Sydney - Circular Quay and The Rocks Travel Guides | Sydney | Sub Regions | Sydney - Circular Quay and The Rocks

As well as serving as the city’s principal hub of transportation, Circular Quay draws sightseers like bees to honey. And how sweet it is to soak up the sights and the atmosphere of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, and to join the manic activity of the inner harbour. There are numerous harbour cruises, activities like the BridgeClimb and the quay’s trendy restaurants. A simple walk between the Opera House via Opera Quays to the historic and commercial Rocks area provides the perfect venue to linger, take photographs or pause to enjoy the many bizarre street performers that come and go with the tides. Other quay attractions below the mighty high rises include the art deco Museum of Contemporary Art, Customs House and the Justice and Police Museum. What is most remarkable about The Rocks – on the western fringe of Circular Quay – is its transformation through time, from being a place rife with crime, prostitution, rum-fuelled street fights and even an outbreak of bubonic plague in 1900, to the orderly, healthy and highly presentable tourist attraction it is today.

Sights

Macquarie St, Circular Quay, T 9250 7777, http://www.soh.nsw.gov.au Mon-Sat 0900-2030. For latest performance schedules contact the SOH Box Office in the main foyer. $30-180 depending on prestige and your seat. Bookings essential (on-line bookings available). Entrance at other times free, tours extra.

Even for the fiercest sceptics of man-made invention and architecture, who believe nothing made of human brain or brawn can match anything in nature – like the natural Australian icons of Uluru (Ayers Rock) or the Great Barrier Reef for example – the magnificent Sydney Opera House cannot fail to impress. Almost 24 hours a day, every day, since this bizarre edifice was opened people have flocked to admire it, touch it, photograph it and even play on it, often without even a thought of its impressive interior or principal function. Built in 1973, it is the result of the Danish architect, Jorn Utzon’s revolutionary design. In many ways it is like some futuristic cathedral with naves both inside and out, yet with an interior functioning not as a focus for ecclesiastical congregations and tradition, but for the best of national and international performing arts. The Opera House has five performance venues ranging from the main, 2,690 capacity Concert Hall to the small Playhouse Theatre. Combined, these host about 2,500 performances annually with everything from Bach to Billy Connolly. The Opera House is also the principal performance venue for Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet and Sydney Dance Company, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Theatre Company.

There are also three tours and performance packages available. The Front of House Tour provides an insider's view of selected theatres and foyers; the Backstage Pass, as the name suggests, takes you behind the scenes and there is also the historical Bennelong Walk. The tours are available on a regular basis between 0830-1700 daily and take about 45 minutes with some having to fit around performances or rehearsals. Prices range from $15.40- 25.20. The Performance Package combines a range of performance, dining and tour options. An SOH store selling official souvenirs, cafés, bars and a restaurant are also located within the complex.

The Opera House is best viewed not only intimately from close up, but also from afar. Some of the best spots are from Macquarie Point (end of the Domain on the western edge of farm Cove), especially at dawn, and from the Park Hyatt Hotel on the eastern edge of Circular Quay. Also, any ferry trip west bound from Circular Quay will reveal the structure in many of its multifaceted forms. From directly above the symmetrical design is impressive but without taking an expensive scenic flight this view will elude you.

Corner Albert St and Phillip St, Circular Quay, T 9252 1144, http://www.hht.nsw.gov.au Sat and Sun 1000-1700, daily in January. $7, children $3, family $17.

Housed in the former 1856 Water Police Court, the Justice and Police Museum features, a magistrate’s court and former police cells, as well as a gallery, and historical displays, showcasing the antics and fate of some of Sydney’s most notorious criminals. The forensic evidence surrounding some of the most serious crimes, and the rather incriminating ‘mug-shots’ of the perpetrators, is interesting, but it is the impressive collection of weaponry that provides the most chilling reminder of their intent, attitude and determination.

2 East Circular Quay, T 9247 9788, http://www.operaquays.com.au

At the eastern edge of the quay the new Opera Quays facade provides many tempting, but expensive, cafés and restaurants as well as an art gallery and a cinema.

31 Alfred St, Circular Quay, T 9247 2285, http://www.sydneycustomshouse.com.au

Straddling the Bradfield Highway that now carries a constant flow of traffic across the Harbour Bridge, the historic Rocks village was the first site settled by European convicts and troops as early as 1788. Despite being given a major facelift in recent decades and managing to leave its reputation as the haunt of prostitutes, drunks and criminals to the history books, it still retains much of its original architectural charm and now serves as one of Sydney’s most popular modern day tourist attractions. Both old and new is married, quite successfully, in an eclectic array of shops, galleries arcades, cafés and some mighty fine pubs and restaurants. It is a great place to spend a morning or afternoon wandering about, sightseeing, shopping or to dine – provided you can stand the constant sight of toy koalas and didgeridoos.

The Rocks Market held every weekend (1000-1700) is perhaps the most popular in Sydney and features a fine array of authentic arts, crafts, bric-a-brac and souvenirs. But bear in mind it is always very busy and subsequently both cramped and exhausting.

