Sydney, Australia
My best friend, Rachal, and I decided to take a trip down to Australia and New Zealand, but only had two weeks of vacation to explore (which probably wasn’t the best idea). With the time restraint, we decided that our time in Australia would be spent only in and around Sydney instead of trying to spread ourselves too thin across the country. Quite an activity packed 4-day trip!
Here is our basic 4 day Sydney itinerary. For detailed events and even more pictures of each day, just click on the title!
Day One
Arrival – Sydney Tower Eye – Darling Harbour – Badu Gili
A long day of travel landed us in Sydney, Australia around 0900 which meant we HAD to explore and use our first day wisely. It started with meandering around Chinatown and getting a bite to eat before checking in to our Airbnb. Once we got settled in and met our furry friend, we set out to use our iVenture Pass (which is totally worth it to see all the touristy things).
First up, the Sydney Tower Eye where we got to go up the tower and take a look over the entirety of downtown Sydney. I even spotted a huge Sheppard Fairey mural (which I made Rachal hunt with me for when we got back to street level)! Later, we headed to Darling Harbour where we got Italian food from Crinitis. We decided to spend the rest of the evening wandering around the harbor and waiting for Badu Gili. What we didn’t realize, was that we were waiting in the wrong area, but we made it to the last show thank goodness! Just had to walk around to the entrance by the park. That was a nice conclusion to our first day.
Day Two
Sydney BridgeClimb – Opera House Tour – Tattoos
Our main event (and the reason we woke up hella early) on day two was the Sydney BridgeClimb. Even though it costs a ton of money and we didn’t even get the whole experience (read more about this here), it’s pretty cool to see the Opera House, the harbor, and downtown Sydney from that height. After the climb, we found the historical Hero of Waterloo Hotel and Bar. We had some pretty good food here, and Rachal continued her tradition of having a “celebratory beer.” There is a museum nestled in a tower on the bridge with an amazing view, and definitely way cheaper.
Back to the harbor we went, joining an official Opera House tour (another item included in our iVenture Pass). It was quite informative and definitely cool to see all the tiles and such up close. Especially interesting was learning about its construction turning an entire sphere into the “sails” we see today. Since we didn’t have any more large plans for the day, we decided to find a tattoo parlour. We came across the incredible building that houses Little Tokyo, but without an appointment we had to search for other options. The chick that helped us there referred us to Max’s Village Tattoo. This is where we ended up getting our tattoos and was in a great place for food nearby afterwards!
Day Three
Bondi Beach – Infiniti Pools – More Beaches – Luna Park
Today was all about the beaches! Rachal and I took a ride out to Bondi, had amazing breakfast looking at the water, and then took a lovely walk on the sand admiring the artwork on the walls. After meandering about, we started hiking towards Coogee Beach. The views from the cliffs were absolutely incredible and we found a practically unoccupied infinity pool at Bronte Beach! We got in and definitely got attacked by waves, which was hilarious.
After the beaches, we searched, failed, and finally succeeded at finding food. Village Coffee was a total lifesaver and they have THE BEST smoothies ever! Finally, after all the walking, Rachal convinced me to get a ride out to Luna Park. We were told that it isn’t a running theme park anymore, but I wanted to take photos anyways. Turns out, it’s still open! There’s a nighttime discount, and we had such a blast on all the rides. Plus, the view from across the harbor of Sydney is absolutely beautiful. The lights and entertainment at Luna Park are pretty impressive to boot!
Day Four
Blue Mountains
Three words: Hiking. Blue. Mountains. The hop-on-hop-off red bus was included in our iVenture Pass (mentioned in Day One) which took us around the park until we decided to get off at Echo Point and start walking. We saw the Three Sisters Peak and started descending the stairway to hell. True to its name, it seemed never ending and it was a tough trek to the bottom. We ended up on a wild goose chase to find Leura Falls, which made Rachal want to punch me. However, after about four hours of hiking, we found it!! Totally incredible, and totally worth it. On our way back up towards civilization, we met a lovely local couple who even gave us a ride to a pub across from the train station. Clearly this was the most logical thing since Rachal needed her celebratory beer of course!
Our four days in Sydney were amazing. We saw and experienced so much and didn’t feel too stressed about trying to cram the whole city in over one day. I highly suggest spending your time out in the city instead of spreading out too far, unless you have enough time of course! There’s a lot to do, and a lot of land to cover.
Like it? Pin it!
Such a great trip ideas! What was your budget for this trip if you don’t mind me asking?
Anna
We spent WAY more money than I would have by myself. I’m a fan of getting groceries and eating out only one meal a day, but my friend Rachal is more on the luxury side of things. So I don’t have a realistic number for you. Sorry Anna! I’m going to do better at tracking my budget for my trip to South America, so stay tuned!
I’ve always wanted to do the Sydney Bridge Climb! Definitely doesn’t seem like a budget activity though…although I could see how it would balance out by spending a day hiking and spending way less money.
It really was not a budget item for us, but what we learned (after the fact unfortunately) was that there are so many deals for it! Between Groupon and so many other avenues, you just need to shop around a bit. Never pay full price!
Looks like you had fun even with 4 days and did a lot of activities 🙂 I wouldn’t have thought about combining hiking with a place like Sydney but I’d love to include that myself too 😀
Oh we crammed in a LOT and the hiking was so worth it! Still wish we had more time there though.
You really did see a lot in four days. I love that you combined urban adventures with hiking and beaches – that is so my kind of trip!
I couldn’t survive if I didn’t combine it all! Just love all of it.
Thanks for the tips! I didn’t go to Luna Park or Little Tokyo when I was in Sydney. Quite a few cool things to see and do there 🙂
There really are so many places, and such quirky things to see!
Awesome stuff! I’d love to go to Australia, but it is just so expensive to fly there. I’ll have to keep my eye out on deals! 🙂
I know that struggle… but I definitely get emails every little bit about deals! 🙂
Wow you guys did a lot in 4 days! Sydney is a second home to me. I will be heading there for another 3 months at the end of the year. This post makes me super happy. Glad you enjoyed this wonderful city!
I’m so jealous!!! I had such a blast there and can’t wait to visit again!
Sounds like you had a great 4 days in Sydney. I would definitely purchase the iVenture pass if I was visiting the city.
It was a total blast! And the iVenture pass was so worth it!
This is a great itinerary! I’ve always wanted to go to Australia and I’ll keep this in mind when I plan my trip out.
Thank you! It was so much fun!
Wow! It’s super-brave to get a spontaneous tattoo in a foreign country! I think I’d need to plan for like… a decade… before taking the plunge!
It’s definitely not my first foreign tattoo… haha but I understand!