Sydney Travel Diary

As the capital of New South Wales, Sydney is probably one of the first things that comes in your mind when you think about Australia. It’s famous for the Opera House, which is located next to the Harbour Bridge.

I spent there a couple relaxing days exploring the city again, since I’ve been there before four years ago. Sydney is definitely a city you can visit several times and I already think about visiting it again in the future.

So here’s what I did during my time in Sydney!

For the first night I was staying at the Lord Wolseley Hotel located in a precinct called Ultimo. It’s a restaurant and bar with some rooms upstairs. From there you only have to walk 10 to 15 minutes to get to Darling Harbour, where you’ll find lots of restaurants and shops. Every Saturday you also have the chance to watch a firework in the Harbour.

For dinner we chose China Town, which you can find just next to Darling Harbour. It’s perfect, if you want to have a cheap meal and taste some asian flavours. But be careful, it can be spicy! We ordered the lowest level of spices and really struggled eating our Hot Pot. It was so spicy, I had to tear up and wasn’t able to feel my lips anymore after a couple minutes. Although this meal challenged my body a lot, I really enjoyed it and would probably do it again.

We spent the next two nights in another hostel, called YHA. It is located in the Rocks, the old part of Sydney. From the rooftop you have a great view of the city, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge as well.

After finally reaching the hostel we got rid of our backpacks and started exploring the Rocks. You can find a different market there every day, depending on which day you go. You end up at Circular Quay, from where you can already see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

The Museum of Contemporary Art is located there as well and it is for free.

Since I’m really into art, I had to take a look inside, while my friend waited outside.

For dinner we went to another precinct in Sydney called Newtown. There you can find a special Italian restaurant, where you can eat traditional woodfired neapolitan Pizza. But be early, we were pretty surprised, when we arrived at the restaurant. There was a long queue 15 minutes before the restaurant has even opened.

On the third day I took the ferry to Manly, which is about 10 kilometers away from Circular Quay. The main reason was to see the Opera House and the skyline from another perspective. This is much cheaper than a special boat tour through the harbour and you can visit another part of Sydney. On Manly you can go surfing or just walk around and have a look at different shops.

In the evening we went to the famous Mardi Gras Parade. It is a gay and lesbian festival about the equality of all genders. The people are dressed up in costumes and uniforms and there are also different groups like the police or fire department as a part of the parade.

In the end I think everybody should have visited Sydney at least once in a lifetime and I hope you enjoyed reading my blog post. Check out my travel page to see more of my pictures of Australia.