My favourite way to shake off the cobwebs after a long flight is to take a walk in the sunshine and fresh air. The Royal Botanic Gardens hug the eastern shore of Sydney Harbour and make the perfect introduction to the city. This self-guided botanic gardens walk allows you to discover a small section of the city before you get to meet the main attractions.
This self-guided Botanic Gardens Walk is an excellent introduction to the city.
This is a great welcome to Sydney walk that is a perfect way to shake off the cobwebs after your long flight here. The walk allows you to approach the Opera House and Harbour via the Royal Botanic Gardens and is a breathtaking way to get your first glimpse of these icons. To do this route justice, you could take half a day and explore all the attractions on the way, but if time is tight, you could do it in an hour or two.
Step 1 – Let’s begin at Hyde Park
I like to start this walk at Hyde Park where you can see the famous Archibald Fountain and St Mary’s Cathedral before heading down Art Gallery Road past the Art Gallery of NSW to Mrs Macquarie’s Point. Hyde Park is named after Hyde Park in London and was the home of Australia’s first racecourse. At the southern end of the park is the War Memorial.
Step 2 – Art Gallery NSW
The Art Gallery is free and has an excellent collection of Australian Art – Check out Brett Whitley’s painting “Balcony” and John Olsen’s “5 Bells” my two personal favourites. There is also a very good collection of Aboriginal works.
Continue down Art Gallery road along the edge of the garden – but do not enter.
Step 3 – Andrew “Boy” Charlton Pool
On your right is the Boy Charlton Pool, a beautiful swimming pool that has recently been refurbished and is a great place for a swim in the city. There is also a cafe where you can grab a coffee and have a short rest. If you don’t feel like stopping, keep walking down the road until you reach the water.
Step 4 – Mrs Macquaries Point
At the end of the road is Mrs Macquarie’s point, the place where the image above was taken. There is a rock ledge in the shape of a chair here (look right on the point) which is actually where the wife of Governor Macquarie sat watching the ocean waiting for boats to arrive from England. It’s about a 15 min walk from the gallery to the point.
Step 5 – The Royal Botanic Gardens
After you have taken lots of photos head into the gardens and follow the sea wall around to the Opera House. If you have time to explore the gardens, my favourite spots are
The Cadi Jam Ora: First Encounters Garden – Signage here explains the way the land was used by indigenous Australians
The lily pond near the cafe – is a perfect place to relax with a drink and a sandwich, it’s also a good place for a spot of bird watching.
and my favourite sculpture is known as Mrs Macquarie’s Folly – where you can sit and stare out to sea just as she did.
and leave time to photograph all the gorgeous old trees!
So there you go – an easy, relatively flat walk that can take an hour or a day depending on how distracted you get along the way.
Have you visited Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden? Do you have a favourite spot?
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Hi,
Thank you so much for the guidance in planning my trip.
May I know if Mrs Macquaries’ Chair is accessible by wheelchair?
Thanks
St Mary’s will only take you about 15 minutes unless you plan to do a tour of the crypt. Allow about 60 minutes for the park.
Hi YC I would say 2.5 hours would be a good time to cover that ground and have a coffee. There are free tours every day that you might like to consider – they are really well done and cover everything you mention except Mrs Macquarie’s Chair which you could visit before or after.
Hi,
For the visit to Royal Botanic Garden, we plan to visit the attractions like Calyx, Rose Pavilion, the cafes, Mrs Macquaries’ Chair, Macquarie’s folly, Latitude 23, Succulent garden, etc
May we know how much time you would recommend for us to allocate for Royal Botanic Garden?
Thanks
Hi,
If we just visit Hyde Park (Archibald Fountain, Nagoya Garden, Anzac Memorial, Visitor Centre, Sadringham Gardens) and St Mary’s Cathedral.
May I know how much time you would recommend for us to allocate for Hyde Park?
May I know how much time you would recommend for us to allocate for St Mary’s Cathedral?
Thanks
Hi Elena it’s a pretty awful 5 hour flight from Perth but well worth it if you have the time 🙂
The pool is pretty hidden away but it is a lovely spot for a swim and they even sell good coffee 🙂
We started our visit to Sydney in the botanical park as we were staying close to it. The only thing we didn’t see was the pool. That’s a great spot for a swim.
In the past I checked some of your articles just our of curiosity: never been to Australia yet, so everything I read was unknown and interesting. Unexpectedly, it seems that a trip Down Under might happen sooner than I thought (fingers crossed, by the end of this year!). It looks like we will be based in Perth, but who can miss an opportunity to explore as many places as possible. Hopefully, I’ll be able to use your guides to full potential. I wouldn’t miss a chance to compare Hyde Parks or visit the Botanical Garden.
That’s great Alyssa. Please feel free to send me any questions you might have. Also check out Sydney Greeters for a free tour with a local when you arrive. There are more than 50 volunteer greeters who show visitors a little piece of Sydney while they are here. It’s a fantastic service and a great way to get some insider knowledge on the city.
Perfect timing, I’m heading to Australia the end of March and Sydney is one of the cities I will be visiting for the first time. Saving this post and checking out more of your others now 🙂
I hope you do Sam. A few hours spent in these gardens is a great way to explore Sydney.
a great original post about Sydney, i have unfortunately never visited Australia but I plan to one day and will add the royal botanic gardens as a place to visit on my list.
I have walked through the park to get to the Art Gallery but never really taken the time to fully explore the area. Maybe I should give it some more time when I visit Sydney next.