Going to Sydney for a week!
 

My husband's job is sending him to Sydney in November, and my boss approved me to go along!

He'll be teaching class all day M-F, so I'm looking for recommendations of things we can do together in the evenings, or on my own during the day.

Thanks!
RG

Where will you be staying & what type of things do you like to do?
Theatre
Live music - classical - jazz - rock
Film

It will be Daylight Saving, so lots of opportunities for beach walks, dining etc., if that's your thing.
May be concerts at the zoo (haven't looked at their calendar).
Art Gallery of NSW is open each Wednesday night until 9:00

You have a broader scope during the day, of course ..... just depends on what interests you. Sydney has all the features of any other major world city.

Either on your own or with your husband, spend some time riding the ferries. Not the tourist-oriented boats, but the regular commuter ferries.

You can get a weekly travel pass that allows you unlimited rides on the trains, buses, and ferries. The red + green zone covers a lot of territory, and the weekly rate in the 2006/2007 brochure is AUD 41.

Check it out at www.cityrail.info

You can buy the pass at the Bus Transit kiosks and the ferry ticket office. We bought ours the night before we started using it. We stayed in Manly for a couple nights and loved the awesome over to Sydney for coffee after dinner. The pass more than paid for itself.

Here's the URL specifically for the TravelPass. I'm envious!

www.cityrail.info/fares/travelpass.jsp

Great advice to buy a bog std commuter travel pass. Then you can swan around hopping on and off the buses, ferries and trains.

During the day? You should do a google for tourism Sydney - that'll give you a start and will include such stuff as the Aquarium, Skytower, the Zoo and maybe even Bridge Climb if they've paid for the advertising.

All worth seeing, but to be honest - it's not the "mainstream" attractions that make Sydney such a wonderful place to visit. Just MHO, of course.

First: get yourself down to Circular Quay and pick up the brochure on exploring Sydney Harbour by Ferry. Go and do as many as you can. Everyone must take the ferry to Manly once, and the walk from Cremorne to Mosman is recommended.

Go to Bondi on the bus and walk the cliff top walk.

Take the rivercat to Parramatta and check out the Park and Elizabeth Farm - one of the oldest buildings in Australia.

Go to the Museum of Sydney, and the Art Gallery of NSW; walk the Botanic Gdns; explore the Upper Rocks area taking you to the SE Pylon of the Bridge where there is a great museum and a view to die for without the BC expense. Then walk across the Bridge.

There's more. But that is perhaps enough to be going on with.

Except to say that if you and your hubbie are here for a week, see if there's something you would like to see on at the Opera House.

To see a performance is quite different, and much to be preferred, than taking a tour.

Again, just my opinion.

And the bottom line is "what interests you"?

All of the above suggestions are great. When you are on your own during the day, another place you might want to visit is Watsons Bay and the Gap. It's a lovely park and offers a fantastic view of the city and Sydney Harbour. I took some great photos there. It's one of the stops on the Bondi Explorer bus which is a hop on-off tour bus that travels from Circular Quay to Bondi and back.

And the zoo! You could take the ferry over and spend the entire day there. It's an outstanding zoo.

If you like to shop, browse the shops of the Queen Victoria Building. Stop in at Lush and buy a fizzy bath ball to relax in your hotel after your husband's classes are over for the day.

:)

Wonderful ideas, thank you! It will get me started. I like to wander and shop and people-watch, and together we like going to zoos and off-the-beaten path attractions.

Be sure to come back to Fodor's to tell us about your week.