Sydney

1919 Lanzhou Beef Noodle Chatswood

A very budget-friendly noodle establishment with cheap but tasty (unsurprisingly, beef) noodles.

Daily

ANZAC Memorial

A large war memorial in the middle of the city, built after World War I. It is a focus of military memorial events in New South Wales and includes a museum which covers the experiences of NSW citizens who have served in the Australian military.

except Good Fri & Christmas Day·Free

Aboriginal Bush Tucker Tour

A walk around the Royal Botanic Garden with an Aboriginal guide who will tell you about native plants that have been used by Aboriginal Australians for generations, as food, medicine, and tools. You can sample a few on the way, including fruits and herbs. Book in advance.

Thu Fri Sat 11AM–noon·$30 for adults, $20 for children 7 and older, free for children under 7

Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool

A famous yet paradoxically little known location overlooking Wooloomoloo bay and near to the Botanic gardens. It was a popular swimming location with Indigenous Aboriginals before the arrival of Europeans in Australia. The pool was also the venue for the sporting triumphs of Australian swimming legend Andrew Boy Charlton in the 1920s and is believed to be the birthplace of the Australian Crawl or freestyle swimming stroke.

Sep–Apr, non-daylight saving: daily 6AM-7PM, Daylight Saving: daily 6AM-8PM·Adult $5.50, concession $4.10, family $15.30, additional family member $2, spectator $2.70

Annandale Hotel

The Annandale Hotel is another of Sydney's best pub venues. It hosts many of Australia's best known indie bands and international acts. Under receivership, but still running.

Archery

Sydney Olympic Park Archery Centre

Want to learn how to start in the sport of Archery? The centre regularly runs 1.5 hr introductory sessions for anyone to try the sport. Archery Australia members can use their facility casually, but contact them if you are an international archer.

Tue-Fri 10AM-4PM, Sat Sun 9:30AM-4PM (summer 9:30AM-5:30PM)·Introductory session (Bronze Arrow): $26

Argyle Cut

Follow Argyle St through this historic sandstone road cutting made between 1843 and 1867, made with the effort of both convict and paid labour. The sights and sounds of the convict labour, still bound in chains and working only with crude tools, horrified the locals and the cutting was abandoned after just three years. A long interlude lasted before the city council eventually linked Millers Point and The Rocks together with the use of paid labour and explosives.

Armory Wharf Cafe

Partially a bunch cafe with an all day breakfast, also does a mean fish and chips. But, go for the view of the Parramatta river.

Daily 9AM-3PM

Australian Centre for Photography

ACP established in 1973. The ACP initiated the first major retrospectives of work by photographers such as Max Dupain, Olive Cotton and Merv Bishop, and organised the early public displays of photographs by Bill Henson, Tracey Moffatt, William Yang and Trent Parke and has presented works by international photo-artists such as Bernd & Hilla Becher, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Larry Clark, Joan Fontcuberta, Nan Goldin, Roni Horn, George Platt Lynes, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Duane Michals, Pierre Molinier, Erwin Olaf, Martin Parr, Man Ray, Cindy Sherman, Wolfgang Tillmans and William Wegman.

Tue-Fri noon-7PM, Sat Sun 10AM-6PM·Free

Australian Museum

With an international reputation in the fields of natural history and indigenous studies research, community programs and exhibitions, the Australian Museum was established as Australia's first museum in 1827 with unique and extensive collections of natural science and cultural artifacts. The skeleton room, displaying hundreds of animal skeletons, including a blue whale hanging from the roof, is an attraction in itself. The museum also has an exhibit on early man, including species like Homo heidelbergensis that did not reach Australia. There is a cafe next to the entrance that can be accessed without requiring payment for admission to the main exhibition area.

, closed Christmas·free, temporary exhibitions have additional fee

Australian National Maritime Museum

Two floors of internal exhibits, outlining the maritime role in Australia's history. Houses significant full scale exhibits. Outside there are ships and submarines to explore.

Galleries & exhibitions: $7 adult, $3.50 child & concession, $17 family / free entry to permanent galleries on first Thursday of the month. Additional charges for vessels

BBQ King

As the name suggests, you come here for barbecue, and a lot of people would agree that this place is king. It's old-school (somewhat dirty), with laminex tables and folding chairs. There may be a queue, but it won't last long, and the great duck is worth the wait. Try the spinach with garlic, too.

Open 11:30AM-2AM·Entrees $4.40-8.80, mains $8.80-26

Bacar Restaurant Bar Lounge

Lobby of the 5-star Pullman at Sydney Olympic Park hotel, corner of Olympic Boulevard and Herb Elliott Avenue, Sydney Olympic Park. Contemporary International Cuisine in a stylish modern setting, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Breakfast: 6-10:30AM (open until 11am on Weekends), Lunch: noon–3PM, Dinner: 6-10PM·$45-60

Badde Manors

Cozy vegetarian café with a slightly Parisian bohemian air, particularly known for their great desserts and coffee. Used to stay open very late on Friday and Saturday nights but now has much shorter hours, breakfast and lunch only.

