Sydney Open Hits the City Soon – Here’s Where To Eat Before, After and In Between Seeing the Sights

There’s a trap you fall into as a local. When you pass the same people and places on the reg, you stop taking notice of your surroundings. You gloss over the details. Your morning commute, walking around your block, dashing around your city – same old, same old. As Sydneysiders, we don’t take the time to really soak in our own city the way we would wandering around Seoul, Rome or New York. But we’re missing out on the spaces backdropping our lives.

Like the “crumpled paper bag building” , an Aussie one-off from an acclaimed international architect. And the art-filled hotel on the site that previously housed the oldest kiln ever found in Australia. The Unesco World Heritage site , the origin point of nursing education in the country, and the First Nations meeting site that became a commercial wharf and later a creative studio and theatre for one of our top dance companies. It’s time to take a closer look at our surroundings.

On Sunday November 2, Sydney Open , the annual one-day event run by Museums of History NSW , invites you into more than 55 interesting, historic and design-led spaces – many rarely open to the public – all over the city. Just make sure you dine well before, after and during your outing.

The CBD and Circular Quay

Armed with a City Pass , hop off your chosen public transport around Town Hall, taking in a staggering new build: Parkline Place. Gaze up at 39 glassy storeys, framed in bronze, before heading to Gumption in The Strand or Diggy Doos on Bridge Street for coffee. Meander slowly towards the water, passing the ornate domes and arches of the Queen Victoria Building, taking in the glam of the 1960s high-flyers and the snaking brickwork (and origin story of nursing education Down Under) at the Lucy Osburn-Nightingale Museum. Stop at The Fullerton Hotel Sydney for a refined lunch or afternoon drink beneath its soaring atrium, before zipping up to the Hyde Park Barracks , recognised on the Unesco World Heritage list.

If you need a breather before continuing, drop by Little National Hotel ’s Terrace Bar for a skyline spritz or This Way Canteen at the Museum of Sydney for an easy lunch with local flair. Explore the sandstone castle at Government House at the northern edge of the Royal Botanic Gardens between midday and 3pm, when there’ll be live jazz. Then take in the sprawling grounds – including the Cadi Jam Ora Garden, camelia grove and Aussie rainforest. You can also check out the oldest glasshouse in the state and the finalists’ gallery for the 2025 National Emerging Art Prize.

A spot near the sails at Opera Bar , or underneath them at Bennelong ’s bar, is as good as it gets. And if you’re looking for dinner, book a booth at Grandfathers , the Clam Bar team’s red-lit dining room dedicated to dishes from the Guangdong and Sichuan regions.

Barangaroo, Walsh Bay and The Rocks

You’ve arrived once you spy the glassy blue facade of One Shelley Street , wrapped in criss-crossing white beams. Walk around the Barangaroo coastline with a golden carb from Bourke Street Bakery’s outpost till get you to Pier Pavilion , the public performance space constructed out of recycled oyster shells. The architects behind the project will be giving talks throughout the day.

The sandstone arches of the National Trust Centre and our stellar observatory take you on your way to Walsh Bay, with a pitstop at The Glenmore for a schooner before you descend underground to archaeological ruins.

Bangarra Dance Theatre – our internationally renowned performing arts company made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dancers – is headquartered on the wharf, an area sacred to the Gadigal people. Wonder at Foundation Hall and opt for a set-menu lunch at Canvas on level four. Or find yourself a spot at The Malaya , a family-run restaurant that pioneered Southeast Asian cuisine in Sydney.

Ultimo, Haymarket and Central

A gothic revival church ? The morbid final stop for a rail line, with gates swung wide exclusively for Sydney Open? The waves and angles of that “crumpled paper bag” , Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry’s only Aussie design? All that and more awaits around Central Station. Grab cream-topped matcha or cold brew at Chubby Cubby , or dip to Parami for plump umeboshi-stuffed onigiri and a sticky mochi muffin.

At 3pm, doors open at 40 Res , the wine bar from top chef Josh Raine. Keep it snacky with fancy fish fingers and a shared bottle in the window before heading to Porkfat for some of the most outstanding Thai food in town, then a perfect cocktail at polished laneway haunt Bancho.

Check out Ace Hotel ’s fit-out and the art program curated by Flack Studio, and eat while you’re at it: cafe staples at Good Chemistry in the back laneway until 1pm, fresh plates all day at Loam, or Bloody Mary-salted fries and a $12 Martini in the lobby (even better if you’re lounging during happy hour, from 4pm till 6pm). Up at Kiln , designed by Fiona Lynch and with views of the urban skyline, Noma alum Beau Clugston’s leading the charge.

Darlinghurst and Surry Hills

Bundarra is a marvel, spiralling out of its Victorian terrace-house anchor. Now a schmick office for a creative agency, it’s dotted with Aussie art and fuses the old and the new. Time your visit with a stop at Sang by Mabasa. The teeny Korean joint is the spot for a mean kimchi pancake, tidy veggie mandu (dumplings), bibimbap and more.

Or swipe grilled tacos through deeply flavoured consommé at Papi’s Birria , before heading to Qtopia – previously Darlinghurst Police Station, the space is now dedicated to history and storytelling for Sydney’s queer community – just off Taylor Square.

A coffee and buttermilk croissant? Or twirls of leftover-bread spaghetti? AP Bread & Wine will sort you out, then send you past the towering National Art School walls, into the old Darlinghurst Gaol, and on to the swirling iron gates – by Uncle Badger Bates, artist and Barkandji Elder – of Yirranma Place.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Sydney Open. From 10am till 4pm on November 2, buildings around the Harbour City are open for you to explore. Make sure to pick up your City Pass wristbands from The Mint, the Museum of Sydney or Hyde Park Barracks between September 22 and November 1. Printed maps will be available on the day, and digitally a week prior.