Help with Sydney Itinerary
 

Hi, will be leaving for Sydney in a few days and would like to get some feedbacks from the experts about our itinerary.

Dec 24 Arriving at 08:20; Transfer to Four Seasons; Walk around The Rocks and Circular Quay; Take ferry to Darling Habour/Monorail (?) to Fish Market for lunch; Monorail to George Street (Queen Victoria Building; David Jones); Dinner @ Quay

Dec 25 Taronga Zoo; Christmas lunch at Pavilion on the Park; Potts Point and back to Mrs Macquarie's Chair/Watsons Bay; Dinner at Hotel

Dec 26 Ferry to Darling Harbour; Lunch Cruise at 11:15 (3 hours); Aquarium; Light rail to China Town (is it worth it?); Dinner at Hotel

Dec 27 Opera House Guided Tour; Bondi Beach + Lunch at Icebergs; Shopping; Dinner at Aria

Dec 28 Depart at 11:45

Our itinerary is flexible. We just don't want to be too rush. That's why, upon the suggestions of other Fodorites, we have taken out the trip to Manly on Christmas Day. But we will keep that open and see what happen when we are there.

Also, we realised that there are some "riots" in some areas in Sydney. Should we still go to beach areas? Is that a concern?

Please let me know if we are missing something or if we could rearrange the itinerary for better use of our time.

Thanks.

Wow Maxi, you've ended up with a great plan! One word of warning , the fishmarkets are fun to look around but on that particular day they will be very crowded with people stocking up for Christmas. Chinatown is interesting to stroll around and if you are going to be in Darling Harbour you are right next to it anyway.Dinner at my favourite Sydney restaurant! I'm green with envy!And Icebergs and Aria on the same day ! (swoon). I guess it is silly of me to tell you to make sure you have booked.I live in Bondi which is one of the places where trouble was expected but no problem at the weekend and I'm sure the whole sorry mess will be cleared up long before you get here.Have a great trip and we want to know all about it when you get home.

I notice you're eating at your hotel on two nights - with so many excellent reataurants to try in Sydney perhaps you could consider eating out on one or both nights. You already have a visit to Chinatown planned - why not eat there?

The epicentres of the "riots" have been Cronulla, far to the south, and the eastern beaches - northern beaches like Manly haven't been affected that I know of, but if the situation doesn't improve there may, repeat may, be a question mark over Bondi - hopefully a Sydneysider can better advise you.

If you remember "West Side Story" you could think of this as a large-scale Sharks vs Jets rumble, with the addition of some racist boneheads. Sydney has a "gangsta" subculture within one part of the Lebanese community, and friction between these idiots and local surfer idiots erupted into a nasty running brawl at Cronulla, later repeated at Maroubra. On the following weekend the cops issued warnings and "locked down" several areas. The media have been salivating of course and arguably have made matters worse with banner headlines, not to mention the talkback radio "shock jocks" who specialise in giving airtime to every right-wing oxygen thief who can use a telephone.

It's a great itinerary, and there's not much to improve upon. You have checked, I presume, to see if Taronga Zoo is actually open on Christmas Day?
Go early in the morning -- ideally take the ferry that leaves Circular Quay around twenty minutes before the zoo's opening time -- and be prepared for a brisk look if you are to see the zoo and be back to Pavilion on the Park for lunch.

The lunch cruise on Dec 26 could perhaps be better replaced by a couple of rides on one of the commuter ferries, including Manly, which might be a good place to have lunch (better than you'd get on the harbour cruise boat). A second commuter trip might be Watson's Bay, since that is about the only part of the harbour you won't see with your other trips.

No, don't bother with the light rail; take a ferry from Circular Quay to the Aquarium, and then walk from there to Chinatown. And you might find that dinner around Chinatown would be a more interesting choice than a second dinner at your hotel.

