From Sydney CBD to Pyrmont: Where To Eat, Drink, Shop and Stay

Whether you’re visiting Sydney or planning a city staycation, it can be tricky to distil the best of the CBD and its surrounds into a single day. So we’ve come up with a guided route that takes you from the heart of the city to Pyrmont, with stops to eat, drink, shop and settle in for the evening.

Breakfast at Hotel Morris

Set within a heritage-listed art deco building, Hotel Morris is an 82-room boutique hotel with a distinctly Italian sensibility. Ruby-red velvet, brass accents and blue Roma marbling give the interiors warmth and character, balanced by modern comforts including custom-designed beds, Mr Smith amenities and streamlined in-room tech. It’s compact, polished and well positioned for a city base, making it easy to catch a show at the Capitol Theatre or stroll through Hyde Park. Plus, you can get tiramisu delivered with a special staycation option.

Downstairs, Bar Morris continues the Italian thread. Breakfast can be as simple as an espresso and a pastry, or something more hearty like Italian-style eggs Benedict with prosciutto, or smashed avocado with caprese and boiled egg. From 10am, mimosas and the Bloody Morris (Italian-spiced tomato juice with Archie Rose vodka) round out the offering.

Coffee at Edition Roasters

A 10-minute walk takes you to Edition Roasters in Haymarket, a corner cafe where Scandinavian and Japanese interior design comes together. Batch brews rotate daily, spanning single origin estates from Ethiopia to Costa Rica. If one coffee is enough for the day, there’s an excellent selection of iced drinks such as hojicha latte or yuzu soda, and teas from China and Japan. Pair them with a miso cookie or a miso banana bread topped with yuzu curd.

Lunch at XOPP

Within Darling Square, XOPP sits on the mezzanine of the striking Exchange building. The Cantonese kitchen is famed for its eponymous pippies tossed through glossy XO sauce, which is best soaked up with either a fried vermicelli noodle cake or fried Chinese doughnuts. Live seafood is displayed in tanks, while the yum cha menu offers classics like prawn har gow and prawn siu mai alongside creative spins like mini prawn mantou with XO sauce. Floor-to-ceiling windows look out over the boulevard, while inside hums with the energy of the precinct below.

Explore Sydney Fish Market

From here, continue towards Pyrmont and the new Sydney Fish Market. The $386 million facility is an architectural statement in its own right and home to 40 retailers, including Olivetta, a specialty retailer where you can sample small-batch olive oil, or pick up some souvenirs at the gift shop. If you’ve still got some room, why not grab a dozen freshly shucked Sydney rock oysters, or a tray of sashimi, before taking a seat outside overlooking Blackwattle Bay? Pop by Hamsi Taverna for a quick afternoon aperitivo under one of its sunshine yellow umbrellas.

Dinner and stay at Hotel Woolstore 1888

End the day at Percy, the Spanish tapas bar inside Hotel Woolstore 1888’s heritage warehouse building. The menu offers a generous selection of crowd-pleasers, such as kipfler patatas bravas, gambas al ajillo and crispy pork belly with mojo verde. Larger plates include black Berkshire pork chop with estrella vinegar glaze and black garlic sauce, and salt cod with oil, garlic and natural fish emulsion served alongside charred leek.

The drinks list skews Spanish, with seasonal cocktails in the mix. House signatures include the Martini Salado featuring Never Never Oyster Shell Gin served with a Gilda, and the Mango Matador with Padron-infused Tromba Blanco tequila.

Upstairs, eight room types celebrate the building’s former life as a woolstore, with exposed timber beams, heritage brickwork and an industrial aesthetic. High ceilings and large windows enhance the sense of space, while custom furnishings and warm textures create a comfortable retreat after an evening downstairs at Percy.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Accor. Rooms at Hotel Morris start at $250, while stays at Hotel Woolstore 1888 start at $259.