Sydney Ferries: Seeing the City
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On our recent trip to Sydney, we found one of the best ways to get to the more far-reaching parts of the city was using the ferry system. When I have visited other locations, I have found that the ferry system wasn’t user friendly, but Sydney Ferries are both easy to use and convenient for getting around the city.
Each day we used the ferries, we first took the bus from where we were staying in Bondi Beach to Circular Quay. The ferry system in Sydney uses the Opal card, the same as the bus system so we were able to use our one card for multiple modes of public transportation. There is an app you can put on to your phone and then you can fill your card whenever the balance starts to get low. The one-way fares were very reasonable especially considering that you get a gorgeous boat ride along with the transportation to your destination. In addition, we found that the ferries run quite frequently in Sydney. The ferries were running 20 to 30 minutes apart on both days we used them.
Our first trip using the ferries, we went out from Circular Quay to Manly and then on to Watson’s Bay with some local friends. We used the fast ferry option to get us from Manly to Watson’s Bay and it was nice, but isn’t particularly necessary. We opted for it that day because it was the next ferry leaving and we managed to have two sleeping toddlers at the same time. The fast ferry is slightly more expensive and the boats are smaller, but it was nice to have the option. On the second day, we used the ferry system to travel from Circular Quay to Taronga Zoo. These boats were pretty crowded because school holidays had just begun in Australia, but we were still able to get some great views as we traveled through the harbor.
We didn’t take advantage of the ferries as a method of sightseeing on this trip because we already had so much packed into our agenda, but I can imagine that it would be nice to spend part of a day using the ferry system to travel around the harbor and see all of the sights, It’s reasonably priced and has a reliable schedule. Plus, when you are traveling with small children, all of that walking can take its toll. If we were trying to explore a little more, I’m pretty sure we would have used the ferries again to save us and to keep our sweet girl entertained.
When you find yourself in Sydney be sure to take advantage of this great public transportation option!
Sydney is definitely on my bucket list, so I’m keeping this in my back pocket for the someday trip I hope to take 🙂 Thank you!
It looks like it was a fun trip. I haven’t tried public transportation like this. Ferries would be a relaxing way to take in the sights. Thank you for the tips!
Taking a ferry through Sydney Harbour was def on top of my.bucket-list when we visited last month and it didn’t disappoint! We only went from Circular Quay to Manly and back, but it was such a beautiful ride, especially when a giant thunderstorm rolled over us on the way back. Quite a ride!
Isn’t Manly great! Just by chance we were there during the jazz festival so there was live music everywhere. But the weather was perfect and our little one had a blast digging in the sand and dipping her toes in the water!