We are going to Sydney

[daydream**believer]

Going on a holiday to Sydney in a a couple of months.

I grew up there but havent been back for 15 years.

Hubbys only been a couple of times and its the first visit for the kids.

Will be staying in Manly (where i grew up). I am so excited to see it all again.

We will be driving over but hoping to not need to use the car once we get there. Cant wait to take the kids on a ferry and visit The Opera House, Taronga Zoo, Darling Harbour, Power House Museum etc.

Anyone live in Sydney who can give me a bit of an idea about how much ferry trips cost? Are there passes you can buy for families that cover ferry and bus rides?

Have been to the website but its very confusing

[i-need-a-martini]

If you can walk to the ferry in Manly then all you will need are ferry tickets. Not cheap though. I think a return for adult to Manly is about $15.00.

If you are here on a Sunday you can buy this family pass thing which is really cheap - $2.50 per trip on any form of transport. But only good for Sundays.

If you are planning to do lots of different types of transport in one day there is a Multipass which gets you on all the different types of transport. But it is really expensive if you don't get full use of it.

Once you get off the wharf at Crircular Quay you can walk to everywhere in Sydney. The Powerhouse is the furthest but that is only a $10-15.00 cab trip.

So I thinik the only thing you really need is a ferry ticket. If you are staying a full week and plan to use the ferry every day then I suggest you get a weekly ferry ticket. Works out a little cheaper.

Hopefully I haven't confused you more.

[i-need-a-martini]

There is also a free bus from Circular Quay to Central (close to the Powerhouse) which is the number 555 bus. Not sure of the route or the schedule as I have never managed to catch it and usually give up and hop in a cab.

But if you can figure that out (I am sure there is info at Circular Quay Tourist Info Centre) then this might be worthwhile.

[i-need-a-martini]

One last thing - I just had a look on the website and realised that ferries had a Travel10 card. This is the way to go. You buy a ticket with 10 trips on it. The 10 trips can be taken any time. This will work out cheaper.

Everyone in the family will need to buy their own Travel10 ticket.

[daydream**believer]

Yep we are in easy walking distance from Manly ferry.

We will be arriving on a Monday and staying for a week and a half.

Im thinking we will need to make a few ferry trips.

Can we get a ferry from Manly to Taronga Zoo? or do we need to get to circular key first?

Hubby also wants to vist Fort Denison.

So our list of definite places to visit is:

The Opera House and Botanic Gardens

Power House Museum

Darling Harbour

Fort Denison

Taronga Zoo

Shelly Beach Manly

Sydney Bridge Pylon Lookout

[daydream**believer]

thanks so much Martini

I am so excited to go back and see where i grew up. Go and take the kids to the beaches i swam at as a kid (little Manly and Shelly Beach).

Hoping to go for a drive past mu old house and school as well

[i-need-a-martini]

No I don't think you can catch the Manly ferries to Taronga. I think the ferries might be too big for the docks. But ask at Many.

At Circlar Quay they will have Zoo and Ferry Passes that you can buy that work out cheaper. 

You can get to Fort Denison from Circular Quay. We went a couple of years ago and it was very expensive.

Another good island to see is Cockatoo Island. Old shipyards now open to the public. Kids will love it cause it has lots of old machinery and tunnels. Ferry from Circular Quay again.

[i-need-a-martini]

Two more things that might be worth doing is the Sydney to Bondi Hop on Hop off bus. A bit expensive but it is one of those open air double decker touristy buses. A bit cheesy but I took my daughter when she was 11 and she still talks about it. The buses come and go at all the stops every 15mins so enough time to stop for a quick look, have an icecream etc. We are going to do it again in Summer even though we are from Sydney!

The other thing we did last year for my sons 14th birthday was buy him a ticket on a jet boat ride in Sydney Harbour. I went on with him and thought 15mins was going to be lame but it seemed to go forever and it was such a blast. This is the one: http://www.thunderjetboat.com.au/

[icyfroth]

You'll be surprised at all the building going on, Amy, if you haven't been here for 15 years!

 Lots of buildings are being pulled down and new ones going up, a lot of buildings are being refurbished.

Sydney's skyline is dominated by large cranes.

I'm not sure about Manly haven't been there for ages.

[green.fields]

When we have gone to Sydney we have always bought the weekly multipass, yes, a bit expensive but we still found it the cheapest and best way to go, we used it on the ferries, buses and trains. We got our value from it. An adult day pass is now $23.00, that is a lot, the weekly zone 3 pass is $63.00