Sydney Tourism | Sydney Hotels

About Sydney:

Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. It is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people. Inhabitants of Sydney are called Sydneysiders, comprising a cosmopolitan and international population.

The site of the first British colony in Australia, Sydney was established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, commodore of the First Fleet as a penal colony. The city is built on hills surrounding Port Jackson which is commonly known as Sydney Harbour, where the iconic Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge feature prominently. The hinterland of the metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and the coastal regions feature many bays, rivers, inlets and beaches including the famous Bondi Beach and Manly Beach. Within the city are many notable parks, including Hyde Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Sydney often ranks highly in various world cities rankings. It has hosted major international sporting events, including the 1938 British Empire Games and the 2000 Summer Olympics. The main airport serving Sydney is Sydney Airport and the main port in the city is Sydney Harbour.

Geography of Sydney:

Sydney, Australia is located in a coastal basin bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north and the Woronora Plateau to the south. Sydney lies on a submergent coastline, where the ocean level has risen to flood deep river valleys (rias) carved in the sandstone. There are more than 70 harbour and ocean beaches, including the famous Bondi Beach, in the urban area. Sydney's urban area covers 1788 km² (690 mi²) as at 2006. This area had 3,641,421 people, giving an urban population density of 2037 people per square kilometre. The Sydney Statistical Division, used for census data, is the unofficial metropolitan area51 and covers 12,145 km² (4,689 mi²). This area includes the Central Coast and Blue Mountains as well as broad swathes of national park and other non-urban land. At the 2006 census this area had 4,119,190 people.

Geographically, Sydney sprawls over two major regions: the Cumberland Plain, a relatively flat region lying to the south and west of Port Jackson, and the Hornsby Plateau, a sandstone plateau lying mainly to the north of the harbour, rising to 200 metres above sea level within the urban area and dissected by steep valleys such as the Lane Cove River valley. The oldest parts of the city are located in the flat areas south of the harbour; the North Shore was slower to develop because of its hilly topography, and was mostly a quiet backwater until the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932, linking it to the rest of the city, with the suburbs surrounding the northern entrance to said bridge effectively developing North Sydney into a second Central Business District.

Sydney Weather:

View Detailed 10 Day Weather Forecast for Sydney, webcams, weather maps & more at Weather-Forecast.com

Sydney Attractions:

Royal Botanic Gardens:

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia, are the most central of the three major botanical gardens open to the public in Sydney. (the others are the Mount Annan Botanic Garden and the Mount Tomah Botanic Garden). The park, managed by the same trust as The Domain adjoining it, is free to access and open every day of the year.

The Botanic Gardens are situated overlooking Farm Cove, directly east of the Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay and Macquarie Street. On the southern edge the Cahill Expressway borders it and on the eastern edge, Art Gallery road. It is 30 hectares in area.

Luna Park Sydney:

Luna Park Sydney is an amusement park, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Luna Park is located at Milsons Point, on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour.

The park was constructed at the foot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge during 1935, and ran for nine-month seasons until 1972, when it was opened year-round. Luna Park was closed in mid-1979, immediately following the Ghost Train fire, which killed six children and one adult. Most of the park was demolished, and a new amusement park was constructed; this originally operated under the name of Harbourside Amusement Park before resuming the Luna Park name. The park was closed again in 1988 as an independent engineering inspection determined that several rides needed urgent repair. The owners failed to repair and reopen the park before a New South Wales government deadline, and ownership was passed to a new body. Reopening in 1995, Luna Park closed again after thirteen months because of the Big Dipper rollercoaster: noise pollution complaints from residents on the clifftop above the park caused the ride's operating hours to be heavily restricted, and the resultant drop in attendance made the park unprofitable. After another redevelopment, Luna Park reopened in 2004, and as of 2011 is still operating.

Luna Park is one of two amusement parks in the world that are protected by government legislation, and several of the buildings on the site are listed on the Register of the National Estate and the NSW State Heritage Register. The park has been utilised as a filming location for several movies and television shows.

Sydney Tower:

Sydney Tower is Sydney's tallest free-standing structure, and the second tallest in Australia (with the Q1 building on the Gold Coast being the tallest). It is also the second tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere (after Auckland's Sky Tower, though Sydney Tower Eye's main observation deck is almost 50 m (164 ft) higher than that of Auckland's Sky Tower). The Sydney Tower is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers.

