Wall St. Jour. on Sydney's "Buzzing City Center"!

[TLCOhio]

From the Wall Street Journal for this weekend, they have this headline: “A Traveler’s Walking Guide to Sydney’s Buzzing City Center" with this sub-headline: "Sydney’s Central Business District is no longer just a place for work meetings and conferences. It’s hopping with genre-bending restaurants, an absorbing art museum complex and happening hotels that await the wandering tourist, too.”

 

Here are some of their reporting highlights: “The area’s diversions—including a new museum, a bustling Chinatown and a rambling botanical garden—are all tucked into a compact, thoroughly walkable footprint.”

 

Is this summary and hype merited?

 

A number of options for what to see, where to stay, what to eat, etc., are detailed.  Also included was this colorful map graphic:

 

Here were some specifics detailed, including: "Art Gallery of NSW North Building: This new stand-alone annex—nicknamed the Sydney Modern—opened in 2022 as part of a $344 million expansion of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW). A swooping glass atrium in the entrance teases what’s inside. The expansion nearly doubles AGNSW’s exhibition space, and brings First Nations art front and center."

 

Full story at:

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/travelers-walking-guide-sydney-central-business-district-be399b88?mod=lifestyle_lead_story

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio   

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 247,027 views.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1896175-solstice-live-australianzhawaii-many-pix’s-jan-20-feb-3/

[MicCanberra]

Thanks Terry.

[sewgood]

I love to go to Abbey's bookshop in Sydney.

Lots of books there I don't find anywhere else in NSW's.

 

And the Royal Botanic Garden is great to fill in time before a cruise if you have dropped off your bags.

[paulvdb1]

Hi Terry

Is this summary and hype merited? - yes / no / depends

 

For the reasonably fit, the city is walkable from end to end. The light rail through the middle also helps. As a local I still enjoy day visits to Sydney and am still finding new things that have opened post-covid. It's a moderately tourist friendly city although prices for many things are tourist-gouging. 

 

The botanic gardens are absolutely worth a half day visit (plus old government house). The art galleries are worth a visit (but not the gallery at The Rocks). Chinatown is gradually shutting down as there's too much competition from Darling Quarter/Darling Harbour, which are worth visiting to eat at. Also worth a quick pop-in to the Museum of Sydney and the Australian Museum. 

 

If you have time you really want to do a ferry ride to Manly or Taronga Zoo - as both worth a visit. 

 

Note MANY of these items are free so don't book expensive tours to visit free stuff. Probably worth booking hop-on/hop-off bus tickets in Sydney. 

 

Some stuff in Sydney is generic for any city but I've seen stuff hyped in other cities that is less impressive. 

[TLCOhio]

Sydney hotels?  From Condé Nast Traveler magazine earlier this fall, they had this headline: “Top 10 Hotels in Australia and New Zealand: Readers’ Choice Awards 2023” with these highlights for Sydney's best: As number one, they had Fullerton Hotel Sydney.  At the three, four and five rankings for this region, they had The Langham, Sydney; Four Seasons Hotel Sydney and Park Hyatt Sydney.   

 

Ranked second best in the overall region and highest in New Zealand's largest city was the Park Hyatt Auckland.  Sixth overall and highest in the western Aussie area was COMO The Treasury in
Perth.

 

We stayed in 2014 at the Four Seasons Sydney and enjoyed its great location and classy aspects.  

 

Full story at:

https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/australia-new-zealand-top-hotels?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=cnt&utm_mailing=CNT_Daily_AM_122323&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&bxid=5db3f99524c17c23c34ecf3e&cndid=6657468&hasha=e1ca3019f9f535a4b98389997c63b892&hashb=7daf2541a0de702392cfe60ed513a5c2d1d23598&hashc=f541a9e649534cc2931bd57d58d8c2cac2bb8c5d298f722bad5b05cc8ad5ece2&esrc=IDCONDENAST_REGGATE&utm_term=CNT_Daily

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio   

 

Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 249,792 views.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1172051-livesilver-cloud-norway-coastfjords-july-1-16-reports/

[MicCanberra]

Cheers, merry Xmas and happy new year