Five Sydney Locations Most Tourists Don't Know About, Sydney, Australia

This time a thanks to Alex and Marcela for the article and photos and also to Roy Tennant for this opening photo of the super world famous Sydney's Opera House. Thanks given, article off we go!

Sydney’s image, loaded wih beaches, the Harbor and the “glossy brochure” approach often obscures other fascinating parts of this huge, very different type of city. If you’ve never been to Sydney before, there are unknown places within easy reach of the best Sydney hostels right in the middle of the city. You can see why people love Sydney, when you get off the standard tourist track.

Sydney’s various regions are good examples of the diversity of this often quirky, vibrant city:

Ku Ring Gai Chase National Park:

Located near Turramurra in Sydney’s north, Ku Ring Gai (pronounced Coo Ring Guy) Chase is the bush walking experience for Australians and tourists alike. If you want to see the native Australian bush and are reasonably fit, a walk of about 12km through the mysterious bush will provide a few unforgettable moments any time of year.

There are wallabies, goannas (monitor lizards about the size of a border collie, quite harmless) water dragons (less harmless if frightened) the ubiquitous Flying Foxes, (huge bats about the size of a terrier, harmless) and if you’re lucky some of the smaller marsupial population including echidnas and possums.

The bush walk leads to a little boating harbor where you can see why so many Sydneysiders like to live on the water. The rivers around this area are spectacular. The Australian bush in this area is a serene, beautiful place, always showing something new to visitors.

Balmain/Rozelle markets

Balmain and Rozelle are old, rambling suburbs with a café society blended with a strange mix of inner city haunts and upmarket menagerie of older styles of architecture and modern designs.

Balmain and Rozelle have a true Sydney tradition: The weekend markets. These are great places for buying on a budget, and they’re quite unique in terms of goods. The Balmain markets are open on Saturday in Darling Street (main road in both suburbs) and you can expect to be feted with the great café style food.
The Rozelle markets, equally eclectic and providing food onsite, are open on Sunday, at the other end of Darling Street near Leichhardt.

Chinatown

George Street, Sydney’s very useful main street and navigational aid, leads straight to an Australian institution, Chinatown. This is the great eatery of Sydney, and you can get good quality, cheap Chinese food while being dazzled by the latest from China in the shops. Set aside a day or so for seeing Chinatown, because it has to be explored thoroughly.

Darling Harbor

Right next to Chinatown is Darling Harbor, including the fabulous Chinese Garden, an absolute must-see, and the huge Darling Harbor exhibition centres and ferries for Sydney’s maze of water travel options. This is another exploration journey, and includes both the Maritime Museum and the Powerhouse Museum, each good for a day of exploration. 

Glebe and surrounds

Right next to the city Glebe has its own excellent markets on Saturdays, and contains a truly fascinating example of Australia’s very busy but cheerful inner city life. This is also the student zone, right next to Sydney’s biggest university and technical college, and it’s that sort of environment. Never dull, always fun, and the shopping is truly global.

More far away for me is truly difficult. I'm almost sure that Portugal is on New Zealand antipodes so Australia must be almost on the opposite side of the globe for me, nevertheless a dream destination :)