Visiting Sydney Australia On Points and Miles

Welcome to Sydney, Australia. I wasn't really sure what to expect from Sydney and I was pleasantly surprised. This cosmopolitan city reminded me of my hometown of San Diego, but with a twist. Full of modern buildings and beautiful waterfront, Sydney feels like it could be in California until you see a package of Vegemite.

It's quite easy to stay in Sydney on points and miles. There are dozens of hotels with lots of award availability. We chose the Four Points Sheraton in Chippendale for 25,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for one night and 1 FREE night certificate. It was in a great central location with a Starbucks and local coffee house across the street. However, it did not offer FREE breakfast, but the hotel did leave some yummy chocolates in our room for Easter.

The highlights and most touristy, but must see sights in Sydney are: 

1. The Opera House - I recommend booking the official tour. You must buy tickets in advance. Tours cost $43 per adult and $23 per child. There is a family ticket that includes two adults and two children for $109. The tour is offered multiple times per day in various languages. You can purchase this tour with your Capital One Venture X credit card and erase it with points. 

2. The Sydney Harbour Bridge - You can opt to do the Bridge Climb which is expensive, but I hear an amazing experience. We opted for the FREE walk across the bridge. You can find the trail alongside the entrance to the bridge on the Rocks side. Once you walk to the middle the bridge, there is a lookout and museum for an entry of $20 per person. 

3. The Rocks - The first settlement in Sydney is now a shopping district with some historical sites so it's definitely worth a walk through. 

4. The Royal Botanic Garden - This garden is FREE and absolutely stunning. You can also get an amazing view of the Opera House from here.  You can also get a close up view of the Australian White Ibis, otherwise known as the trash chicken and rubbish rooster that roam all over the city. 

The good news is you can see all four of these sights in the same day even with jet lag. You can find other Sydney tours and experiences here. Plus be sure to look at FREE walking tours. I love FREE walking tours and we try to take at least one of them right when we arrive to get an overview and history. 

A museum that you won't find on the top sights list, but I think it should be is the Hyde Park Barracks. It is FREE entry and on the day we visited, there was a craft you could make at the exit. The barracks were the holding buildings for the first prisoners brought to Australia and not only tell their story, but also that of the Indigenous People who were affected and displaced by their arrival. It's a well presented story of all peoples. 

After you check out the sights, you might want to grab a bite to eat. There are plenty of places and types of food to choose from on the harbor and in the Rocks area. We found a wonderful hidden street with food stalls featuring dishes from all over Asia. It's called Spice Alley and it's located in Chippendale. 

If you are hoping to see kangaroos and koalas, you will have to head to the Sydney Zoo or Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park either by car or with a day tour. We chose the Blue Mountains Day Trip which we booked through Viator with the Capital One Venture X card and activated the offer of 12% discount. You could also apply the $300 credit to this purchase to erase it. 

It was a bus tour, which we usually avoid, but you have two options to visit the Blue Mountains and Featherdale. You can rent a car or take a day trip bus tour. 

For us, the bus tour made the most sense. 

The first stop on the tour was Featherdale Wildlife Park. You can buy some kangaroo food on the way in. Look for the kiosk which operates on an honor code so you can just drop a dollar or two in the box. The park is full of animals, some roaming free and others in enclosures that are all found in Australia. 

The second stop was at a small town for lunch. There were several take away restaurants to choose from. 

The third stop was at Scenic World which offers sky views of the Blue Mountains, Three Sisters, various waterfalls and a walk on an elevated boardwalk through the Rainforest. 

You can also ride the world's steepest railway. It used to be used to reach the coal mine, now you can ride it down to the rainforest. But watch out it's steep! 

The Blue Mountains tour ends at the ferry dock where the company gives you a ticket or cash to buy a ticket to get back to the harbor via ferry. Sounds touristy, but the ferry is used by locals to commute and super enjoyable. 

Sydney is a great city that you can easily do on points and miles. Enjoy!