Sydney, Australia • October 20th 2023

What I wish I knew as a budget traveller before visiting Sydney (from the UK) 

Visiting Sydney 

Public Travel

Coming from Scotland, which has pretty good travel links anyway, I was blown away at the accessibility of public travel in Sydney, let alone the expense of it. 

Throughout the city, there are trains, buses, ferries and trams that all run regularly all under the same company run by Travel NSW. 

Before visiting make sure you get yourself an Opal travel card. This means you can load money onto the card before travelling out and just need to tap on and off of the public transport. 

The Opal cards work within Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast, the Hunter and Illawarra. 

All transport has contactless methods of payment. If you choose not to get an Opal card then you can use any devise or card that's linked to American Express, master card or visa debit. However, a 1.5-2% surcharge may be applied which is why it encourages to get an Opal card 

The daily travel cap for Opal cards is $17.80 which is approximately £9, this covers all modes of transport while in Sydney. 

It is absolutely worth it to use public transport, it's much more reliable than Scotlands, it is also significantly cheaper than the taxis and Ubers out there.

However, if there's money left on your opal card when your trip is over, they won't refund it unless you have an Aussie bank account and Aussie address (which I guess you won't have when only visiting for a short time) so only top up as you go.

SIM cards:

Don't pre-buy your SIM cards online, or try an ESIM.

Immediately outside the arrivals zone are multiple telephone company stands where you can buy SIM cards and they will help set it up for you, give you your new number and help with the app set-up.

it is so much easier than trying to do it yourself and is also significantly cheaper than buying online beforehand.

Currency exchange:

Research the current exchange rate and plan to exchange before you travel out as they're typically more favourable. In saying this, there were few times when I was required to use cash, so I suggest applying for a Starling or Monzo card before flying out as they have 0% transaction fees, so you can transfer between accounts and know you don't need to exchange any money back (and loose some) at the end of your trip.

Low cost and my favourite free activities:

Sydney offers a lot of low cost attractions. 

There are a lot of free guided walking tours around the city centre. The rocks offers free walking tours everyday. 

As well as this if you're interested in trips, I used the app 'Get your guide' in which many trips are heavily discounted if you're buying the day of (this is what I did for whale watching trips, I managed to get 45% off the initial price!)

Pylon Bridge Climb:

One of the most popular activities to is the Sydney harbour bridge climb which would set you back about £190. 

Rather than doing this I chose to climb the pylon on the bridge which cost me only £8 with a student card or would be £13 without. It gives you the same views of the city but at a much lower cost. It also includes a great museum of the history of the bridge.

The Botanic Gardens:

The best view of the Opera house in Sydney in undoubtably from Sydneys Botanical Garden. It's free entry and the gardens provide a stunning vantage point. 

It is easily walkable from the CBD and is also close to two of Sydneys free art galleries. 

Remember that Sydney is a beautiful city with a lot to offer. With some careful planning and budgeting, you can have a fantastic experience without breaking the bank. Enjoy your trip!