If you’ve ever looked into Australian tourism, it can often feel like there aren’t all that many places to go. Australia is a huge country; why does it seem like tourism ends up in Sydney more often than not?

Part of the reason is that, despite being geographically huge, large portions of the interior of Australia are uninhabited. Beyond a rugged safari, there’s not much to do. The other part, though, is how much is packed into those cities like Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Sydney.

Sydney – especially the harbor – is a great destination, and there’s definitely enough to do there to fill a weekend trip or a week-long getaway. So, whether you’re stopping by as part of a cruise, flying in for a weekend, or starting (or ending) a longer Australian vacation at the Sydney Harbor, what can you do in and around the area? Let’s talk about our top five things to do.

All About Sydney Harbor

First, let’s talk briefly about what Sydney Harbor is and what it has to offer.

Sydney Harbor is a fairly large and sprawling accumulation of civilization on both sides of the waterway. It encompasses the collective waters of the self-named Sydney Harbor, the Middle Harbor, the North Harbor, the Lane Cove River, and the Parramatta River.

The harbor is actually the first place in Australia where Europeans landed, and it has been a key part of Australia’s history for as long as people have been taking boats to islands. There’s also a lot of history involving the aboriginal clans who lived in the area before, which is worth learning about if you get the chance.

Today, it’s one of the most active hubs of commerce and civilization in all of Australia. Whenever you see a picture of Australia that shows the iconic opera house, that’s a picture of Sydney Harbor.

Needless to say, there’s a ton to do in Sydney Harbor, so it’s difficult to pick just five things to do. Stay tuned near the end of the post for some bonus options! First, though, our big five.

#1: Take a Harbor Tour

One of the best things you can do around Sydney, hands-down, is take a tour. There are a million spots with history, cultural significance, modern importance, or just particularly noteworthy views, and without a tour guide, you’re likely to miss almost all of them.

There are, in fact, quite a few different kinds of tours you can take around the Sydney Harbor area. Some of them take you further into the city and surrounding environs, while others stick to the harbor itself. Here are some of the key variants you might consider – and we recommend taking more than one if you can.

• A standard walking tour. These, by necessity, cover a relatively small area since you’ll be on foot, so you can pick a region of the harbor you want to cover and take the tour. One of the best starts in Wooloomooloo and takes you through the Royal Botanical Garden.
• A further-ranging bike tour. You can rent a bicycle and join a bike tour, which will cover more ground and let you see more sights in the same amount of time.
• A driving or bus tour, of course, can cover the most land, but you’ll be spending a lot of your time in vehicles, and that’s not usually the ideal in our minds.
• A water tour. Just like there are vehicle-based tours on land, you can hop on a ferry and take a water-bound tour through the harbor. Circular Quay is a great place to start, in particular.
• An aboriginal tour. Since Australia has a long and complicated history, it’s often worth getting an alternative perspective. Modern First Nations people have taken advantage of this to provide their own unique perspective in tours that show you Sydney Harbor in an entirely new light.
• A flight tour. Though more expensive, there are small plane flight tours you can take over and around the harbor as well if you want a truly bird’s-eye view of the region. We definitely understand wanting to pass on it if you’re just getting off a commercial plane in Sydney, though!

It can be a great option to take a basic tour or two when you first arrive and then use the things you see and the things you talk about to give you ideas for other activities to do throughout the rest of your trip.

#2: View Wildlife in Sydney Harbor National Park

Sydney Harbor National Park is a relatively small but important set of protected land on a handful of islands and foreshore area around the front of the harbor. It’s easy to access, easy to travel, and a fun time to explore a bit of relatively untouched wilderness.

Now, if you’re expecting a million acres of untouched wilderness, you’ll be disappointed. It’s a lot more like a relatively wild city park than a completely untouched chunk of nature because it’s very close to the city and very popular as a destination. It has one of the best swimming spots in all of the harbor, a ton of native wildlife to see and enjoy, and some historical buildings, military fortifications, aboriginal sites, and even a heritage lighthouse to visit.

Depending on when you visit, you can even spot whales out in their migration off the coast!

There are also a lot of other natural parks, beaches, and green spaces in this region of the harbor you can explore as well. One of our favorites is the Taronga Zoo Sydney, which is a compelling attraction all on its own. Other green spaces include the Fairlight Beach, Manly to Spit Bridge Coastal Walk, Balmoral Beach, and more.

