EZT

We are going to Sydney for almost 2 weeks leaving on Feb 22. 7 days at the Hilton on business - the first 4-5 days vacation. Never been to Australia! I have posted before for other trips and always received extremely helpful info. My husband is a professional photographer, so tours are only OK if they are small and flexible. We were thinking of a one day tour of the wine country so we can drink, taste and not drive and then maybe a day or two in the Blue Mountains - given the need for flexibility on stopping wherever and whenever for photos - should we rent a car for the Blue Mountains or would a small tour still do? Our other limitation is that I am recovering from shoulder surgery so I am not completely up to long hikes and more than an 8 hour day of touring. I figure we can do local touring also - like the zoo etc. without a car. How about hiriing a driver for the Blue Mountains - would this be prohibitively expensive. Since there are only two of us the private van tours at AUS 850 are too much for us. Also looking for recommendations for a hotel before we check into the Hilton - which is $300US a night - hoping for something less when we are on our own. Thanks in advance for advice. it's always been great!

longhorn55

I'm sure you can find something for less that $300US per night that would suit your needs. We have stayed at the Bed and Breakfast Sydney Harbour and have had friends and family stay there as well. It's got a great location in The Rocks and you can get a room with private bath for around $200US. If you are willing to take a room with a shared bath, the cost is even less.

Susan7

If you want to be able to stop when you want hiring a car is the best option for the Blue Mountains. As long as you avoid the weekends, driving up and back is very pleasant.

There are walks of all kinds of lengths and degrees of difficulty. Stop at the Glenbrook information centre (it's right on the highway) to pick up free bushwalking guides for the various towns along the way.

For hotels in Sydney, the Lord Nelson gets good reviews here, it's in the Rocks area and is reasonably priced: $AU130 with share bathroom, or $AU190 with en suite, plus breakfast.

http://www.lordnelsonbrewery.com/

markop

The Rocks is a great location and caters well for tourists. It's a short walk away from Circular Quay which is the main ferry terminal in Sydney. You can catch ferries to beautiful areas of Sydney from there. The ferry to Mosman or Manly are highly recommended. You can also catch a ferry to Taronga Zoo.

If you wanted to spend time in an inner city suburb that is close to the city centre, try Surry Hills. It's got very good cafes, restaurants, shops etc. It also has a few hotels. It'll give you a look into how the urbane Sydneysiders live.

There is a very informative website called cityhobo - www.cityhobo.com - which gives information on places to stay, to visit, how to get around etc.

You could drive to the Blue Mountains, it's about 90mins from the city centre. There's a car hire company called Bayswater which does the cheapest deals. Most of the major car hire companies have offices in William St in Darlinghurst, including Bayswater.

I'm not sure how much it would cost to hire a driver, but if you can get one, it might be worthwhile so you can just sit back and take in the sights without stressing about which roads to take, where to turn etc.

Maybe another option would be to take a train from Central Station to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains and then see if you can hire a car in Katoomba. That way at least you won't have to worry about how to get to Katoomba, and the train ride is quite lovely. It is about 2 hours from Central Station to Katoomba.

Cilla_Tey

If you don't wish to drive, catch a train to Katoomba and then hop on the get-on get-off Explorer bus.
http://www.cityrail.nsw.gov.au/fares/link_tickets.jsp
http://www.explorerbus.com.au/
Goodluck with the weather. We've had a very very wet summer.