We arrived in Sydney yesterday afternoon for the NYE celebrations and no sooner walked out of our…read morehotel (Pier 1, Marriott Bonvoy) and saw a beautiful old sailing or tall ship. We wandered down and found they actually did 2 hour dinner cruises and had one leaving in 10 minutes. Perfect. We boarded the Southern Swan and sat back to enjoy the sights and sounds of Sydney harbor on this fabulous 1922 timber barquentine. The crew was lovely, very helpful and full of information about the harbor and the sites we were passing (Governors House, sharks island, Sydney Opera House etc) The food was very good, better than most dinner cruises on much newer ships. Some sausage or spinach and feta triangles as appetizers were passed around first. Three different salads, two casseroles, one a mild chicken curry and another lentil and veggie one for the vegetarians - all gluten free served buffet style. Brownies for dessert. Drinks were available for an additional cost at the bar or as part of a package. The best bit, should you choose, you can even help raise sails (hubby did that) or even climb the masts. A great way to spend the evening. Thanks to Captain Pete, Howard our host and the wonderful crew members who are mostly international visitors who sign on for up to three months, volunteering for room and board onboard. Louisa was one young German lady who was doing it and an absolute delight to talk to. Thanks to all who made this a great evening.

My partner and I did the "Cut & Thrust of the CBD" tour and what a wonderful day it was. We wanted…read moreto get away from the mainstream grind of touristy destinations & coach trips and our host Marie definitely delivered. Having a local person's 'insider' perspective gave us the opportunity to see and visit many places that are easily overlooked by most Sydney-siders I'm sure. We loved the hidden coffee and cake shops in The Strand Arcade and The Art Gallery of NSW is just a wonderful structure, not to mention the artwork. Winding up at Grasshopper was a wonderful and quirky surprise and it's never where you'd find it. Ironic that it's on "Temperance Lane" . 3 hours (the minimum tour time) is the perfect amount of time to achieve all we wanted to see and to give us a taste of places we may wish to go back and visit again. Some of the highlights worth noting are: Gaffa Gallery in Clarence St - It's run by the artists and a cool place to view and buy art Kinokuniya - Japanese bookshop in Galleries Victoria - to see the fantastic range of art books & literature Gowings Bar in the new QT hotel - apparently they've done an amazing reno and there is a really cool bar/brasserie Strand Arcade - beautiful cake shops & if you like jewellery shopping then this is the place. The history of the building is quite fascinating too! Chinatown - great Coconut Buns. Highly recommended for anybody (travellers and locals) who wants to explore or re-explore Sydney. Thank you again for such a wonderful day, The Sydney Connection is definitely the hidden gem of this town!

Thanks to the guidebook I managed to find a tour to the blue mountains in a small group…read more Unfortunately, the tours will only start from most of the hotels in the CBD area and I had to purposely stay overnight at a cheaper hotel to join this tour which starts at 7am (timing depends on pick up locations). The downside of this tour is some customers arrive late or didn't show up which took a little bit of the time. First stop, our tour guide as well as driver brought us to Featherdale wild life park. Managed to reach here before 9am (their opening hours) so we managed to feed the Kangaroos, pet the Koala and Wombats, take quick pictures of the animals in different habitats and shop for a bit. Next of was the scenic world where we experienced the railway, cableway, walkway (trail) and skyway. The tour guide leaded us for the cableway and skyway which helped us in maximizing our time there. He then gave us food vouchers (that was included in the tour package) for our lunch and told us to be back around 2 hours later. After scenic world, he brought us to echo point and Leura village. Echo point, you can take pictures of the blue mountains and shop for souvenir while Leura village you can stroll along the shops to sightsee or go to a cafe to enjoy baked goods and cup of coffee. I managed to do both. Time management was definitely an important factor here. We then headed to the Olympic park where we could take picture and use the restroom and along the way he gave us a brief history of the places we passed by. Our last stop was at the river cruise from homebush bay. It took us 1 hour to get back to Circular Quay wharf and the tour guide bid goodbye there. Price wise, it was on the expensive side ($145) but with the code guidebook, you could save $10-$20. The tour ended exactly at 6pm (including the cruise ride to circular quay). Definitely recommend this tour group to other tourists :)

It was a great day-the last time I was in Sydney, my time was so limited that it was either to tour…read moreSydney all day or go to the Blue Mountains [all day] I opted to see Sydney at that time. This time, in addition to seeing Sydney, my friend and I did the Blue Mountain excursion, this being a priority. The concierge at the hotel suggested the Blue Mountain tour with FJ tours since it was all inclusive. It was a full day-we left in the morning and did not get back until after dinner. We made a stop at the Featherdale Wildlife Park which was wonderful-we were able to see the wallabees and the kangaroos up close, pet them and feed them. We then went on to Leura for lunch, [Loaves and the Dishes] Echo Point for a photo op and then on to the 3 Sisters. We had rides on the Scenic skyway and the day ended with a cruise dropping us off either at Darling Harbor or Circular Quay. A great day and well worth the time. I would recommend.

