How many days do you need in Sydney?
Four days. That is the length of the itinerary we built for Sydney.
Here is what each day holds. Every stop below carries its time, and every gap says how to get to the next stop, with the walk or drive time wherever both stops are mapped.
Sydney · 4 days Australia
Best time: September to November (spring) and March to May (autumn) bring warm, dry days and thinner crowds.
The Rocks & Circular QuayDay 1
📍9:00 AMSydney Harbour Bridge
Walk the pedestrian path across the Coathanger for the classic view back to the Opera House, or book a guided BridgeClimb to the summit.
🚶 ~14 min · 🚗 ~2 min · 0.5 mi
📍12:30 PMThe Rocks
Sydney's oldest quarter, a knot of sandstone laneways, colonial pubs, and a weekend market tucked under the bridge.
🚶 ~11 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.4 mi
🎭6:00 PMSydney Opera House
Circle the sails at dusk when they catch the last light, then take a guided interior tour or an evening performance.
Bondi & the Eastern BeachesDay 2
🌳9:00 AMBondi Beach
The famous crescent of sand, best early when the surf schools and swimmers have the water mostly to themselves.
🚶 ~35 min · 🚗 ~5 min · 1.3 mi
🌆12:30 PMBondi to Coogee Coastal Walk
A six-kilometre clifftop path past Tamarama, Bronte, and the Waverley headland, with ocean pools cut into the rocks below.
🚶 ~26 min · 🚗 ~3 min · 0.9 mi
🌳6:00 PMCoogee Beach
End the coastal walk at this sheltered bay, a calmer, more local stretch of sand for an evening swim.
City Centre & the GardensDay 3
🌳9:00 AMRoyal Botanic Garden Sydney
Harbour-fringing gardens that lead out to Mrs Macquarie's Chair, the sandstone perch with the postcard bridge-and-Opera-House line-up.
🚶 ~21 min · 🚗 ~3 min · 0.8 mi
📍12:30 PMQueen Victoria Building
A grand Victorian arcade under stained glass and domes, with Sydney's Chinatown and its food a few blocks south.
🚶 ~14 min · 🚗 ~2 min · 0.5 mi
📍6:00 PMDarling Harbour
A waterfront precinct of promenades and restaurants that lights up after dark around the old docks.
Mosman & ManlyDay 4
📍9:00 AMTaronga Zoo
A hillside zoo across the harbour with Australian natives and a view of the city skyline behind the enclosures.
🚗 ~15 min · 4.1 mi
🌳12:30 PMManly Beach
Ride the ferry to this laid-back ocean beach, then stroll the Corso and the walk around to sheltered Shelly Beach.
🚗 ~7 min · 2.0 mi
📍6:00 PMNorth Head
The southern jaw of the harbour mouth, with sweeping sunset lookouts back across the water to the city.
This is how Petrel lays out a trip. Upload your own confirmations and it builds this for your dates: flights and hotels included, with live flight status and the travel time between stops.
This is one of 126 free itineraries. Open it, change anything you want, and it becomes your trip.