Sydney Side Trips
Sydney was spectacular, but some of my favorite and most fabulous adventures happened outside of the city. Fantastic ferry field trips, coastal walks between beautiful beaches, and a big excursion to see mountains/waterfalls/and wildlife… oh my! You should plan to spend at least a couple of days outside the city limits because there is far more to see on side trips when you’re in the area.
When I asked Australians what I should see and do in Sydney, everyone suggested the Blue Mountains, a UNESCO World Heritage Area. We weren’t willing to try to drive ourselves that far on the “wrong side” of the road, so we booked a small group tour that hit several scenic spots a few hours away. We did a drive by of the Olympic Village before heading out to the Blue Mountains to see the famous formation called the Three Sisters. We checked out several viewing platforms throughout the range. It turns out the Blue Mountains get their name from the eucalyptus oils emitted from the forest. It smelled wonderful, and we lucked out with some impressively photogenic cloud coverage. Then we explored Scenic World, home to the world’s steepest scenic railway ride, and a gondola across a gorge with aerial views of Katoomba Falls. My aunt was dying to see a koala, and we were thrilled to make some furry friends at a very quick visit to the Featherdale Wildlife Park. We got hit by a freak hailstorm while exploring waterfalls, and we got soaked in a brief rainstorm on the ferry, but even that couldn’t put a damper on our fun. We capped things off with long ferry ride back to town. We absolutely adored our tour guide, there were some lovely people to chat with on the tour, we got some really great intel for future excursions and we got to see several sights we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise explore. I know tours can be hit or miss, but this one was every bit as wonderful as my Great Ocean Road trip in Melbourne, and worth every penny.
Everyone insisted that a trip to Manly was mandatory. It honestly felt like just about every other beach town I visited in Australia, but the ferry ride was so gorgeous I made two trips to the northern beach town just to enjoy the sunset on the way back home. Riding back to Circular Quay at golden hour ensures the best photos of the iconic sights, and at $5 a ride its worth as many repeats as you can manage.
Chef Roy Choi said that Rollers Bakehouse was his number one wishlist destination in Sydney, and the line at the Manly store front shows just how many people agree. The patisserie did not disappoint. The chocolate croissant was skippable but the pumpkin pine nut, ham and cheese (with mustard), and cinnamon roll croissants were stupendous.
Be sure to climb over the rocks behind the public pool at the far end of the beach and check out the Manly Wormhole. It was fun to feel like a true adventurer trekking through the dripping tunnel to discover panoramic ocean views from a storybook cliff. It’s not a strenuous or scary walk, but it would be worth it even if it was.
Bondi Beach is one of the most famous Australian beaches, and there is a brilliant boardwalk trail connecting Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach, with several scenic beaches in between. It takes 2-3 hours depending on how often you stop, but every corner revealed new gems along the water. Bronte Beach was my personal favorite, but they were all lovely. If I had to suggest one thing to do on a trip to Sydney, this would be my pick. It only rained on us for a few minutes, but it was the most gloriously gratifying afternoon I had down under. Bondi Beach was pretty sleepy on the Sunday we arrived. We cheated on Messina Gelato with Anita Gelato, just because the name made us giggle. The macadamia crunch is magically delicious, and the shop rocked our worlds. There is a location at Manly Beach, but you can also catch it a little closer to home in New York and LA. They have been added to my wishlist for future trips there :)
Every single person I spoke to for trip research said that you really only needed a couple days in Sydney. While that might be true to see the top tourist attractions, I was there for just shy of a month, and I wasn’t quite ready to leave. There is so much more to see and do just outside of town. I felt like I’d had enough zoo/animal excursions in Oz, but Taronga Zoo and its scenic sky safari are supposed to be top notch. The Jenolan Caves are jaw droppingly gorgeous and would be high on my list with a car. The Hunter Valley is full of vineyards and foodie treasures.
I had several friends from college do a semester in Sydney, and they each said they would move back in a heartbeat. I walked into a flower shop to take a photo of their adorable neon sign and wound up talking to a lovely lady named Jazmin for an hour. She’s an El Paso native, moved to Sydney for college, and got a visa to stay after graduation. She talked me through the process for getting a longer term visa, and I have to say- it sounded pretty tempting to try. I highly recommend a visit to Sydney and its surrounding gems, but don’t say I didn’t warn you about falling in love and wanting to stay.
