When we went: February 2023 

My favorite city. Literally in the world. I cried the day we had to leave. We were there for our friends’ wedding so we didn’t go too crazy with the touristy things, but here’s some stuff worth checking out!

What to do

The Bondi to Coogee Beach coastal walk

It’s stunning! It’ll take you a few hours and I recommend you wear sneakers. When you get to Coogee you can go to the pavilion for lunch. Then you can hang at the beach or Uber / bus back (the bus system is easy and reliable and it’s tap to pay so you don’t need a ticket). 

Bondi icebergs pool

It’s $9 to get in and worth checking out once – good views and a proper pool to swim in if you’re overwhelmed by the Bondi waves

Check out the city center

We went downtown once to see the Opera House & have some drinks at Opera Bar (outdoor, good post-work happy hour vibes, was def a mix of locals and tourists). Then we went to Mr. Wong for dinner which was shared plates, upscale Chinese, and so delicious. 

Other things to do downtown that we didn’t get to: walking over the bridge, doing a harbor tour or tour of the Opera House

Wine tasting in the Hunter Valley

I think this is the tour we did. It was a fun day (and I don’t even drink!). We had some kangaroo spottings too. 

Check out other beaches around Sydney

The northern beaches are calmer than Bondi and much easier to swim in and just a much more local vibe. There are nice coastal walks between a lot of them too. We went to Red Leaf (our friends’ local spot). Rose bay and camp cove are also supposed to be really nice. You can also go to the beaches that you pass on the Coogee walk. There are sooo many and a lot of them have a totally diff vibe.

Centennial Park

Just walk around – basically their version of Central Park

Explore Paddington by day

Such a cute neighborhood (side note our friends fav restaurant is Ursula’s, we didn’t get a chance to go but if you’re looking for a nicer dinner could be an option) 

And explore Newtown by night

Went for dinner here one night, funky vibes sort of like Williamsburg maybe? We didn’t go out late or anything but it did seem to have a cool bar scene

Where to eat

bondi eats 

Favorite places to work in Bondi:

• Bills
• Bobby’s Corner Bondi

Favorite Bondi cafes:

• The Depot
• Harry’s
• Speedos

Brown Sugar – came here for dinner one night and everything was delicious. Super veggie-forward.

restaurants outside bondi 

Mr. Wong’s – yummy nicer Chinese place downtown

Watson’s Bay Boutique hotel – we came to the outdoor bar for the day-after wedding celebrations and it was sooo fun. Such good vibes! 

Ursula’s – we didn’t have a chance to go here but it’s our friends’ favorite!

Paddington Alimentari – cute café to stop in for a coffee / snack while you’re walking around the neighborhood 

Where to stay 

BONDI! We stayed in this Airbnb and it was the perfect location, right across the street from the beach.