What To Do in Australia For a Week

I got 99 problems, but Sydney Australia ain’t 1.

Do you set any goals for yourself? I have goals across all aspects of my life. To me, something becomes more realistic and attainable if I set a goal and plan steps accordingly to achieve it. So about 2 years ago, I set a goal for myself to start traveling to at least 2 new countries a year. I’ve always had the travel bug and growing up, I was lucky enough to be in a family that also liked to travel and had the means to travel. Setting this goal for myself means that I have to make an effort to travel to countries that I really want to – even if it’s getting out of my comfort zone to do it. And when I don’t have a permanent travel partner, the creativity kicks in to help achieve this goal.

What ever can I mean by that? Well, I’ve always wanted to travel to Australia, but never had the opportunity to – it’s very far, I don’t know anyone there, and didn’t really have a companion to travel with. So when I found out that my oldest sister had to travel to Sydney for work, I (semi-obnoxiously) invited myself – something I would never do – but I knew this was an opportunity I couldn’t let pass by! The conditions were I’d have to travel on my own – which means over 24 hours on flights and in airports, we only had a week to spend, and only in Sydney. So we had about a week or less, which means I had to get creative with how we spent our time! SO, given all of that, I have created the ultimate 7 Day Guide to explore the best of Sydney AND Melbourne!

What To Do in Australia in a Week – The Ultimate 7 Day Guide!

DAY 1 | Bondi Beach & Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk

The minute we landed, we went to the hotel, got a coffee, showered and uber’ed to the famous Icebergs at Bondi Beach!! If it’s nice out, definitely take advantage and pay a visit! Enjoy a cocktail in the sun, people watching, and the beautiful Bondi beach waves. My recommendation is to NOT order food here, as the menu is limited and a bit pricey.

Pro Tips: try to go before 1pm to beat the crowds; enter through the right-hand-side patio entrance for outdoor seating with panoramic views and NO crowds!

From here, go to a local cafe for a light brunch – I recommend an avo toast and coffee with macadamia nut mylk!

Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk

Take a 3 mile stroll along the beautiful eastern coast of Sydney from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach! It is so gorgeous – every corner is a photo op! You will pass several beaches and baths along the way. You’ll end up at Coogee beach where you can chill and get a drink!

Pro Tips: wear light clothing, comfortable shoes for walking, and try not to carry anything too heavy!

Complete your day by getting some super delicious and spicy Thai food at Spice I Am.

DAY 2 | Day in Sydney

Black Star Pastry: The Most Instagrammed Cake in the World

Start your morning by visiting the famous Black Star Pastry during the week. A small pastry shop nestled in a book store in Sydney’s business district called CBD – get your fill of the “the most instagrammed cake in the world” the watermelon cake!

Pro Tips: enjoy that cake – it’s such a unique flavor combo! But don’t forget to get some of their other vegan items – they’re so good and creative!

Royal Botanical Gardens to Sydney Opera House

Uber over to the Royal Botanical Gardens – it’s free to enter! Walk through the sprawling gardens to get a beautiful view of downtown Sydney and ultimately the Sydney Opera House! Make your way down and walk around the Opera House , which by the way is huge! You’ll get stunning 360 degree views of the Opera House and Harbor Bridge.

Surry Hills

Hop in an uber to Surry Hills – an indie-ish neighborhood. Get lunch at Chin Chin – an awesome Malaysian-Vietnamese-Thai inspired restaurant. The food and service were excellent! And a weekday lunch is on the quieter side so you can wine and dine as you please!

Gotta work off that food now, so walk over to Paddington neighborhood – kind of on the hipster side with great shops. I bought cute clothes!! From here, you can make your way to Newtown – another super hipster neighborhood – think Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Awesome shopping, tons of vegan cafes, and easily accessible by the metro.

End your evening by heading to O Bar in CBD – a revolving bar with 360 degree views of all of downtown Sydney!

Then grab dinner at the popular Mr. Wong – a cantonese Chinese restaurant with funky decor and cool art work!

DAY 3 | Day Trip to the Blue Mountains

Book a day trip to the beautiful Blue Mountains, which by the way isn’t a mountain range at all! But an elevated dissected plateau, aka the Grand Canyon of Australia! The day is filled with a tour of the Three Sisters, options to ride the steepest train in the world, hike to gorgeous water falls – like the Bridal Veil, and tours of Lincoln Rock – an 800 meter high, unbarred rock formation!

Blue Mountains has one of the few Jurassic & Triassic forests!

Pro Tip: this service was good. Eat breakfast before going or pack something with you! It’s a long day and only one 1 hour stop for lunch!

It’s a very long day, so I recommend getting dinner in whichever neighborhood you’re staying in! We opted for vegan pizza at Assembly Bar in CBD!

DAY 4 | Manly Beach & Secret Excursion!

