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Mrs Macquarie's Chair

This park area has magnificent views of the harbour.

Address: Mrs Macquarie Road
Getting there: just outside the gates of the Botanic Garden
Price: Free access

Directions Suggest a nearby place

Listing from Wikivoyage: Sydney/City Centre, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Updated 28 Sept 2026. Something wrong? Tell us.

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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-8PMAdult $5.50, concession $4.10, family $15.30, additional family member $2, spectator $2.70
SeeCity Centre
Government House
A stately home in the Botanic Gardens. The official residence of the Governor of New South Wales (the state's representative for the British Monarch). Open to the public Fridays & weekends.
Fri-Sun 10:30AM-3PMFree
SeeCity Centre
Sydney Opera House
This world heritage listed icon on the harbour is one of Sydney's most beautiful and unusual buildings; its sail-shaped structure, designed by Jørn Utzon, is world famous, and it is the only structure in the world to have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site during the lifetime of its architect. The Opera House hosts most of Sydney's major classical music and opera events. You can walk all around the building and some of the foyer areas free of charge. Guided tours of the inside are available for $28, leave every 30 minutes and take about an hour. Some tours are run in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. Depending on ongoing rehearsals or performances, not all parts may be visited.
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Royal Botanic Gardens
One of Sydney's greatest assets, from in front of the State Art Gallery, out to Mrs Macquaries chair, across to Farm Cove and onto the Sydney Opera House. The Gardens back onto the historic Sydney Hospital and Parliament House. This is the oldest scientific institution in the country and home to an outstanding collection of plants from Australia and overseas. The Domain surrounds the Royal Botanic Gardens. The walk along the harbour's edge (Farm Cove) from the Opera House (Queen Elizabeth II gate) to Mrs Macquarie's Chair (Yurong Gate) is for many the epitome of a Sydney experience. The Gardens have an example of the Wollemi Pine, raised from a seed collected from a handful of trees discovered in the wilderness and unchanged since the dinosaurs. A tropical pyramid holds examples of tropical vegetation in a controlled humidity atmosphere. See the rose garden, herb garden and succulent section. The collection has many varieties of Australian plants and grasses. During the summer months there are often open air night time film screenings inside the Botanic Gardens, entry charges normally apply to those screenings.
The gardens are open from sunrise to sunset. It is fully fenced, so take care not to get locked in at closing timeThere are no access charges to enter the Botanic Gardens (except for the tropical pyramid)