Sydney Priority Spots: Harbour Without the Cliches

The six kilometer clifftop walk from Bondi Beach to Coogee is the single best thing to do in Sydney if you have half a day of decent weather. It follows the sandstone cliffs south, passing Tamarama, Bronte, Clovelly, and Gordons Bay before ending at Coogee. Each of these is a swimmable beach in its own right, and each has its own personality.

Do the walk south to north or north to south. South to north, Coogee to Bondi, is slightly easier and finishes with Bondi Beach for a swim. North to south finishes at the smaller and quieter Coogee. Two and a half hours if you stop for coffee. Four hours if you swim. Wear sunscreen even on overcast days.

Cockatoo Island sits in the middle of Sydney Harbour, ten minutes from Circular Quay by ferry. It was a convict prison, then a shipyard, then a naval dockyard, and now it is a UNESCO listed World Heritage site that you can camp on. The industrial architecture is intact and largely open to the public.

Take a self guided tour with the free audio app. Two hours minimum. On weekends there are pop up markets, exhibitions, and a small bar. The mid afternoon ferry back to the city is one of the more atmospheric transit rides in Australia.

Barangaroo is the redeveloped former container port on the western edge of the city center. Barangaroo Reserve, at the northern end of the site, is a six hectare headland park built from the ground up with native Australian plants. It has become one of the best free public spaces in Sydney and it is empty by comparison with the Royal Botanic Garden across the harbor.

Walk from Wynyard station down through the office towers, through the Streets of Barangaroo shopping and dining area, and out onto the headland. The view of the Bridge from the water level is different from the standard postcard. Sit for a while.

Mrs Macquarie's Point is a sandstone headland at the eastern edge of the Royal Botanic Garden. It is where you take the classic photo of the Opera House and the Bridge together. But the walk to and from it, along the harbor edge of the garden, is the actual reason to come. Fig trees, cockatoos, and the view opening across the water. Twenty minutes each way from the Opera House.

Best at sunrise. There will be photographers and joggers and no tourists. The light on the Opera House sails at 06:15 in summer is one of Sydney's small perfect experiences.

Take the ferry from Circular Quay to Watsons Bay, thirty minutes. This is the eastern edge of the harbor, right where it meets the ocean. Doyles fish and chips on the beach has been there since 1885 and it is worth the wait. Walk up to South Head and to the Gap, the dramatic cliff on the ocean side, and take the coastal path around back to the ferry wharf.

Two hours plus the ferry each way. A different Sydney from Circular Quay.

The Rocks is the historic quarter under the Bridge on the southern side of the harbor. On weekends it is a market and a photo shoot. On a Tuesday morning it is a small neighborhood of preserved sandstone warehouses that repay a slow walk. Argyle Cut, the tunnel carved through the sandstone in the 1840s. Cadman's Cottage, the oldest building in Sydney. The MCA, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, which is free and one of the most consistently good small contemporary museums in the country.

This is a two hour morning, worth doing before the harbor cruise crowds land.

Newtown is the neighborhood four kilometers southwest of the city center on the inner west train line. It is the loud, cluttered, queer, live music, cafe heavy neighborhood that the postcards never show. King Street is the main strip, three kilometers of independent restaurants, bookshops, and vintage clothing. Enmore, one suburb west, is the same energy at a slightly lower volume.

Have dinner at Continental Deli or Bloodwood. This is one of the best food neighborhoods in the country and prices are still a fraction of the harbor restaurants.

Taronga Zoo is on the northern harbor shore, and the ferry ride from Circular Quay is one of the great short journeys in Sydney. The zoo itself is decent, the giraffe enclosure has the famous view of the Opera House and Bridge across the water, and half a day here works as a family visit.

For adults without children, consider skipping the zoo and taking the ferry to Manly instead, which is thirty minutes and gives you a whole Sydney beach afternoon.

In Darling Harbour, next to the exhibition center, the Chinese Garden of Friendship is a Chinese classical garden built in 1988. It is small and paid, but on a rainy afternoon it is one of the most calming spaces in the city. Waterfall, koi pond, tea house, and about 45 minutes of walking. Combined with the Chinese food in nearby Haymarket, it is a good half day when the coastal walk is off the table.