This guide crosses central Sydney from one side of the city to the other, from the water at Darling Harbour to the water at Sydney Cove. On the way it stops at five places: Darling Harbour, Sydney Town Hall, the Queen Victoria Building, the Sydney Opera House and the Bridge Stairs that take you up onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They range from a Victorian market hall to a 20th-century World Heritage Site, and you can link them on foot in a day.
Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour was first called Long Cove and was generally known as Cockle Bay until 1826, when it was renamed after Ralph Darling, governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831. For most of its history it was a working port, with wharves and the main railway goods yards. During the Great Depression its eastern side was nicknamed the Hungry Mile, after the waterside workers who walked along it looking for a day's work.
By the 1980s the area was largely derelict, and it was redeveloped as a pedestrian precinct of museums, gardens and promenades. The Australian National Maritime Museum, the SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium and Tumbalong Park are all here.
- Pyrmont Bridge, opened in 1902 and designed by Percy Allan: its central spans swing open for ships, and it was one of the first swing bridges powered by electricity. It has carried only pedestrians and cyclists since cars were banned in 1981.
- The Chinese Garden of Friendship, designed with Sydney's sister city Guangzhou and opened in January 1988 for Australia's bicentenary.
Sydney Town Hall
Sydney Town Hall on George Street was built in stages between 1868 and 1889 to a design by J. H. Willson, who won a competition. Its style is Victorian Second Empire, inspired by the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, and it is often called the most elaborate example of that style in Australia. The building stands on part of the Old Sydney Burial Ground, the colony's first permanent cemetery, used from 1792 to 1820.
Inside, the Centennial Hall holds the Grand Organ, built by William Hill and Son and installed in 1890. It was the largest organ in the world when it was installed, and it is one of only two organs with a full-length 64-foot stop. The steps in front have long been a meeting point and a place for rallies and protests.
- The clock tower, completed in 1873, whose clock was added in 1884.
- The steps on George Street, a favourite meeting place.
Queen Victoria Building
Across Druitt Street from the Town Hall, the Queen Victoria Building fills a whole city block between George and York Streets. It was designed by George McRae in the Romanesque Revival style and opened in 1898 as a municipal market. The markets moved out in 1910, and for decades the building was used for offices and a concert hall; it was threatened with demolition more than once, including in 1959, before the city decided in 1971 to keep it.
After a full restoration it reopened as a shopping centre in 1986. Its central copper-sheathed dome is 19 metres across and is surrounded by 20 smaller domes, and the long galleries under the glass roof are worth seeing even if you buy nothing.
- The two hanging clocks inside: the Royal Clock with scenes of English royalty, and the Great Australian Clock with 33 scenes from Australian history.
- The statue of Queen Victoria outside, which came from Dublin in 1987, and the wishing well nearby with a bronze of her dog Islay.
Sydney Opera House
The Danish architect Jørn Utzon won the international competition for an opera house on Bennelong Point, and the result was announced in January 1957. Construction began in March 1959, but Utzon left the project in February 1966 after a dispute with the New South Wales government and never returned to Australia; the Australian architect Peter Hall took over and completed it. Queen Elizabeth II opened the building on 20 October 1973, and it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.
The shells of the roof are covered with 1,056,006 tiles in two colours, glossy white and matte cream, made by the Swedish firm Höganäs. In 2004 the Utzon Room opened, the first interior rebuilt to Utzon's own design.
- The tiles of the roof shells, best seen close up from the steps and the forecourt.
- The view back to the Harbour Bridge from the northern tip of Bennelong Point.
Bridge Stairs and the Harbour Bridge
In The Rocks, near Cumberland Street and Gloucester Street, a long, covered staircase climbs from the old streets to the eastern footway of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. These Bridge Stairs are the walkers' way onto the bridge from the city side. The bridge opened on 19 March 1932; it was built by the British firm Dorman Long under the chief engineer John Bradfield, and its arch earned it the nickname the Coathanger.
Its opening had a famous incident: before Premier Jack Lang could cut the ribbon, Francis de Groot, a member of the New Guard, rode up on horseback and slashed it with his sword. The ribbon was tied again and Lang opened the bridge. The four granite-faced pylons, designed by the Scottish architect Thomas Tait, were added mainly for visual balance and to reassure the public about the bridge's strength.
- The south-eastern pylon, which has housed a lookout and museum since 1934; you reach it by walking onto the bridge and climbing about 200 steps.
- The view from the footway down over the Opera House and Circular Quay.
How to see them in one walk
Start at Darling Harbour and cross Pyrmont Bridge, then walk up to George Street and Sydney Town Hall. The Queen Victoria Building is right next door; walk through its galleries from one end to the other. Continue north to Circular Quay and out along the water to the Opera House. To finish, walk back around the quay into The Rocks and climb the Bridge Stairs to the footway of the Harbour Bridge.
See Sydney with World City Trail
Our Sydney scavenger hunt turns the city centre into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, starting at Darling Harbour and ending at the Bridge Stairs, and all five places in this guide are stops: Darling Harbour, the Town Hall, the Queen Victoria Building, the Sydney Opera House and the Bridge Stairs, along with St Andrew's Cathedral School, St Mary's Cathedral, Queens Square, the Museum of Sydney and Customs House. At each stop you solve a riddle and learn a story, at your own pace.
There is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Sydney, for people who prefer a different format.
Play the Sydney scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Sydney →
Play the outdoor escape game in Sydney →
Facts checked in October 2026.