I hope the Opera House tour you have scheduled for Dec 27 is the early (7 a.m.) one, as I hear that this is easily the best, even if the cost is a bit hair-raising. After the tour walk through the Botanical Gardens and up through Hyde Park, before vatching your bus to Bondi; or, you could walk to King's Cross, get the train to Bondi Junction, and then catch a bus from there.

I will add a bit to this post later.... right now, however, duty calls. Apologies for what I am sure are many typing errors!

Hi again Maxi,

I like your revised itinerary. Just a couple of thoughts:
1. Fishmarket will probably be a bit of a zoo on Christmas Eve, so if you think it's too crowded for lunch, just walk back towards Darling Harbour. Then you have several choices. Either turn left and past Star Casino & Flying Fish is on the jetty on the harbour.9518 6677 Fabulous views & 15/20 food.
www.flyingfish.com.au

Alternatively, walk back across the bridge at Darling Harbour to Cockle Bay & King Street Wharf (on the city side of Darling Harbour.) Plenty of good places along there for a very pleasant casual lunch. Don't under any circumstances eat on the western "Darling Harbour" side ("tourist trap alert !.. touris...." (LOL)

Do go & have a look around the fish market, though, it's very good and even if it is a bit hectic, it'll be an experience! You may even find that everyone is intent on buying their Christmas stores & going home, so the area outside might not be too crowded.

On Boxing Day, I'd walk from the Aquarium to Chinatown via the Chinese Gardens (City side of Darling Harbour).
As you're having dinner at your hotel on Christmas night, perhaps you might consider something else for tonight?

(Unless, of course, you're planning on falling exhausted through the door & ordering a sandwich Christmas night & Kables on Boxing Night LOL) :)

The new Hilton (George Street, opposite Queen Victoria Building) has a good restaurant and a spectacular bar opening to a terrace. The restaurant is called "Glass", they're open Boxing Day night. T: 9266 2000 www.glassbrasserie.com.au

Or for something a little more casual & "local", maybe one of the pub brasseries in Paddington? These are good: Four in Hand, Bistro Moncur (in the Woollahra Hotel, Queen st, Woollahra 9363 2519 www.bistromoncur.com.au) Bistro Moore, (Olympic Hotel, Paddington)9361 6315. www.olympichotel.com.au

Or, for a good "local" French, Cafe Sel et Poivre (263 Victoria St., Darlinghurst T: 9361 6530 www.selp.citysearch.com.au)

I don't think there will be an issue with Icebergs by the time you get here.

On the off-chance that there is, another excellent option is Pier at Rose Bay. 9327 6561 (17/20) www.pierrestaurant.com.au

Thanks for your suggestions! I am taking notes of all of them in order to remain flexible.

To answer some of your questions:
- we have already booked the restaurants and the lunch cruise to watch the start of the Sydney-Hobart cruise listed in the itinerary.
- we intend to eat two nights at the hotel but we only booked for dinner at Kables for December 26, without any fixed menu. We intend to order in-room dining on December 25 because we are not sure if a late Christmas lunch will make us too full for a set Christmas dinner. We don't want to pay a lot, without enjoying the food.
- The Zoo seems to be open, as mentioned in its website. We'll try to get there as early as possible in order to be back for lunch.

So many of you have mentioned Watsons' Bay here and there. I will keep that in mind and try to get here one of those days.

Regarding the beaches, perhaps we just have to be flexible and see how things are. It will, however, be a disappointment if we could not try Icerbergs.

Thanks again. Keep your suggestions coming!

Ah, is it better to take the ferry on Dec 24 to go to Darling Habour and walk to the Fish Market? How far a walk is that? Or should we go to George Street and take the monorail there?

Maxi...

the lightrail goes to the fish market...
the walk from darling harbour to the fish market is probably too far..get off the darling harbour ferry on the west side of darling harbour..walk to star city casino and pick up the light rail from there.

the mono rail does a loop from darling harbour to the mid part of the city.

In general your planning is excellent..you wil be fine.

