Sydney

As mentioned in the previous post, we went few weeks ago on a trip to Sydney, by car, and on our way back we stopped a day in Canberra.

I'll start with a few impressions about Sydney.

First, it is quite easy to get from Melbourne to Sydney by car. The freeway is not crowded, you can drive for minutes without seeing other cars... We left from our home in Melbourne around 6:30am, and we were at the hotel in Sydney at 17:30 [few stops] (Hint: most of the parking spaces we saw were marked as "Loading zone" until 18:00, so you are not allowed to park before 18:00. Check for parking options in advance)



Unfortunately we arrived in Sydney just before 6pm, so take a look how the traffic was at that time ...



Later we understood that the problem was not because everybody was going home at that time, but a daily problem with the traffic in Sydney's CBD.



Not considering the infrastructure, Sydney is a nice town.
It has more "european-like" buildings, and also its main attractions:

- Sydney Opera House building



- Sydney Harbour Bridge


Few other things we visited during this trip:
- Sydney Aquarium : it is not very big, but interesting to visit. We haven't seen the one in Melbourne in order to compare it, so we recommend it.



- Sydney Tower: the view from the tower is impressive, but we were expecting more. We didn't take the "walk on air" option thou. We also haven't been on Eureka yet to compare them.




Coming back to the main attractions, they offer a beautiful view at sunset (hmm... we went there usually before sunset, maybe also during the day they look nice) :







One other place we liked very much is the oldest part of Sydney (hope I'm not wrong) called "The Rocks".

This place was established shortly after the colony's formation in 1788. The original buildings were made mostly of local sandstone, from which the area derives its name.




A German bar:

Right after this statue is a nice Italian restaurant. I recommend the calzone :). Last time I eat a calzone so good it was in Italy.




Pros/contras and hints:
- if you want to visit museums/aquarium/tower etc, check the offers if you get in the same time tickets to more than one location - it will be cheaper.
- we liked the old buildings which gives a "history" to the city.
- we didn't like the hills with ups & downs and the streets in the CBD.
- we didn't like the traffic in the CBD and the parking options (without a discount from our hotel the total amount only for the parking was around 500$).
- if you plan to go by car between Melbourne and Sydney, be prepared - not many things to see.