Whether you are looking for things to do in Sydney for your next visit or a local looking for something different to do this weekend this list is a great starting point for finding fun and interesting things you can do in Sydney.

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Get out on the water

Captain Cook Cruises

Harbour Cruises are not just for tourists! As locals, we really enjoy being out on the Harbour, and Captain Cook really looks after their guests.

Captain Cook offer a number of premium dining and adventure cruises.

• Sunset Dinner 
• Lunch Cruise
• Rocket Sightseeing HOHO Boat

A night out on Sydney Harbour is always a good idea!

The Harbour Bar– This floating bar ticks the box with live acoustic music, bespoke cocktails, comfy lounges and 360-degree waterfront views. Sittings are for a minimum of 90 minutes, with the option to stay on board if numbers allow.

Oz Jetboating

Shark Attack Thrill Ride. Thrills, smiles and laughs all around on this exciting harbour jaunt. It’s a whole new perspective on the icons with fun commentary and plenty of excitement.

Sydney Harbour Tallships

Sydney Harbour Tallships have two majestic vessels and are one of the best ways to see Sydney Harbour for active travellers. It’s also a great family outing, you can even take a turn at the wheel or climb the mast! The crew entertain with stories of the ship and the harbour.

A sunset cruise on a tall ship is a memorable way to spend a couple of hours on the water. The Twilight Dinner Cruise is a two-hour tour of Sydney Harbour complete with starters, salads, mains and desserts. You can also add a climb the mast experience or a 2 hr drinks package.

Take a walking tour

Local Sauce Tours

Local Sauce calls themselves Sydney’s “funniest” small group tours. Their tours focus on helping you see Sydney like a local, telling entertaining stories, mixing in some history and stopping at excellent, independently-owned bars, restaurants and cafes along the way. They also won an award at this year’s NSW Tourism awards for best cultural experience.

I have done most of their tours and always come away with some new places to take friends and some new knowledge about the city. This is a great way to get to know your hometown a little better and find places to go back to next time you head out.

Sydney Secret Bar Tour – How long since you had a night out in the city? You will discover four small bars on these fun bar tours and learn about the city’s bar culture. Along the way, guides throw in some interesting history and more than a few laughs.

Explore either Darlinghurst or Surry Hills. We had a blast on the Darlinghurst tour and hope to book the Surry Hills one soon. If you want to explore the historic Rocks they offer a great cocktail tour in this area.

Their “Chinatown – Stories, Snacks & Secrets” that will help you discover half a dozen new places to eat and teach you about the history of Sydney’s Chinese community along the way.

Local Sauce also runs a Newtown food and street art tour that is perfect for discovering some of Sydney’s best murals. Or a visit to Fivedock to learn about Sydney’s Italian community and discover small businesses you will certainly want to go back to!

If you are visiting Sydney for the first time I highly recommend their Ultimate Sydney walking tour – it’s heads and shoulder above the others and the BEST walking tour of Sydney on offer!

Taste Cultural Food Tours

Taste Cultural Food Tours is a social enterprise that provides training and opportunity to migrants and youth and is possibly the best way to “travel” overseas without leaving home.

The tours mix delicious bites with engaging stories of food, history, and culture. Perfect for foodies like us missing overseas food-based trips!

We recently joined a tour of Hurstville and found some great new places to dine and enjoyed learning more about the traditions and superstitions of Chinese New Year.

These suburban experiences allow you to enjoy some cuisines you love when you travel; Vietnamese in Cabramatta, Indian in Harris Park, or tours that combine a mix of cuisines found in multicultural hotspots like Liverpool, Bankstown and Merrylands.

Taste also offers Barangaroo tours for those who want to get the lowdown on the best alternative places to eat in this new precinct.

The Sydney Connection

The Sydney Connection – Join Maree on one of her famous Dining Walks, where you will experience Sydney’s small bar culture and eat at three different inner-city Sydney restaurants in one night. Along the way, Maree will share her knowledge of these fabulous city locations or answer questions you have about Sydney.

