Darling Harbour

Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney, NSW. Photo credit: North Sullivan; Destination NSW

Darling Harbour

Big fish, big screens and an appealing obsession with chocolate. Spend a day exploring Darling Harbour.

Sydney tourist attractions

The Australian National Maritime Museum
A fascinating insight into the country’s historical relationship with the sea. Explore the permanent and temporary exhibits, then board and investigate three ships.

Sea Life Sydney Aquarium
The most popular tourist attraction in Sydney houses 13,000 creatures and 700 different species. See platypus, jellyfish, huge stingrays, penguins, tropical fish, and Australia’s largest collection of sharks and rays in the new ‘Shark Valley’.

Wild Life Sydney
The wildlife park formerly known as Sydney Wildlife World comprises 10 zones and, together with the Sydney Aquarium, has the biggest collection of native Australian animals in one location.

IMAX
Find the largest cinema screen in the world at Sydney’s IMAX cinema.

Chocolate!
While you’re exploring Darling Harbour you’ll find one of Sydney’s four Lindt Chocolate Cafes in Cockle Bay Wharf. These cafes, along with another four in Melbourne, are unique to Australia. If you’re a chocolate lover you could probably spend the rest of your stay (and life) in here. They do serve breakfast and lunch, but you probably won’t have room for those.

Madame Tussauds
Get up close and personal with Angelina Jolie, Barack Obama, Bruce Willis, Johnny Depp, and Kylie Minogue. Next door to the Sydney Aquarium.

Harbourside Shopping Centre
Besides the regular brand names you’ll find the British Lolly Shop, where you can keep any pangs of homesickness at bay with British chocolate, sweets, and even Bisto gravy granules. For the handful of days when staying indoors seems like a good idea, there’s also a bowling alley, laser arcade, and Australia’s first retail jet flight simulator.

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New South Wales

Your Name Here

Australians remember their historical figures. They remember them so much that you’ll find their names repeated again and again.

Take Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling, former Governor of New South Wales, for example. In addition to the harbour, his name also adorns a river, a basin, a point, the Darling Downs, a mountain range and a fault-line.

Not bad for a man who was later court-martialled, convicted and dismissed.