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The entrance to Sydney Park is marked by four giant chimneys once used for the huge kilns of the Sydney brickworks. Clever park landscaping incorporated parts of the brickworks, so that you walk over a courtyard paved with hand-moulded bricks. The grassy slopes of the park make it a favourite with local dog-walkers and offer a wonderful view of the city from the hills. It is a welcome wide open space, rare in Sydney.

Originally known as Cooks River Road, King Street has been an important thoroughfare since the days of European settlement, when it linked Sydney Town with farms in the Cooks River Basin. Newtown once belonged to a few rich men, but by the late 1800s it had become a thriving township. By then King Street looked much as it does today, bustling and lined with shops. Many stately homes on the streets off King Street have been restored, but most of the houses began as poor workers’ cottages. Migrants arrived in the 1960s and ’70s, along with rockers, goths and punks, and Newtown is still peopled by an eclectic mix. Above the grungy street level, you’ll see that the upper façades of many shopfronts have retained Victorian plasterwork detail.

Sydney’s oldest remaining cemetery lies in the grounds of St Stephen’s Church. When the cemetery was established in 1848, it was one of three serving all of Sydney. Many historic figures are buried here, including Alexander Macleay (see Elizabeth Bay House), Colonial Secretary from 1826 to 1837. When the Dunbar sank just outside Sydney Heads in 1857 (see Dunbar Sinks), the bodies recovered were buried in a mass grave at Camperdown and a memorial was erected for them. Eliza Donnithorne, thought to be the inspiration for Charles Dickens’ Miss Havisham, also lies there. While walking the peaceful paths, note the gravestones lining the walls. These original stones were moved inside when the outer area was turned into a park.

Australia’s first university was founded in 1850. Many of the buildings on the large campus are of little architectural merit, but the Main Quadrangle building makes the university well worth a visit. Designed to mimic the hallowed halls of Oxford and Cambridge, its ornate Victorian Gothic façade is adorned with gargoyles and pinnacles. The Nicholson Museum of antiquities is housed in one wing, and the Macleay Museum is also close by (see Macleay Museum).

Glebe came about as a series of land grants to wealthy free settlers. Two remaining Regency villas, Toxteth Park and Lyndhurst, were designed by celebrated Colonial architect John Verge. Today it is a hippie enclave characterized by New Age and health food shops and laidback locals. Leafy and settled into hills with harbour views, the area has a village atmosphere. Glebe Point Road runs through the centre, from Broadway up to the water at Jubilee Point, and is lined with shops and cafés. To experience Glebe’s bohemian side, watch an arthouse film at Valhalla Cinema, then pop into Sappho bookshop and café for a latte.

Every Saturday from 10am– 4pm, the grounds of Glebe Public School are used by market stalls selling new and second-hand clothes, records and bric-a-brac. A great source for flares, leather jackets and sunglasses, Glebe Market offers great bargains.

Sydney saw its first influx of Chinese immigrants soon after the discovery of gold in the 1850s. The city’s Chinese community, the largest in Australia, built this temple on the site of a former market garden in 1898. It is named after a district in the Chinese province of Kwongtung. The traditional red and green temple was restored in 1978 and the archway added in 1982. The bones of the deceased were once kept here before their return to China for burial. Visitors are welcome, but do remember that this is an active place of worship and not a tourist attraction.

Sze Yup Buddhist Chinese Temple

These three contiguous parks overlooking Rozelle Bay offer fantastic views of the city and the working harbour. A pathway follows the north shoreline overlooking the container terminal on the other side of Rozelle Bay. To the west, just over the footbridge, is a great children’s playground. And to the south is the old railway viaduct which threads its way past the historic grandstand in Jubilee Park. The small Pope Paul VI Reserve has one of the best views in Sydney, looking across Blackwattle Bay to the Anzac and Sydney Harbour Bridges.

This stunning bridge was named in honour of Australia’s WWI soldiers: Anzac stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. It spans narrow Johnstons Bay and links Pyrmont with Rozelle and Balmain (see Balmain & Leichhardt). Opened in 1995, this is the longest cable-stayed span bridge in Australia, and many consider it Sydney’s finest. A pedestrian path runs beside the inbound lanes and is accessible from Quarry Master Drive, north of the Sydney Fish Market. It offers great views of the city in the distance and the adjacent swing-span 1901 Glebe Island Bridge below.

The largest market of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, this complex in Pyrmont is home to the fishing fleet, wholesale and retail fish markets, delicatessens, oyster bars, sushi and sashimi bars, cafés, restaurants, and even a bakery. You can enjoy some of the most exquisitely cooked seafood, or just slum it with equally delectable fish and chips. The Fish Market contains the Sydney Seafood School, where some of Australia’s biggest-name chefs run classes such as filetting and specialist ethnic cuisines.

Waterfront cafés at the Sydney Fish Market