A Long Weekend in Sydney, Australia

Caitlinepstein415/ March 8, 2020/ Oceania, Study Abroad/ 0 comments

Just about a week after landing in Australia and settling into Byron Bay, three of my classmates and I booked our flights to Sydney. There was no way that we were going to spend a semester in Australia without visiting the iconic city. Here is a break down of the absolutely lovely weekend that I spent there along with some bonus budget tips and tricks for a very expensive city.

The Logistics

Getting There

To get to Sydney, we flew from the Gold Coast airport to the Sydney airport on a super cheap flight on Tigerair, one of Australia’s Spirit or Ryanair equivalents. It was definitely a no-frills flight, but it was only about an hour and a half long and only cost 120 AUD, or roughly $80 USD roundtrip.

There are also buses available from Byron Bay to Sydney, but they take nearly nine hours and are not really any cheaper than flying.

Getting Around

Sydney is a pretty big, spread out city, so we took a lot of public transportation while we were there – trains, buses, and ferries. On our first full day in the city, we got Opal transport cards and topped them up with $20. The card itself is free and can be bought in convenience stores all over the city, but there is a $20 minimum to start and it can supposedly be topped up in $10 increments. We learned towards the end of the trip that contactless credit/debit cards and digital payment apps like Apple, Google, and Samsung pay can be used to tap in and out of public transportation with the same perks as the Opal cards – daily caps and cheaper fares than paper individual trip tickets.

The daily caps for most days is $16.10 AUD, meaning that you can ride public transportation as much as your heart desires in a day and you will never pay more than $16.10. On Sundays, the deal is even sweeter, and the cap is only $2.80 AUD!

We took huge advantage of this cap and took several trains and two ferries on Sunday, which would typically cost a heck of a lot more.

***The trains to and from the Sydney airport are not included in the daily caps, and they include an airport fee of $14.90 AUD for adults. This is a ridiculous amount of money just to take public transport that gets people to and from the airport, so I did some research to avoid the fee. When we got to Sydney, the four of us split an Uber into the city. It was $36 AUD total, or $9 each. On the way back to the airport on Sunday, we took further advantage of that $2.80 cap and took a train out to the Banksia stop near the airport, and then took the 420 bus from there to the Domestic terminal.

Here’s a full article on crafty ways to avoid the airport train fee.***

Accommodations

We stayed at the Jolly Swagman Backpackers Hostel, which I chose on Hostelworld for its relatively cheap price, its location, and their free breakfast and airport pickup. It was cheap for Sydney at 23 AUD ($15 USD) a night for a dorm bed, and it was conveniently located right near a major metro stop in a lively backpackers area of town. Other than those positives, the hostel was meh – I found out that their free airport pickup ended before we landed, and the free breakfast was just toast. I have stayed in hostels 10 times better than this one and paid nearly 10 times less.

Sights and Things to Do

The Sydney Sights Free Walking Tour

On our first morning in Sydney, we joined the three hour free walking tour of Sydney through Sydney Sights. They had several guides at the meeting point between the Town Hall and St.Andrew’s Cathedral ready to lead a few groups of visitors around the main points of central Sydney.

Our guide did a fabulous job, and we learned a great deal about the history and culture of the city.

Visit the Art Gallery of New South Wales

This FREE art gallery features tons of works from around New South Wales as well as some international works, and we especially loved the exhibitions on aboriginal art and works done by local high school students. Aboriginal art is something often appropriated or not given a lot of space or value, so it was great to see some of it in a major museum. As for the high school works – holy cow, there are some talented young artists in Sydney.

The Coogee to Bondi Coastal Walk

This walk is a stunning two to three hour walk along a gorgeous coastline from Coogee Beach to Sydney’s Bondi Beach. The walk can be done in either direction, but I read that the big reveal of Bondi is fantastic if you come from Coogee, and it did not disappoint. The walk took us closer to three hours because we were in no rush whatsoever and spent as much time as we pleased taking photos and enjoying the scenery.

Shop at the Markets

We stumbled upon a few markets while in the city, and enjoyed perusing art, clothing, food, and more made by locals. We walked through the Rocks Market, the Manly Market, the Friday Chinatown Night Market, and the Paddington Market, all of which are on during the weekends in Sydney.

Visit Manly

Manly is an area of Sydney with a small-town beach vibe that is accessible primarily by ferry. The Manly ferry is said to be one of the best for views of the harbor, including the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. While in Manly, we visited the Manly Art Gallery and Museum (also free!), strolled though a market, and chilled by Manly Beach. The ferry over there was great (especially with that Sunday fare cap!), and the area of Manly was super cute and made for a nice and relaxing Sunday morning.

 

Good Eats

Mamak

This Malaysian restaurant near Chinatown in Sydney makes nearly every best restaurants in Sydney list, so I knew I wanted to make it there while in the city. Mamak is known for its roti – a fluffy flatbread, and delicious curries. We all sampled the roti, which was certainly yummy, along with some curries and milk teas. All of the rotis except for the meat roti are under $10 AUD and most of the mains are under $20 AUD. Service was great and unbelievably fast – if you see a line out the door, have no fear – you will surely be seated in no time.

Laurie’s Vegetarian Restaurant

Laurie’s, located out near Bondi Beach, came recommended on a list of great cheap eats in Sydney, and it was an added bonus that their fully vegetarian fare catered well to our group that included three vegetarians. We had humongous veggie burgers topped with sauces and slaw for only $9.50 AUD, which is an absolute steal for a burger of any kind in Australia.

Pad Thai Chai Yo

I came across this restaurant while looking for restaurants near our hostel one night, and we really lucked out with this one. The food was soooo delicious – some of the best Thai food I have tried, and we were able to eat large portions for less than $15 AUD.

Donny’s Bar

I found this restaurant/bar on a list of cheap eats in Manly, and it ended up being one of our cheapest meals of the weekend. Food at Donny’s is all half price on Sunday, so we were able to get some $16 AUD salads for only $8. They have a small but pretty varied menu that made for an easy and affordable lunch out in Manly.

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I boarded my flight to Sydney jittery with excitement, anticipating experiencing such an iconic city. Thankfully, my time there lived up to all of my expectations. I was able to marvel at the Sydney Opera House and the awe inspiring views along the coast, eat delicious food, and relax with good friends in a vibrant city. It was a weekend that made me thankful that while this semester has not gone remotely as planned, there are still such amazing experiences to be had.