Travel time: airport to Sydney
 

After visiting New Zealand, my Qantas flight is scheduled to land at the Sydney airport at 4:55pm. I'll be arriving on a Friday, no checked bags, US citizen...so I was wondering approximately how long it will take to get to the Sydney Harbour B&B, which is on Cumberland St., next to the Shangri La hotel. I am considering either a taxi or the airport shuttle; I believe the shuttle will probably take longer as other passengers may be dropped off at their hotels first (but I like the price better than a taxi).

I don't have anything planned yet for that evening in Sydney, and I wanted to get an idea of how much time I might have and if it will still be light out. I'll only be in Sydney for 3 days. Thanks in advance for your help!

Travel time depends on which side of the road you are driven

A/D

PS Cab in from the Airport at a similar time took about 20 minutes.
The line for the cab however was 15 minutes

As far as how light it will be , it depends on when you are coming. If you are coming soon it will stay light till around 8:30 but if you are coming in the Winter and no daylight saving it will be dark by 5pm.

AndrewDavid makes a good point - as ever!
You're arriving at peak time, and there may be a long queue for cabs (although I suspect AD was arriving at one of the domestic terminals, when the chauffeur wasn't there to meet him!)

Shuttle may be just as quick as queueing for a taxi, and a bit cheaper - or you could arrange for a limo - at really exhorbitant cost.

When are you arriving - see point from peteralan!

That's right, Margo. We called you to pick us up,but you never showed. Probably swanning around Watson's Bay in the big Car.

A/D

You could take the train to Circular Quay and get around the peak hour traffic that way and then get a cab from there which won't cost much as the B&B is only about one mile away.

Thanks for the info! I'll be there at the end of February.

Good point about the taxi queue...the shuttle seems to be the better choice for me (and hopefully on the correct side of the road!)

Just saw lizF's response (we must have been posting at the same time). The train sounds good too; what is the taxi queue and availability like at Circular Quay?

It is generally good at the Quay but it is not so much the wait at the airport as paying for the taxi to sit at red lights or in a line of traffic for what seems to be ever. The train would avoid that and if you don't have any checked bags you could even walk the distance to the B&B as on second thoughts I don't think that it is anywhere near one mile. Take a look at a map of Sydney and check that out or perhaps the Sydney experts could let us know. The train of course does not take much time at all - I think from memory its about 10 minutes.

I will definitely consider the train as well because the shuttle will be sitting at those same red lights and traffic...

B&B is probably about half a mile from the Quay, and taxis are reasonably plentiful - the walk is mostly uphill, so carrying luggage may be a nuisance. I usually skip through the Four Seasons Hotel and out the back door, but this may not be suitable if you are an obvious tourist (I live here and am lazy!)

Thanks Margo-Oz I could not quite remember how far it was only that it was not too far at all.