Here I will talk about the first of three times that I have traveled to Sydney. This first time, we wanted to do everything while saving money where we could. Sounds good, right? Right! Here's what I did, where I stayed, how I ate, and how much money I spent while there.
If you would like to learn about other, more expensive activities I did in Sydney such as skydiving or spending a couple days in the Blue Mountains, you can see my article on luxury travel in Sydney here. You should also check out my backpacking trip itinerary and must-dos on the east coast of Australia.
So, the first time I went to Sydney we spent a total of around $395 USD over five days. That's about $79/day for accommodation, food, drinks, and activities. **Make sure if you stay at a hostel you check out the discounts they have for various attractions in the area.
On the day we arrived we got on the train from the airport and checked into our hostel (Maze Backpackers). After settling in we explored a bit around the hostel and got groceries in order to save money on food. Things like pasta, cereal, eggs, and sandwich fixings were great. We even brought some sandwiches and snacks to the zoo.
Our first full day there we walked to Circular Quay and walked around to find all different sorts of angles to view the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the opera house from. We walked around the shopping part of town and over to Darling Harbour. In Darling Harbour we went to Sea Life Sydney to see some platypus, dugongs, and other sea life. Sydney is known for its milkshakes so we also went and got a milkshake.
Our second day we woke up really early and got on a Hunter Valley Wine Tour (HIGHLY RECOMMEND - it's worth the money). Since this was on a Tuesday, when we got back we headed over to the Soda Factory, a really cool, cheap, prohibition style restaurant and bar that has $1 hot dogs on Tusdays.
Day three we went to the Taronga Zoo (I rave too much about it in my posts, so I'll just say, Go!), the Royal Botanic Garden, and explored some more. At night we went out to a super great Ramen restaurant and then out to some of the bars (Bar Century, Scubar, etc.)
On the fourth day we went to Bondi Beach and at night went and saw a ballet at the Sydney Opera House. Now, I thought the Sydney Opera House would be pretty overrated since it's all you hear about when people talk about Sydney, but I have to say, the show was amazing, the opera house is gorgeous and it was such a cool feeling that not only did we see the opera house, but we went in and saw a show there. I can't even properly describe it.
So, it is possible to cut corners on spending even in such an awesome city as Sydney and get the most out of it. Budget travel is fantastic! It's like guilt free carbs. And you'll have so much fun in Sydney, Australia.
"And then there is the most dangerous risk of all - the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later" - Randy Komisar
~The Flighty Blonde
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