Cobbled lanes
Old character.
Dietmar Rabich — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Adam.J.W.C. — CC BY-SA 2.5 · Returned dude12345 — CC0
Sydney's oldest neighbourhood, where the first settlers landed in 1788 and founded the first British colony in Australia on the sandstone rocks at the harbour's edge, which gave the area its name. Cobbled lanes and nineteenth-century stone buildings keep the old character, including a small cottage counted as the city's oldest surviving dwelling. Old warehouses and houses have become cafés, restaurants, galleries and craft and gift shops. At weekends a market of crafts, food and local produce fills the streets, and guided walks tell the story of the first colony. The edges of the quarter look out on the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Wandering is free, and the area is steps from Circular Quay, so it pairs with the Opera House and a bridge walk in one day.
Old character.
At weekends.
Bridge and Opera House.
West side of Circular Quay, beneath the Harbour Bridge, Sydney
Sydney Opera HouseAustralia's most famous symbol and one of the great buildings of the twentieth c9 minutes walk4.9
Sydney Harbour BridgeA huge steel arch bridge across Sydney Harbour, opened in 1932 and nicknamed the10 minutes walk4.7
Royal Botanic GardenA broad botanical garden on Farm Cove at the heart of Sydney, opened in 1816, ma12 minutes walk4.8
Art Gallery of New South WalesSydney's largest art museum, on the edge of the Domain parkland near the Royal B17 minutes walk4.8
Queen Victoria BuildingA grand Victorian building filling a whole block in the heart of Sydney, built b18 minutes walk4.7At weekends, in the old streets near Circular Quay.