Things to do in Sydney by Public Transport

Sydney is well-served by a cheap and reliable integrated transport system that includes buses, trains, ferries and a light railway. It probably goes without saying that ferries are the most picturesque way to get around, but they also just happen to be one of the most convenient. 

If you expect to use public transport a lot on your Sydney vacation, you should absolutely invest in an Opal Card, a handy prepaid card for tapping in and out on each journey. Daily fares are capped at under AU$20, meaning you can travel all day without fear of spending more than this. You can buy yours online or at Sydney newsagents and convenience stores, and you’ll find the card readers on ferry wharves, inside buses, on light-rail platforms and at metro and train gates. Get yours right here.

Sydney’s City Circle is your best friend when sightseeing bucket-list downtown attractions. Part of the wider metro and suburban train network, this U-shaped section of line starts and ends at Central, taking in Town Hall, Wynyard, Circular Quay, St James and Museum along the way. Disembark at Circular Quay to experience Sydney in microcosm. For it’s here that you can tick off many of Sydney’s top tourist hotspots. We’re talking global icons including the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Take in the panorama from Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, a bench carved into natural sandstone by convicts over 200 years ago, with what are widely considered the most Instagrammable harbor views in town. Then mosey over to the adjacent Royal Botanic Garden, 74 acres of exotic plant species, formal gardens, magnificent manor houses, and shady groves.

Check out our guide to some of Sydney’s most Instagrammable locations here.

Then there’s the quite marvelous The Rocks neighborhood, a historic colonial enclave with cute cobbled lanes and atmospheric centuries-old pubs to explore. It’s also home to the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney’s hub for bleeding-edge Antipodean art.

And if that’s whetted your appetite for yet more Aussie history and culture, you can hop off the City Circle at Museum Station for a stroll to Hyde Park’s moving Anzac Memorial then on to the excellent Australian Museum.

Top tip: Entry to many of Sydney’s city center attractions are included with Go City, which can save you up to 50% on more than 40 Sydney tours, activities and attractions. Click below to find out more and to choose your perfect sightseeing pass…

Board at Central for the 15-minute train ride to Bondi Junction. From here, just about any bus beginning with a ‘3’ will deliver you to the seafront in 10 minutes. Grab a flat white from one of Bondi’s hipper-than thou cafés then mosey down to the beach for some of the best people-watching opportunities in town. Make a splash at the open-air Bondi Icebergs Club, a huge ocean pool hewn into the cliffs, or try the clifftop walk to Coogee Beach. This 3.5-mile stretch of almost ethereal beauty is considered by many to be one of the best walks in Sydney, if not the whole of Australia.

Read our guide to Bondi and Coogee here.

Sydney’s ferries are a great way to experience the stunning scenery of this great city. Services out of Circular Quay give you a magical new perspective on the harbor and its twin icons (that’s the Bridge and the Opera House, of course), with several routes running to the likes of Manly, Watsons Bay, Cockatoo Island and Barangaroo. The F9 ferry to Watsons Bay is a highly popular day trip among Sydneysiders, taking in views of Rose Bay and Shark Island along the 27-minute route. Once there, fortify with hot, salty chips ahead of a walk up to the candy-stripe Hornby Lighthouse for sweeping cliff-top views back across the bay to Sydney Harbour and, in winter, the distinct possibility of spotting migrating whales in the water below.

Take the F1 to Manly for the opportunity to snorkel with funky blue gropers, curious seahorses and rug-like Wobbegong sharks. Or board the F2 for a whole menagerie of critters, including kangaroos, koalas and platypuses, at Taronga Zoo.

The F6 is a short but spectacularly scenic zip to Cremorne Point, where a two-mile shoreline walking trail affords views of the Sydney skyline and Mosman Bay. Last but by no means least, take the F8 to Cockatoo Island to explore heritage buildings and discover more about Australia's convict history. As well as, of course, admiring those ever-impressive harbor views.

It’s a mere three-hour train ride along the aptly named Blue Mountains line from Sydney Central to Katoomba, the gateway to New South Wales’ famously haze-shrouded wilderness (a natural phenomenon created by the region’s thousands of eucalyptus trees). A far cry from the hustle and bustle of downtown Sydney, the Blue Mountains are a rambler’s paradise, all emerald hills and valleys, storybook villages, soaring waterfalls, and monolithic natural sandstone structures like the Three Sisters.

Take in the eye candy via a hop-on hop-off bus tour that carries you high into the mountain haze, pausing at the likes of Insta-perfect Leura Village, the Jenolan Caves, and Echo Point – for the best Three Sisters views around – along the way. Or, if you prefer to do your sightseeing on foot, the Three Sisters trail from Katoomba is particularly good (and only moderately challenging). Follow the path up to Leura Cascades, pause for a picnic, and spend some time grabbing selfies in the picture-perfect village before taking the train back down to base.