Sydney - Australia
General | History | Eating Out | Resort Facts | Travel Planning | Photo Gallery
|
Experience Cultural Sydney |
Duration: Half Day
Visit the museums or take an historical walking tour located in the heart of inner Sydney offering you displays and exhibitions encompassing Australian art, culture, heritage, indigenous, natural and maritime history, and colonial architecture.
Short of time? We've picked the best places to visit within Sydney and New South Wales within a half day.
Sydney has a great range of quality experiences of Australia's arts, culture and heritage. Many will only take half a day of your time.
|
Itinerary: Art Gallery of New South Wales |
From Macquarie Street, walk to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery Road, The Domain. This gallery houses some of the finest works of art in the country, including a special presentation of Aboriginal art in Yiribana, devoted to art works of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Linger amidst this cultural atmosphere in the gallery café or across the road in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Walk through the Gardens to Lady Macquaries Chair and around the foreshore to the Sydney Opera House.
Hyde Park Barracks Museum
Walk through Hyde Park from the Museum. The Barracks is situated on Queens Square, Macquarie Street and were built by Governor Macquarie and convict architect Francis Greenway in 1819 to house male convicts. The Barracks now houses a museum with galleries detailing the work of Francis Greenway and the history of the Barracks, and an excellent café. Specialised tours involving a night spent in the convict hammocks are also available.
Australian Museum
Step into Australia's most remarkable natural history museum. Since the 19th century this museum has collected and documented much of the natural history of Australia. A large area is devoted to anthropology of the Aboriginal people alongside the social issue of achieving equal status. The museum also has a café and well supplied book and gift shop. Look out for the special exhibitions including indigenous Australians, Biodiversity: life supporting life exploring the rich variety of plants, animals and our ecosystems, Chapman Mineral collection: 850 mineral specimens collected by an Australian cabinet maker with an international reputation as a great mineralogist.
State Library of New South Wales
Houses a massive collection of early Australian history and has regular exhibitions which capture the spirit of Australian life. A stimulating program events and activities is also available.
Museum of Sydney
Opened in 1995 on the site of the first Government House. Innovative contemporary museum exploring Sydney's history and life. Its focus gallery has changing exhibitions of arts works exploring place, identity, culture and communication.
Royal Botanic Gardens
The Royal Botanic Gardens are located on the foreshores of Sydney Harbour on the site of Sydney's first farm and cover more than 30 hectares. Highlights include the Tropical Centre, an exceptional Palm Grove and the Rose Garden.
A range of tours are offered, including self guided. On your walk make sure you see the Wollemi Pine - described as a living dinosaur. It is one of the world's rarest plants and has been called the botanical find of the century. The first Wollemi Plant ever planted in the ground can be seen dramatically displayed within a protective cage in the Sydney Gardens.
Also don't miss the new Cadi Jam Ora - First Encounters garden display which captures the essence of the first three years off contact (1799-91) between British colonists and Australia's Aboriginal inhabitants. The land occupied by the Gardens was the first frontier between Aboringinal and European societies leading ultimately to the tragic decimation and displacement of the local Cadigal people. This display interprets Aboriginal people's prior use of the site and their understanding of plants in the environment.
Customs House
Customs House at Circular Quay dates from 1840 with additions continuing through until 1999. On the third floor the Object Galleries has Australia's largest exhibition of craft and design. On the fourth floor the City Exhibition Space provides views of the city, past and present, and its most important architecture including a meticulous (1:500 scale) model of the entire city.
Powerhouse
At Sydney's largest museum you can see only a small fraction of the total collection of 380 000 items which the Powerhouse has acquired over the last 120 years. However, the gems are always on display, including some of the oldest steam engines in the world, a model of the Strasbourg cathedral clock and displays of aircraft, satellites and space suits. There are displays on Aboriginal culture, musical instruments, the golden years of cinema, clothing and fashion, specialist exhibitions, plus weekend internet access, a restaurant, a café and a shop.
Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour
From the first inhabitants to the First Fleet and onto the present, Australia has always had strong maritime links. The Maritime Museum explores these historical and social themes in a building designed to resemble the sails of a ship. You can see Australia II, the yacht that ended America's 132-year dominance of the America's Cup, and tour the larger objects in the museum's collection, such as HMAS Vampire, the last of the Australian navy's big gun destroyers, and the Cape Bowling Green Lighthouse.
The Rocks Heritage Precinct
The site of the first European settlement in Australia. Located near Circular Quay, The Rocks in its earliest days housed convicts. Now it is the site of museums, galleries, hotels, the Sydney Observatory, historic pubs, heritage warehouses, shops and restaurants.
The best way to see The Rocks is on foot. Take a walk through the quiet lanes and old courtyards and catch glimpses of the past at almost every turn. Visit an archaeological dig or join a guided walking tour. From here you can access Cumberland Street leading you to the Harbour Bridge.
Hogarth Galleries
This gallery is located in Paddington and during the Olympic period will be showcasing State of My Country a comprehensive survey of contemporary Aboriginal art designed to show the diversity and strength of work being produced by Aboriginal artists today.
(Copyright New South Wales Toursim)
For details and prices of these trips and many other possibilities please call our reservations team on 0845 458 2868 for further details.
|