Badminton

Sports Halls

The Sports Halls are used for a variety of indoor sports, but getting a Badminton court is probably the easiest. Order and pay online, and then rock up 15 minutes before your session. You'll need to bring your own equipment. Table Tennis tables are also available.

Mon-Thu noon-10PM, Fri 4-10PM, Sat Sun 8AM-9PM·From $26 per court

Balls Head Reserve

Two points to the west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Balls Head is a large park and picnic area with extensive harbour views and walking tracks. The park also contains the Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability - an industrial zone turned into a community area where visitors can also walk through the original tunnels. Adjacent is the MV Cape Don, a decommissioned ship which holds tours occasionally. Also has a restored Aboriginal rock carving of a whale.

Balmoral Beach

Family friendly beach away from the main Harbour waters. Good for a quick swim in the swimming baths, enclosed by shark nets and a wide boardwalk. Plenty of cafes around.

Bar Italia

A Leichhardt institution renowned for their award winning gelato - which attracts lines that go out the door on Friday and Saturday nights (and constantly increases the price). Bar Italia also have a strict rule of nothing but regular milk in your coffee - so if you want soy or skim get your coffee elsewhere. Staff can sometimes be abrupt and rude, but it's well worth it for the gelato. Late at night, you might also spot left-wing politicians holding secretive meetings out the back.

Beare Park

A picturesque spot right on the Harbour on Elizabeth Bay, this is a popular place for picnics and a bit of inner-city sunbathing.

Berry Island Reserve

Berry Island first connected to the mainland with a causeway from Wollstonecraft farm in the 1800s. Later quarried sandstone made a permanent land bridge to the island. The land bridge is now lawns with a playground, and a loop walk circles the island, which will take around 20 minutes. There are interpretive signs about the Aboriginal heritage of the area. The last part of the walk can be done rock hopping along the sandstone rocks on the coastline. There is an Aboriginal carving there, but it basic, and quite hard to make out. There is a lookout at the end of the point, with views across the harbour to Balmain and Birchgrove. You can also see across to HMAS Waterhen Naval Base.

free

Better Read Than Dead

One of the Inner-west's largest book stores with a large selection of biographies and hard-to-find titles.

Bicentennial Park

Other than having a barbecue, while you're there, walk, cycle or fly a kite. Bicentennial Park is a 100-hectare park created to celebrate Australia's bicentenary in 1988. Although older than Sydney Olympic Park, it is now part of the Sydney Olympic Park precinct. Facilities include electric barbecues, extensive gentle paths suitable for children cycling and for wheelchairs, and enormous amounts of grass on which to picnic or play sports. It is popular with families. Admission and parking is free but hard to find around lunchtime on some weekends, and it may be simpler to walk from the train stations.

Free

Birchgrove Park

Contains Birchgrove Oval, the spiritual home of rugby league in Australia after it hosted the first professional matches in 1908. A family park that has good views of the Harbour Bridge.

Birkenhead Point

Shopping mall right beside the harbour, with a number of designer factory outlets for fashion on the cheap. The food hall sells fresh Gozleme for $7, and pick up a table outside by the water. Buses along Victoria Rd toward Ryde stop close to the centre.

10AM-5:30PM

Blues Point Reserve

Blues Point Reserve is a small grassy area right on the water, affording perfect views of the Bridge. It is the most popular area in the district to watch the fireworks at New Years' Eve.

Bodhi

This is an outdoor vegetarian yum cha restaurant located just down the stairs from St Mary’s Cathedral over looking Cook and Phillip Park. It's a vegan restaurant and has a wide range of enticing and tasteful healthy yum cha options (all vegan). Fantastic on a sunny day. Open on weekends too. Kids can run around safely in the park while you linger over coffee.

Bondi Surf Seafoods

The Bondi Beach Fish Shop is the place to go for that dubious local speciality, the deep fried Mars Bar. Fans of the bar counsel caution: no matter how strong you think you are, restrict yourself to one deep fried Mars Bar daily.

Bondi Trattoria

A fusion of Australian and Italian cuisine, in a relaxed and ambient setting.

Mon–Thu noon–3PM, 5–8PM; Fri noon–3PM, 5–8:30PM; Sat noon–3:30PM, 5–8:30PM; Sun noon–3:30PM, 5–7:30PM

Bradleys Head

Take the ferry to Taronga Zoo wharf and then head to your right along the promontory. There's pristine bushland (almost unchanged from the time of European colonisation), quiet beaches, and knockout views across the harbour, and in the warmer months you'll spot plenty of Eastern Water Dragons, a type of large lizard. Once you reach the tip of the headland, you can either amble back to the wharf or - if you're feeling more ambitious - follow the track several more kilometres to Clifton Gardens, ogling the gigantic houses along the way. From there, you can either hike all the way back to Taronga or get a bus to a ferry wharf.

Brewery Yard Markets

A small market set on the green adjacent to Central Park shopping centre. This market specialises in street art, crafts, jewelry and clothing with smatterings of food stalls and live music throughout.

10AM-4PM, 1st & 3rd Sun every month