
Paddington Hotels
Chinatown
Chinatown is the neighborhood where the Chinese community in Sydney settled, is immediately south of Darling Harbor in Haymarket, between Central Station and Darling Harbor. It is a very commercial area.
The current neighborhood is not the original community, which moved to this site in the 1920s. In Chinatown, today a modern shopping center with a restaurant, The Eight Modern Chinese Restaurant, which has 800 seats, stands but there are also boutiques and souvenir shops that you should not miss.
The Haymarket Paddy’s Markets is a well-known street market in the city that should not be left behind either. Two activities not to be forgotten in Chinatown, the celebration of the Chinese New Year and night markets, an alternative to traditional shops.
A perfect place to be surprised. In the area, there are cheap second-level hotels to sleep in Sydney, for the canons of Sydney, but with fair qualities.
Accommodations in Chinatown
Darlinghurst
The Darlinghurst area is also east of downtown Sydney. It happens to be the commercial and business district of the capital and an urban environment with the youngest population in Australia. It is densely populated by Sydney standards and underwent urban reform in the 1980s.
The areas of Victoria Street, Stanley Street (with its Little Italy) and Crown Street (with its retro stores) are streets well known for their cultural importance. They are also reference areas to find bars, cafes and fashion boutiques.
However, Oxford Street is the main avenue in Darlinghurst. The southern part of the neighborhood is an important reference center for the international LGBT community that mobilizes every year to organize a very popular Mardi Grass parade.
As local monuments of interest that can be visited, the old penitentiary, the fire station, and the courthouse must be included on a road map.
Also noteworthy are some apartment towers that are part of the district’s renovated skyline: buildings of the Horizon Apartments, the Kurrajong, the Mont Clair, the Royal Court, The Rutland, the Hillcrest, The Savoy, the Claridge, the Ballina and the Protree
Accommodations in Darlinghurst
Potts Point
For its part, Potts Point is located about two kilometers from the historic center of Sydney. East of the Woolloomooloo neighborhood and somewhat west of Elizabeth Bay and Rushcutters Bay, but in the northern part of the Darlinghurst district.
In the area, the townhouses of Victoria Street, of historicist style, some mansions and sets of houses with Spanish mission style or in art deco like those of Tusculum Street are striking.
The bananas of Lebanon, very resistant trees so prevalent in southern European cities, are part of the recognizable urban iconography of Potts Point.
Potts Point Hotels
Bondi Beach
Bondi Beach is one of the most internationally known beaches in Sydney. It is about eight kilometers from the city center and the surroundings of the sandy beach are a highly sought after residential area.
The place is east on the open coast of the Pacific Ocean and not on the bay. Bondi Beach is a preferred surfing space. It is a swimming area with waves at some times of the year.
In any case, the safest area is the north end. In the summer months, a shark net is deployed that has proved extraordinarily effective.
The beach is part of the places that are national heritage of Australia. And one more curiosity, it is not difficult to see blue penguins swimming near the shore.
For those who prefer to bathe in more sheltered areas, around Bondi Beach there is a rosary of coves that meets this requirement, namely Bronte Beach, Tamarama Beach or Coogee Beach.
To shop and have a drink in the area, the Westfield Junction Mall. To Bondi Beach, there is no city bus or train. To get to Bondi from Circular Quay, take bus line 333, 373 if you leave from Coogee. The tour usually lasts about 40 minutes in each case.
Beach apartments represent the most desirable offer, although not very economical to stay in Sydney and in the area.
Accommodations in Bondi Beach
