Sydney Harbour

Mrs Macquarie's Chair

• Mrs Macquarie's Road
• Mrs Macquarie's Point
• tel:+61 (0)2 9255 1788
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Bodhi Cafe

• Eddy Avenue
• Shop 8, Central Station
• tel:61 2 9281 6162
• Sydney, 2000

Bohdi Café is a gem – a total surprise, tucked away underneath busy Central Station. It is not the nicest place in the world to eat, but you can buy takeaways and take them to the park across the road. Bohdi are wonderful, with a varied menu of 100% vegan Chinese food good enough to impress even the most blood-thirsty carnivore to the pleasure of Tofu and rice! read more about Bodhi Cafe

Summit Restaurant (The)

• 264 George Street
• Level 47, Australia Square
• tel:61 2 9247 9777
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Govinda's & Movie Room

• 112 Darlinghurst Road
• Darlinghurst
• tel:61 2 9380 5155
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2010

You can't go wrong at Govinda's, especially if you go for the movie and meal deal… this place has a very good Hare Krishna buffet – short of gourmet, for sure - but which can be seriously addictive. The situation is functional, so don't come here if you are looking for intimate dining. However, they do have a cinema, which involves lots of cushions and lying about on the floor. The movies are usually a couple of months out of cinema, but they sometimes golden oldies too. read more about Govinda's & Movie Room

Betty's Soup Kitchen

• 84 Oxford Street
• Darlinghurst
• tel:61 2 9360 9698
• Sydney, 2010

Doyles on the Beach

• 11 Marine Parade
• (Watsons Bay)
• tel:61 2 9337 2007
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2030

Doyle's is a byword in Sydney – everyone knows where it is, and almost everyone has eaten there, despite the hefty prices. But you get the best, and the location is hard to beat for laidback ambience, situated on the harbor away from the business of the city centre. Reserve a beachside table so you can enjoy the view. read more about Doyles on the Beach

Sushi Suma

• 421 Cleveland Street
• Redfern
• tel:61 2 9698 8873
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2016

Sushi Suma is always packed with locals in the know, who flock here for the relatively cheap and uniformly excellent Japanese cuisine on offer. Whilst outside is busy and unlovely Cleveland Street, inside is an oasis of olfactory and degustational pleasure. Squash yourself in at the sushi bar--it is tiny--and watch the sushi master at work. On offer you will find tasty morsels such as egg rolls, California rolls, squid, eel and salmon. Freshly made, they also do sashimi, tempura and green tea ice cream. read more about Sushi Suma

Badde Manors

• 37 Glebe Point Road
• Glebe
• tel:61 2 9660 3797
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2037

Badde Manors is a great one for a break on a hot, glary Sydney day, with great baristas making your favorite coffee and classic, fresh Australian café food – and there are lots of vege and vegan options amongst the generally healthy selection of dishes on offer. It's a good spot to just sit and watch people, set on a busy corner in Glebe, and filled with the overflow from Sydney University, which is just a stone's throw away. read more about Badde Manors

Harry's Café de Wheels

• Cowper Wharf Roadway
• (Woolloomooloo)
• tel:61 2 9211 2506
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2011

Harry's is not gourmet, but it makes no pretense to be. It has been docked right by the water on Woolloomooloo pier for over 70 years, however, and has served many celebrities over the years. Their stated aim: to develop and maintain the quality and original flavour of 1945 for the enjoyment of today's increasingly discerning consumers. They are open late, and are a handy place to know about if you are down this way and hungry: grab a pie and dangle your legs over the edge of the docks, along with half of Sydney's cab drivers. read more about Harry's Café de Wheels

MCA Cafe

• 140 George Street
• The Rocks
• tel:61 2 9241 4253
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Ok. So the MCA Cafe has seriously good views, fronting right onto Sydney Harbour and across to Circular Quay and the Sydney Opera House. Sitting here you know you're in Sydney. You will be surrounded by businessmen and old money-types, but it's well worth stopping off here if you are feeling footsore. Conveniently, it is located in the same building as the excellent Museum of Contemporary Art, which has revolving exhibitions. The MCA café is run by local celebrity chef Neil Perry (he does the in-flight food for Qantas – what more do you need to know?).The MCA Cafe primarily serves seafood dishes of various sorts, but does venture into risottos, pastas, and Mediterranean cuisine. If you are sitting on the terrace it seems most appropriate to be dining on tuna steak or spaghetti and clams. read more about MCA Cafe

