If you’re a true Cincinnatian, you know the Taste of Cincinnati comes to the downtown area every Memorial Day weekend. Some people plan their weekend around it, knowing there is no chance they’ll miss it. Others plan their weekend around avoiding the area due to the traffic and crowd. I am one who tries to attend every year- even more now since moving to downtown. So how did 2019 compare to previous years? Read on to find out! Read more
I recently had the amazing opportunity to take a trip to Sydney, Australia and indulge in lots of what Sydney had to offer. Sydney is by far the most known place of Australia. It’s a city of laid back, friendly people who spend most of their time working out or at the beach. It’s a melting pot to restaurants of all cuisines. You can rest assure there is plenty to eat and you won’t go hungry. From the rooftop swimming pools at the hotels, small bars, stunning beaches, and cool wildlife that seems to only be dreamed about or seen in picture books; there is always something fun and exciting to explore in the wonderful city of Sydney.
**HELPFUL TIPS**
Before visiting Australia, there are a few things you might want to consider and plan ahead for to create a smooth and fun trip. I will use my actual destinations so, the readers (you), can get a true understanding of time and location.
ORIGIN – Cincinnati, OH (CVG)
DESTINATION – Sydney, Australia (SYD)
DURATION OF TRIP – All together Apr 12 – Apr 18. However, because Australia is 14 hrs ahead of Cincinnati, 2 days were spent for traveling there. You gain time coming back so we left on Apr 18 and arrived back in Cincinnati Apr 18. We left on Apr 12 and arrived in Sydney Apr 14. From Apr 14 7:30 AM (when we landed) to Apr 18 9:30 AM (time our flight left) it was 4 days actually spent in Sydney.
SEEING AUSTRALIA IS ONE THING, GETTING THERE IS ANOTHER! – Flights & Layovers, ahhhh! Getting to Australia you will endure long flights and layovers, but I promise it will be worth it!
PLANE TICKETS! – Australia can be costly to fly to. However, if you look at the right time you can get plane tickets for a good price per person. We paid $1000 per person. I have honestly not seen cheaper than this. Most of the time when I searched in the years prior to fly to Australia, I would see $1500-$2000 per person. I am also not a travel agent so there may be a much better deal on tickets and activities and/or hotels combined. Don’t forget Tiffany Dace, the other half of Tiff Squared, is a travel agent and would be more than happy to assist you with this. We booked our entire trip through Delta airlines because of the price and being the cheapest we saw, we did not want to pass this up.
PLAN AHEAD! – Although you do not need to plan out every step before your trip, it is a good idea to know what types of activities you would like to do. This is important in the case you want to do a day tour as we did. Some day tours can be 10-12 hours. We did a 12 hour tour that left at 6:15 AM and did not return till approximately 6:30 PM. I can’t stress this enough!! If you do not plan ahead, this will take up an entire day and depending on your schedule of how long you are staying you may have to rearrange or miss out on certain activities. I would also encourage looking into activities and booking before you go. Waiting till you are already there can be risky. We waited till we got there and almost missed out on the day tour.
PREGNANT?! – Yes, you can do this trip pregnant as I was, but it is not the most comfortable while flying. I was 25 weeks pregnant when I took this trip. You will have to get up and walk around on the plane every 2-3 hours. Also, drink PLENTY of water.
ETA – What is an ETA? – An Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) provides authorization to travel to and enter Australia and is electronically linked to your passport. We didn’t seem to need it, but we still applied for one just in case. I applied the morning we left as I didn’t realize I could need it. The cost is approximately $14-15 per person. You can find the website we used here ETA.
COMFORTABLE SHOES! – We did a lot of walking to sightsee, so if you want to save money and not take an Uber or cab everywhere, I would suggest bringing comfortable shoes to walk in.
WHERE TO STAY?! – Of course this is optional, but we stayed at the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour.
UBER?! – Yes, they have Uber in the case that you need it. We did use Uber sometimes if places were just to far to walk. However, most of the time we did a lot of walking.
SAVE UP! – Lastly, I would encourage having a good amount of spending money. While Australia is nice some activities and most restaurants are pricy.