After breakfast on a weekday morning, grab the ferry from the CBD ferry port – you can use your metro card, so it’s only $7AUD! The ferries run every 10-20 minutes. It’s a beautiful ferry ride surround by downtown Sydney, the Harbor Bridge, and the Opera House. About 20 minutes later, you’ll dock at Manly. Walk from the dock to Manly beach – about 10 minutes.

Honestly, I think this was my favoritest (clearly, this isn’t a word) beach in Sydney! Surround by tall pine trees, there wasn’t a palm tree in sight, but still had such a tropical vibe. The beach is laid back and not touristy at all. We laid out for about 2 hours, and watched all the little kids in their surfing and volleyball classes and people just hangin’.

Pro Tips: bring your own towels and some snacks!!

Manly Wormhole

Are you up for a little adventure?! Then get ready to explore the hidden beach of Manly Beach – the Manly Wormhole!

All the way to the left-most end of the beach, climb the small cliff and rocks to enter upon a naturally formed wormhole (tunnel). Walk through it to stumble upon a beautiful, untouched beach off of a cliff!

The views of manly are stunning and the water is turquoise!! Totally awesome photo ops!

Pro Tips: wear good walking shoes with grips – the rocks are very slippery and it can be dangerous. And don’t bring a big purse, like I did!!

DAY 5| Day Trip to Melbourne

Just cause we only have a week, doesn’t mean we can’t explore other cities outside of Sydney! Melbourne is a 90 minute flight from Sydney and costs ~$100AUD for a roundtrip flight! My recommendation is to get the second flight out – like 8am flight, land in Melbourne early enough to make breakfast! And take the last flight back – a 9pm flight. So you can spend nearly 10-12 hours in Melbourne! Here’s all the areas you should hit up while in Melbourne.

Pro Tips: Ride the tram in and around the city, as many zones are free of charge! Book flights through Tiger Air.

Queen Victoria Market

Visit the largest market in Melbourne – full of delish food stalls, fresh cheeses, produce – don’t leave without trying some of delish Turkish food, like a burek!

Elizabeth Street

From Queen Victoria Market walk down Elizabeth Street – a bustling street FULL of different Asian restaurants, food, shopping – you name it, it’s on Elizabeth street. Definitely stop by Ché off of Elizabeth Street to grab a unique Vietnamese sweet, like this sweet corn and coconut milk dessert below!

Flinders Lane

You can walk from Elizabeth Street to Flinders Lane – a really cute alley of restaurants, cafes and the Melbourne City Library. Don’t leave without stopping into Weirdoughs for delicious vegan doughnuts and croissants!! I loved this area – it felt very European.

Fitzroy Neighborhood

From Flinders you can hop on the free tram(s) to go to Fitzroy. Another hipster/Brooklyn-like neighborhood, but this is where all the cool shopping is! I popped into a store called HoMie which gives all its profits to homeless youth in Melbourne to help find them homes, jobs, and rehabilitate into the culture.

St. Kilda Beach

After you’ve fulfilled your shopping desires, hop in an uber to St. Kilda beach! Here you can walk the boardwalk and down the pier to potentially spot some grumpy penguins! We also saw some stingray and crabs! It’s very peaceful, serene, and not choppy like the beaches I experienced in Sydney.

Acland Street

You can walk from St. Kilda Beach past Luna Park to Acland Street – a dead end street packed with different restaurants. Grab dinner before heading back to the airport. We had a delish vegan dinner at Sister of Soul – a vegetarian/vegan restaurant that has a bunch of Asian dishes. Loved it!

DAY 6 | Sydney Bridge Climb

Spend the day walking around Sydney and grabbing some Middle Eastern food for lunch! I recommend Nomad. You don’t want to exert too much energy, because later that day is the Sydney bridge climb!

Save the best adventure for the last night! Don’t leave Australia without doing the Sydney Harbor Bridge climb! I recommend doing a twilight climb, which means it’s at night! The views are incredible and something I’ll remember forever!

Pro Tips: Book in advance directly through the Bridge Climb website for the best rates. If you are afraid of heights or are claustrophobic, this might not be for you 🙁

Grab a chill dinner in Chinatown – I recommend Malaysian! Ho Jiak is a great spot for Malaysian curries and funky drinks.

DAY 7 | Last Day!

My flight was fairly early, so I didn’t have much time to explore. But don’t leave Sydney without checking out The Rocks neighborhood! They have cute street markets during the day!

FOOD!!

I honestly don’t understand why people don’t talk about how good the food is in Australia! I have traveled fairly extensively now – 35 countries to be exact! And nowhere (aside from India) have I felt like I was living a foodie dream. Due to the proximity to a bunch of South Asian countries, Australia has an abundance of Asian food – Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian – seriously so good! And the Middle Eastern food was amazing too! Below are some place I loved in addition to some places mentioned above:

Mamak – Malaysian rotis!!