Sydney is a very popular destination for Australia travellers. The capital of the state of New South Wales is world famous for the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. In this Sydney guide we tell you everything you need to know about this dream destination. Find out everything about the best sights and tours (Sydney Bridge Climb), the best bars, restaurants and cafés, up to our insider tips that we would have liked to have known earlier (for example the Sydney Pass, with which you can save up to 40% on tickets locally).
The metropolis of New South Wales is Australia’s largest city with a population of around 5.6 million, the continent’s financial and industrial centre and a major attraction for tourists from all over the world. Thanks to the almost always good weather and thanks to the numerous beaches, hectic city life and relaxed beach life go hand in hand. It is not uncommon for bankers to take off their suits after office hours and go straight to the sea to surf. It’s also where people barbecue and eat, where families and friends get together at the beach after work, drink beer and swim in the cold Pacific Ocean.
Particularly interesting are the numerous markets in the individual districts. Every Friday evening there is a Chinese night market on Dixon Street in China Town. Cheap clothes and electrical goods are available at Paddy’s Market on Hay Street. This market is also Asian and is located near Chinatown. Domestic handicrafts can be found every Saturday at Paddington Market in the suburb of Paddington, and the market on Bondi Beach in the south of the city is particularly popular. The Bondi Beach Market is open every Sunday, and here you can find everything you need or might need for a life on the beach.
Facts about Sydney
Here we give you the most important Sydney facts that will give you a better insight into the metropolis in the east of Australia.
- Sydney has about 5.6 million inhabitants.
- A census in 2006 showed that 31.7 percent of Sydney’s inhabitants were not born in Australia. Sydney is home to immigrants from all over the world and gives the city a multicultural flair. However, the city also has a casual and therefore typically Australian feel.
- The city is located directly on the Pacific Ocean on the east coast of Australia. In the hinterland, the Blue Mountains extend to the west and the hilly landscape of the Hornsby Plateau to the north.
- The world famous port of Sydney is called Port Jackson.
- Sydney city consists of 33 districts, to the Greater Sydney belong many more suburbs like Bondi or Manly
- When was Sydney founded? Sydney was first recorded on maps by James Cook in 1770. A bay behind the harbour was named in 1788 after the then British Home Secretary Lord Sydney. In the same year the first prisoners arrived in Australia via Sydney. Sydney finally became a real city at the beginning of the 19th century, when more and more emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland arrived.