Choose from Potts Point, Darlinghurst or Surry Hills. Learn more about the city and go home with a full belly; it sounds like the perfect night to us!

Sydney Photography walks

Alfonso Calero offers beginner and intermediate smartphone and digital photography walks in the city centre. Three-hour daytime, night courses and sunset classes are offered for $99.

EcoWalks Tours

How well do you know the bushland that surrounds Sydney Harbour? EcoWalks has a number of guided walks that provide a great introduction to bushwalking or just a wonderful way to learn more about the landscape.

Most walks are 3 hours and suitable for Choose from Q Station Wildlife Meanders, Middle Head Battery walk – exploring military relics, Georges Head Walk or Curlew Camp Sydney Walk. Walks are priced from $39.

The Rocks Ghost Tours

It does not have to be Halloween to get your spook on, join this Ghost Tour of the Rocks for a dark and spooky history of The Rocks, Sydney’s oldest precinct. Tours are offered at 7:45pm five nights a week.

Skirting Sydney

How much do you know about the women who shaped our city? On this 2-hour walking tour Simon, your incredibly knowledgeable guide will tell the story of some of the city’s amazing women, from a convict who went on to become governor’s wife, to those who fought for women’s suffrage and equality, and those who challenged the status quo in business breaking glass ceilings before it even had a name. I loved this tour and highly recommend it.

Sydney Architecture Walks

How much do you know about the buildings you walk past across the city? With seven tours on offer, the guides at Sydney Architecture Walks (SAW) will help you discover so much about this wonderful city we call home.

Tours include Utzon and the Sydney Opera House, Modern Sydney, The transformation and regeneration of Ultimo or Chippendale and even a bicycle tour. I want to do them all!

Enjoy the arts at Sydney Opera House

Opera Australia

Buy tickets to opera at the Sydney Opera House and enjoy the performance while taking a good look around the building itself.

Operas you can book tickets to include La Bohème, Turandot, The Marriage of Figaro, Otello

There is a good range of tickets options in Premium, A, B, C and D Reserve. D Reserve tickets are usually $99 (excluding Saturday night performances)

Australian Ballet

Enjoy a performance of the Australian ballet at Sydney Opera House, this year they are performing

Bangara Dance

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs have 7 shows on their performance schedule this year. With tickets starting at $58

Outdoor Activities in Sydney

Make the most of your time outdoors with these great offerings

Troll Tours

Jump on the back of a Harley or ride in style on a three-seater trike while you explore one of Troll Tours popular routes

• The Three Bridge
• Eastern Panoramas
• City Viewer

To book one of these or design your own day out (charges are by the hour), contact Troll Tours on 9568 3082, and they will apply your voucher to your booking.

Manly Kayak Centre

Hire a kayak or paddleboard and explore the north of the Harbour or paddle around to Store Beach for a swim. Manly Kayak Centre is right by the wharf and offers a range of options.

Eco Treasures

Eco Treasures offer paddleboard, kayak and snorkel hire and tours at both The Basin in Ku-ring-gai National Park and Manly.

Things to do in Sydney when it rains

Strike Bowling

Strike Bowling Locations at King Street Wharf, Chatswood, Castle Hill and the Entertainment Quarter.

Climb Fit

Climb Fit indoor climbing centres. There are centres at Kirrawee, St Leonards and Macquarie.

X-Golf

If the rain has you off the course you can still get your fix at X-Golf Indoor Golf Entertainment Centre. Suitable for golfers of all levels this could be a perfect time to see if you are a golfing natural. Casual play, comps, coaching & heaps of fun!

Holey Moley

Mini-golf Venues at Wollongong, Newtown, Darlinghurst, Castle Towers and more.

Australian Maritime Museum

Trade your voucher for a Big Ticket at the Australian Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour.