The tower stands 309 m (1,014 ft) above the Sydney CBD, located on Market Street, between Pitt and Castlereagh Streets. It is accessible from the Pitt Street Mall, and sits upon the newly refurbished Westfield Sydney (formerly centrepoint arcade). The tower is open to the public, and is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in the city, being visible from a number of vantage points throughout town and from adjoining suburbs.

Whilst the Shopping centre at the base of the tower is run by the Westfield Group the tower itself is occupied by Trippas White Group (who own and operate Sydney Tower Dining) and Merlin Entertainments (who own and operate the Sydney Tower Eye and Oztrek).

Sydney Opera House:

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, opening in 1973 after a long gestation that had begun with his competition-winning design in 1957.

Utzon received the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honour, in 2003. The Pritzker Prize citation stated:

There is no doubt that the Sydney Opera House is his masterpiece. It is one of the great iconic buildings of the 20th century, an image of great beauty that has become known throughout the world – a symbol for not only a city, but a whole country and continent.

The Sydney Opera House was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007. It is one of the 20th century's most distinctive buildings and one of the most famous performing arts centres in the world.

The Sydney Opera House is on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It sits at the northeastern tip of the Sydney central business district (the CBD), surrounded on three sides by the harbour (Sydney Cove and Farm Cove) and inland by the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Contrary to its name, the building houses multiple performance venues. The Sydney Opera House is among the busiest performing arts centres in the world, hosting over 1,500 performances each year attended by some 1.2 million people. It provides a venue for many performing-arts companies, including the four key resident companies Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and presents a wide range of productions on its own account. It is also one of the most popular visitor attractions in Australia, with more than seven million people visiting the site each year, 300,000 of whom take a guided tour.

The Sydney Opera House is administered by the Sydney Opera House Trust, under the New South Wales Ministry of the Arts.

Sydney Harbour Bridge:

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district (CBD) and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic image of both Sydney and Australia. The bridge is nicknamed "The Coathanger" because of its arch-based design.

Under the directions of Dr J.J.C. Bradfield of the NSW Department of Public Works, the bridge was designed and built by British firm Dorman Long and Co Ltd of Middlesbrough and opened in 1932. The bridge's design was influenced by the Hell Gate Bridge in New York. According to the Guinness World Records, it is the world's widest long-span bridge. It is also the fifth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world, and it is the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 metres (440 ft) from top to water level. Until 1967 the Harbour Bridge was Sydney's tallest structure.

Sydney Harbour-Port Jackson:

Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the South Pacific Ocean. Widely considered to be one of the world's finest harbours, it is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge which connects central Sydney with the Northern Suburbs region extended metropolitan area. Its entrance is between North and South Heads, where naval and military stations are located.

The location of the first European settlement in Australia, the harbour has continued to play a key role in the history and development of Sydney. The city itself lies on the southern shore, while the Northern Suburbs lie on the northern shore; which are linked by the Harbour Bridge and the ANZAC Bridge. The Parramatta River forms the harbour's western arm.

Many recreational events are based on or around the harbour itself particularly the Sydney New Year's Eve celebrations and the starting point of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Sydney Aquarium:

Sydney Aquarium is a public aquarium located in the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the eastern (city) side of Darling Harbour to the north of the Pyrmont Bridge. It is a full institutional member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

The aquarium contains a large variety of Australian aquatic life, displaying more than 650 species comprising more than 6,000 individual fish and other sea and water creatures from most of Australia's water habitats.

Its key exhibits in the aquarium are a series of underwater, see-through, acrylic glass tunnels where sharks swim above visitors, and recreation of a Great Barrier Reef coral environment.

Watsons Bay-New South Wales:

Watsons Bay is a harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Watsons Bay is located 11 km north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra.

Watsons Bay sits on the end of the South Head peninsula and takes its name from the sheltered bay and anchorage on its western side, in Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour). It provides views across the harbour to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Gap is an ocean cliff on the eastern side with views to Manly at North Head and the Pacific Ocean. Vaucluse is the only adjacent suburb, to the south.

The Rocks-Sydney:

The Rocks is an urban locality, tourist precinct and historic area of Sydney's city centre, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, immediately north-west of the Sydney central business district. The precinct and its immediate surroundings are administered independently of the local government area of the City of Sydney, by a New South Wales state government statutory authority, the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.

