Sydney is a place with beautiful beaches and stunning buildings such as the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. I will show my list with things to do under 50 euro or free.
Omg! I still can’t believe it I’ve been in Sydney. After 10 months of saving and living on a low budget, I finally visited Sydney. It wasn’t easy but I’m glad I did it, it was amazing to see a piece of Australia.
General information
Clime – The best time to visit Sydney is from December to March, their summertime but you will have to face tons of tourists. We visited in April and it was a bit chilly, we couldn’t do the beach but it was less crowded.
Transport – You have to buy an Opal card and put money on it using the ticket machines from the station or from 7 eleven shops. A trip from the airport to the city center is 8 euro. The bus trip in the city is 2 – 4 euro depending on the distance.
Tip! Take care with the amount you want to charge the card. The card is indeed refundable but only if you have an Australian bank account.
SIM card – Amasym is the cheapest sim card and you can buy it at the airport. 10 days with 15GB costs 26 Euro.
We all know, Sydney is not a cheap city, there are tons of restaurants with delicious food and you can easily blow your budget. So these are my things to do under 50 euro.
1 Bondi beach – This beach took my breath away because of the stunning views. It’s one of my favorite together with Fuerteventura and Elafonisos beach. You have walking paths all around the beach and you can see the ocean how huge it is! I woke up at 6 am to see the sunrise and it was incredible to see how the sun is rising over the ocean. During the summer is very crowded but in the autumn, it was beautiful. I could have the entire beach all to myself. My boyfriend did surfing, 40 euro to rent the surfboard.
I love to be a child again. Bondi beach – after the rain. Beautiful Love to see the ocean.
Bondi area is full of pubs and cute coffee shops. I’m sure in summer, all the places are full of tourists. Unfortunately, in April everything was closed at 10 PM so you have to eat early if you want to stay in Bondi. Luckily, we discovered the Neighborhood bar and they had some sandwiches and we didn’t starve on our first night. I liked the cozy atmosphere, the 80-90 music and their specialties of beer. The cost for two sandwiches and 2 beers, 48 euro.
Bondi beach just becomes one of my favorite beaches together with Fuerteventura and Elafonisos beach.
These house rules are awesome -:)
For a good coffee and a special cake with lemon and chia try Joy and the Juice. Just perfect after a morning run, only 7 euro.
2 The Circular Quay – is incredible, you can see the Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and the sky scrapers, all for free!
There are multiple places to eat but the prices are a bit high, a starter was over 7 euro.
Perfect spot to see Sydney’s Opera House beauty!
Head out to The Rocks neighborhood near the Art Museum. There are some cute old buildings and great food. There is a museum only about the Rocks area and the entrance is free. I heard their market is nice.
Fine Food store is a place where the locals hang out for over 10 years, especially for lunch. They pride themselves on the highest standard in coffee. Their menu is based on wraps and sandwiches with different sauces. I tried their chicken smoked sandwich with avocado and mayo sauce. My boyfriend tried lamb quesadilla. Both of them were good, perfect for a long day. I was amazed by their coffee, it was strong but flavored. Total cost 21 euro.
3 Royal Botanical gardens – is right near the Sydney Opera House and the best part, the entrance is free. I felt like I was outside of the city, that so quiet it was. You can find lots of different plants from Australia but also from Caribbean islands, Portugal and you can also hear the birds even though you’re so close to the street. It’s a great place to relax or have lunch and seeing the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.
4 Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair – is in section E of the Royal Botanical Gardens. The most spectacular sunset with Sydney Opera House and Sydney Bridge is right from there. Make sure you come early for a perfect shot because there are a lot of people there at the sunset.
5 Darling Harbor is my favorite place, especially during the evening. The view is spectacular with all the skyscrapers illuminated and the restaurants and pubs near the water. Just love it. Is great for an evening walk and take dinner.
Each Saturday at 8.30 Pm, there is a fire work! It’s like New Year’s eve every-time but much cheaper :-).
