Sydney and New South Wales Travel Guide

Sydney is where nearly every trip to Australia begins, and it deserves more than the two days most itineraries give it before moving on. The harbor is the organizing fact of the city rather than just the postcard, and the ferries crossing it are public transit and sightseeing at the same time. What surprises most first time visitors is how quickly the city ends. Within about two hours in three different directions you reach three completely different places.

The Blue Mountains, west of the city, are a sandstone plateau cut by deep valleys, closer to a canyon system than to mountains in the American sense. The Hunter Valley, to the north, is Australia's oldest wine region and the place Semillon is taken most seriously, and it is the one that deserves an overnight rather than a day trip. Canberra sits three hours southwest and is technically its own territory rather than part of New South Wales, but we have grouped it here because that is how people actually reach it, on a trip that starts in Sydney. It holds the national galleries and it is the destination most itineraries cut first.

Sydney works in every season, so the timing question is really about what you want from it. Summer gives you the harbor and the beaches at their best, along with the crowds and the prices. Autumn is quieter and more reliable, and warm enough to swim into April. Below are the guides for the city itself and for each of the places within reach of it.