Things to do in Sydney: 15 highlights, from the Opera House to the Blue Mountains

Designed by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon and completed in 1973, the Sydney Opera House raises its white shells on Bennelong Point, at the water's edge. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007, it is also one of the world's busiest performing arts centres, with more than 2,000 performances a year: opera, ballet, theatre and concerts.

You can see it by going to a show or on the one-hour guided tour, run daily and also in French.

Completed in 1932, the Harbour Bridge is the great steel arch bridge linking the Central Business District (CBD) with the harbour's north shore. Together with the Opera House, it makes up Sydney's most famous view.

You can walk across it for free, climb to the top of the arch with BridgeClimb or go up the Pylon Lookout.

About 7 km east of the centre, Bondi is Sydney's most famous beach: a crescent of sand facing the Pacific, popular with surfers, lined with a promenade, cafés and the Bondi Icebergs ocean pool at its southern end.

It is also the start of the coastal walk to Tamarama, Bronte and Coogee, past cliffs and coves.

About a hundred kilometres west of Sydney, the Blue Mountains are a sandstone plateau cut by eucalyptus-covered valleys, whose bluish haze gave the range its name. The region is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Greater Blue Mountains Area.

From Echo Point in Katoomba you see the Three Sisters, three rock pillars above the Jamison Valley; trails lead from there to waterfalls and the villages of Leura and Wentworth Falls.

Opened in 1916 on the north shore of the harbour, in Mosman, Taronga Zoo shows Australian wildlife, koalas, kangaroos and platypus, as well as animals from around the world, on a hillside facing the Sydney skyline.

You get there by ferry from Circular Quay: the crossing is part of the visit, with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge as a backdrop.

On the north shore, at the end of the ferry crossing from Circular Quay, Manly has a long surf beach on the ocean side and a small calm beach on the harbour side. A promenade follows the coast to Shelly Beach, a sheltered cove popular for snorkelling.

The suburb, with its pedestrian Corso, cafés and shops, makes an easy day out of the centre.

At the foot of the Harbour Bridge, near Circular Quay, The Rocks is the site of Australia's first European settlement, founded in 1788. Cobbled lanes, sandstone warehouses and old pubs now house markets, galleries and restaurants.

It is home to Cadman's Cottage, the oldest surviving house in Sydney, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, on the harbour front.

Founded in 1816, the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney is Australia's oldest scientific institution. Its lawns and plant collections run down to the harbour, between the Opera House and Mrs Macquarie's Chair, the point where the Opera House and Harbour Bridge line up.

It is an easy walk through to the neighbouring Art Gallery of New South Wales.

A former industrial port west of the centre, Darling Harbour is now a pedestrian waterfront leisure district. It has the Sea Life aquarium, Wild Life Sydney Zoo, Madame Tussauds and the Australian National Maritime Museum, plus waterside restaurants.

It is the handiest area for families, linked to the centre on foot and by ferry.

Standing 309 metres tall and completed in 1981, Sydney Tower is the city's tallest structure. Its glass-walled observation deck, the Sydney Tower Eye, gives a 360-degree view over the harbour, the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and, on clear days, as far as the Blue Mountains.

It rises in the heart of the CBD, above the Westfield shopping centre, a few minutes' walk from Hyde Park.

Founded in 1871, the Art Gallery of New South Wales is one of Australia's major art museums, in the Domain parkland next to the Botanic Garden. It brings together Australian art, including a major collection of Aboriginal art, as well as European, Asian and contemporary work.

Since 2022 a second building, Naala Badu, linked to the first by a walkway, has housed contemporary art.

Vivid Sydney is an annual festival of light, music and ideas, held in the southern winter, between late May and June. Every evening, projections light up the Opera House sails, the Harbour Bridge and the façades of Circular Quay, while concerts, talks and workshops take place across the city.

The heart of the festival is explored on foot, around the harbour.

Completed in 1898 to plans by George McRae and named after Queen Victoria, the Queen Victoria Building fills a whole block of George Street. Built as a market hall and restored in the 1980s, it now houses shops and cafés under a large central dome, with stained glass, mosaic floors and animated clocks.

It connects to Town Hall station, a short walk from Sydney Tower.

On the Darling Harbour waterfront, Sea Life Sydney Aquarium shows Australian marine life, from sharks and rays to reef fish, with a large section on the Great Barrier Reef and a penguin enclosure.

Its underwater tunnels make it a good rainy-day option, especially with children.

Opened in 1935 at Milsons Point, at the northern foot of the Harbour Bridge, Luna Park is Sydney's historic amusement park, known for its entrance shaped like a giant smiling face. Rides, a Ferris wheel and fairground stalls look across the harbour to the Opera House.

You can reach it by ferry or on foot across the bridge.