The Rocks area borders on the Bradfield Highway, leading to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with the localities of Dawes Point and Millers Point, to the west. It is immediately adjacent to Circular Quay on Sydney Cove, the site of Australia's first European settlement in 1788.

Blue Mountains National Park:

The Blue Mountains National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 81 km west of Sydney, and located in the Blue Mountains region of the Great Dividing Range. The park covers 268,987 hectares. The boundary of the park is quite irregular as it is broken up by roads, urban areas and inholdings. Despite the name 'mountains', the area is an uplifted plateau, dissected by a number of larger rivers. The highest point in the park is Mount Werong (1,215 m), while the low point is on the Nepean River (20 m) as it leaves the park.

The Blue Mountains National Park is one of the most popular in Australia. The majority of tourists to the Blue Mountains see the national park from one of the many lookouts between Wentworth Falls and Blackheath, and many of these never actually set foot in the park. Activities for the visitor include short walks to lookouts above cliffs and waterfalls, overnight and longer walks to more remote areas of the park, canyoning, abseiling, rock climbing and mountain biking. A number of adventure tour companies can assist visitors in safely experiencing these activities. it is also home to the worlds steepest railway, The Katoomba Scenic Railway.

The most famous attraction in the park is the Three Sisters rock formation. Around Blackheath the cliffs are the most spectacular as the rock faces are several hundreds metres tall. In 1999, 1.045 million visits were recorded in the park. Since then visitor numbers have declined to 563,000 in 2009.

Darling Harbour:

Darling Harbour is a harbour adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, Australia. It is also a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. The locality extends northwards from Chinatown, along both sides of Cockle Bay to King Street Wharf on the east, and to the suburb of Pyrmont on the west. Cockle Bay is just one of the waterways that makes up Darling Harbour, which opens north into the much larger Port Jackson.

The precinct and its immediate surroundings are administered independently of the local government area of the City of Sydney, by a New South Wales state government statutory authority, the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.

Taronga Zoo:

Taronga Zoo is the city zoo of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Officially opened on 7 October 1916, it is located on the shores of Sydney Harbour in the suburb of Mosman. Taronga Zoo is managed by the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales under the trading name Taronga Conservation Society along with Dubbo's Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

Divided into eight zoogeographic regions, Taronga Zoo is home to over 2,600 animals on 21 hectares (52 acres).

The first public zoo in New South Wales opened in 1884 at Billy Goat Swamp in Moore Park, on a site now occupied by Sydney Boys High School and Sydney Girls High School. Inspired by a 1908 visit to the Hamburg Zoo,the secretary of the zoo, Albert Sherbourne Le Souef, envisioned a new zoo based on the bar-less concept. After realising that the Moore Park site was too small, the NSW Government granted 43 acres (17 ha) of land north of Sydney Harbour. A further 9 acres (3.6 ha) were later granted in 1916.

Hyde Park-Sydney:

Hyde Park is a large park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Hyde Park is on the eastern side of the Sydney central business district. It is the southernmost of a chain of parkland that extends north to the shore of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour). It is approximately rectangular in shape, being squared at the southern end and rounded at the northern end. It is bordered on the west by Elizabeth Street, on the east by College Street, on the north by St. James Road and Prince Albert Road and on the south by Liverpool Street. It is 16 hectares in area.

Around the park's boundaries lie the Supreme Court of New South Wales, St. James Church, Hyde Park Barracks and Sydney Hospital to the north, St Mary's Cathedral, the Australian Museum and Sydney Grammar School to the east, the Downing Centre to the south, the David Jones Limited flagship store and the CBD to the west. It is divided in two by the east-west running Park Street.

Hyde Park contains well-kept gardens and approximately 580 trees; a mixture of Hills Figs, Palms and other varieties. It is famed for its magnificent fig tree lined avenues. Sandringham Gardens sit on the eastern side of the park, close to the intersection of Park Street and College Street.

Bondi Beach:

Bondi Beach or Bondi Bay is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Beach is located 7 km (4 mi) east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Eastern Suburbs. Bondi, North Bondi and Bondi Junction are neighbouring suburbs.

