GENERAL INFORMATION Sydney’s main tourist information office is the Sydney Visitor Centre C (02) 9255 1788 WEB SITE www.sydneycity.nsw.gov.au. 106 George Street, The Rocks, open 9 AM to 6 PM daily; it's often referred to by its former name, The Rocks Visitor Centre.
The CityRail network operates between 4:30 AM and midnight. Lines are color-coded. They also have trains to the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley. For other rail or bus travel you'll need Countrylink C 132232.
Curving above the city center, the futuristic 3.6-km (2.2-mile) Monorail C (02) 95522288 links a number of sights, including the Sydney Aquarium and the Powerhouse Museum. It offers good views of the harbor. Locals tend to disparage it, but the ride is pretty cool.
Tickets cost $2.50, a day-pass $6. Displays at most bus stops provide timetable information, and Nightride services take over from midnight. Night buses have radio links to taxi companies, so you can arrange for a cab to meet you at your destination. Bright green and yellow Airport Express buses run every 10 minutes between 7 AM and 7:30 PM on weekdays, less often at other times. Route 300 runs from Circular Quay via George Street, Town Hall and Sydney Central stations, route 350 from Kings Cross via Oxford Street.
Star City Casino operates a covey of free shuttle buses throughout Sydney so that punters can hang onto their cash until they get there the casino is conveniently located at Darling Harbor, so make use of the free ride. Ask if one runs nearby. It's usually easy enough to flag down a taxi in Sydney, and there are cab ranks outside most train stations and wharves. The 20-minute drive from central Sydney to the airport will cost around $20, unless it's peak hour when you can double that. Be sure to tell the driver clearly whether you're going to the domestic or the international terminal; the free shuttle service connecting the terminals takes 20 minutes.
WHAT TO SEE AT SYDNEY
Do The Rocks and Circular Quay Australia's first permanent British settlement grew on Sydney Cove's rocky peninsula. Hence the Rocks, Australia's oldest precinct is built around winding streets connected by flights of narrow stone steps. Its scrubbed cobblestone streets, converted warehouses, historic buildings and convictbuilt terraces now draw in the tourists with an exhausting number of art, craft and souvenir shops and tempting cafes and restaurants.
The Sydney Visitor Centre in George Street provides useful maps and staff are exceptionally helpful. A six-story art deco building along the waterfront, the Museum of Contemporary Art, 140 George Street, is bright and stylish. Its permanent displays cover painting, sculpture and mixed media,as well as cutting-edge computer animation. They have an energetic program of temporary exhibitions. Aboriginal artists are particularly well represented. Closed Tuesdays; otherwise its open daily 9 AM to 4 PM; entry $9. Sydney and Northern New South Wales Inner Sydney’s oldest surviving house, Cadman's Cottage C (02) 92478861,110 George Street, was built on the original shoreline in 1816John Cadman moored his boat out front, which gives an idea of how much today's Circular Quay encroaches on the harbor.
Open 9 AM to 5 PM; free entry. Further down George Street, colonial warehouses dating from 1830 make up Campbell’s' Storehouse, now a row of interesting-but-expensive waterfront restaurants. The fabulous views of Sydney Cove, the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House are well worth the price of a coffee and cake though. Nearby Macquarie Point is the place for the classic snapshot of Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. The Sydney Harbor Bridge took nine years to build, and 11 workmen fell to their deaths during construction. It opened in 1932. The two pylon lookouts C (02) 92186888 are open daily, 10 AM to 5 PM it's a 200-step climb to the top. Enter via stairs on Cumberland Street, The Rocks, or from Milsons Point on the North Shore.
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