Must do
Fast facts
- Where Sydney's convict days blend with life today
- City centre
- Five-minute walk from Circular Quay
Why go there
Bursting with a colourful history dating back to convict days, The Rocks is a maze of sandstone lanes, cul-de-sacs and courtyards, jam-packed with shops, warehouses and terraces that were built in the early 19th century.
While The Rocks was once home to Sydney’s dockworkers and stevedores, it’s now a magnet for international visitors, who flock to its many shops, boutiques, pubs and restaurants.
Things to do
- Visit the Sydney Visitor Information Centre for the latest on what to do and see in The Rocks.
- Walk the foreshore from Circular Quay to below the Harbour Bridge.
- Climb the span of the Harbour Bridge with BridgeClimb or visit the Pylon Lookout.
- Explore shops and galleries in converted workmen’s cottages and sandstone terrace houses in Playfair Street.
- Book a Rocks Ghost Tour and learn about macabre tales of murder, suicide, hanging and hauntings.
Don’t miss
- A Rocks Walking Tour.
- Sydney’s oldest pubs, including the Fortune of War, Hero of Waterloo, Lord Nelson and the Orient.
- Museum of Contemporary Art.
- Rocks Markets on weekends.
- Australia Day celebrations on 26 January.
