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Photo: Siegfried Nugent (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
the leading museum of art in New South Wales and Sydney, and one of Australia's foremost cultural institutions. It holds significant collections of Australian art, and presents nearly forty exhibitions annually. British Victorian art, along with smaller holdings of Dutch, French and Italian painters of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, and a collection of modern British masters, European modernists and European classical art. The collection includes work by Reubens, Picasso, Van Gogh and many others. There is also an impressive collection of Asian, South East Asian, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. The new North Building has an extensive collection of contemporary art, including the dark 'Tank' level in the basement - a cavernous and strange area that used to hold fuel for shipping. Not all of the collection holdings are on exhibition at any one time and the gallery occasionally rotates significant works on exhibition. The building itself is a much-photographed sandstone structure with a large formal entrance. There is a popular cafe inside the gallery, with views over Wooloomooloo.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most important public gallery in Sydney and one of the largest in Australia.
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In colonial times this land was the Governor’s buffer of privacy between his residence and the penal colony. Roads and paths were constructed through the Domain by 1831 to allow public access. Since that time it has remained a place for the people to breath and relax. The Domain surrounds the Royal Botanic Gardens. In times past has been a site of often quite colourful public oratory and site of public rallies and demonstrations. Home to the popular Opera in the Domain, Jazz in the Domain, and Symphony in the Domain events in summer, as well as the Tropfest short film festival. If attending any of these events, arrive in the early afternoon to secure a picnic spot as upwards of 100,000 people attend.
Built in 1818-1819. Constructed by convicts and housed by them, the Hyde Park Barracks provided housing for convicts working in government employment around Sydney from 1819 until its closure in 1848. Interior is restored with exhibits depicting the furnishings and life of the time. Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
A walk around the Royal Botanic Garden with an Aboriginal guide who will tell you about native plants that have been used by Aboriginal Australians for generations, as food, medicine, and tools. You can sample a few on the way, including fruits and herbs. Book in advance.
The Catholic Sydney diocese's cathedral, built in 1868.
Includes a large exhibition space with changing artistic, historical and cultural exhibits. The Mitchell Reading Room is a historical large open book-lined room, and worth a look inside. The reference library is a modern addition, and really only of interest for research. The library collection includes a copy of every volume published in New South Wales, and many rare texts. There is a cafe on the ground floor near the entrance to the reference library and the bookshop.
Flinders' Cat
A bronze statue of Trim, the cat who accompanied Matthew Flinders on his voyages to circumnavigate and map the coastline of Australia from 1801 to 1803.