Bondi Beach is about one kilometre long (˜0.6 miles) and receives many visitors throughout the year. Surf Life Saving Australia has given different hazard ratings to Bondi Beach in 2004. While the northern end has been rated a gentle 4 (with 10 as the most hazardous), the southern side is rated as a 7 due to a famous rip current known as the "Backpackers' Express" because of its proximity to the bus stop, and the unwillingness of tourists to walk the length of the beach to safer swimming. The south end of the beach is generally reserved for surfboard riding. Yellow and red flags define safe swimming areas, and visitors are advised to swim between them.

There is an underwater shark net shared, during the summer months, with other beaches along the southern part of the coast. Pods of whales and dolphins have been sighted in the bay during the months of migration. Fairy penguins, while uncommon, are sometimes also seen swimming close to shore or amongst surfers in southern line-up.

In 2007, the Guinness World Record for the largest swimsuit photo shoot was set at Bondi Beach, with 1,010 women wearing bikinis taking part.

Bondi Beach was added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2008.

Manly Beach:

Manly Beach is a beach situated in Sydney's Northern Beaches, Australia. From north to south, the three main sections are Queenscliff, North Steyne, and South Steyne.

Within walking distance of Manly Beach along the oceanway is Fairy Bower and Shelley Beach. There are shops, restaurants, night clubs, and dive bars in town.

The beach was named by Capt. Arthur Phillip for the indigenous people living there. He wrote about them, "Their confidence and manly behaviour made me give the name of Manly Cove to this place".

Manly Council Lifeguards operate a year-round service at South Steyne, and operate from October to April at North Steyne and Queenscliff. Volunteer Life Savers also patrol on weekends and public holiday between October and May.

Travelling to Manly from Sydney's main ferry terminal, Circular Quay, takes 30 minutes by ferry. The Corso, a pedestrian plaza and one of Manly's main streets for shopping and dining, runs from the ferry wharf and harbour beach, across the peninsula to Manly Beach, where it marks the boundary between North Steyne and South Steyne.

Sydney Airport:

Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport is located in the suburb of Mascot in Sydney, Australia. It is the only major airport serving Sydney, and is a primary hub for Qantas, as well as a secondary hub for Virgin Australia and Jetstar Airways. Situated next to Botany Bay, the airport has three runways, colloquially known as the "east–west", "north–south" and "third" runways.

Sydney Airport is one of the oldest continually operated airports in the world, and the busiest airport in Australia, handling 36 million passengers in 2010 and 289,741 aircraft movements in 2009. It was the 27th busiest airport in the world in 2010. The airport is managed by Sydney Airport Corporation Limited (SACL) and the current CEO is Kerrie Mather. Flights from Sydney link with all states and territories of Australia. Currently 47 domestic destinations are served to Sydney direct.

Sydney Hotels:

Sydney Luxury Hotels:

Quay Grand Suites Sydney
Park Hyatt Sydney

Westin Sydney
BLUE Sydney
Hilton Sydney
Swissotel Sydney
Shangri-La Hotel Sydney
The Langham, Sydney
Four Seasons Hotel Sydney
Sheraton on the Park, Sydney
Pullman Sydney Hyde Park
InterContinental Sydney
Quay West Suites Sydney
Amora Hotel Jamison Sydney
Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney
Meriton Serviced Apartments World Tower

Sydney Cheap Hotels:

The Australian Heritage Hotel
Woolbrokers Hotel

Formule 1 Sydney East
Central Railway Hotel
Sydney Central Hostel
Holiday Lodge Hotel
Macleay Hotel
The Russell
Arts Hotel
Ibis Sydney King Street Wharf
The Savoy Double Bay Hotel
Park Regis City Centre
Napoleon on Kent
City Crown Motel
Garden Lodge Sydney
Y Hotel City South
Central Station Hotel

Sydney Airport Hotels:

Holiday Inn Sydney Airport

Crowne Plaza Coogee

Holiday Inn Potts Point
Stamford Plaza Sydney
Hotel Ibis Sydney Airport
Novotel Darling Harbour
Mercure Hotel Airport
Marriott Sydney
Airport Sydney International Inn
Southern Cross Hotel
Quest Mascot Serviced Apartments
AEA Sydney Airport Serviced Apartments
Hotel Formule 1 Sydney Airport
Annam Suites Cascata
Posh Hotel
Great Southern Hotel