• Main
• Attractions
• Hotels
• Restaurants
• When To Go
• Getting There

Getting There

Sydney really is far Down Under in the Southern Hemisphere, 14 hours ahead of New York and 17 hours ahead of Los Angeles. While there are several daily direct flights from Los Angeles (East Coast and Midwest getaways usually connect in Los Angeles), offered by all major airlines, the flight is a long – and pricey – 14 hours (20 from New York). The best deals can usually be found on Qantas and Air New Zealand. You’ll get the best rates in North American summer (when it’s winter Down Under). Check current deals or, if you know your dates already, plug them into QuickSearch to find the best prices.

Note that all visitors need a tourist visa to enter Australia; Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) visas, valid for multiple entries over one year, can be obtained online, from the Australian Government website, for $20.

Package Providers
For the best bargain city breaks in Sydney, we recommend Go-Today, United Vacations, and Pacific Delight World Tours. Globus and Abercrombie & Kent are the best purveyors of escorted luxury vacations to Australia.

Getting Into & Around Sydney
You’ll fly into Sydney Airport, 7 miles southeast of the city. The airport has excellent connections to the city center, the best and fastest of which is the AirPortLink train (a 13-minute ride every 10 minutes from the domestic terminal; $11 one-way, plus $4 for transfers between terminals). The cheaper but slower option is the Sydney Airporter which offers door-to-door service ($9 one-way, $14 round-trip, with $4 for transfer between terminals; every 15 minutes). A 30-minute taxi ride to the city center will cost you around $27.

As for getting around Sydney, it’s quite a breeze with the city’s sophisticated public transportation system that includes buses, ferries and the suburban CityRail as well as two privately run transport options – the Metro Light Rail (from the city to Inner West; and the elevated Monorail that does a six-station loop around the CBD and to Chinatown and Darling Harbour. An excellent buy is a DayTripper pass that allows unlimited travel on all buses, ferries and suburban CityRail services for $15/day; a BusTripper (for buses only) is cheaper, at $10.90.

Once you arrive, we recommend stopping by one of the two centrally located offices of the Sydney Visitor Centre (daily 9.30am–5.30pm; 106 George St., The Rocks; 33 Wheat Rd., Darling Harbour) for any additional tourist information. We also suggest a visit to one of the branches of the Sydney Australian Travel Specialists (Alfred Street and Jetty 6 in Circular Quay and the Harbourside Shopping Centre) who serve as the main booking agent for all tours and cruises in Sydney.