Luxury hotels in Sydney

20 hand-picked hotels with breakfast, upgrades and hotel credit when you book with us.

Sydney guide

The Sydney Opera House, inside and out

A guided tour by day, a performance by night and the best views from the water.

Designed by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon and opened in 1973, the Sydney Opera House is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the first name on every Sydney list. Its sails are covered in more than a million tiles, which shift colour with the light over the harbour.

See it both ways. A guided tour in the morning takes you into the concert hall and behind the scenes, and an evening performance, whether opera, ballet or the symphony, is the way to understand the building. Dinner on the forecourt beforehand, facing the Harbour Bridge, completes the night.

For the best views, take the ferry to Manly at sunset, climb the Harbour Bridge, or walk to Mrs Macquarie's Chair in the Royal Botanic Garden. Spring and autumn, from September to November and March to May, bring the mildest weather, and a hotel in The Rocks or Circular Quay puts the harbour at your door.

Bondi to Coogee and the Harbour Bridge climb

The Bondi to Coogee coastal walk, about six kilometres along sandstone cliffs past beaches and ocean pools such as Bondi Icebergs, is one of Sydney's most cited experiences, best in the morning. Bondi Beach itself is the city's icon.

The BridgeClimb takes visitors over the arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, 134 metres above the water, with views of the Opera House; dawn and twilight climbs are the most beautiful. A ferry to Manly is the classic harbour crossing.

The Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains, a UNESCO World Heritage Site about ninety minutes west of Sydney, are the most cited day trip from the city: sandstone cliffs and valleys of eucalyptus whose oil gives the air a blue haze, and the Three Sisters rock formation at Echo Point in Katoomba.

Scenic World has the Scenic Railway, the steepest passenger railway in the world, and a cable car over the Jamison Valley. The villages of Leura and Blackheath have cafés, gardens and walks to waterfalls. Hunter Valley wineries are another classic day out.

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