Can you find any hidden treasures and see the harbour city in a new way?

Defoes Lifestyle Travel Team

Blog featuring travel tips, packing guides, videos and photography from around the world.

More to Explore

Are you thinking of studying abroad?

The entire family can enjoy themselves on a Little Londoners trip.

The best places in the US for a bachelor party

Getting into the spirit of Vienna, Austria

Your Private Island Resort Destination in the Bahamas

The Top Five Places for a Romantic Honeymoon

The Art of Choosing the Perfect Private Island Retreat

The Ultimate Travel Guide to Costa Rica

What does a vacation that costs a million dollars look like?

Unforgettable Luxury Travel Experiences: A Journey Beyond Imagination

London to Stockholm by sleeper train in one day

Here are the best places in Europe to buy a second home, from luxury city homes to vacation rentals

The world’s ten expensive holiday spots

A new trend in hotels that will actually put you to sleep

Sydney’s hidden treasures

With its iconic bridge and performance centre, Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but can you discover any hidden gems and experience the harbour city in a new light?

Over, beneath, and on the harbour

The Sydney Harbour Bridge, colloquially known as the ‘coat-hanger’ by locals, extends 1.1km over downtown Sydney to the northern suburbs, but you can also climb the steel arch construction and walk up to the pinnacle of the world’s largest bridge on a tethered walk.

The Sydney Opera House’s sparkling white sails can be seen from a variety of perspectives, and you can take a one-hour tour to learn more about the contentious structure’s history. However, the most pleasing way to see the bridge and the Opera House is to take a Captains Dinner Cruise with Captain Cook Cruises on the beautiful multi-deck MV Sydney 2000 at night. While the sleek yacht sails beneath the bridge and near the Opera House –twice –complimentary bubbly is given, followed by a three-course lunch of modern Australian cuisine. Passengers may walk out to the Star Deck after dessert to take in the breathtaking nightscape.

It is thought that Australia’s riches was founded in part on the backs of sheep. However, at Darling Harbour, a former wool shop has been turned into Ovolo 1888, a boutique history hotel with a quirky wine bar and bistro restaurant on the ground floor. Mister Percy (139 Murray St, open 5 pm-11 pm daily, phone 85861888, misterpercy.com.au), named after a wool classer who left his name on the wall, merges restored tradition with modern cuisine, delivering Mediterranean-inspired dishes using great local ingredients, with platters ideal for sharing.

A disused water reservoir’s iron, timber, and brick structure have been turned into a park with ponds, walkways, and vegetation on bustling Oxford Street in upmarket Paddington. The Paddington Reservoir Gardens (255a Oxford Street, 7 am-7 pm daily) were previously described as a fusion of “the ancient Baths of Caracalla in Rome and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon,” but you won’t know that unless you ride the escalator down to the underground gardens.

Another overlooked relic near Central Station is the Regent Street Railway Station, which appears more like a chapel than a train station and is located at the crossroads of Regent and

Kensington Streets – Long ago, the magnificent Gothic-style structure operated as a morgue, and the 10-mile railroad line transported corpse carriages carrying up to 30 dead at a time to their final resting place in the enormous Rookwood Cemetery. On November 1st, All Saint’s Day, the protected edifice is available to the public, but visitors can peep through the iron gate at the angel and gargoyle carvings and wonder if it is still haunted.

Nearby, the White Rabbit Gallery (10 am-5 pm,Wednesday to Sunday, free, 30 Balfour St) houses one of the world’s greatest collections of Chinese modern art, maybe even more upsetting. An abandoned Rolls-Royce service station now houses four levels of stunning and thought-provoking artworks, which are best enjoyed with the café, serving steamed dumplings and pots of unique Chinese teas.

Australia is still proud of its convict history, and some of the greatest locations to drink are hidden along dark alleyways or in subterranean cellars. Queues may occasionally be spotted late at night outside a door in an old loading dock in the CBD, where a hidden stairway leads to The Baxter Inn’s secret whiskey realm at 152-156 Clarence Street. The staff strives to locate the ideal drink for each client, with a ceiling-to-counter menu board and whiskeys from the highlands and lowlands. Hungover? For a fast-food fix, try the Little Italy 1960s Bill and Toni’s at 72-74 Stanley Street, followed by coffee from the city’s finest coffee, served at Gumption in The Strand Arcade, a Victorian-style shopping mall.