Now that you are excited to explore Sydney and have your handy dandy “tips” covered, let’s see what there is to do in Sydney, Australia:
1. Darling Harbour
There are many places to stay and visit while in Sydney, but one of the most popular is Darling Harbour. Darling Harbour is known for its amazing entertainment and delicious waterside dining. Darling Harbour is the perfect destination in the heart of Sydney. We enjoyed the sunny days and nice weather while walking around enjoying the everyday hussle and bustle of a harbour. You’ll find plenty to do and see. The waterfront restaurants are an amazing experience as well, and make for a fun night out or a good date night with the significant other. We dined at one of the waterfront restaurants, Crinitis, and the food was pretty good. It was mainly Italian cuisine with many options to choose from. Don’t forget the harbour is a large recreational and pedestrian precinct which means it is great for walking. We did LOTS of walking! Darling Harbour is also walking distance from other attractions, to name a few: Cockle Bay, Circular Quay, Chinatown, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House, Royal Botanical Garden, and many more. We experienced the harbour first hand by staying at the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour. This was an awesome experience. Our room had a harbour view, so we could enjoy the scenery of the harbour as the sun rise and set.
2. Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge, in its beautiful harbour location, is a renowned international symbol of Australia. You cannot come to Sydney and not visit and take pictures of and with the bridge (in the background, haha). Its amazing through arch structure is beautiful, bold and present in appearance and can be seen for miles away. This bridge carries rail, vehicles, bicycles and pedestrian traffic. You can even book a tour to walk the arch of the bridge. It was a surreal experience to be able to see the bridge in real life, take pictures that I will have for years, all while creating memories of a lifetime.
3. Sydney Opera House
Another one of Sydney’s most iconic buildings, is the Sydney Opera House. Despite its name which suggest a single venue, it is known to be a multi-venue performing arts centre. Millions of people visit and attend performances a year. This structure like the bridge is bold and beautiful and makes for amazing pictures. Get your cameras ready, as there are some wonderful views from the Opera House. You can book tours to see the inside of the Opera House as well. While we did not take a tour, we had a blast walking around soaking in the everyday life of locals and tourist hanging around the Opera House. If you get hungry and want a bite to eat, there is also restaurant and bars open to the public located at the Opera House.
4. Royal Botanical Garden
Just a short walk away from the Sydney Opera House, is the beautiful Royal Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens is a historic garden at Farm Cove on the eastern fringe of Sydney Central Business District. It was so relaxing to simply walk around, take in the fresh air, see people interacting, see the beautiful plants, all while the sun beamed down on us. The gardens are a great place to go to simply take in and enjoy life at a calm slow pace!
5. Bondi to Coogee Beach Coastal Walk
The sounds and the air of the ocean waves while walking the coastline was amazing! The beaches were such a beautiful view as well as the surrounding area. It was so relaxing yet a good mild workout, especially for me because I was 25 weeks pregnant. The path has some flat walking, downward inclines as well as upward inclines. I really enjoy outside hikes, so this was cool. We started at Coogee Beach and walked to Bondi Beach. It was about a 5-mile walk. The sun was out, and it wasn’t too hot or too cold. It was perfect. If you’re an outdoors person and love hikes and beautiful views, this is for you! Yes, these are more of the touristy beaches but even being a “touristy” location, it still made for a great experience and a great sight to see. It wasn’t overly crowded when I went in April, and I still had plenty of room to walk and enjoy the coastal path with the people I came with. The beaches also weren’t overly crowded.
6. Blue Mountain Day Tour
As I previously mentioned in the helpful tips section (located at the beginning of this blog post), there are day tours that you can take. A day tour is typically 10-12 hours depending on the tour and tour guide company. Hence the name “Day Tour” these tours will take up one full day during your visit to Australia. We were picked up from our hotel at 6:15 AM and we were dropped back off by boat to Darling Harbour at 6:30 PM.
