Looking for suggestions in and around Sydney for four days in late November. We are in our 30s and have booked a petite studio at the Storrier Hotel. We would love to get to know Sydney but aren't too interested in touristy things . We do want to surf and see the Blue Mountains but we'd also like to check out cool neighborhoods, shops, cafes, etc. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!

Two neighbourhoods that you might like to visit for cafes and shops are: Paddington and Balmain. Paddington has a lot of small galleries that are worth visiting. In particular, Stills and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery. There are also markets on Saturdays at both places.

Another area is Danks St, Waterloo there's a cluster of galleries there as well as a fantastic Italian restaurant, Sopra. For great restaurants, Surry Hills is another interesting inner city area.

Balmain is a good suggestion and you can make a full Saturday of it like this.

Take the ferry from CQ to Balmain East (aka Darling Street). Take a bus up the hill to Balmain Market. There's good eateries for lunch, but if it's early keep going up Darling Street (c. 25 mins - or take a bus) to Rozelle (more eateries and another market). Balmain Mkt is Arty and Rozelle is more flea. Cheap eats at both if you just want to snack. Take bus 501 from junction of Darling St and Victoria Rd (5 mins from Rozelle Mkt). Hop off at the Fish Market. Get back on same bus to go back to the city.

You could do it the other way around when the Fish Mkt will be busier and you can walk downhill to the ferry in Balmain to get back to the city. If you're interested in low key history you could see if Balmain Library have any Balmain walks brochures in stock for info on some of the buildings of interest.

Add ons. 4th Sat of month. Get off ferry at Milsons Point and check out Kirribilli Market. Or 2nd Sunday there's an Arts and Crafts Mkt in the same place. No Balmain market on Sunday, only Rozelle.

Cheers.

ttt

I would start by having a look at http://www.sydney100.com/ and then when you get there, head on down to the rocks, very touristy but a part of Sydney to be wandered about - http://www.therocks.com/sydney-Educa...s_Pub_Tour.htm

But more so than that, you'll find the Sydney Visitors Centre in the Rocks area, just a couple of hundred meters acoss from Circular Quay (ferry terminal) and they have walking maps (about six on various interests) and they'll be handy.

There are markets in the Rocks on weekends and in many localities, Manly having one Saturday mornings (maybe third of month), possibly a list at VIC, and check out Queen Victoria Building in heart of CBD, and the walk from Quay around past Opera House through botanical gardens, past Mrs MacQuaries Chair and onto Wooloomooloo is a nice walk, Harrys Pie Cart(now fixed) an icon and at entry to the Finger Wharf, allegedly longest of its type in....!

The ferries are a great way to see the Harbour, over to Manly or to Watsons Bay and then from those locations you can do walks to north head and south head respectively.

Don't miss Brett Whiteley's studio at 2 Raper St, Surry Hills, it's wonderful. Read about it at:www.brettwhiteley.org/ There are also interesting places to eat nearby.

Catch a ferry across to Manly - take your swimmers and have a swim and wander around.

Wonderful trip across the harbour, so much cheaper than the tours, and then a swim before heading back. Great fish and chips relaxing on the grass watching the sea.

I just did a fantastic eco tour of the Blue Mountains and highly recommend it. The tour operator is Wildframe Tours (www.wildframe.com) It's a unique tour led by a wonderful biologist/naturalist, and they go places where the other tours don't go... driving dirt roads off the beaten track to beautiful short hiking trails, gorgeous overlooks, etc. We saw kangaroos in the wild, learned a ton about the plant life and trees, different eco-systems, hiked in a temperate rainforest area, etc. They also offer a more intense 3-hour hike of the area.

The Sydney Harbor tours are touristy, but you see a lot more of the harbor than you would by just taking a ferry or two, and, equally important, you can learn a lot about Sydney and the harbor. We thought our Sydney Harbor cruise was a hightlight of our trip.