Sydney was more like a bag-pack trip for us and it turned out to be really awesome! We reached Sydney in afternoon and slept after checking into Breakfree Hotel at Clarence Street. The hotel is average but the location is very good.
Summary
- Plan to visit ‘The Rocks Market’ early as it closes at 5 PM.
- Pre-Register for free walking tour of the city. There are various options available and you can choose the part of the city that interests you the most. Click here for further details http://www.imfree.com.au/
- The city offers quite good pubs/restaurants with few of them running for over a century. These places serve authentic Australian drinks and food.
- Carry comfortable foot wear, as you might have to walk quite a bit
- Taxis are quite expensive. Do take metro card (Opal card) which can be used for local trains and buses. These can be bought from any general stores including 7/11.
- Day 1 at a Glance: Rocks Market> Free Walking Tour>Opera House
Day 1: Rocks Market> Free Walking Tour>Opera House
We started our tourism with “The Rocks market.” It is a street market where you can buy clothes, jewelry, food, souvenirs and many more things. To find more about Rocks market click here.
We then reached Cadman’s square about 5:55 PM for our walking tour of ‘The Rocks’, just in time for the free walking tour which starts at 6 PM every day. As I mentioned in my other posts as well, these free walking tours are free and you can tip any amount at the end of the tour. I love these tours as they are not commercialized and you can walk around the city like a local while admiring the rich heritage. Find out more here.
The Rocks is the historic area of Sydney which was established after colonization. This area housed most of the key government buildings in the pre World War 1 era owing to its proximity to the bay. One of the worst plague of all times called bubonic plague hit the city which resulted in demolishing a lot of these structures to rebuild this city. Another grand project of demolition also happened subsequently to build the Sydney Harbor Bridge. During the tour you will also hear stories about Australia’s largest bank robbery and see few of Sydney’s oldest houses. Just FYI, there are 28 heritage houses in Sydney!
Many pubs claim to be Sydney’s oldest surviving pubs: ‘The Fortune of War’ and ‘The Lord Nelson’ rank high on the contenders list. Some people also put ‘Observer’, ‘Orient’, ‘Mercantile’, ‘Palisade’ and the ‘Hero of Waterloo’ in the same category.
The tour ends in about 1.5 hours leaving you very close to Darling Harbor. You can consider watching fireworks at Darling Harbor in the evening. It’s quite nice. The whole area is walk-able and you can spend your time at the restaurants near Opera House while enjoying live music and vibrant surroundings.
Opera House in itself is an Engineering Marvel with lots of history associated with it. Young Danish architect won the worldwide design competition to build this famous architecture which was an investment worth 1B USD! We did not see any shows in Opera House but that is highly recommended too. Do check them if you have time. 
Overall, an interesting day spent knowing about the history of Sydney, one of the older cities of Australia!
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Check Out How we Spent Our Other 2 Days in Sydney:
For Day 2 in Sydney exploring Sydney Town Hall, Hyde Park, Sydney Tower and Seagulls at Manly beach, click here.
For Day 3 trip to Blue Mountains via Feather Dale National Park, click here.
I’ve recently been to Sydney and I enjoyed some of these things. Excellent post!
thanks for this
found it really useful
especially as its free thing to do in Sydney
very informative
Sydney !! is on my bucket list !! this is a nice post specially to see so many things free to visit !!
What a very cool list to save money. Australia is on my bucket list and I hope to go one day.
I haven’t been to Sydney since I was in highschool! I miss it! I would love to go back soon.
How gorgeous! Sydney is one of the top places that I’d love to visit someday. It’s amazing that there are so many free things to do in Sydney.
Thanks for sharing your very lovely photos of your adventure and informative post about this place. I hope someday we can visit this place too!
it’s on my bucket list of places to go. looks amazing! now i just need to get there
Wow I didn’t know about the history behind this at all! Kind of weird that I haven’t heard about it! I would love to visit Sydney, It would be so much fun!
I have always wanted to visit Sydney! These are some amazing photos and really good tips for travel!
It is my dream to visit Austalia, Sydney in particular. It looks like you had a great time, and it is made even better if you can find free or cheap things to do! Thanks for sharing 🙂
What a neat tour! I would absolutely love to go anywhere in Australia, but especially Sydney. It looks like it has such a rich history.
I’ve done a few walking tours in cities I’ve visited. I think it’s always good to get a recommendation from someone who’s been on the tour before you go because I’ve been on a few where the guide is great and others where they are awful.
I’ve been mentally planning a Australia/ New Zealand trip in my head forever. This is a great itinerary. This trip sounds amazing.
Sydney looks amazing. Even though I have a toddler I take him everywhere I travel. Sydney has always been a destination of mine.
I have always wanted to visit Sydney. It looks like a beautiful city with loads to do. One of these days I will make it there, and I will remember to get a metro card for sure!
I have never been to Sydney before and it’s always been on my bucket list. I’ve been thinking about touring Asia and since Australia is quite near it would be a nice stop before going home.
I love places that take you back in time. This has such a rich history and the tour is definitely worth it!
I thought visiting Sidney would be so expensive… Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience. I should add Sidney to our family’s bucket list. Hope we can visit it soon!
We always think of Sydney being super expensive but I think that it is amazing that there are so many things to do for free. I like the sound of the free walking tour x
This looks awesome! I’ve never been! I’d love to go sometime with family. My late husband’s grandmother is from Australia. She has so many pictures!
I’ve never been to Australia but it looks like a beautiful country to visit! Full of history and rich in culture. Would be an amazing experience.
I’ve never been to Australia but it’s definitely on my bucket list! It looks like an amazing place to visit with a TON to do!
Looks like a beautiful place to visit and explore. I love all the architecture and the history around the area.
I’ve always wanted to go to Sydney. It looks like a fun and gorgeous place and your post makes me want to go even more!
Australia is on my bucket list for sure! The whole country is so full of rich history. It sounds like y’all had a wonderful time, and all those free walking tours, that’s awesome!
Hey Joanna, I highly recommend the free walking tours! They are mostly in all big cities across the globe. Worth the time to learn about the local lifestyle
I have never been here, it looks amazing though! Great list of activities to tackle on your travels!
Thank you GingerGoose Boutique! It was a low budget travel and we made most out of it!
i’ve never been there and this is actually one thing on my bucket list. I hope you had fun! I will definitely try to go there in a year from now!
This looks like a super fun trip!! I would love to visit Sydney. There are so many things to do and beautiful cultural places.
My sister was in Sydney last year and LOVED it. She talks about going back there ALL the time 🙂
That’s so good to hear! I am quite confident she will go back given this city is so charming! 🙂
I love Sydney, Australia! I went for a couple months in highschool with an exchange student program to the Ursuline Sisters School and it was amazing!