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Views don’t come much better than the Opera Bar’s (see Bars & Restaurants) panorama of the harbour, Harbour Bridge and city skyline. Soak up the sun on the terrace during the day, or have drinks under the stars later on. A good bar menu means you can make a night of it, adding to the perfect Sydney experience.

Located on the beach, Orso directly overlooks Middle Harbour through its full-length glass windows. The seafood platter for two or more is great value.

This one-stop shop for the hippest of hip combines a boutique, bookshop, furniture showroom, café and gallery.

This Booker Prize-winning novel by Peter Carey traces a romance between a gambling minister and an heiress.

From its name, a riff on The Smiths’ paean to Oscar Wilde, to its snow-white interior, metal ceiling and eclectic oscillating menu, style and substance fuse beautifully in this temple to protein.

A slice of Melbourne on the waterfront is so popular that it often draws celebrities to its handsome surrounds. The Italian fare is jazzed up with great local ingredients.

You don’t need a safari suit to indulge in North African delicacies, such as tagines, while leaning back against the zebra-skin banquettes.

Highlights of Australia’s capital include the Parliament Houses, the National Gallery, the War Memorial, the National Library, Lake Burley Griffin and Black Mountain.

Oxford Street is Sydney’s most fashion-conscious shopping strip. Although it runs all the way from Hyde Park to Bondi Junction, the prime shopping drag is on the north side of the road between Barcom Avenue and Queen Street, which runs down to Woollahra. Surry Hills’ Crown Street is less conspicuous and polished than its northern rival, but it’s gaining a reputation as a good spot to source homewares, designer and retro furniture and fashion items. It has some great cafés, ethnic restaurants and grocers, pubs and factory outlets, and its grunginess is the perfect antidote to Oxford Street’s fashionista frenzy.

Its central location, pub-style bar downstairs and two cocktail lounge bars upstairs – Ginger’s and Gilligan’s – makes the Oxford a great place to meet friends.