“Fire, air and water… these are the elements of Sydney,” wrote Australian author Donald Horne in his seminal 1964 book “The Lucky Country”. “Sydney dreams of surfing, fishing, sailing, swimming in calm bays, lying stretched out in the sun, absorbing heat into the marrow.”
When I arrived in the city for the first time almost 60 years lateras a breaking news editor for Reuters, much about its people and culture had changed, but not its central essence. The city’s residents, known as Sydneysiders, were emergingfrompandemic-related lockdowns, enjoying the ocean breezes, boundless sunshine and beaches that make it one of the world’s most desirable places to live. Sydney, which sprawls some 50 miles (80 km) out to the scenic Blue Mountains in the west, is also one of the world’s most diverse cities, with nearly 40% of its residents being foreign-born.
Combine that with sights like Jorn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, and it’s little wonder the city is near the top of every tourist’s bucket list. Here is how to visit like a Sydneysider:
Coffee culture: Sydney has a long history of café culture from Greek and Italian immigrants, the latter of which brought the espresso machine with them when arriving in the 1950s. The city hasa strong claim to having invented the now-ubiquitous flat white, an espresso-based drink topped with a small amount of lightly textured hot milk.
While almost any suburb will have a local café serving excellent coffee, the inner-city suburb of Surry Hills has some of the world’s finest. Artificer and Single O both have queues out the door on weekends but are well worth the wait. Pro-tip: Sydney cafes open early and close early, so don’t make the mistake of trying to find a coffee after 3 p.m. or you may be sorely disappointed.
International eats: Since Australia abandoned a policy that discriminated against non-Europeans in the 1960s, waves of migration from Asia and the Middle East have made Sydney one of the most ethnically diverse cities on the planet – with a food culture to match.
Some of the best is found in the city’s western suburbs, from Lebanese in Lakemba to Turkish in Auburn and Vietnamese in Cabramatta. All are reachable on efficient trains from the Central railway station, with fares starting at A$4 ($2.50).
In Harris Park – known as Sydney’s ‘Little India’ for its dozens of eateries lining Wigram Street – try the Mumbai-style street food at Chatkazz. Or head to Blacktown for north Indian vegetarian fare at Radhe Chatpata House.
Chinese food of every kind is a particular strength: my favourites include Xin Jiang Hand Made Noodle in Chatswood and Shanghai Nights in Ashfield.
Sydney also does a fantastic brunch, often an Asian-inflected spin on avocado toast, popularised in the city at late chef Bill Granger’s eponymous Darlinghurst café.
Hot tickets: While rugby league has traditionally been the city’s top spectator sport, the Sydney Swans have been attracting sellout crowds recently to games of Australian Rules Football. A freewheeling, physical, 18-a-side ball-sport, it is played on an oval pitch two and a half times the sizeof a soccer field, with few stoppages and even fewer rules. Swans home games are played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, with grandstands dating from the 19th century, and fans pack out nearby pubs in the well-heeled suburb of Paddington before and after the match. Tickets start from A$48 ($30.50).
At the Opera House, chief conductor Simone Young and concertmaster Andrew Haveron are leading the Sydney Symphony Orchestra through a period of resurgence (tickets starting from A$40 or $25.50), while the city’s ballet and opera companies are also popular draws.
Sydney’s nightlife is still tentatively recovering from the pandemic and a decade of intensive policing that ledmany venues to close, with some of the best parties now happening in daylight hours. Summer Dance attracts world-class DJs who set up on a pair of inner-city basketball courts, while October’s Mode Festival fuses art installations and forward-thinking electronic music in a disused jail and shipyard on an island in Sydney Harbour.
Surf and sand: With over 100 beaches – from the pounding surf of the Pacific coast to hidden coves in the city’s many bays and harbours – Sydney has waterfront to spare. Many beacheshave well-kept showers, convenient kiosks serving up coffee and sandwiches, and, perhaps most remarkably, government-maintained, gas-powered grills free for everyone to use.
Private beaches are unheard of in Australia, and recent attempts to reserve prime patches of sand using portable gazebos led Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to call the behaviour un-Australian.
Taking a 20-minute ferry to Manly Beach – home to the world’s first surfing competition, with spectacular views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House along the way – is one of the world’s great travel bargains, withweekend return tickets costing less than A$10 ($6). Other local favourites include Camp Cove, also accessible by scenic ferry, and the tidal pool at Redleaf Beach.
Dress like a local: Given walking barefoot around the grocery store isn’t unheard of in Sydney, it would be an understatement to say that dress codes in the city lean towards casual. Complete your beach outfit with some skin-tight, made-in-Sydney swimwear from local brand Budgy Smuggler (from A$65 or $41), who says it is “on a mission to free the thighs of the world”. They can beworn everywhere, from atop a surfboard to polling booths on election day.
DATA POINTS
Coffee: A$6 ($3.80) for a flat white at Single O in Surry Hills.
Local snack: A$3.50 ($2.20) for a sausage sandwich from Bunnings Warehouse, which has locations across the city.
Ice cream: A$6.80 ($4.30) for a single scoop from Anita Gelato, also found across town.
Best sunset: Mrs Macquarie’s Chair in the Royal Botanic Gardens, which is free to access.
Essential reads: Robert Hughes’ 1986 work “Fatal Shore” is the definitive account of hardships faced by the early British settlers of Sydney, as well as the brutal suppression of the Indigenous population that had lived in the area for tens of thousands of years. Horne’s “The Lucky Country” nails Australia’s – and Sydney’s – laid-back, no-nonsense psyche and the adaptiveness of its people (though he is a lot less charitable about its leaders).
Largest university: University of Sydney, 76,000 students (Alasdair Pal/Reuters)
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