Longrain

• 85 Commonwealth Street
• Surry Hills
• tel:61 2 9280 2888
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2010

Longrain is seriously hip, located between happening Surry Hills and the CBD. With very modern decor, and long tables (don't expect private tete-a-tete!) it boasts some of the best Thai in Sydney. The food is not the cheapest that you will find, but it is impeccable – the best and freshest ingredients prepared expertly and with love; it is widely considered to be one of the best Thai restaurants outside of the Kingdom of Thailand itself. There are no dinner bookings, and diners are asked to wait at the bar. It all happens in a large airy renovated space and is as cool as Sydney comes. Bookings are available only for lunch. And if are in Melbourne and want a touch of Longrain, step in at 44 Little Bourke Street; yes it is yet another Longrain sibling for you! read more about Longrain

Old Fitzroy Hotel (The)

• 129 Dowling Street
• Woolloomooloo
• tel:61 2 9356 3848
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2011

Out of Africa

• 43-45 East Esplanade
• Manly
• tel:61 2 9977 0055
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2095

Sydney Theater Company (The)

• Pier 4/5
• Hickson Road
• tel:61 2 9250 1777
• Visit website
• Sydney

Alhambra Cafe and Tapas Bar

• 1/54 West Esplanade
• Manly
• tel:61 2 9976 2975
• Sydney, 2095

Opera Bar

• Lower Concourse Level
• Sydney Opera House
• tel:61 2 9247 1666
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Sydney Opera House Opera Theater

• Bennelong Point
• Circular Quay
• tel:61 2 9250 7777
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Hopetoun Hotel

• 416 Bourke Street
• Surry Hills
• tel:61 2 9361 5257
• Sydney, 2010

Taronga Zoo

• Bradley's Head Road
• Mosman
• tel:+61 (0)2 9969 2777
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2088

Catching the ferry over from Circular Quay for a day at the Zoo is one of the delights of living in Sydney. For surely there is no urban zoo with quite as spectacular a setting as this one, sited on a headland that juts out into the harbor. Catching that ferry can be one of the delights of visiting Sydney, too. For a starter, the collection of Australian animals here is great: all the critters you'd expect - kangaroos and koalas and so forth. And that's just to start, because the zoo also homes all the excellent international beasts a soul could hope for : the elephants and the zebras and the lions and the hippos and turtles and snakes and the weird legless lizards and lemurs and gorillas (they're SO big)...

It's simply a splendid place to bring kids. Or adults.
read more about Taronga Zoo

Dendy Opera Quays

• Shop 9, 2 East Circular Quay
• Shop 9
• tel:61 2 9247 3800
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Basement (The)

• 7 Macquarie Place
• Circular Quay
• tel:61 2 9251 2797
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Mentioning jazz and Sydney in the one sentence usually means The Basement. This esteemed  institution has been around for decades, and still packs them in six or seven nights a week with an eclectic mix of acts, both local and international. Consider this gig list from yesteryear: Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Art Pepper, and more recently, Prince, Keith Urban and Tim Finn.
This CBD venue has undergone a few changes over time, and its latest incarnation still retains those moody jazz hues. Blue Note album covers and signed posters of notable crooners still adorn the walls.
Most shows offer a 2-course cabaret-style dinner in advance; handy when seats and tickets are a premium. The food is not special - salads or pate starters, steak, pasta or chicken mains. If a formal seated dinner is not your thing, the quick and easy bistro offers stand up bar bites, like nachos, burgers, antipasti plates or crumbed seafood. But you're not exactly here for the culinary experience.
On matters liquid, lubricate with quirky cocktails like the Parker Up Charlie, Billie's Holiday and Round Midnight, or one of the many boutique beers available.
Whether it's blues, folk or funk you're after, the venerable Basement continues to put on an impressive live show. read more about Basement (The)

Belvoir Street Theater

• 25 Belvoir Street
• Surry Hills
• tel:61 2 9698 3344
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2010

Museum of Contemporary Art

• 140 George St
• The Rocks
• tel:+61 2 9245 2400
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Sydney Hilton (The)

