#100 for 2021 This…read moreis what happens when government wants to give their citizens a good transportation system. I love catching the trains. I feel very safe and comfortable. They really do lower the stress one can have in your busy day. Instead of worrying about all the drivers around you and where you are going, you can put your thought to be better things that can relax you. Catch up on reading, the news or watch a movie all off your own smart device. The problem with that is what do you do when you get home? I guess I could clean. How dreadfully boring. Before you board get an opal card. It's a card that can be loaded with money and reloaded any time you want to. It's like a debit card to use to board trains, buses and ferry boats. Many vendors or kiosks will have the logo displayed that says you can purchase and refill your cards with them. Conveniently located around the stops so you don't have to travel far. Now that you have your opal card use it to enter the boarding areas for where you want to go. You'll see people trying to buck the system and not pay. You'll also see the several spot checks they do to see who hasn't paid. Quite embarrassing. Don't buck the system and embarrass yourself. Pay up my friend and enjoy the ride. Now it might get a little confusing how to get around, use the opal card or how you board or where you board. There is very few staff around that can help you. And you never see one when you need one. Don't worry. Your typical Aussie is very friendly and helpful. So make a friend and ask for help. It really adds to the experience and boosts your confidence and appreciation of the country and people. On the train if you're in a large group there is a way to flip the seat around so you can face each other and have fantastic exciting conversations with each other. I found this very pleasing because you don't have to talk over your shoulder. What a fun way to travel. They should do this on all transportations including planes. The trains are double deckers. If it's your first time there and you want to check out the vast scenery you may want to take a seat on the upper level. Some times when it's super busy and no seats look available as you board it's best to head up straight to the upper level for seating. And don't be afraid to take a seat with someone in it. There's lots of space to keep your personal space. Well, most of the time anyway. All transports are kept cleaned and maintained. However, I have seen people wipe down their areas before seating. I have seen maintenance crews on board spot cleaning too. On the major and frequent used rails the trains look brand new. As you move away from these busy centers and on the lesser used rails the trains are still good and clean but you don't get that "new" feeling. It's still very good though. Air con is phenomenal. You're not freezing cold but as soon as you step in it's a nice blast of coldness to feel relief from the heat. It helps to really relax. On the days I was traveling alone where the rides were an hour or more I would take a nap. I'd worry about missing my stop. A few times I did. All I did was get off and boarded a train going back. A hassle I know but I enjoyed the nap. They do make announcements of the stops coming up to give you fair warning. I guess I was in a deep dream with koalas and kangaroos. lol Another great feature is how the train stops at all the malls and greater shopping areas. You can get all your daily errands done without traveling too far away from the stops. So there's no need to uber, lyft or rent a car. We didn't. A much cheaper option for sure. Practically almost eliminates the need to own a car too. Think of all the money you can save. All in all it's a great transportation system Australia has and wish we here in the U.S. had one to use.

During my weekend in Sydney, I had been utilizing Public Transport which took me around town and it…read morewas an enjoyable experience! Make sure you get your Opal Card which is free and just load it up with $30 or so if you are travelling to and from Airport. Opal Card makes travelling so easy as you can just tap on and off and can be used on trains, buses, light rail and even ferries! For checking your balance, make sure you download the App on your smartphone. Daily/Weekly Travel Cap and the best is on Sunday you can travel the whole day for $2.50!! That's that best time to take a long distance train ride or a ferry ride! I just wish every major International cities would be that public transit friendly like Sydney!

Circular Quay station must be the CityRail station with the most real estate value. Oops, I'm…read morerepeating myself here. Please read my Milsons Point station review. But this station's got the lot too: views of Harbour Bridge, Opera House (take that Milsons Point station!) and harbour water. It could be passed in as waterfront property almost, which in Sydney terms slaps another few hundred grands on its value. Circular Quay station is also close to transport: many bus lines end and start here, there's a taxi rank nearby and six wharfs to choose from (Circular Quay 2 - Milsons Point 1). Close to overpriced shops, heritage building (sort of 50s building, but that heritage here), lifts, 2 bathrooms, floor art on the platform, First Fleet garden, The Rocks. Alas, no parking spaces and no swimming pool here either. And so many train lines to choose from. Get a ticket! In terms of village feel, Milsons Point station wins, so it's a draw: Circular Quay 2 - Milsons Point 2. One last advice to impress visitors from overseas: Take the train from Wynyard to Circular Quay. Not only are you on the water front side, but when you step out you'll immediately see the duo Harbour Bridge and Opera House. A real winner!

This was a large train station. It was very convenient for visiting all of the popular iconic…read moretourist spots. As you exit the station, you get a nice view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. From here, it was just a short walk over to the Sydney Opera House. Since it's a very touristy location, it will be very crowded all the time. There were plenty of food options of all costs and variety nearby. If you're headed elsewhere, you can catch a ferry ride from the wharf. You can also hop on the L2 and L3 light rail. The T2, T3, T4, T7, and T8 train lines ran through this station.

"My baby gives it up every day My baby gives it, she gives…read moreit away My baby gives it up totally free" (Peter Townsend) The Sydney ferry workers are on strike, so the two ferry trips we enjoyed this week were free, since the government declared they would be for the duration of the strike. We saw no effect from the strike on service, because service was great on our trip to the Taronga Zoo and to Manly. The departure wharves are clearly marked with a visual posting of the next scheduled departure and a real-time countdown of remaining time. The ferries are clean and well maintained. The seats were comfortable, the rides were smooth and calm, and everything worked fine on our two round trips.

