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Best views in Sydney

7 lookouts and viewpoints in Sydney.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.

Best views in Sydney

  1. SeeLower North Shore

    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

  2. SeeCity East

    Embarkation Park

    Great views of the CBD skyline and parts of the harbour. This is one of the most popular places in the Inner East to watch the New Years Eve fireworks shows. The park may be locked at night.

  3. SeeCity Centre

    Sydney Tower

    Towering above the city of Sydney since 1981, when it became the tallest structure in the city, the Sydney Tower reaches a total height of 305 m — great views are available from the 250-m-high viewing level. The tower is Australia's tallest free-standing structure and the second highest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere after the Sky Tower in Auckland). The trip up to the observation deck includes a short "4D" movie (3D with effects such as smoke and water) before travelling up in the lift. If looking at the city through windows isn't enough, take the Skywalk tour on the top of the tower.

    Observation deck: $40, Skywalk: $99

  4. SeeInner West Not mapped

    Ballast Point Park

    A former Caltex industrial site now returned to the authorities and made greener. Offers panoramic views of the Harbour Bridge and Sydney city skyline from a high vantage point.

  5. SeeDarling Harbour Not mapped

    Crown Sydney Sky Deck

    Sydney's tallest building, the Crown Casino, offers free guided tours of its 83rd-floor observation deck perched 250 meters above the harbour, with great views towards the Opera House. The catch is that there's exactly one tour at 8 AM on weekdays only, with capacity for just 10 people. Tickets for the following week are released every Monday and are usually snapped up in minutes.

    Mon-Fr 8 AM (reservations required)Free

  6. DoThe Rocks Not mapped

    Southeast Bridge Pylon

    Climb up to the Pylon Lookout. Entrance is from the pedestrian walkway on Bradfield Highway approach to the bridge. (There is no entrance at the base of the Pylon in Dawes Point.) As you climb the 200 steps within the pylon, you pass 3 levels of exhibits describing pictorially the history of the bridge. The view at the Pylon Lookout is as good as from the Sydney tower, maybe better, as you are out in the open air and next to the harbour. It may be the cheapest way to take aerial photos of the harbour, including the Opera House. (You cannot take a camera with you on the bridge climb.)

    The pylon is open 10AM-5PM every day except Christmas DayAdmission is $13 adults, $6.50 children under 13, and free for children under 7

  7. Do Not mapped

    Sydney French Film Festival

    The Alliance Francaise French Film Festival

    Offers an impressive and ambitious panoramic view of contemporary French cinema, screening the films at Palace Academy Twin in Oxford St, Darlinghurst, Verona in Paddington & Norton Street in Leichhardt.

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Sydney (CC BY-SA 4.0).