While Sydney is close to 4000 km from Perth, the Harbour City is somewhere every Perth mum should try and visit with their family at least once.
Sydney is a fantastic destination for families because it offers plenty of stunning beaches, family-friendly attractions, and lots of activities for your little ones to do.
Given the distance between the two, planning an east coast adventure with kids can take a bit of organising.
So, that’s why we want to make it a bit easier for you.
This post on how to plan and enjoy a wonderful Sydney holiday should give you all the guidance you need.
1. Getting to Sydney from Perth
The first thing you’ll need to organise is how you are going to get from Perth to Sydney. Overall, you have two choices. You can either drive on a route that will most probably involve traversing the iconic Nullarbor Plain, or you can fly.
Which one you decide upon is entirely up to you. But most people travelling with kids choose to fly on account of it being much quicker. Airlines like Qantas, Virgin Australia, and Jetstar run regular services throughout the day and offer family-friendly services, including in-flight entertainment and meal options for kids. The flight time is just over four hours non-stop.
Driving obviously takes a lot longer, but if you decide to do that, you get to see plenty of wonderful landscapes.
2. Where to Stay in Sydney
You’ll obviously need a place to stay when you arrive in Sydney and at various points along the way if you decide to drive.
Depending on which options you are looking for, some accommodation can be quite expensive. So, if you want to save money, consider hiring an Airbnb instead of booking a hotel or serviced apartment.
Some of the best family-friendly areas to stay in are Darling Harbour and Pyrmont, which are just west of the Sydney CBD, as they offer plenty of entertainment and recreational activities for people of all ages.
That said if your budget can stretch to it, basing yourself near Bondi Beach or Coogee Beach is a great option, too.
3. Meals
While the culinary scene in Sydney is arguably the best in Australia, you can quickly find yourself chewing through your budget if you eat out every day.
For this reason, you might want to self-cater to save money, particularly if you are staying in an Airbnb.
However, if you don’t fancy the idea of cooking every day, but still want to eat delicious home-cooked style meals, then consider ordering a ready-meal delivery service like FoodSt. They have a great range of international dishes, including Indian, Mexican, Chinese, and Italian, that are sent straight to your door.
4. What to See and Do?
With your transit, accommodation, and meals organised, all that is left to plan is how you will spend your time in Sydney.
There are so many different sites, attractions, and activities in the city that it is impossible to cram everything into the time you have available. However, here are some of the main things you might want to add to your itinerary.
Sydney Attractions
Sydney is packed with attractions that kids will love, so you will need to prioritise what you would like to see most. However, one of the most popular is Taronga Zoo, which not only houses over 5000 animals, including koalas, giraffes, tigers, and elephants, but also showcases fantastic views of the Sydney Harbour.
Other notable animal attractions are the SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium and WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo which are located next to each other at Darling Harbour. SEA LIFE features a glass tunnel where kids can walk beneath sharks, while WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo is home to adorable wombats, kangaroos, and even a saltwater crocodile.
Elsewhere, visits to the Sydney Opera House and Royal Botanic Garden are a must, while the kids will undoubtedly love the old-school amusement park rides at Luna Park.
You should also consider checking out the view from the Sydney Tower Eye and the fascinating exhibits at the Australian National Maritime Museum, which includes a submarine and a replica of Captain Cook’s HMB Endeavour.
Beaches
If you think Perth has some great beaches, including the wonderful Dallyellup Beach, just wait till you see what Sydney has to offer. You are probably well aware of Bondi, Manly, and Coogee.
But others like Balmoral, Clovelly Beach, Bronte, and Watson’s Bay are lesser-known gems that are perfectly set up for a family-friendly day of fun in the sun without the massive crowds.
Free and Budget-Friendly Activities
You might be surprised to discover that there are several free or budget-friendly things to do with kids in Sydney. Therefore, if you have the time and inclination, consider exploring the Royal Botanic Garden, which is free to enter.
You may also want to check out the Art Gallery of NSW which is also free, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, which has a dedicated kids’ space.
Other things you should consider doing are taking a ferry ride from Circular Quay, which is a great way to see Sydney from the water, and walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
There are also several playgrounds you can let the kids loose in, including an excellent one at the Darling Quarter Playground.
Getting Around Sydney with Kids
You’ll obviously have to make your way from place to place when you visit Sydney, and thankfully, the city is perfectly set up to enable you to do so.
Overall, Sydney has an excellent public transport system, including buses, ferries, light rail, and trains, which make it easy to get around with kids. However, you will need an Opal Card to get around.
If you would rather drive, assuming you don’t already have your own vehicle, you can hire one from most of the major car rental companies or easily pick up an Uber.
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