Take a deep dive into an underwater world, shop for vintage treasures in hip inner-city suburbs, or strap on a jet pack and take flight. Life’s never dull for teens in the harbour city.
See Sydney by bike
Bonza Bike Tours’ Sydney Highlights ride allows you to whizz past all the best bits of the city including the Opera House, Darling Harbour, Hyde Park and Mrs Macquarie’s Chair (top tip: this is the best spot in town for a selfie with the Opera House and Bridge in the background).
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The Art Gallery of New South Wales includes works by iconic Sydney artists including Brett Whiteley and John Olsen.
See the best bits of the city by bike. (Image: Destination NSW)
Dive into (and jet over) Sydney’s Underwater World
Take a deep dive into Sydney’s magical marine world with a 90-minute underwater scooter tour of Gordons Bay (if you’re over 16 there’s no adult required), wondering at fish of all shapes and sizes. Alternatively, get a bird’s eye view of the Nepean River at Penrith with a water-powered jet pack strapped to your back with Jetpack Adventures.
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Lakeside Restaurant at Sydney International Regatta Centre for brunch.
Learn to surf on Sydney’s famous beaches
Jump on a ferry bound for Manly to learn how to surf at one of Sydney’s most famous beaches. Manly Surf School has classes every day of the week, with group lessons or one-on-one sessions for those dreaming of taking on the pros at Bells Beach in the future. Let’s Go Surfing conducts surf lessons on Sydney’s other iconic beach, Bondi.
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Manly Art Gallery & Museum, right on the water, has an interesting permanent collection and visiting exhibitions.
Learn how to surf at one of Sydney’s most famous beaches. (Image: Destination NSW)
Refuel with fish and chips after your surfing lesson. (Image: Destination NSW)
Neighbourhood hop through Sydney
The inner-city suburbs of Newtown, Chippendale and Enmore are perfect spots to commune with the locals (they’re all near Sydney University and UTS so the demographic is studenty and cool) and do a spot of shopping at places like Repressed Records and the various vintage clothing shops along King Street. Head to Black Star Pastry and order a slice of its famous watermelon cake.
The inner-city suburbs of Sydney are full of great shopping haunts. (Image: Destination NSW)
Repressed Records is an inner-city gem worth exploring. (Image: Destination NSW)
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Continental Deli, Bar & Bistro on Australia Street does charcuterie and cheese, and cocktails in a can.
Street art in Newtown. (Image: Destination NSW)
Get a grip on (virtual) reality
Combining the thrills of an escape room with a serious 3D cinematic experience, the immersive adventures on over at Virtual Room Sydney are played by two to four players, with each secreted away in their own dedicated room but still able to talk, interact and collaborate virtually to solve puzzles and challenges.
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Suggest lunch at the historic Strand Arcade across George Street, or they can walk 10 minutes to The Galeries for coffee and cake at The Grounds of the City.
Make time to shop up a storm
The best thing about shopping in Sydney is that there are just so many options. In the city hit up The Galeries for fashion and books at Kinokuniya, the QVB and Pitt Street Mall. Paddington has a cool village atmosphere, and the labyrinthine Westfield Bondi Junction has every shop you are ever likely to want to look at.
The Strand Arcade is a shopping mecca in Sydney. (Image: Destination NSW)
Scour through Sydney’s best markets
Sydneysiders like nothing more than poking around a local market on a sunny weekend. Forget the food markets that your parents would be interested in and instead head to Glebe Markets, held in the grounds of the local primary school every Saturday. The roster of stalls sells everything from hand-made candles to sunglasses to jewellery to plants, but it is the super-cheap vintage and second-hand fashion that most people flock here for. The food stalls are also great; grab a smoothie bowl and a fresh juice and head to the grassy playground area to listen to live music.
Peruse the Glebe Markets. (Image: James Horan/Destination NSW)
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Central Park, anchored by architect Jean Nouvel’s award-winning One Central Park, with its cascading vertical gardens covering the building, has great food options including an outlet of Ippudo for ramen. Then they can head over to White Rabbit Gallery to browse the extensive collection of Chinese modern art.
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