Before booking my travels to Australia, I was advised not to devote more than a day or two to Sydney. Check out Bondi, see the Opera House, admire the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge… then escape to Australia’s more subdued cultural capital of Melbourne. They say Sydney will lure you in with its surface-level sparkle, glamour, and sunshine, but Melbourne will win you over with its depth, livability, and soul (the lack of lethal wildlife favors Melbourne, too). I tossed aside all this advice on a whim, and spent most of my trip far from Sydney’s CBD (central business district, where most tourists stay for proximity to the city’s main sights) — opting to stay in the inner-city, artsy pocket called Darlinghurst. I wouldn’t have done it any other way.
Sydney struck me as a better version of Los Angeles. Unparalleled access to nature, jaw dropping coastline, quirky and diverse neighborhoods, year-round sunshine, vibrant arts scene, and all accessible via ferries and buses and walking. Consider this my love letter to Sydney from 10 days exploring offbeat corners of the city — secret gardens, rocky cliffside ocean pools, art deco bathing clubs, local art exhibits, stunning coastal walks, and institutional coffee shops.
SYDNEY’S OCEAN POOLS
Sydney’s collection of ocean pools (there are 35) is one of its lesser-known claims to fame, and precisely the reason I fell in love with this city. I explored Sydney’s ocean pools with Sydneysiders Alysia and Michael via their Airbnb Experience — if you do one thing in Sydney, make it this.
All the pools have been carved out of cliffs on the surf coast, so waves (along with their resident jellyfish, sea urchins, and occasional octopus) crash over the sides. They were designed for locals to enjoy the pleasures of the beach without the sand, sharks, and riptides that are the reality of Australia, and some date back to the 1800s as the first community facility created for men, women and children to all use together.
We visited five very different ocean pools, working our way up to Sydney’s most famous: Bondi’s Icebergs. I had so much anticipation for the Icebergs, but in the end was so captivated by the smaller, lesser known rock pools that the Icebergs were utterly underwhelming and just didn’t measure up!
Mahon pool
Mahon pool in Maroubra was built in 1932. At 8AM, we missed the early risers and just about had the pool to ourselves. Bluebottle jellyfish filled the surrounding little rock pools — they are easy to mistake for bits of trash (little blue plastic wrappers) but their stings are notoriously painful.
Malabar pool
Malabar Pool was even more peaceful and quiet — just a few locals popped in for their morning workouts while we swam. There’s even an access ramp to the pool deck, so folks who can’t do stairs can still enjoy the seawater pool.
Wylie’s Baths
Wylie’s Baths at Coogee beach is one of Sydney’s oldest and most beautiful ocean pools, and was one of the city’s first mixed-gender bathing pools. Its aesthetic has been called “retro seaside Australiana” — there’s a certain nostalgia to another era, and the whole space resembles a European bath house. For $4.50, there’s a spot for everyone: a kiosk serves up coffee and snacks, families picnic or play board games on the upper deck, and sunbathers lounge on the cement. This was my favorite place.
McIver's baths
Just next to Wylie’s is McIver's baths, built in 1886 as the most private place to bathe in Sydney — it’s still women-only today, and mostly topless, with a large patch of grass to lounge on.
Bronte Baths
Another timeless, beautiful pool, but absolutely packed.
Icebergs
These are the photos that pop up when you research Sydney. The Icebergs is the oldest winter swimming club in Australia. Membership requires swimming 3 Sundays a month for a period of 5 years, winter included. Allegedly, this is the best spot to enjoy sunrise in Sydney… (but I was always at Wylie’s).
where to wander
Popping into a city’s most loved boutiques and shops might be the best way to spend day one in a new city — shop owners tend to be some of the most active community members and best sources of local recommendations. Sydney’s inner-city, eastern suburb of Paddington was once a blue-collar working class community and today is a destination for the city’s loveliest boutiques and Victorian architecture.
William Street, Crown Street, and Victoria Street are home to some of the sweetest shops, and Oxford Street (separating Paddington from Surry Hills) has the reputation as Sydney’s best shopping street.
A note about where to eat along the way. Bills is an institution in Darlinghurst, and the friendliest, sunniest spot to spend a morning at their communal table amidst piles of magazines. Bourke Street Bakery and Organic Bread Bar for coffee. For dinner — Cho Cho San for the best Japanese-Italian food, Don Peppino’s for dinner (it was a pop-up in a former nightclub), and 10 William Street for a glass of wine on Paddington’s prettiest street.
In Bed’s flagship store for Australian linens and sleepwear,
deliberately made to feel like walking into a home, not a store
Gorman for their iconic colorful prints in
collaboration with artists around the worldIncu for international and Aussie brands
Bassike for Australia-made basics
Venroy for Australian leisurewear
Somedays for Scandinavian labels and art exhibitions
Collector Store for homewares and independent clothing labels
Ici et La for antique homewares
The heart of Sydney’s cultural scene is the Opera House. It was designed by a Danish architect, and its white sail-shaped shells are covered by over a million Swedish-made tiles. Every angle is uniquely stunning, without stepping a foot inside (although I did manage to snag tickets for La Boheme while in town!).
A few steps from the Opera House, Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art is free to the public and has an impressive collection by mostly living Australian artists. It was enormously educational about Manus Island (Australia’s detention camp for asylum-seekers), aboriginal history, and featured a giant painting (“Triple Tangle”) by Gemma Smith while I was there. I also loved the contemporary Chinese art at the White Rabbit Gallery in Chippendale (and the dumplings in their tea room..)
Nestled in the botanical gardens, St. George OpenAir Cinema is one of the most spectacular outdoor cinemas (I saw Cold War). There are picnic-style bars and restaurants to gather at before sunset, then the screen rises out of harbour and everyone settles into stadium seats overlooking Sydney’s glowing opera house and bridge.
Another (lesser-known) gem in the summertime in Sydney that’s a quick ferry ride from Circular Quay is Wendy Whiteley's Secret Garden. There’s no signage, which makes finding it even more special. The story goes, when Wendy’s husband passed away, she threw herself into transforming the unused railway land surround her home into an enormous garden, knowing nothing about horticulture and letting aesthetics guide her work.
Coastal Walks
Isn’t it funny that the most beautiful things in life are also often the most dangerous and painful? This rings so true in Australia: the vast, sandy beaches of northern Queensland, with its sweltering summers, are all off limits to swimmers — teeming with irukandji jellyfish and saltwater crocodiles. Sydney’s coastline is an exception, though. Yes, its funnel-web spiders on land might kill you, but the beaches in New South Wales are relatively safe and well-patrolled. There are dozens of beachside coastal walks and hikes a stone’s throw from Sydney’s CBD.
bondi to bronte
The most iconic 3-mile Sydney cliff walk that winds around all the city’s best surf coves and picnic spots. I started out at Wylie’s instead for a morning swim, and jogged north to Bondi.
spit to manly
Possibly the best introduction to Sydney and its harbours. Take the bus to Spit Bridge, and follow the single track hike through bushland, across aboriginal rock engravings, and next to 6 different swimmable beaches. There’s an alarming concentration of water dragons on the trail, which are absolutely terrifying, but harmless. I timed my hike to land in Manly just in time for a swim at Fairlight Beach and a sunset ferry ride back to Circular Quay.
North Olympic Sydney Pool
In case the ocean pools aren’t quite captivating enough, Sydney’s North Olympic Pool is a pretty spectacular (jellyfish-free and heated) alternative that overlooks the glittering harbor. The art deco details and old wooden changing rooms date back to 1936, and 86 world records have been set since. The historic charm of this space is refreshing in the midst of a city that is otherwise so polished.
