Sydney Cheap and Free
See also:
Sydney for families
Sydney culture
back to: Sydney highlights
Free Sydney
Outdoor concerts
Free performances by Opera Australia and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as part of the Sydney Festival every January. Tel: 9265 0444 for details.
Martin Place Amphitheatre
Every weekday from 12.30, the amphitheatre hosts free lunchtime concerts presenting music from all corners of the world, from police bands to string quartets to rock 'n' roll. Tel: 9265 9367.
Free art
One of Australia's finest collections is free to enter: the Art Gallery of New South Wales (open daily; tel: 9225 1744; http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au), in The Domain. The museum also offers free guided tours two or three times a day; though there is an admission charge for some special exhibitions.
State buildings
Admission is free to some of Sydney's historic administrative centres, including Government House (open Fri-Sat 10am-3pm; grounds open daily; tel: 9931 5200), Parliament House and the Mint. When the NSW parliament is not sitting, there are free tours of Parliament House.
Sydney Opera House
It costs nothing to wander round the outside of Australia's most famous building and marvel at its extraordinary architecture. And it's free to enter some of the public spaces inside, although to visit some areas you need to join a guided tour (open daily; tel: 9250 7870; fee for tours).
Sydney Observatory
Free admission during the day to this historic observatory, with guided tours and daylight celestial viewing through the telescopes. To view the stars at night, you must book and pay an entrance fee (tel: 9217 0485).
Sydney money-saving tips
Cheap travel
There are a range of day tickets and passes to cut the cost of transport. TravelPass allows unlimited seven-day travel on buses, trams and ferries. TravelTen gives you 10 bus or ferry rides for nearly half the cost of individual tickets.
Best value of all, a SydneyPass offers unlimited hop-on, hop-off travel on all Sydney buses and ferries, plus the Sydney Explorer and Bondi Explorer, Harboursights Cruises and return transfers on AirportLink trains.
HalfTix
For theatre, concerts, sport and other events, HalfTix offers unsold tickets cheaply - often half price - on the day of performance. You have a better chance of bargains on quieter nights (usually earlier in the week). Some theatre companies also sell unsold tickets cheap a half-hour before the performance starts, direct from the venue.
Online booking agencies:
Ticketek
Ticketmaster
Halftix
BYO in Sydney
Many Sydney restaurants are not licensed to sell alcohol, but are happy for you to bring your own (advertised as BYO), for which they add a small corkage charge. This not only allows wine buffs to drink exactly what they want with their meal, but also seriously reduces the cost of dining out.
Duty-free shopping in Sydney
As well as the usual duty-free outlets at the airport, visitors to Sydney can buy goods tax and duty free at certain shops in the city centre. The DFS Galleria store in The Rocks (55 George Street) claims to be the largest duty and tax free store in the southern hemisphere, stocking international fashion, cosmetics, electronics, watches, jewellery, Australian wines and international liquor.
Syndey's direct factory outlets
Buy upmarket goods at warehouse prices at the DFO shopping complex in Homebush, the clearance centre for over 100 designer shops, selling their wares at up to 70 percent off normal retail prices. (open daily, 10am-6pm; tel: 9748 9800).