Sydney. Australia

[MinervaMcGonagallsCat]

Looking for some advice.

Travelling solo for work event but will have several personal days

I can fly premium economy and have lounge access in most airports.

Am I better to book a direct flight with a 1-1.5 hour stop or2 flights with a 4 hour stopover?

Any other flying tips?

What are your top recommendations for things to do in and near Sydney?

Thanks

It's a bloody long way. We had a 4 hour stop off in Singapore. It wasn't enough. I'd recommend an overnight stop somewhere.

Personally I prefer to push through and get there as soon as possible - not sure that the transfer has been as tight as an hour, but there’s no point in waiting in a lounge for hours if you could be on the plane getting to your destination.

Personally, I’d do a four hour stop, if nothing else it gives you a chance to walk about a bit and properly stretch your legs but get a through ticket so that you don’t have to collect and re-check your bags.

You don’t say how many personal days you have and what you like doing but The Blue Mountains are stunning, it’s around two hours by train from Central station in Sydney. If you like a bit of a walk, do the Coogee to Bondi walk, it’s about 5/6kms, coastal walk or you can do it in reverse.

Watsons Bay is lovely as is Manly, go on the ferry from circular quay and maybe the bus back, public transport is great, cheap and very reliable and frequent.

Some people might suggest climbing the Harbour bridge, that’s expensive but if it’s your thin, go for it, failing that, walk across the bridge itself or climb the pylon, which is on the bridge but cheaper than climbing to the top.

The botanical gardens are really good too.

Sydney is easy to walk around as it’s quite compact and not hilly.

I prefer to a shorter stop over. It's a waste of my time sitting in an airport mid way. Just get me there already!

It'll be hell whichever you decide, sorry I'd probably go with shorter stop over and just push through.

The walk around the Opera House and Botanical Gardens.
Paddington - beautiful old (by Sydney standards) houses, nice shopping and cafes. See also Glebe and Balmain.
A trip on the harbour on a sunny day - the Manly Ferry is great but there are lots of harbour tours.
For beaches, Manly, or hop on a train and go to Cronulla, the walk around the Esplanade is lovely, and lots of nice cafes/restaurants in Cronulla too. Not Bondi, it's a hole.
Fish markets - have a wander round and buy your lunch there.
Further afield, as PP, the Blue Mountains are stunning - you can do it by public transport but the best and quietest places are harder to reach without a car, Evans Lookout, Hargreaves Lookout.
Royal National Park for a bush/rainforest walk and a picnic at Audley.

Just came back from Sidney - flew Emirates with shortish stop over in Dubai. Great trip, worth the hours of plane.
Go to Manly and the Blue Mountains....zoo is beautiful too

I forgot about the zoo, it’s really lovely and has some stunning views looking out towards the city.

Balmain is lovely too as a pp said. We did a wine tour out to the Hunter Valley on one of our trips, it was a guided trip and a long day but well worth it.

You can get boat trips from the harbour or circular quay that do lunch, afternoon tea, dinner etc, they’re not brilliant value in my opinion but a nice way to see the harbour and surroundings.

With lounge access, I prefer the 4 hour stop. Time to have a shower in the lounge, a snack and stretch your legs a bit.

I've also done the 1.5 hour stop 'direct' flight (presume you mean the BA flight via Singapore) and it's a bit of a rush to get showered and back on the plane.

For me personally, having a shower and stretching my legs on a short stop makes a huge difference to how I feel when I arrive in Sydney.

I hate plane food so I usually prefer the longer stopover which allows time to have a decent meal and stretch my legs properly.

My worst trip ever was the ‘direct flight’ from London to Auckland via LA. Spent most of the 2 hr gap queuing for a US immigration stamp only to be confined to a single room that was way too small for the number of passengers and barely had a vending machine available for food. I assume it’s not so bad doing this type of flight in non-US airports.

Thank you these suggestions are great. I like to do a lot of planning before booking so this is very helpful

We found Cockatoo Island interesting if you like a bit of history.

Or it might have been Fort Dennison.

I've also done the 1.5 hour stop 'direct' flight (presume you mean the BA flight via Singapore) and it's a bit of a rush to get showered and back on the plane.

True and it’s worth bearing in mind for that one that the advertised 1.5 hour transit on that service is based on the inbound flight being on time.

If the flight is late inbound the transit gets reduced to ensure an on time departure on the next leg.

I was involved with a few of those over the years and sometimes there was only enough time for passengers to disembark (and that was mandatory, not sure if it still is), then get a quick leg stretch and then back through security into the gate lounge.

OTOH the upside of that BA service is there’s no danger of missing the connection in Singapore, and it is probably one of the quickest ways of getting between London and Sydney or vice versa in terms of elapsed time.

I think if you’re only going to do a 1.5 hour stopover, depending on the airport & what lounge access you get, it could end up being a bit rushed in terms of a shower as there may be a wait for one & then it might end up being a rush to get to the departure gate.

Personally, I’d do a 4 hour stopover as it’s likely to be much more relaxed.