The Sydney Travel Guide is part of the Trip Report: The $77,000 Trip Heard Round the World which covers 5 Continents, 13 Countries, and 17 Cities.
- Tokyo, Japan
- Melbourne, Australia
- Wellington, New Zealand
- Sydney, Australia
- Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Maldives
- Saigon, Vietnam
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Hong Kong
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Knysna, South Africa
- Durban, South Africa
- Mauritius
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Doha, Qatar
- New York, New York
- Helsinki, Finland
Find the nerdy planning here. Find the picture preview here.
Here is the Sydney Travel Guide using the Guns & Butter methodology:
- A trip is composed of two factors: Labor And Lazy
- Anything on the line (Production Possibilities Frontier for my fellow economists) is an efficient use of your time depending on your tastes and preferences.
- Anything inside the line is inefficient as should be avoided.
- Anything outside is aspirational but may be impossible to do given the constraints of time and resources.
- The opportunity cost (what is given up) for relaxing and being Lazy is gained by being adventurous in the form of Labor and vice versa.
Sydney, Australia is a city that everyone wants to visit. Out of the three cities I went to in Australia & New Zealand which included Melbourne and Wellington, it was definitely my favorite. It combines the city life with beach life and features one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed at, the Park Hyatt Sydney.
What makes it great? The countless things to do and see even if you only have three days.
The Beach
The beach is graphed on both sides of the spectrum, labor and lazy because it takes some effort to get to Manly Beach but is divine when you arrive at either. Manly Beach is accessible by boat and I recommend taking the fastest boat to get there. Bondi is accessible by bus and is less of a chore to reach. Next time I’m in Sydney, I probably will skip the city center and stay at the beach the entire time .
The best part of going to Manly Beach is the amazing photo-ops along the way.
House Hunting
It won’t take long till you convince yourself that you could live in Sydney. It is an expensive city and housing is not cheap. Furthermore, getting a long term visa is pretty difficult unless you want to pick fruit. Still, it is fun to walk around the beach towns pretending that this waterfront condo is your home.
Nightlife
Nightlife in Sydney was not the best in the world. Granted, I was not there during the weekend but an international city should have something big going on every night. A nice bar was The Establishment which was packed to the brim on salsa night. Another was Ivy which was four floors of festivities. The Pool Club located within had a Christmas party when I was there.
Kings Cross is a tourist trap of strip clubs that may be worth checking out for laughs but there’s nothing great in that area.
City Tour
Walk down George Street for as long as you please. There will be bars, restaurants, and life to see. For $300 you can climb the Sydney Bridge but I believe just going to the lookout point was good enough.
Food
Sydney had great food. One of my favorite pho restaurants was somewhere along George Street though I didn’t think to write down the name or address. Gimmicky restaurants that had kangaroo burgers are a tourist must along with a glass of Shiraz. The restaurants near the Park Hyatt in the Rocks were decent but a little overpriced for my budget. While they provided great views of the Sydney Bridge and Opera House, I am sticking with my rule of advising against eating in the city center.
Sydney Opera House
Besides taking your iconic photo in front of the Sydney Opera House, consider going to the opera. I’m a classic man but not that classy to be bothered.
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