Coming & Going:
AIR: Kingsford Smith airport, 10 km south of the city. International connections to everywhere. Airfares to Australia are expensive - it's a long way from anywhere and flights are often heavily booked .
Airport Express Bus , regularly from the airport to various stops in the city, Kings Cross and Bondi. Ordinary buses also go by the airport, but they're less frequent. There is limousine bus service, which will take you right to your hotel or hostel. A taxi from the airport to Circular Quay will cost about US$15; to Central Station it will be about US$10.
Domestic connections to all main cities.

Getting Around:
Taxis:are all metered and not what you'd call cheap.
Buses: serve most suburbs and are cheap.
Ferry. Brilliant way to get around if it goes tour way. A trip on the Manly Ferry is the best way to see the harbour
Train: a good city & suburban train network
Bicycle: hire available, but not an ideal city for rolling around, lots of hills.
CAR Hire: Avis, Hertz, Budget etc and local companies. Also Campervan hire is popular for people going off on their own to explore.
RAIL: to Melbourne, Brisbane, Woolongong and provincial cities.
ROAD: Buses to everywhere. Greyhound line has a Pass for all Australia.

Attractions:
Ocean Beaches. The beaches to the north and south, outside the harbour, are all different and beautiful. Plenty of surf and quiet spots can be found.
The Harbour is Sydney,with cliffs, bays and beaches, it is one ofthe world's most stunning environments for a city, it stretches some 20km inland to join the mouth of the Parramatta River. The most scenic area is on the ocean side of the bridge. The Sydney Harbour National Park provides pockets of bushland and has good walking tracks. The Rocks is the oldest part of Sydney. Circular Quay is a commuting hub and a recreational space, walkways, restaurants, buskers, parks, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Sydney Opera House.

The Domain is a large park east of Macquarie St, used by city workers for fresh air. A Speakers Corner on Sunday afternoons. Venue for free events held during the festival of Sydney in January and Carols by Candlelight at Christmas. The Art Gallery of NSW is in the north eastern corner of the Domain. It has excellent permanent exhibitions of Australian, European, Japanese and tribal art, and temporary exhibits.

The Royal Botanic Gardens on the Harbour edge, encompass Farm Cove. They contain a collection of Australian and South Pacific plants, tropical displays in the Arc and Pyramid glasshouses, and a formal rose garden.

Darling Harbour This huge waterfront tourist and leisure park comprises walkways, gardens, museums, an aquarium, convention centre, casino, eateries and shops. The highlights are the Sydney Aquarium, the Australian National Maritime Museum, the water sculpture, the Chinese Garden, the massive IMAX cinema, and the nearby Powerhouse Museum.

Bondi Beach is the most famous of Sydney's beaches. Only 10 km from downtown, it is alaways busy and interesting, the promenade is an mix of ice cream parlours, cafes, and surf shops etc.

Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park covers 150 sq km of sandstone bushland at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River, 24km north of Sydney. The park has over 100km of shoreline, a number of walking tracks and some Aboriginal rock art. Higher points give a view across Pittwater towards the northernmost suburbs.

The Royal National Park, 35km south of city, The park is dissected by the Hacking River and there are riverside picnic and boat hiring facilities at Audley. There's an excellent 26km walking track along the beachside (accessible from Bundeena). It passes the beach at Wattamolla, and the surfing spot at Garie Beach.

Theatre.Sydney's theatres are scattered around the edge of downtown, the Opera House is on the edge of Circular Quay
Music. bands playing in pubs. Also plenty of Jazz, Opera, Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Restaurants:
in Darlinghurst, Kings Cross, Paddington and Glebe, and a few around Circular Quay. For cafés, try Oxford and Victoria Sts in Darlinghurst, Stanley St in East Sydney, King St in Newtown or Norton St in Leichhardt.

Communications:
Telephone Country code is 62, area code is 02. 0011 is the exit code.
International calls at General Post Office, downtown. Also many Card and Coin operated IDD phone booths around the city.
Time Zone: UTC plus 10 hours.

The inner city areas of Woolloomooloo, East Sydney, Darlinghurst, Surry Hills, Paddington, Newtown, Glebe and Balmain are an interesting mix of bohemian, gentrified, gay and traditional working class suburbs. the wealthy live in the eastern suburbs, Kings Cross to South Head; the middle class on the North Shore; and most workers in the western suburbs, stretching inland for over 50km to the foothills of the Blue Mountains.