If you want to do even more exploration of the area, some of the islands are also great to visit and enjoy. Cockatoo island is a UNESCO world heritage site. The sandstone tower called Martello Tower on Fort Denison is also an incredible sight. Garden Island has a naval museum that can definitely be worth visiting. And Shark Island, despite the name, is a great stopping point for a nice picnic and some time in the sun.

#3: Take In a Show at the Opera House

The opera house dominates the minds of visitors to Sydney, even if it doesn’t dominate the landscape itself. It’s an iconic building, and there are three main ways you can appreciate it.

The first is on one of the many tours or just by walking near and up to it. It’s a public business, after all, so nothing stops you from walking to and around the building. It’s great to see from afar; it’s even better when you get close, and when you get the chance, you can head right inside.

The second way to appreciate the Sydney Opera House is a tour. When there aren’t actively shows going on, the opera house is open for tours, which take you through the facility and explain the unique concepts behind its design, the choices made in its architecture, and details of the build you can’t find anywhere else.

The third way is, of course, to see a show. The Sydney Opera House has a variety of shows throughout the year, ranging from family-friendly activities to workshops to public choirs to classic operas. What, exactly, is on the playbill depends on when you visit, but whatever it is, you’re sure to enjoy it.

#4: Explore Sydney’s History in the Rocks District

Located inside the harbor as one of the largest parts of the port and right by the bridge, the Rocks District is the oldest historic district in Sydney. Throughout the area, you can find cobbled streets, historic buildings, some of the oldest pubs and other structures in the city, and a difficult-to-define air of history you don’t get elsewhere in the relatively modern city of Sydney.

While you’re able to take walking tours throughout the district, you might just want to wander on your own. The markets are full of compelling local shops and street food vendors, the museum offers insight into the area throughout its history, and even the sandstone construction is incredible.

#5: Take an Adventure Climb Up the Harbor Bridge

Most of Sydney Harbor is free and clear, with only a handful of bridges that take roadway traffic across the waterway – a necessity given how large the city is and the absolute nightmare it would be to get across the harbor any other way. However, only one of the bridges holds the distinction of being known as the Sydney Bridge. It’s the one closest to the mouth of the harbor, overlooking the opera house, and made of a massive steel arch reaching up over the water.

BridgeClimb Sydney offers a variety of adventure climbs up the iconic Sydney bridge. Don’t just walk across it; walk atop it!

• The summit climb takes you up to the peak of the arch and back down the side you came up, with a tour guide and historic commentary along the way.
• The summit insider climb takes you through a slightly lower arch to the top, through more of the internal structure of the archway.
• The burrawa aboriginal climb brings you along the same route, but with a first nations tour guide to give you an aboriginal perspective on the area, the bridge, and the history of the harbor.
• The ultimate climb takes you up one side, almost all the way down the other, back up, and back down, with even more history and culture along the way.

Overall, it’s a fantastic way to spend a couple of hours, get incredible views of the harbor and the city, and take some unforgettable pictures.

Extra Things to Do

While our main five options are definitely enough to keep you going for a day or three in the harbor, there’s always more to do. Here are some of the other activities that didn’t make the cut but are still worth giving a look.

Check out an event. This is heavily dependent on when you’re visiting, but major events like Vivid Sydney are spectacular light shows over the harbor, the New Year’s Eve fireworks are absolutely incredible, and there’s an annual opera on the harbor put on by the Opera House. If you get the chance to attend a once-a-year event, definitely do it.

Explore Darling Harbor. Darling Harbor is known as “Sydney’s Playground” and is one of the more attractive tourist destinations in the city. It’s often vibrantly lit, it’s full of individual attractions and touristy shops, and it’s close to a wide range of other interesting sights. One of the best things to do is explore the Sea Life Aquarium, which is one of the largest aquariums in the world, and definitely worth a visit if aquatic animals are interesting to you at all.

Visit Circular Quay. Several of the tours and other attractions will take you to or through Circular Quay, which is a hub of action and attraction right near the opera house. It’s a great place to hop on a water ferry or aquatic tour, but it also has plenty of attractions of its own.

All of these ideas are, at the end of the day, just scratching the surface. Sydney is a huge city with a ton to do, and there are dozens of museums, attractions, art installations, and more to see, even just around the harbor. If you go further into the city and away from the water, there’s an endless variety to be found.

What do you think? Have you ever visited Sydney, and if so, do you have a favorite attraction or venue on the harbor that we didn’t mention? We’d love to hear your stories, so let us know in the comments what you would recommend to fellow visitors to Sydney and the world-recognized harbor. If you have any questions about anything we mentioned in this article, be sure to let us know as well! We’d be more than happy to help!