I seriously doubt that the Zoo will be open on Christmas Day - I think I mentioned this on another thread.

If I have time tomorrow - I'll give them a call! Some serious eating in your itinerary - have a bite for me while you're at it.
Icebergs is on my to-do list - not made it there yet.

Kables is one of the more boring, pretentious restaurants in Sydney.....

Margo, I've checked - the zoo is open 9 to 5 on Christmas Day.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a restaurant in Chinatown? Good is better than touristy.

Also, what do you think of the Skybridge walk? Is it very strenuous?

We're leaving for our trip on Sunday for what will be a wonderful month long trip.

Ideally someone with more up-to-date experience should comment on restaurants in Chinatown, but two that have been around for a while and are very popular are the Kam Fook (Level 3, Market City, 9 Hay Street) and the Golden Century, 393 Sussex Street. Big and busy Cantonese, not particularly cheap, but good. The Kam Fook used to do an excellent yum cha (dim sum) lunch. You may have to wait for a table even if you've reserved.

There's plenty of smaller places if neither of those appeal, but wherever you go make sure that you can select your seafood from live-fish tanks.

Kam Fook is gone now ( it is in Bondi Junction and does a fabulous yum cha ). Neil's other suggestion is spot on.Golden Century would be the pick of a la carte Chinese. For Yum Cha the best is East Ocean.

Maxi said:
Also, we realised that there are some "riots" in some areas in Sydney. Should we still go to beach areas? Is that a concern?


I just heard from friends of mine who live in Cairns who were visiting relatives in Cronulla just after the problems there. They were in Sydney downtown watching it on TV and then went to Cronulla immediately afterwards. Here is what they said:
"The police response was swift and pretty overwhelming. I have never seen so many police in my life. There were police and transit police on the train to Cronulla, patrolling up and down the train. There were police stationed at the entrance to the station in Cronulla. They stopped and questioned a couple of young men as they got off the train - scruffy tattooed guys. There were police walking up and down the Esplanade at Cronulla and the mall, there were mounted police riding up and down the beach and huge security guards outside the RSL and all the clubs. On the weekend after the troubles they set up road blocks to all the beach suburbs where there had been problems and concerns that there would be problems and stopped and searched cars, turned away people who didn't live in the areas or didn't have legitimate business there. The beaches at Cronulla were nearly empty. There were more police than there were beachgoers. You could park anywhere you wanted to at the shops or beaches. It was probably the safest place you could have been! The news media were everywhere waiting for something to happen so they could film it. By the time we left things were looking more normal and busier but it really hit the businesses hard. They rely on huge trade at this time of year - the restaurants are usually booked out for functions and parties and shops doing a roaring trade."

So I think things have really settled down even in the hot spot of Cronulla and beach businesses all over Sydney would be happy for you to know that. The police are obviously primed to halt any further problems so I think you can go to the beaches without worry. Cronulla is not one of the beaches tourists usually visit anyway since it is pretty far south of downtown Sydney. There are also many, many beaches all over the Sydney area to choose from.

Also, this may be late to jump into this thread since you are leaving in just a couple of days (I'm so jealous)...

do we assume that you will be arriving from the US or some other place far, far away? If that is the case, I think you should be prepared to take it VERY easy that first day. The trip to Australia is always harder than I expect even though I've done it several times. It just wears your body out. So to me you plans for the first day there are pretty ambitious. Quay is supposed to be a really fine restaurant and I know it is expensive. If this were me I'd be falling asleep over dinner that first night or very cranky and not be able to appreciate the dinner.

Of course if you are arriving from somewhere else in Australia then forget the worries about jetlag.

Thanks again for your information and suggestions! We'll be leaving in a few hours!

One last question: now that we may not be going to Manly. Should we still go for the green pass?

Yes go for the green pass...it still gives you the flexibility to go to Manly..i think you will find you can fit this in...and the price is cheap.I mean you will spend three times the price of the pass at some of those flash restaurants you are dining at.