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This remarkable national park includes 5 islands. Aboriginal rock art sites, historic buildings, secluded beaches, monuments, lookouts and bushwalks are just some of its highlights. The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) manages the park and operates several tours.

Sydney’s harbour beaches are glorious and several have protective shark netting, including Shark Beach and Manly Cove (see Manly Cove). Parsley Bay, Camp Cove, and Lady Bay Beach in Watsons Bay are all gems and are accessible by ferry.

The rugged South and North Heads mark the entrance to Sydney Harbour and offer magnificent ocean and harbour views. They are particularly popular on Boxing Day when crowds gather to cheer on the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Of the harbour’s seven islands, Sydney Harbour Federation Trust manages Cockatoo and the NPWS manages Goat, Shark, Clark, Rodd, Spectacle and Fort Denison.

Thanks to the Harbour Foreshore Vigilance Committee (see Nielsen Park), set up to retain harbourside land for public use, Sydney has great harbourside walks. Sydney ferries’ Go Walkabout booklet is a pocket-sized guide to some of the best options.

Among the fabulous abodes are Boomerang, built by music publisher Frank Albert, Craigend (Darling Point, owned by shipping mag-nate James Patrick), and Russell Crowe’s penthouse at Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf (see Elizabeth Bay).

While some parks offer extensive walking trails, others are lovely pockets of shaded greenery. The best parks include Rushcutters Bay, Balls Head Reserve, the Botanic Gardens and Nielson Park.

Sydney Harbour is remarkably healthy, home to rainbow lorikeets, several species of shark and fish, sea horses, dolphins, the occasional whale and the only known Little Penguin breeding colony on the Australian mainland.

View the harbor’s working history at the National Maritime Museum, wander down Balmain’s backstreets, or discover the convict and maritime history of Cockatoo Island with the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.

No trip to Sydney is complete without a ferry ride (see On the Water). A journey to Manly is the classic trip, but other popular destinations include Watsons Bay, Balmain, Mosman and Darling Harbour.