14 Best Sights in Sydney, New South Wales

Apart from Canberra's National Gallery, this is the best place to explore the evolution of European-influenced Australian art, as well as the distinctly different concepts that underlie Aboriginal art. All the major Australian artists of the last two centuries are represented in this impressive collection. The entrance level, where large windows frame spectacular views of the harbor, exhibits 20th-century art. Below, in the gallery's major extensions, the Yiribana Gallery displays one of the nation's most comprehensive collections of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. There are monthly free audio tours and free talks.

More than 80 acres of sweeping green lawns, groves of indigenous and exotic trees, duck ponds, greenhouses, and some 45,124 types of plants—many of them in bloom—grace these gardens. The elegant property, which attracts strollers and botany enthusiasts from all over the country, is a far cry today from what it once was: a failed attempt by convicts of the First Fleet to establish a farm. Though their early attempts at agriculture were disastrous, the efforts of these first settlers are acknowledged in the Pioneer Garden, a sunken garden built in their memory. Among the many other feature gardens on the property are the Palm Grove—home to some of the oldest trees in Sydney—the Begonia Garden, and the Rare and Threatened Plants Garden. Not to be missed is a cutting from the famous Wollemi Pine, a plant thought to be extinct until it was discovered in a secluded gully in the Wollemi National Park in the Blue Mountains in 1994. Plants throughout the gardens have various blooming cycles, so no matter what time of year you visit, there are sure to be plenty of flowers. The gardens include striking sculptures and hundreds of species of birds. There are spectacular views over the harbor and the Opera House from the garden's sea wall and two lovely restaurants are open for lunch and snacks.

For those who don't want to walk, the ChooChoo Express toylike train offers a 25-minute ride through the gardens, making four stops (A$10).

The Sydney residence of the governor-general, the Queen's representative in Australia, this impressive residence is occasionally open for inspection and can be viewed (from the water) during harbor cruises.

In the southern section of Hyde Park (near Liverpool Street) stands the 1934 art deco Anzac Memorial, a tribute to the Australians who died in military service during World War I, when the acronym ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) was coined. The 120,000 gold stars inside the dome represent each man and woman of New South Wales who served. The lower level exhibits war-related photographs, and a beautiful, poignant sculpture of an ANZAC soldier and shield.

Argyle Street, which links Argyle Place and George Street, is dominated by the Argyle Cut and its massive walls. In the days before the Cut (tunnel) was made, the sandstone ridge here was a major barrier to traffic crossing between Circular Quay and Millers Point. In 1843 convict work gangs hacked at the sandstone with hand tools for 2½ years before the project was abandoned due to lack of progress. Work restarted in 1857, when drills, explosives, and paid labor completed the job. On the lower side of the Cut an archway leads to the Argyle Stairs, which begin the climb from Argyle Street up to the Sydney Harbour Bridge walkway. There's a spectacular view from the South East Pylon.

The last surviving example of the elegant sandstone buildings that once ringed Circular Quay, this former customs house now features an amazing model of Sydney under a glass floor. You can walk over the city's skyscrapers, all of which are illuminated by fiber-optic lights. The Customs House has an excellent two-level library, art galleries, and ground-floor bar. The rooftop Café Sydney, the standout in the clutch of restaurants and cafés in this late-19th-century structure, overlooks Sydney Cove. The building stands close to the site where the British flag was first raised on the shores of Sydney Cove in 1788.

The shallow bay east of the Opera House is called Farm Cove. The original convict-settlers established their first gardens on this bay's shores. The enterprise was not a success: the soil was too sandy for agriculture, and most of the crops fell victim to pests, marauding animals, and hungry convicts. The long seawall was constructed from the 1840s onward to enclose the previously swampy foreshore. The area is now home to the Royal Botanic Gardens, a wonderful place to escape the city bustle.

Although it's still known as an "island," this promontory was connected with the mainland in 1942. During the 1941–45 War of the Pacific (WWII and a number of preceding conflicts), Australia's largest naval base and dockyard was a frontline port for Allied ships. Part of the naval base is now open to the public. Access, seven days a week, to the site is via ferry from Circular Quay (take the Watsons Bay ferry). Visitors can view the museum and picnic on the hill. The Naval Historical Society runs tours to the "secure" section of Garden Island but these must be booked well in advance. The 90-minute tours (A$25) run every Thursday.

Every morning, redcoats would march to this 1840 Argyle Place church from Dawes Point Battery (now Dawes Point Park), and it became commonly known as the Garrison Church, although now officially called the Church Hill Anglican. As the regimental plaques and colors around the walls testify, the church still retains a close military association. Sunday services are held at 9:30 am and 4 pm.

This ponderous art deco building houses one of Australia's most important collections of modern art, as well as two significant collections of Aboriginal art, a sculpture garden, and continually changing temporary exhibits. Free tours, talks, and hands-on art workshops are conducted regularly.

Begun in 1819, the colonial Georgian–style St. James' is the oldest surviving church in the city of Sydney, and another fine Francis Greenway design. Now lost among the skyscrapers, the church's tall spire once served as a landmark for ships entering the harbor. Plaques commemorating Australian explorers and administrators cover the interior walls. Half-hour lunchtime concerts are presented every Wednesday from late February to late December at 1:15.

This large complex is based around the Mitchell and Dixson libraries, which make up the world's largest collection of Australiana. Enter the foyer through the classical portico to see one of the earliest maps of Australia, a copy in marble mosaic of a map made by Abel Tasman, the Dutch navigator, in the mid-17th century. Through the glass doors lies the vast Mitchell Library reading room, but you need a reader's ticket (establishing that you are pursuing legitimate research) to enter. You can, however, take a free escorted history and heritage tour weekdays at 10:30 am. The library continuously runs free exhibitions, and the opulent Shakespeare Room is open to the public Tuesday 10–4.

Sydney's Town Hall—an elaborate sandstone structure—is one of the city's most ornate Victorian buildings. A centerpiece of the building is the massive 8,000-pipe Grand Organ, one of the world's most powerful, which is used for lunchtime concerts. Tours, conducted by the "Friends of Town Hall" for A$5, can be booked through the website. Mingle with locals on the marble steps of the front entrance.