For live entertainment head for The Rocks Square in the heart of the village where every day from 1200-1400 you’ll find jazz, classical or contemporary/traditional music on offer. Also look out for two very camp and entertaining gentlemen on scooters, dressed as policeman with skin-tight jodhpurs, leather boots and with blue flashing lights on their heads: they may well caution you for being in possession of boring attire or a bad haircut.

Children especially will love The Rocks Toy Museum housed in the former 1854 Coachhouse on 2-6 Kendall Lane, It boasts over 3,000 toys spanning two centuries. Also in Kendall Lane is the even more child-friendly Puppet Theatre that offers free shows at 1100,1230 and 1400 weekends and daily during school holidays.

To escape the crowds, head up Argyle Street, and the steps to Cumberland Street, taking a quick peek at the historic row of cottages at Susannah Place, 58-64 Gloucester Street, west side, below the popular Australian Hotel and pub, Sat and Sun 1000-1700, Adult $7, children $3,family $17, before walking through the pedestrian walkway to Observatory Park.

The park offers some fine views of the bridge and is home to the Sydney Observatory, Australia’s oldest. There is an interesting exhibition covering early Aboriginal and European astronomy as well as evening tours offering a chance to view the heavens.

Almost next-door is the SH Ervin Gallery, at the National Trust Centre that has a reputation for hosting some fine, small-scale exhibitions. Tue-Fri 1100-1700, Sat and Sun 1200-1700, Adults $6,child $4.

From Observatory Park it is a short walk further along Argyle Street to enjoy a libation and a bite to eat at the Lord Nelson, one of Sydney’s oldest pubs, (corner Kent and Argyle streets) before perhaps walking north down Lower Fort Street to Dawes Point Park with its dramatic bridge perspectives. At 43 Lower Fort Street, you may like to dip in to Clydebank, a restored mansion with period furnishings and a collection of former Rocks memorabilia. Wed-Sat 1000-1800, $8.

From near or far, above or below, day or night, it is impressive and imposing, however and from wherever you look at it. Sydney Harbour Bridge, or the ‘Coat-hanger’ as it is often called, was opened in 1932, taking nine years to build. The deck supports eight lanes of traffic (accommodating around 150,000 vehicles a day), a railway line and a pedestrian walkway, which, along with the more recent ‘out of sight, out of mind’ subterranean Harbour Tunnel below, forms a crucial artery to the North Shore and beyond.

For over six decades the best views from the bridge were accessed by foot from its 59-m high deck, but now the BridgeClimb experience, that ascends the 134-m high, 502-m long span, has developed in to an award-winning Sydney experience.

Not as thrilling, but far cheaper, are the views on offer from the top of the Southeastern Pylon Lookout, which can be accessed from the eastern walkway and Cumberland Street, The Rocks. The pylon also houses the Harbour Bridge Exhibition.

From below the best views of the bridge are from Hickson Rd and Deans Point (south side) and Milsons Point (north side).

For all island access, tour information and bookings contact the Sydney Harbour National Park Information Centre, Cadman’s Cottage, 110 George St, The Rocks, T 9247 5033, http://www.npws.nsw.gov.au Mon-Fri 0900-1630, Sat and Sun 1000-1630.

Sydney harbour is scattered with a number of interesting islands most of which hold some historical significance. Fort Denison, just east of the Opera House, is the smallest, the most obvious and by far the most notorious. Its proper name is Pinchgut Island and it is so called because it was originally used as an open-air jail and a place where inmates were abandoned for a week and supplied with nothing except bread and water, often for little more than stealing another inmates biscuits. Furthermore, in 1796, the then Governor of NSW left a sobering warning to the new penal colony by displaying the body of executed murderer Francis Morgan from a gibbet on the island’s highest point. The island was later converted to a fort in the 1850s in fear of a Russian invasion during the Crimean war. There is a café on site and two tours are available. The Brunch Tour, Saturday 0900-1200, Sunday 0915-1200, $47, children $43 and the Heritage Tour, Monday to Friday 1130-1515 and 1500-1715, Saturday 1130-1515 and 1500-1650, Sunday 1130-1500 and 1440-1650, $22, children $18.

A little further east, off Darling Harbour, is Clark Island, a popular picnic retreat. East again, off Rose Bay, is Shark Island, so called because of its shape. It served as a former animal quarantine centre and public reserve, before becoming part of the Sydney Harbour National Park in 1975.

West of the bridge is the largest of the harbour’s islands, Goat Island, which is the site of a former, convict-built gunpowder station and barracks. This provides the venue for a range of entertaining tours including the Gruesome Tales Tour, Saturdays 1800-2130, $24.20 Adults only. It recounts the island’s grisly past. There is also a standard Heritage Tour . Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 1300-1515, $19.80, children $15.40, family $61.60.

Travel Guides | Sydney | Sub Regions | Sydney - Circular Quay and The Rocks
		Flights Cheap flights to any destination worldwide click here		Car Rental Compare prices for worldwide car rental click here		Hotels Lowest prices on over 60,000 hotels worldwide click here		Travel Insurance Compare Travel Insurance prices click here