World Country Guide

Travel - International

Air
Sydney is an international gateway to Australia, and international flights from Europe, New Zealand, Asia, Africa and the Americas all serve the city. The main domestic airlines operating in New South Wales are: Aeropelican Air Services, Air Link, Eastern Australian, Jetstar, Qantas, Rex – Regional Express, Sunshine Express and Virgin Blue.

Approximate flight times
From Sydney to Bangkok is nine hours 20 minutes, to London is 25 hours 15 minutes, to Los Angeles is 13 hours 30 minutes, to New York is 21 hours 30 minutes, to Paris is 23 hours five minutes and to Singapore is eight hours.

International airports
Sydney (SYD) (website: www.sydneyairport.com.au) is Sydney’s international airport; it is 8km (5 miles) from the city centre; travel time – 10 minutes by rail link or 20-30 minutes by car. For more information, see Travel – International in the main Australia section.

Sea
Sydney is a major international port, and cruise lines call from Europe, the Far East and the USA. There are also many day- and half-day cruises from Sydney Harbour (Circular Quay), offering everything from sightseeing tours to nearby attractions such as wildlife and aboriginal communities, the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley wine region, to night-time cabaret showboats.

Rail
Sydney has through-trains to all other State capitals. The Great South Pacific connects Sydney to Brisbane and Cairns. An internal system of railways runs throughout the State, connecting all the most important towns, tourist resorts and running through to Canberra in the south. The two main rail operators are Cityrail (website: www.cityrail.nsw.gov.au) and Countrylink (website: www.countrylink.info). The main train interchanges are located at Central Station and Town Hall.

Road
Sydney is the focal point of a network that connects every major city. Road distances from many places, however, are enormous, and a journey by even the fastest coach to Darwin, on the northern coast, takes over 92 hours. The State is well served with an excellent road system, as required by the most heavily populated region of the country. Main highways are the Barrier Highway, running west to Adelaide, the Hume Highway running south to Canberra and Melbourne, the New England Highway running north to Brisbane, the Pacific Highway running along the coast to Brisbane (one of Australia’s most popular touring routes), the Princess Highway running south along the coast to Melbourne, and the Mitchell Highway running northeast to Charleville and connecting with the routes to Mount Isa and Darwin in the north. The State is well served by national coach operators and regional bus lines.

Urban
Sydney’s extensive electrified suburban rail network includes a city-centre underground link, lightrail and a monorail link. The monorail runs in a loop, linking Darling Harbour and various tourist attractions. Lightrail services run from Sydney Central through Chinatown, Darling Harbour and other sights to Star City and Wentworth Park. There are also bus and ferry services (see the official bus and ferry website: www.sydneybuses.nsw.gov.au). Weekly and other period passes are available, as are multi-journey tickets. The Sydney Explorer Bus stops at over 20 attractions on its route and visitors can join or leave it at any point.
Discount travel tickets: There is a wide variety of saver passes for transportation to a range of tourist attractions. A special Sydney Pass, valid for three, five or seven days, offers unlimited travel on Sydney’s public transport including sightseeing tours, Sydney Ferries’ harbour cruises, Manly Ferry, JetCat and RiverCat services, the Sydney, Bondi and Bay Explorer buses and return travel to the airport. Prices start at A$100 for an adult three-day pass. Other passes include Sydney/Bondi Explorer Ticket, Sydney Bonus Ticket, See Sydney and Beyond Pass and Sydney YES ticket. For more information contact Tourism New South Wales (see Contact Addresses section).
Meter operated taxis service all major cities and towns. Taxi ranks can be found at transport terminals, major hotels and shopping centres or they can be hailed in the street.