My husband and I refused to come to Australia and not see Koala Bears and Kangaroos. We looked into what was the best option to be able to experience this opportunity and found the Blue Mountain Day Tour (Glenbrook). We booked through our hotel concierge which made it easy and hassle free. The tour was an amazing experience! The activities that we did while on the tour are as follows: 1) had breakfast with the kangaroos, 2) visited the Scenic World Blue Mountains Australia, 3) Lunch at Ivanhoe Hotel, 4) visited more kangaroos and koalas at Featherdale Wildlife Park, 5) had a small cruise ride back to either Circular Quay or Darling Harbour. Our tour guide, Sean, was amazing, super accommodating and very knowledgeable.
BREAKFAST WITH THE KANGAROOS – This was truly an amazing experience. We got to start the morning off by seeing kangaroos and kookaburras in their natural habitat while enjoying a “wildlife on-the-go breakfast.
SCENIC WORLD BLUE MOUNTAINS AUSTRALIA – This was another great experience and memory. We got the opportunity to see the Three Sisters rock formation from Echo Point Lookout at Katoomba. We also boarded the world’s steepest passenger railway and descend into an ancient rainforest. Last, we hopped aboard a glass-floored cable car suspended above the steep gorge to get a panoramic view of the mountains.
LUNCH AT IVANHOE HOTEL – We got the opportunity to have lunch at Ivanhoe Hotel, a local restaurant in Katoomba known for its pies (food item Australia is known for).
FEATHERDALE WILDLIFE PARK – If you didn’t get enough of the kangaroos at breakfast, here is another opportunity. Featherdale is a good way to get up close and personal with some of Australia’s native wildlife. My husband and I even took pictures with Archer the Koala. What is unique about this park is that some of the animals are actually out walking or hopping around while you walk around and see them. You can even feed some of the wildlife. This was pretty cool yet a little weird at first.
SMALL CRUISE RIDE BACK – At the end of the tour, we were transported back to Darling Harbour by boat. You can either be transported back to Darling Harbour or Circular Quay. This was such a good way to sit back relax and enjoy the view from the water as well as experience a small cruise.
7. Sydney & Bondi: Big Bus Open-Top Hop-on, Hop-off Tour
One of my mine and my husband’s “thing” to do when visiting another city or country is the Hop-on, Hop-Off bus tour if its available. We love learning about the history and culture of other places in the world. For me, this is the perfect tour. It’s usually automated whether it’s a recording or a live person speaking into a microphone giving facts. This is also another good way to sight see and be able to view most of a city’s known attractions all at the comfort of just riding and listening. Hence the name, you do have the ability to hop-on and off at the many stops provided for drop-off and pick-up. While my husband and I don’t hop-off, we enjoy the full tour and just ride the bus back to our original stop. During this tour we did both the Sydney route and the Bondi Beach route. Both are unique with many things to see.
8. King Street, Newtown, Sydney
King Street is the central access route of the suburb of Newtown in Sydney. It is also where artist, the LGBT community and university students reside. This street is good for walking, seeing murals, eating and shopping. As you walk the streets, you can feel the artist come alive through the different murals and paintings. These murals tell different stories and made us appreciate the history and culture of this area. If you are looking for a great way to appreciate art, this is the street for you.
9. The Rocks
The Rocks is a historic precinct on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour. It is also where many historic buildings and shops are located. Like many other small areas in Sydney, this is a good place to eat, sightsee, shop and bar hop. We came to The Rocks to walk around and explore the area. We also decided to grab a bite to eat. We enjoyed this area just as a simple exploring adventure.
10. The Birdcages on Angel Place
With such a charming name, the birdcages on Angel Place was a creative yet beautiful sight to see. While the birdcages are empty it lends to a unique way of getting history across to its observers. The collection of the empty bird cages is called “Forgotten Songs” designed by Michael Thomas Hill. As you stand underneath the cages, you can hear the sounds of the birds that once inhabited Sydney. It was a unique way to experience history while seeing such a creative design. While I am not a huge art geek, this made me appreciate the creativity and concept of the artwork.
This wraps up my 10 to-dos while in Sydney, Australia. As you can see this trip was a packed, fun-filled experience that I will never forget. I hope you enjoyed reading all about things, wellll – Sydney If you choose to visit Sydney after reading this post, I hope the helpful tips and suggestions of where to visit will make your trip a fantastic experience. Until next time, See ya! **Waves**
Explore & Learn