Private Sydney Discovery Tour

We’ll begin our tour with a drive through Sydney’s oldest neighbourhood – The Rocks, where we’ll share a bit of Australian history with you, and point out some of the great pubs and restaurants in the area. We’ll stop for our first postcard view of the Opera House, harbour, and bridge.

We'll cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge to overlook the city from the northern side. Here is a panoramic view of the city including the Bridge the Sydney Opera House.

If there are other areas of central Sydney you are interested in getting acquainted with – such as Barangaroo, King Street Wharf, Chinatown, or the main shopping area – we can share those with you now, or on our return at the end of the day. We’ll roll up Macquarie Street past some of Sydney’s monumental 19th century buildings and on to our second postcard view – this time from Mrs Macquarie’s chair. We pass St Mary’s Cathedral – the seat of the Sydney Catholic diocese – and Hyde Park before heading east. We can stop for you to visit the Cathedral, if you’d like.

The Eastern Suburbs – The Drive to Bondi Beach In Paddington we’ll introduce you to one of Sydney’s loveliest residential neighbourhoods. Here the narrow streets are lined with immaculately maintained Victorian terrace houses replete with wrought iron lacework reminiscent of New Orleans. In the commercial areas, we’ll point out the charming pubs and cafes intermixed with high-end clothing boutiques and art galleries. The Paddington Markets are a mainstay of the community. If you are with us for a longer tour on a Saturday, we can pop in and have a look at the stalls selling clothes, crafts, and food. Or we’d be happy to drop you here at the end of the tour if we begin early enough. We’ll do a half-loop through Sydney’s sprawling, green oasis – Centennial Park – as we head for the beach suburbs of Bronte, Tamarama, and Bondi.

Bondi Beach Coastal Walk, Surf and Restaurants If you’d like to experience the famous Bondi Coastal Walk – we can drop you off in Tamarama to walk the 20 minutes or so to Bondi Beach. You’ll follow a footpath along the clifftops, taking in breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean. Otherwise we’ll park at Bondi and have time for a stroll along the esplanade, perhaps a quick dip in the ocean, and, on a longer tour – Bondi offers a wealth of lunch options.

Watsons Bay Lunch, ride back with us or the ferry We’ll drive though Dover Heights – stopping for a spectacular view of the city and harbour. We can take in the sparkling seas and sandstone cliffs of Diamond Bay, visit The Gap in Watson’s Bay, and enjoy a stroll around South Head for views of the full expanse of Sydney Harbour and across to Manly. Watson’s Bay also offers some excellent lunch options – notably Doyle’s Seafood Restaurant (for a proper sit-down meal) or their fish and chip take away, had as a picnic in Robertson Park. If you’d like to return to the city on the ferry from here, we can walk you to the wharf and help sort out your ticket. It’s a beautiful ride, stopping at Rose Bay, and delivering you to Circular Quay.

If you stick with us for your return, we’ll drive through leafy Vaucluse, passing some of the grand private schools of Australia. On a longer tour, we can pop into Vaucluse House and gardens – one of the last remaining 19th century mansions with intact grounds – now a museum. We pass Rose Bay – full of yachts bobbing at their moorings. Keep an eye out here for sea planes coming and going – their depot is here.

Lastly, we’ll have a look at Kings Cross and Woolloomooloo – Sydney’s one-time red-light district and a home to the Australian Navy. At the end of your day, we can return you to your hotel or any other Sydney location you’d prefer.