The Top Things to Do in Sydney 2020

Humble, proud, and unpretentious, Garrison Church isn’t the largest church in Sydney—nor its most popular or famous—but it holds an honorable, timeless charm for Sydney’s military families. Established back in 1840, Garrison Church was the first military church established in the colony of Australia, and today houses a military museum on the small inside of the church. As it’s located next to The Rocks near downtown, Garrison Church makes an easy detour on a popular visitor route of Sydney, and is a way to experience a sliver of life in Australia’s earliest days. The church itself was actually constructed from the sandstone on nearby Argyle Street, and while modern Sydney has grown up around it into the modern metropolis it is today, Garrison Church exists as an almost forgotten window into the past.

At the foot of Sydney’s Harbour Bridge lies the city’s historic birthplace, the Rocks: a quarter of winding streets, small sandstone houses and some of the oldest pubs in town. It was here that the colonists from the First Fleet settled, and the site soon became home to the strong community network of Sydney’s working class. The Susannah Place Museum, a small complex dating back to 1844, tells the story of these former residents. It consists of four terrace houses and a mom-and-pop shop that sells historical artifacts and typical Australian souvenirs. The museum gives fascinating insight into the hard urban life of the working class during colonial times, with workers' stories reconstructed through oral histories. Visitors are shown a documentary about those who lived here and are then given a tour through the buildings, which are all preserved in their original condition.

These days Sydney’s Capitol Theatre is regarded as one of the finest theaters in the country, but this wasn’t always the case. The site on which the theater now stands has over 100 years of history. Located in the historic Haymarket district, the Capitol Theater began its life in 1892 as the Belmore Markets, which closed in 1916. The building was then converted into a hippodrome designed for the Wirth Bros circus. Within ten years the circus became financially unviable and the building was again converted, this time into a movie theatre. Its manifestation as a ‘picture palace’ lasted until the 1980s, when is was scheduled to be demolished. Luckily, a Heritage Council conservation order rescued the theatre and it was eventually restored to create the world-class lyric theatre that is today.

Located in the heart of Sydney’s Central Business District, between George Street and the Pitt Street Mall, the Strand Arcade is a Victorian-style shopping center that houses specialty stores catering to a sophisticated clientele, as well as Australian designer labels such as Alannah Hill, Alex Perry, Jayson Brunsdon and Fleur Wood. The Strand, which is named after a shopping street in London that was famous in the early 1900s, was designed by the English architect John Spencer and opened in 1892. It was the fifth and last shopping arcade built in Sydney during the Victorian era, and is the only one remaining in its original form.

The Sydney Conservatorium of Music may very well be the most respected music school in all of Australia. With faculty from the University of Sydney, it was once the site of Australia’s first full orchestra composed of both professionals and students. Today the Conservatorium provides musical education, research, and some of the city’s top performances. Its music library is the largest in the southern hemisphere. The space itself has a remarkable place in Australian national history. Built on what was once Aboriginal land, it then evolved into an early settlement built with sandstone and supported by labor from convicts. It also served as government stables, remnants of which can still be seen in the architecture today. The historic land turned international music school makes for an interesting visit, with part of the school located underneath the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens.