SYDNEY

The first thing a visitor to Sydney will discover is that traffic is a mess. Although a number of improvements is expected to be in place before the 2000 Olympics, we can not recommend that you hire a car. 
Sydney has a public transport system good enough to take you where you need to go, and in many cases gives you a lot better view of the surrounding than you would trying to concentrate on reading on map while keeping one eye on the traffic.

Besides that, the city centre is actually not much bigger than you can cover on foot.

Opposite to the Opera house you can spot Kirribilli and the prime minister water front mansion. 
Next to Circular Quay just a minutes walk from the Opera House is the Royal botanic garden, an oasis of tropical and exotic plants and trees amid the skyscrapers and busy city streets.  You can easily spend an hour or half a day just enjoying the tranquillity, colours and fragrances.

Walking to the other side of the opera house we come to the oldest parts of Sydney, -The Rocks.  All fully restored it now houses chic boutiques, restaurants and pubs. Not far from here you can walk up on the Sydney Harbour bridge and walk across to North Sydney. Or you might join one of the tours climbing up to the top of the bridge. You actually have steps going all the way up, but unless you have done your exercises in the stepping machine, you can expect to work up a bit of sweat.

Walking south on Pitt Street from Circular Quay we come to Pitt Street Mall. 
This is a section of the road that has been closed off for traffic in order to let the shoppers roam freely between all malls and department stores located on this stretch. Here you can truly shop till you drop. 
If you continue walking a further 10 minutes South-West from here, you'll get to Darling Harbour. and China town.  (Read more about Darling Harbour and China town further down this page.)  

If we go back to Circular Quay we can catch one of the many ferries that leaves from here. 
If you have at least half a day to spend, you should take a ride along the river all the way to Parramatta and back. Not so much to discover Parramatta itself, as much as for the enjoyable ride.  

A bit shorter tour that definitely gives you great opportunity to take some shots of the Opera House, goes to Manly or Watson Bay. 
If you don't take one of the modern catamaran's but go with the slower green and yellow ferry, the trip to Manly will take you about half an hour one-way.

Watson Bay, Sydney's first fishing village, is a quiet place where you can enjoy stunning city views while enjoying nice sea food and a beer.  Particularly popular is the 'Doyles on the wharf' seafood restaurant 

Manly is a must for Sydney visitors, and has one of Sydney's nicest beaches, and 'the Corso" a stretch of restaurants and shops, where there's always something happening.
Manly has for a hundred years been known for the Sydneysiders as  "Seven miles from Sydney, a thousand miles from care".

Darling Harbour - another 'must visit' place in Sydney. 

The easiest and most enjoyable way to travel around this area is with the monorail. It links the city centre with Darling Harbour. Going from the city, it is easiest to jump on-board at the corner of Pitt Street/Market Street and follow the loop round Darling Harbour and down south to the Haymarket at the border of China town.

In Darling Harbour itself you find the Sydney Aquarium, Maritime museum, and the Chinese gardens. Here is also moored the old Manly ferry, South Steyne, which sailed to Sydney from England, and now holds the 2000 Olympic showcase and Information Centre

At the southern end of Darling Harbour begins China town.  Here the jewelleries and Chinese restaurants fight for attention, and you can shop till late most days of the year. Unlike many other China towns in for instance USA, the once in Australia are normally safe to visit even at night time. 

Other places of interest.

Kings Cross - Sydney's Red Light District and backpacker centre
Once Sydney's most cosmopolitan suburb, still carries some of it's inheritance in the many cafes found here. Backpackers normally head straight down to Victoria Street in search of cheap accommodation.

Sundays Kings Cross hosts one of the more interesting, and less conventional, market. Here you find ethnic art and clothing, handcrafts and jewellery and fortune tellers. The market is held in the corner Macleay Street and Darlinghurst Road.

Kings cross is also the red light district and centre of Sydney's gay community.  Spending the night time here sometimes requires a bit liberal set of mind.

Reviewer: Scott from Singapore groovies theory - party spots at night. interesting -i used it to explore the better joints in town. Sydney is easy to navigate and a very friendly city - so it isn't hard anyway, but the groovy map helped me get to where the best night places are and what to do there. congrats.

Sydney Tower Centrepoint
Centrepoint, 100 Market St.

If you’ve got a head for heights, a visit to Sydney Centrepoint Tower - Sydney’s tallest building - is a must.

Towering 300m above the city, Sydney Tower offers magnificent views that extend to the Central Coast to the north, Wollongong to the south and the Blue Mountains to the west.