-wuppertaler / CC BY 4.0Where to stay in CBD & The Rocks
The harbour end of the city centre: Circular Quay with the Opera House on one side and the bridge on the other, The Rocks and Millers Point behind it — the oldest streets in the country, sandstone and pubs — and Barangaroo's new towers west of them. Every train line, every ferry and the light rail meet here, the Botanic Gardens run along the water, and the hotel stock is the largest in the city. What you give up is a neighbourhood: this is an office district with a harbour attached, quiet in the way office districts are quiet at the weekend, and expensive in the way harbour views are expensive.
Price level · Upscale
Sydney
Area scorecard
Scored 0–10 by Where Stay Guide. No overall total: every traveller weights these differently.
- Sightseeing
- 9.2
- Walkability
- 8.5
- Transport
- 9.0
- Food
- 7.5
- Nightlife
- 6.5
- Quietness
- 4.5
- Families
- 7.5
- Value
- 5.0
- Airport / station
- 8.5
- First trip
- 9.2
Best for
- A first trip, where the harbour is the reason you came
- Travellers who want the ferries and the trains at the door
- Short stays, where time lost getting into town is the expensive thing
Choose elsewhere if
- You want dinner on your own street rather than a walk away
- You are watching what you spend
- You came for the beaches and intend to be on them