What makes Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden so special?

The attraction focuses on creating a memorable visitor experience, making plant life accessible and relevant to all. Notably, garden volunteers curate a monthly self-guided tour for visitors, with trivia about the “Plant of the Month,” as well as seasonal changes that you can observe. August, for instance, is when winter is on its way out, and one can expect longer days and milder nights.

For those who prefer to be enlightened by a guide, the Royal Botanic Garden runs free 1.5-hour guided walks at 10:30am daily. A one-hour tour option is also available; this will run on weekdays until November 30 2018.

Relish a whimsical flora experience? Make your way to Wendy’s Secret Garden, which is open daily at no charge. The garden—originally unused railway land—is a labour of love and a place of refuge for Wendy Whiteley, who began working on it after her husband’s death in 1992.

“I just needed to do something, and I looked out and I thought, this is such a sad kind of wasteland,” says Whiteley. “I didn’t know anything about horticulture when I started the garden. I just knew what I liked. I’ve since learnt what likes being here. It’s a symbiotic relationship between the plants, myself, and my gardeners.”

Sadly, Whiteley also lost her only child several years later, and the garden once again served as her healing space. “[It’s a] very special, magical place. Very much like the original ‘Secret Garden’ in the book,” Whiteley muses. “I just feel very happy here. In fact, I’m really only happy here.”

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Get directions to Wendy’s Secret Garden

Alternatively, spend the morning meandering through Sydney with the city council’s self-guided walks. Of varying lengths and difficulty, they cover prominent landmarks and historic sites. You can download the Sydney Culture Walks app for details on more than 400 Sydney attractions, and choose from 15 walking tours curated by the city council.

If you’re willing to spend a little by way of tips, show up for the 2.5-hour Sydney Sights walking tour by I’m Free Walking Tours, which will take you to the Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, The Rocks district (see below), and many more.

The tour is “fabulously informative,” according to a Sydney resident and travel blogger, and “you’ll feel compelled to tip well because the guides are passionate, knowledgeable, and do a . . . fine job of keeping the group’s attention... just an all-round great introduction to Sydney.”

If you should get off to a late start in the morning, all’s not lost as you can still join I’m Free Walking Tours’ 2:30pm Sydney Sights tour, or their 6:00pm Rocks walking tour (1.5 hours), dedicated to exploring Australia’s first European/convict settlement. Unravel intriguing tales of murder, mystery, and mayhem as you embark on this walking tour, which will take you to the site of the district’s first hanging, as well as where protests are held in the present day.

Another popular operator is Free Tours Sydney, which runs a daily tour at 10:30am. Again, donations will be requested at the end of the tour. Their tours give a fair bit of attention to The Rocks, and the advantage of joining them is that you won’t have to look for a separate tour to learn more about this colourful area.

Post-lunch, check if the Sydney Conservatorium of Music has a free classical music performance that you can enjoy.

If you’ve spent the morning outdoors, use the rest of the afternoon to dip into the cool comfort of Sydney’s museums, many of which hold free exhibitions for visitors. To focus on art, head to the Art Gallery of NSW, where admission is free for the permanent galleries and most events. The five areas of art represented in this comprehensive gallery are aboriginal art, Asian art, Western art, contemporary art, and photography. You can visit the gallery’s user-friendly website to find out more about its mission to “open people’s eyes and minds to the wonder, richness, and sheer pleasure of art.”

Contemporary art lovers can also visit the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), where admission is mostly free. The MCA collects art by living Australian artists, with an emphasis on works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. More information on these artists is available on the MCA website.

If you’re a history buff with extra time, consider including The Rocks Discovery Museum in your museum trek—it’s located in the same area as the MCA. Also free, this museum promises to tell the story of The Rocks from its pre-European days to the present.

You’ll learn about the area’s traditional custodians and the establishment of the English colony. You’ll also find out about a time when sailors, whalers, and traders made a home for themselves at The Rocks. And you will feel the fire and fury of the 1970s union-led protests, which is part of the reason why The Rocks remains in existence today.

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Get directions to The Rocks Discovery Museum

To kick off your evening with a bang, join the 6:00pm free tour of The Rocks (see I’m Free Walking Tours above), and if you should grab dinner in the area, be sure to seek local advice on avoiding tourist traps. Next up on your nightlife agenda will be to look up free and fun things to do in Sydney at night, and the city council website once again proves handy here, with a list of free music performances that you can look forward to from the evening till late, ranging from open-mic nights to indie band album launches.

If you seek a broader range of entertainment, extend your search to the city’s free events, which include everything from light shows to table tennis and tequila tasting. For some cultural exposure after dark, make time for the Art Gallery of NSW’s Art After Hours special—on Wednesdays, its galleries remain open till 10:00pm, with courtesy buses to ferry visitors to various locations in the city in proximity to public transportation. Likewise, the MCA opens till 9:00pm on Wednesdays, and you can visit their website to find out about their free evening “Mystery tours” and other events.

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