Background
In July 2022, we took a family trip to Sydney and Cairns, Australia. We started our trip in Sydney for 2 nights and then traveled by plane to Cairns before returning to Sydney for one more night. In Sydney, we were actually supposed to have one more day to explore but our flights were messed up. We still had a blast riding ferries and exploring highlights like the Opera House, Taronga Zoo, Botanic Gardens, Manly Bean and Darling Harbor.
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Getting Around Sydney
In Sydney, we used the CityMapper app to give us transport recommendations. The location of our hotel made it so that it was often an equivalent time to walk or train. Several times, we also used uber. When taking the train, we bought single tickets with child rates at the ticket machine and then tapped to pay our credit cards for the adult fares.
For the ferry, we used a similar method as the train where we bought single child tickets at the machine and tapped our cards to pay for adult fares.
Day 0: Sydney Bridge and Opera House Views
Afternoon: We quickly went through customs and immigration at the airport and took a taxi to our hotel near Darling Harbor. After checking in, we headed out to explore the city for a little bit before everyone crashed from jetlag
Evening: We started our Sydney with kids itinerary by walking from our hotel to the Sydney Harbour Bridge to see grand views of the Opera House. We walked through the Rocks area to a brewpub on the Harbor with additional stunning views. Ellie was starting to fall asleep around 7pm so we quickly headed to a convenience store to get some drinks and pull-ups and went to the hotel to get ready for more Sydney adventures in the morning.
Day 1: Taronga Zoo, Botanic Gardens, Opera House, Rocks Pub
Morning: We woke up early and headed to hotel breakfast (included! See below). After breakfast, we headed towards Circular Quay to catch the ferry to the zoo. The ferry itself was its own grand activity. You get to ride and see the opera house and the harbor in all its glory with gorgeous city views. The ride to the zoo was around 30 minutes.
Once you get to the Taronga zoo, there is a gondola skysafari cable car at the bottom entrance or you will need to take a bus to the top. Buy your tickets ahead of time so you can take the sky safari gondola. Grab a map and plan your routes. There is a lot to see and do. We were at the zoo for 5 hours! Some of the highlights include the kangaroos, aviaries, and and elephants! There was a really fun tiger exhibit where you pretended to get on a plane to head to Indonesia to visit them. We also paid an extra fee to meet some koalas up close. While we weren’t allowed to touch them, it was amazing to get a close-up view of these cuties!
Afternoon: We continued our visit to the zoo and ate lunch at the cafe. We met some bin-chickens (Ibis birds called bin chickens in Bluey because they enjoy scavenging trash bins). Ben ran home while the kids and I enjoyed a few round trips on the skyrail gondola and took a bus ride back to the hotel.
Evening: After a brief rest in our hotel, we headed back out towards the action near Circular Quay. We walked over to the Botanic Gardens but didn’t get as much time to explore as we would have liked. There was great space to run around and we walked back towards the Opera House where we got a close up view. There was a show going on and if we had more days, we could have looked to actual attend a show or do a fun activity. There were also evening illuminated light shows but the timing didn’t work out great for our sleepy family. We stopped by a great pub for fish and chips dinner before heading back to the hotel to Bluey and chill for the evening.
Day 2: Ferry to Manly Beach, Darling Harbour
Morning: Even though it was winter, we knew we need to visit a beach! Manly was perfect as it has lots of playgrounds along the walk and cool sights to see. We took the ferry again. The ferry was a good opportunity to split the kids as they could get a short break from each other and get one-on-one time with a parent. When we arrived, we walked from the station to the beach and walked along the pedestrian path, stopping for playgrounds or watching surfers.
Afternoon: Near the top of our walk, we found a cool cave area that was at the end of a short walk through a tunnel. What is the Manly Wormhole? It’s basically a tunnel in the rock, that, if you walk through it, opens up into a peephole view of the sea. Its near the top of Manly beach and you can find it on google. You’ll enter from the beach side and pass by a large pool and several benches. We held on tight to kiddos and really enjoyed the unique adventure. Ben went for a run while the kids and I played at a playground and then we headed back to Sydney to check out and fly to Cairns. If you weren’t leaving Sydney, you could continue your day with Darling Habor below.
Evening: After our trip to Cairns, we returned to Sydney in the late afternoon and had one more evening to explore before flying back to the US. Darling Harbour was right next to our hotel and close to train stations. I wish we had more time here! We wandered across the bridge, ate some happy hour pizzas and munched ice cream and watched a fire juggler by the convention center. In this area, there is also a theater, aquarium, and ferris wheel. The highlight for the kids was definitely the playground. We could have spent hours here. Sometimes on weekends, they even have fireworks shows! After dinner, we headed back to our hotel to pack and sleep before our flight home.
Other Sydney Ideas
If we had more time, some areas and activities we would have liked to do include:
Where to Stay in Sydney
We had a wonderful stay at the Hyatt Regency Sydney. We had to book 2 rooms due to occupancy so we had 1 suite and 1 bedroom connected. We received a discount on the second room so rates were around $200 for room 1 and $150 for room 2. Hotel nights at this hotel cost 15k points/night depending on the dates. You can earn Hyatt points from Hyatt stays, the Hyatt credit card and Chase points which can be transferred to Hyatt. Learn more about points here.
In addition, we have Hyatt globalist status which gives us some cool perks. We received free drink tickets and were comped breakfast for everyone. The buffet had omelets, meat, fruit, and even a small asian section with miso soup, shrimp dumplings and more. In non-covid times, there is a lounge but it wasn’t open during our stay.
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