• 488 George Street
• tel:61 2 9266 2000
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Art Gallery of New South Wales

• Art Gallery Road
• The Domain
• tel:+61 2 9225 1744 / +1 800 67 9278 (Toll free)
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Beppi's Restaurant

• Yurong Street
• (Corner Stanley Street)
• tel:61 2 9360 4558
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2010

Tetsuya's Restaurant

• 529 Kent Street
• Sydney
• tel:61 2 9267 2900
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

If you want to eat here, and you are already in Sydney, good luck! It books out months in advance. 3 star Michelin chef, Tetsuya Wakuda, is a maestro, and is Australia's most garlanded chef. His award winning restaurant is a fusion of French and Japanese and offers a single degustation menu (ten courses). The menu changes from time to time and offers such specialties as slow-cooked trout, seared scallops, venison and quail. Corkage fees apply and it is also fully licensed. read more about Tetsuya's Restaurant

InterContinental Sydney

• Corner of Bridge & Phillip Streets
• tel:61 2 9253 9000
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Kirketon Hotel

• 229 Darlinghurst Road
• Darlinghurst
• tel:61 2 9332 2011
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2010

Cosmopolitan cities need chic, architect-designed, cutting edge hotels. Said properties should offer iconic status, glamour and opulence in equal measure. Exclusivity need never be requested, but discretely assumed.
The Kirketon, after starting life in 1999 as a cool, stark, minimalist boutique hotel, was acquired by 8Hotels in 2003 and underwent its latest incarnation. The result is a warmer, more sophisticated property that evokes the luxurious feel reminiscent of grand European hotels, but with a nod to 21st century tastes and technology.
The 40 rooms are divided into four styles: Standard, Premium, Executive and Superior; each a step up in bed size, floor space, facilities, price and finishes.
Outside on the Darlinghurst streets, you're spoilt for culinary, bar and nightlife choices. But if you're finding it hard to leave the luxury of the Kirketon behind, you can always slip out back to the in-house, award winning Eau de Vie bar; it's class with a capital C. read more about Kirketon Hotel

Sydney Opera House

• Off 2 Macquarie Street
• (Circular Quay)
• tel:61 2 9250 7111
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Few cities have such an iconic building as Sydney's Opera House Sure, New York has the Empire State, Rome the Pantheon, Athens has the Acropolis, but for out and out modernity, mixed with breathtaking geography, those off-white billowing sails perched on Bennelong Point have to be one of the great studies of architecture in the 20th century.
Designed by the Danish architect, Jorn Utzon, after the NSW state government conducted a worldwide competition in the late 50s, the $10m original budget soon blew out to more than $100m when it finally opened in 1973. Utzon fell out with the political overseers of the day and quit the project, long before completion.
Though referred to as an opera house, it stages a host of different performance types, including, classical and pop concerts, drama, ballet, comedy, films, talks, and has an exhibition space.
Today it's the cities No 1 tourist draw card and probably the most photographed site in the country. Guided tours (in multiple languages) take you through the labyrinthine innards, including backstage glimpses of some of the theaters.
There are a host of fine eateries and outdoor bars along the forecourt. Twilight in summer, with the sun setting, the bridge in silhouette, and a cool cocktail in hand, is probably about as good as it gets in this lifetime. Seriously! read more about Sydney Opera House

Royal Botanic Gardens

• Mrs Macquarie's Road
• tel:+61 (0)2 9231 8111
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Sydney Harbour Bridge

• Cumberland St
• (or Milsons Point on the north shore)
• tel:+61 (0)2 9255 1788
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000

Building the Harbour Bridge was a big deal back in the 20s and 30s, when it was being planned - half of Sydney's oldest and most historic area, the Rocks, had to be bulldozed, and that was just a start. Sydney needed its bridge: up til then it had gotten by with the dozens of ferries to-ing and fro-ing from the populous northside over to Sydney proper. And what a bridge it got, the spectacular 'Coat Hanger' (as the locals know it), as seen on a billion postcards.

read more about Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Harbour National Park

• 110 George Street
• Cadmans Cottage, The Rocks
• tel:+61 (0)2 9247 5033
• Visit website
• Sydney, 2000