DK Travel : Sydney : Places of interest

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Manly Beach

Backed by a reserve lined with Norfolk Island pines and a busy esplanade, this ocean beach (see Manly) is a Sydney favourite. There are rock baths at the northern end.
Manly Cove

The ferry wharf houses boutiques and cafés, the Visitor Information Centre (see Manly), Manly Boat and Kayak Hire, Oceanworld and the Manly Art Gallery and Museum.
Manly Scenic Walk

A 10-km (6-mile) walk, one of Sydney’s best, traces North Harbour’s shoreline from Manly to the Spit Bridge. The walk passes by coastal heathlands, flat sandy beaches and sub-tropical rainforest. Highlights on the way include pretty Forty Baskets Beach, rugged Dobroyd Head, the 1911 Grotto Point Lighthouse, Clontarf Beach, and Aboriginal shell middens east of the Spit Bridge. The NPWS (see The Islands) offers a useful map of the route, available at the NPWS and Manly Visitor Information Centres.

Walking along Manly Beach
Martin Place

Martin Place runs from the General Post Office on George Street uphill to Macquarie Street. The 1891 GPO was designed by James Barnet (see Darlinghurst Court House & Old Darlinghurst Gaol) and built over the Tank Stream. Check out the amusing characters above the Pitt Street colonnade (see A Walk from Circular Quay to the QVB) and the grand 1912 Commonwealth Bank Head Office. The bank’s equally impressive 1928 sibling resides just up the hill. Opposite the GPO is the striking 1925 NeoClassical National Australia Bank, and the Cenotaph commemorating Australia’s war heroes.
Middle Harbour

The entrance to the northern arm of the harbour is marked by Middle Head and Dobroyd Head. Just north of Chinaman’s Beach is the Spit Bridge, which can be raised to allow boats to pass beneath. Castlecrag, northwest of the Spit Bridge, was home for a period to Walter Burley Griffin (1876–1937), the US architect who designed Australia’s capital, Canberra. Much of Middle Harbour’s shoreline is parkland, and the calm waters are perfect for kayaking. To the north is Garigal National Park.
Milsons Point

Nestled beneath the Harbour Bridge is a tiny suburb best known for its fun fair: Luna Park, which is based on New York’s Coney Island. Luna Park’s famous laughing clown face set between two Art Deco towers, although remodelled several times over the years, has continuously overlooked the harbour since 1935. The park is built upon a former Sydney Harbour Bridge construction wharf and workshops. Beside the park is the North Sydney Olympic Pool which opened in 1936.
Mosman & Balmoral

Mosman Bay was named after Archibald Mosman, who established a whaling business nearby in 1830. The suburb is best known for Taronga Park Zoo and Bradleys Head (see Bradleys Head). Lieutenant William Bradley arrived with the First Fleet and later served in the Napoleonic Wars, before he was found guilty of fraud and exiled to France in 1814. Clifton Gardens and Middle Head, a former military reserve, are popular destinations in Mosman. Balmoral has three pleasant beaches, including the tiny Chinaman’s Beach.
Museum of Sydney

This stunning museum occupies the site of Sydney’s first Government House, a prefabricated structure that was shipped over with the First Fleet in 1788. That structure was demolished in 1846, but some of its original footings are still visible through glass panels set into the floor. The museum places the history of white settlement against the Aboriginal custodianship of the land. The museum’s plaza features Edge of the Trees (see Edge of the Trees), an installation and soundscape which explores Aboriginal history and culture.
Neutral Bay & Cremorne

Neutral Bay was named by Governor Phillip, who ordered that all foreign ships entering Sydney Harbour anchor here. The area includes Careening Cove, so named because ships were laid on their sides here for refitting. Now this tranquil bay is home to the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, the Ensemble Theatre, and the Sydney Flying Squadron. May Gibbs’ charming residence, Nutcote, can be found on the eastern slope. Further east is Cremorne, a long, narrow peninsula with a popular harbourside reserve.
New Brighton Hotel

Built in 1926, this Egyptian Classical Revival Style pub on The Corso is a popular summer watering hole.