We were craving for a steak house and we found Hunter& Barrel – near Darling Harbour. It’s a very nice restaurant and the decor is made of different types of wood and barrels. The customer service was great, even the owner asked us how do are we feeling. I ordered ribs stake and my partner Uyagu beef. Both of them were delicious, the meat was peeling off the bone and the barbeque sauce completed the dish perfectly. The Uyagu beef was so tender and soft, I wished I ordered it. Cost 66 euro.
The ribs were perfect.
6 Climbing the Harbour Bridge – it’s free from the Observatory Hill. The view is amazing with the Sydney Opera House and the ocean.
7 Chinatown – I’m not a fan of Chinese food but if you are, you have to go! For sure you will be amazed by how many restaurants you can find.
The Emperor’s puff, a Chinese pastry filled with vanilla custard it’s a must in Sydney. It’s delicious, you feel the dough melting in your mouth. Must try it! 50 euro cents for 3 pieces! We ate every day.
8 Manly beach – Take the ferry, 5 euro per ticket – it’s a little town with shops and restaurants. We took the ferry just 30 min before sunset and it was amazing. I heard the sunrise is beautiful here! The beach is wider than Bondi beach with yellow sand and also very good for surfing. I liked in the evening there were people having dinner on the beach or waking with the children.
9 Blue Mountains – You have to do it, it’s like 2 hours drive from Sydney. You can book a tour of the hotel/hostel, it was 150 euro for 2 people plus lunch. Let me say this was an amazing experience.
First, we visited a zoo, Featherdale Wildlife Park and we could feed the kangaroos and took pictures with koala bears😍! This was the highlight of the trip.
Then, we head out to Lincoln’s Rock – the views are spectacular and you can see the Blue Mountains and the Three Sisters cliffs.
The final stop was the Blue Mountain Park, a national park of 10000 km and you can hike, climb, mountain bike or just walk. There are multiple walks and you can see the Three Sisters cliffs closer, the waterfall or the tropical rain forest. It was a 2 hours walk through the park but it was incredibly beautiful. I couldn’t get enough of the Blue Mountains and the cliffs. I like the park has multiple pathways and you can see all the objectives with minimum effort. Of course, the most spectacular view is from the top but the train didn’t work.
10 We finished our trip with dinner at Nomad bar in Surry Hills – it’s a restaurant in a converted warehouse. They have even a sewing machine. This place is one of the best from Sydney with over 900 reviews and we had to try it to see what is about.
I travel with my boyfriend and we try to not spend so much money but sometimes we like to indulge ourselves with a delicious meal at a very nice restaurant.
We began our journey with zucchini flowers with honey, truffle oil, and pecorino. It was delicious, the pecorino cheese combined with honey and truffles. Omg, my taste buds were in heaven.
Zucchini flowers for the first time.
We continued with Wagyu Tongue. It takes 1 week to prepare the tongue, marinated and then smoked. The dish is spicy as hell but it worth it! You can feel how tender is the tongue, practically it melts in your mouth. And the chili oil is a great combination. We ordered smoked mushrooms and bone marrow empanada – it’s like a pie with a mushroom filling and grilled. It was good but doesn’t compare with the other two dishes.
We finished our dinner with Bbq lamb rump with roast sugarloaf cabbage. The roasted cabbage with the gouda sauce makes a very good combination, sour and sweet. And the lamb was tender.
The Nomad bar is an expensive one but the good news is that you can order 3 small plates and share it with a friend. Cost – 124 euro
In conclusion, Sydney has a lot to offer. Cute streets with the old building like The Rocks or luxurious shops like the ones from Pitt street for example. Or cheap markets where you can buy souvenirs or gifts with 7 euro like Paddy’s markets.
For me, Sydney is the place where I could feed the kangaroos, it’s a fantastic experience. And, I love you have a lot of things to do under 50 euro. In this way, you could enjoy Sydney and not spending a lot of money. It was amazing, I liked the Botanical Gardens, Bondi Beach, the free art galleries and the fact you could order one dish and share with your friend.
This is my story about Sydney and my list with things to do under 50 euro. Let me know what is your list.
