Pyrmont to Bondi Junction: A Self-Guided Bus Tour
My favourite bus is the 389 because it wends its way past so many fine pubs, restaurants & street cafes on its way from the Quay to Bondi. Malcolm Turnbull, later Australian Prime Minister (@TurnbullMalcolm) August 21, 2015
Based on the former Prime Minister’s endorsement, I decided to ride the 389 end to end and see if it makes a good self-guided tour for visitors. I’ve taken this bus many times over the years, but until now, I’d never paid much attention to the journey.
Exploring Sydney by bus on the 389
Depending on traffic, the complete trip from Pyrmont to Bondi Junction takes around 30 to 35 minutes. The route starts outside the Maritime Museum at Pyrmont. The 389 terminates at Bondi Junction. From here, you can jump onto the 333 or the 380 down to the beach.
One of the big positives of using the 389 to explore the city is that it runs very regularly, about every ten minutes for most of the day, from around 5am until midnight. Jumping on and off won’t leave you stranded for long waiting for the next bus.
What you can see along the way
The 389 begins its journey from Pyrmont
First Stop – Darling Harbour – Maritime Museum – Pyrmont
This stop puts you right in the middle of the action at Darling Harbour. Along with the Maritime Museum, you can also visit the Star Casino, Pyrmont Park, Darling Harbour itself or jump on the light rail to connect to the Sydney Fish Market (below) and the inner suburb of Glebe.
Once you leave the museum, the bus heads around Pyrmont Point and past Pirrama Park, which has a BBQ area to cook up your lunch or a small cafe if you’d prefer someone else did the cooking. There’s also a good children’s playground.
This park is a favourite free spot for viewing the Sydney NYE fireworks. Once leaving the park, the bus heads back to the city via the western distributor.
Next – City – Town Hall Park Street
Get off here to visit Hyde Park, St Mary’s Cathedral, The War Memorial, The Australian Museum, or go shopping in Pitt St Mall.
From Town Hall, the bus travels up behind the Australian Museum and around to Stanley Street, Sydney’s first Little Italy. Get off here for good coffee, or a meal at Beppi’s, a long-running Italian restaurant.
Darlinghurst – St Vincent’s Hospital
This stop puts you in Darlinghurst, within walking distance of guidebook favourites Gelato Messina and Bill’s famous breakfasts. The area is also home to interesting bars, including Li’l Darlin, Darlo bar, and the 1920s inspired Eau-de-Vie in Darlinghurst Rd.
This is also the stop for the Sydney Jewish Museum
Paddington – The Five Ways
Paddington is one of the best-preserved of Sydney’s suburbs, with large tracts of early Victorian homes standing today. From here, the bus travels Glenmore Road to the Five Ways Paddington. Along this section of the route, you’ll pass rows of homes built in the early 1900s.
It’s also a good place to get off if you fancy some upmarket shopping, or brunch at Sonoma, which does good sandwiches and coffee.
Woollahra – Moncur Street & Queen Street
Queen Street is tree-lined, with well-kept homes, interesting shops, and a few good lunch options.
This shop must be among the most beautiful meat emporiums in the world; in fact, Anthony Bourdain was planning to include Victor Churchill in his new food market in New York.
For a quick bite, the Queen Street Deli has good picnic supplies to take with you.
Oxford St – Bondi Junction Shopping Centre & train
If you can resist shopping at Westfield Bondi, make your way to the Bondi Beach bus stops for the 333 or 380 services to the beach instead. Since this counts as a transfer, tapping on again gets you a $2 discount on the second fare.
Key Facts
Mr Turnbull had a point. Tap on with an Opal card or a contactless card and get to the stop. If you get off partway through and re-board within 60 minutes, it counts as one journey, so you’re only charged once for the total distance you travel.
Who: Foodies, second-time visitors to Sydney, who want to see a bit more than the main sites.
How much: Fares are distance-based, from $3.20 up to $5.05. Tapping with a contactless card costs exactly the same as using an Opal card.
When: Best on the weekend. Avoid peak hours as the traffic can be horrendous in the city.
Check out one of these other bus routes next:
- The 325 Watsons Bay to Walsh Bay, from the cliffs of Watsons Bay to the old wharves of Walsh Bay
- The 311- Exploring Eastside Sydney, from Barangaroo to Elizabeth Bay
Do you ever use public transport in Sydney? Do you have a favourite Sydney bus route to recommend?
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I love Bus 389, because it does take you to some of Sydney’s best places. We love the Four in Hand, and have skied with the owner in Nqzawa Onsen of all places.
The Four in Hand is great isn’t it.
Paula, thank you for sharing what can be explored on this bus route. As you have said there are great options to get around Sydney – I suggest that you should also do a ‘getting around Sydney by ferry series’.
What a great idea for a blog post series. D detests public transport but I love it. Can I come along next time you take a bus trip? If you intend to include ferries, the ferry to Parramatta would make an interesting blog.
I love the idea of hopping on a bus and exploring its route! Would love to try this out in Sydney, especially now that the weather is so nice!
I feel an overwhelming urge to jump on a plane to Sydney just so I can catch the 389 bus
This bus never come in time
I am sorry if you have experienced delays with the bus. At the moment there is a lot of road construction and this has really slowed traffic down. Hopefully things will improve better. Certainly better to do this outside peak hour.
Thank you for an informative and helpful “blog”-article. We will be visiting [from US] and like a more leisurely way to see a major city, then stop at sights that intrigue us. I particularly like seeing old buildings [often governmental] and churches so this bus ‘tour’ should be a good one. See you in December !
Glad you found it useful. If you like old buildings make sure you take a walk along Martin Place and poke your head into the grand buildings that line the pedestrian mall – Most are open to the public and some are rather beautiful.