Sydney’s most famous landmarks

If you consider Sydney’s balmy weather, rich culture, and outstanding quality of life (ranked first in the entire Asia Pacific), it’s no big surprise that Australia’s largest metropolitan city is such a popular tourist destination.  Almost three million tourists visit Sydney each year to surf its legendary beaches and discover famous attractions like the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Tower, and the Queen Victoria Building.

Located on Bennelong Point at the northeastern tip of the Sydney central business district (CBD), neighbor to the Royal Botanic Gardens and surrounded by water on three sides, visitors won’t have to look very hard to find Sydney Opera House.  One of the most distinctive buildings of the 20^th century, the iconic Sydney Opera House is perhaps the city’s most recognizable landmark and impossible to miss.  If asked to picture Sydney, this famous shell-like structure is probably the first image that comes to most people’s minds.  It is without a doubt one of the most famous performing arts centers in the world, and in June 2007, this creative masterpiece by Danish architect Jorn Utzon became one of the most recently constructed sites to be recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Contrary to what its name would lead you to believe, Sydney Opera House is actually composed of six smaller venues.  The two largest are Opera Theatre and Concert Hall, which reside in the two larger sets of shells.  Three smaller theaters, Drama Theatre, Playhouse, and Studio, are situated along the western side of the building and in the Utzon Room on the eastern side.  The smaller set of shells houses the sixth venue, award-winning Guillaume Bennelong restaurant.  There’s a seventh space, The Forecourt, which is used to host many free community events and large scale outdoor performances.

Visitors to Sydney Opera House can merely marvel at its modern expressionist design, or they can attend one of the 1,500 performances held there every year.  In addition to being one of the most visually stunning performing arts centers in the world, Sydney Opera House is also one of the busiest, with various performing arts companies entertaining upwards of 1.2 million guests a year.  The four key residential companies are Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, Sydney Theatre Company, and Sydney Symphony.  There are also festivals and performances by visiting companies throughout the year, as well as artistic and cultural activities produced by the Sydney Opera House itself for educational and experimental purposes.

Close to Sydney Opera House and almost as famous for its dramatic image is Sydney Harbour Bridge, the steel through arch bridge that crosses Sydney Harbour, carrying rail, vehicular, and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney CBD and the residential North Shore.  Also known by locals as “The Coathanger” for its shape, the bridge was the city’s tallest structure until 1967 (when it was surpassed by the Australia Square Tower).  According to Guinness World Records, it is also the widest long-span bridge and tallest steel arch bridge in the world, and the fifth-longest spanning-arch bridge.

Since its opening in 1932, Sydney Harbour Bridge has been both a source of national pride and a focal point of much tourism.  As such, it often plays an integral role in national events and celebrations, from annual New Year’s Eve fireworks displays to ceremonies from the 2000 Olympics.  The bridge’s southeast pylon is one major attraction, serving as a lookout point that provides tourists with great views of the city and ideal photo ops.  Adventurers who want an even better view can book a tour with BridgeClimb, which has been leading climbs up the southern half of the bridge since 1998.  There are day and night tours available, and climbers are provided all the necessary equipment and briefed before embarking on the three-and-a-half-hour journey.  For people interested in engineering and architecture, there is an alternative route, DiscoveryClimb, which takes climbers up the lower chord of the bridge, allowing them to observe the internal structure.  Though attendees are protected from falling with a wire lifeline, these climbs are not recommended for people with a fear of heights.

Joining the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the list of important Sydney landmarks is the Sydney Tower, which bypassed the Australia Square Tower and several others as Sydney’s tallest structure when it opened in 1981, and is currently the second tallest freestanding structure in all of Australia.  Standing 1,001 feet over the Sydney CBD, Sydney Tower has three main sections that are open to public access.  Visitors can take one of the three high-speed double-deck elevators, reaching the observation deck in as little time as 40 seconds.  At 820 feet above ground level, the fully enclosed observation deck features a viewing platform offering tourists 360-degree panoramic views of the city.  A small gift shop and a display on the tower’s conditions can also be found on this level.  At 879 feet is the open-air Sydney Tower Skywalk, which can only be accessed as part of an organized tour.  The tower also houses two revolving restaurants, one a la carte and the other buffet.

History buffs and shopaholics should be sure to include the late-nineteenth-century Queen Victoria Building in their trip to Sydney.  This elaborate Romanesque Revival building was originally designed by George McRae to be a grand government building, but instead became a business environment for tradesmen, comprised of coffee shops, showrooms, and a concert hall.  It was partitioned into City Council offices at one point and later threatened with demolition before returning to its original shopping center function.  Today it is occupied by mainly upscale boutiques and brand-name shops. 

The building’s ornate Victorian details include a central dome, stained glass windows, intricate colonnades, arches, balustrades, and cupolas.  There are four main shopping floors and numerous memorials and informational historical displays, including two mechanical clocks that feature dioramas and moving figures depicting various historical moments.

Sydney accommodation nsw comes in all shapes and sizes, offering a wide range of options for visitors to choose from. From luxury hotels to backpacker hostels, tourists of all budgets and traveling style preferences can find somewhere that suits their needs, allowing them to return to a comfortable night’s sleep after a day of exploring the city’s landmarks.