Enjoyed being in Leonard's tour group to the Blue mountains, Katoomba, Scenic World, Lerua,…read moreSydneyZoo. Leonard was so knowledgeable and loved his playlist of Aussie artists. Highly recommend DiamondTours

Ian was our tour guide. He was fantastic. He picked us up on time. Learned all of our names and…read moredelighted us with his information. At each stop on the tour he took care of everything from the tickets to recommendations to the food, drink and bathrooms. What a wonderful company and guided tour of the Blue Mountains. At the end of the tour the owner greeted us. She wanted to be sure all had gone well. Highly recommend this tour company.

Having this bus stop 5 minutes walk from home is the best! Super convenient, clean and safe…read more Watch out though Maccas is across the road and is an easy detour on the way home #doit #dontdoit hehe

Matt is an exceptional guide! Kind, attentive, knows the bush and unbeaten paths! In one day we had…read morea weeks worth of adventure! We went to Sydney as a family and he was able to entertain my husband and I, as well as my son.. we were impressed as it is a difficult task to ensure everyone is happy. I recommend booking him if you can get a spot, best guide ever !

Best personalized tour we have been on in all of our many travels. Our guide, Matt gave us a real…read moretaste of what this beautiful country offers. From wildlife to the vegetation, lakes, and beaches. We had the best time and will recommend him to our family and friends in the future. Thank you Matt for making our tour so memorable!

Really enjoying such a special location overlooking Manly Cove. This Guest House is lovely, and…read morewe are enjoying our room. We especially appreciate the breakfast each morning and the ability to occasionally use the Guest House kitchen to prepare a lunch. Great location with close proximity to the ferry to Sydney.

I've stayed in probably dozens of hostels in my life, and this one isn't too bad overall. For $30 a…read moreSaturday night in central Sydney, you can definitely do worse. It advertises itself as Mountbatten Hotel, but that's just the name of the pub downstairs. When you arrive, it's actually named Sydney City Hostels and the entrance is on Ultimo Road. Up two flights of stairs - no elevators - is reception. Staff are friendly and helpful although it would have been nice to have been notified of the $20 refundable key deposit in my email confirmation. I had to leave to get cash out and come back. The rooms are decent with a flat screen telly, mirror, small table and 2 chairs as well as an extension cord so you can plug your phone in for charging while you sit in bed (if you happen to be lucky enough to score a bottom bunk). Fancy, huh! The room, however, smelled like arse and feet, and sweaty men's clothes. Floors were pretty filthy, so I'm not sure how often they get cleaned. Then again as I arrived there was a guy packing to leave after 4 weeks in that room so maybe he made a mess after it was cleaned that day. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt?! There's a locker provided in the rooms for each bed, but it was slightly too small to fit my 40L backpack. Good to keep passports or small valuables like laptops or cameras. There was one toilet and 2 showers near my room, and I was told that there were additional bathroom facilities down the corridor although I never checked them out as the toilet was free whenever I needed it. Bathroom facilities were always clean. It's worth noting that reception is only open during the day (8am-10pm I think) so if you need anything outside of hours, tough luck. The hostel is pretty noisy on a Saturday night, I'm not sure if it was a room in the hostel or a nearby pub but there was loud partying all night long. I managed to sleep through it for the most part but next time I'll remember to bring ear plugs :) Beds could really use with updating... I switched from a much-too-firm top bunk to a way-too-soft bottom bunk (mattresses are obviously never turned!!). I left early the next morning to escape the smell in the room and showered in a friend's nearby hotel room (wasting the $2 I paid for towel hire!) so I can't comment on the showers or free breakfast. Location is great, 2 minutes from Central Station, easy walk to China Town, Paddy's Markets, Darling Harbour and Pitt Street Mall. There are tons of great restaurants in the area and getting here by public transport is really simple. Would I stay here again? Sure, but next time I'll book ahead so I can get a female only dorm.