Meet the Animals

• Taronga Zoo – Taronga operates two zoos the harbour front zoon in Mosman and the safari style zoon in Dubbo.
• Symbio Wildlife Park – Symbio Wildlife Park
• Sea Life Aquarium – Explore the Sea Life Aquarium at Darling Harbour
• Featherdale Wildlife Park – Featherdale in western Sydney is a fantastic place to see native Australian animals.
• Wildlife Zoo Sydney – Planning a day in Darling Harbour? Wildlife Zoo is accepting vouchers against their most popular tickets.
• Sydney Zoo – Sydney Zoo

Check out our detailed guide to animal and wildlife experiences in Sydney to help you decide which one to visit.

Day tours from Sydney

Local Travel Planner

Sip n Savour – Premium wine tasting tour in the Southern Highlands, their full-day tour includes lunch, tastings at three award-winning boutique wineries, and a choice of a bottle of wine up.

Go beyond the big-name stops and explore some Hunters small producers. You will visit 3 wineries with tastings and enjoy a grazing board for lunch. Make a stop at the sensational Binnorie Dairy, where I guarantee you will want to buy almost everything you taste and visit Hunter’s only locally operated distillery.

AEA Luxury Day Tour of Mudgee – Well known for their high-quality multi-day tours of NSW, AAE also offer a range of fabulous day tours. One for wine lovers is their day tour of Mudgee that includes two winery visits, a superb lunch at Guneemooroo Estate and a tasting at Mudgee Honey Haven.

AEA tours offer a little bit of luxury and really fantastic service. If you are staying in Mudgee, add this tour to your list of things to do.

Regional NSW Tours and Activities

The next group of suggestions is perfect for anyone heading away for their summer holidays.

While our regional areas have been busier lately than the city centres, some operators are still struggling with a lack of international visitors; these visitors consistently rate them highly, so isn’t it about time we locals found out what all the five-star ratings are about?

Blue Mountains Explorer Bus

Kids ride free on all Blue Mountains Explorer bus tours making this is an affordable day out for the family.

Check out our guide to making the best use of the HOHO bus while you are visiting the mountains.

Blue Mountains Picnics

Grab your special person and head to the Blue Mountains for a romantic picnic. This local company has discovered all the best spots and will make sure you can create special memories.

It’s a perfect way to propose too (just sayin)!

Blue Mountains Stargazing

Join Astrophysicist Dimitri, PhD and his partner Caroline for a fun and interactive 90-minute astronomy tour. These Leura locals will share their love and knowledge of the stars, skies, and the Blue Mountains.

The tour begins with a Jamison Valley sunset. It includes telescope viewing of the moon, planets, stars and deep space objects, naked-eye astronomy, constellation storytelling and hot chocolate, all with the sounds of Wentworth Falls in the background.

Country Food Trails, Orange

There is plenty of variety on offer at Country Food Trails. With everything from walking and heritage tours of Orange and Millthorpe to tours focusing on particular specialties like ale, wine and even saffron!

Nicole offers down-to-earth food and wine tours of Orange, helping you discover one of NSW’s best regions.

Wine Knot Tours

Shoalhaven-based, the team at Wine Knot has a range of food and beverage tours designed to show off the region’s best products.

If you have a holiday planned for Mollymook/Ulladulla or Jervis Bay, really consider adding one of their great days out to your visit.

I love a pun, so their aptly named “Let The Tour BEER-GIN” immediately appealed. This Distillery/ Brewery Tour between Mollymook and Jervis Bay is a fabulous day out and includes plenty to eat and drink, including lunch at Harvest Bar in Milton. The guides are passionate about the region and love what they do, ensuring you have a top day out.

Dolphin Watch Cruises

Jervis Bay is one of the best spots in NSW to see dolphins year-round and Dolphin Watch Cruises. They have a number of other options.

Find more great things to do in Sydney

• 33 Lookouts in the Blue Mountains
• An ABC of Gardens in Sydney
• The Best Day Trips from Sydney
• 21 of the Best Picnic Spots in Sydney

Have questions about things to see and do in Sydney?
Head over and join our Facebook Group and we will be happy to help.