Our tour group recently took a beautiful ferry ride via Rose Bay back into Sydney cove. Circular…read moreQuay from Watson's Bay by ferry is one of Australia's great ferry trips. An unscheduled storm cloud had us all scrambling for cover but today the 125th anniversary of the Royal Australian Navy featuring a fleet review of 30 ships from 19 countries right here in Sydney harbour meant we didn't really mind getting a tad wet. Our first ferry stop Rose Bay was once the home to Sydney's first international airport with amphibious aircraft taking the 30 stop kangaroo route from London to Sydney in 12 days commencing in 1938 and continuing right up to the 1950s. Passing the HMAS Sydney memorial Mast, Shark beach, Taronga Zoo, Garden Island (Royal Australian Navy) and the Prime Minister's house while also admiring some of the most expensive suburbs in the southern hemisphere, it was easy to see why this is such a well patronised ferry ride. Standing between Wharf 3 and 4 the RAAF roulettes then had us in awe at their 15 min display of raw energy and choreographed acrobatics.

On my recent trip to Sydney for the marathon, this was a very useful transit hub. I came through…read morehere several times to connect onto another train. Although it was a pretty large station, the signage all throughout was really good at directing you where to go. I had no trouble locating the platform that I needed.

This transportation hub caters to all types of trains, regular trains and light rail. The…read moreplatforms are arranged in a logical manner 1-25 all in a row. (Note: The way to travel for rail, light rail and ferry is to have an opal card). If you need help with the ticket readers, let one of the train folks know so they can help you. Transfers to light rail are clearly marked and easy to follow. The rest room could have been cleaner, but it was free. The exterior looks retro with red brick and has modern touches with the white exterior roof. Finally, there are elevators and escalators here. I know the last time I tried to go thru the subway at Waterloo in London I had to ask a nice young man for help with my suitcase to get it down the escalator, since they didn't have an elevator to use.

I took the ferry as part of the organized tour for the Blue Mountains. The ride was a tad bit long…read more(~ an hour) from Olympic Park to Circular Quay so I got off at Darling Harbor (it is closer to my hotel anyway). It was around dusk and the day was perfect so I got some great sunset photos. It was too windy to enjoy the ride at the deck though. If you have plenty of time, I guess it's a good option. Otherwise, there is so much you can otherwise do in Sydney.

Don your sunglasses, shorts and cameras round the neck, exhausted expressions and sunburn optional…read more It's time to play 'pretend I'm a tourist in my own city'. Parramatta Rivercat. One of those things I'd never got around to. Don't think of Parramatta as a river kind of destination. Hopped on the 'Marjorie Jackson' (the specially designed rivercats are all named after female athletes) for a trip down river. Or up river. I don't know. It's a terribly smooth ride, with barely a wobble when you cross another boat's wake, and a lovely way to see parts of the harbour I never get to. If you can ignore the 'Life Jackets under the seat' signs that are EVERYWHERE. This cat had onboard wifi and was comfier than it looked. We drifted up/down river, and I got to shudder at some of the indescribably fugly foreshore architecture and play 'if I inherited the fortune of a benevolent millionaire which house would I buy.' (Victorian era, preferably with turret, or maybe art deco, smooth lines). There's all these little parks and wharves I had no idea were there, and although it was a bit of a stretch to imagine you're ferrying down the Seine, there's a point at which the highrises suddenly end, and it's nothing but mangroves. Feel free to indulge in Heart of Darkness heading to see Kurtz and my doom fantasies at that point. The 50 minutes flew by, and we were deposited on the little wharf at Parramatta, handing over the cat to a troop of schoolkids dressed up like urchins in mobcaps and backpacks. Reading the plaques on the wharf, just imagine what it was like in colonial days, the first boat built to navigate up there was called 'The Lump' by the convicts, and the round trip could take a week. The trip back I caught another Rivercat of older vintage, after hopping on a bus to Rydalmere as the tide was too low for the ferry to make it that far. There were no signs or anything that this was happening, so keep your eye on the busstop or call the info line.

In my opinion, public transport in Sydney is not that bad…read more Lazy day just hope in to one of those light train, and you can have lunch at the famous Sydney fish market, and it's so handy plus convenient as well. There are 2 side of exit/ entrance, so if family member on wheel chairs, can also use the lift to go to street level.

I came through here for the Sydney Marathon because race participants needed to get to Bradfield…read morePark for the start line. Each train car was packed once we arrived at this station so the train had to park there until everyone was able to get off. The bottleneck for getting out of the station were the stairs. Since it was an elevated platform, there were nice views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the surrounding area.

Milsons Point station (note no apostrophe in the name!) must be the CityRail station with the most…read morereal estate value. It's got the lot, incredible value, never to be repeated again: views (including water views and Harbour Bridge views), close to transport (yeah, literally, but ferries, f(r)eeway and buses are also not far away), close to shops (a couple of restaurants and cafes down there), heritage building, lifts built-in, gardens at your (non-existent) door-step. The list goes on. It also has got two bathrooms, an unknown number of rooms (probably more than your average home), but no parking spaces and no swimming pool:( Ok, in terms of real estate value I've lied a bit here. Circular Quay station is equally good (just see my review of it). The best part of this is you get to enjoy this value every time you check in here, and it only(!) costs you the price of a CityRail ticket. The interesting thing with the transport hub 'Milsons Point station' is that you won't even really notice it's there. Once you step out of the station building, which on its ground level really is just an arch-way under the extension of our Harbour Bridge, you're either in Kiribilli village, or Bradfield Park. From either side, it's just a stone's throw to the harbour. One last breath of harbour air. Breath-in...aaaahh fresh air: "Please stand clear. Doors closing." Oi, bummer.