In late December in Sydney there is no snow, but short sleeves, a sea breeze and a lot of Santa hats on the beach. If you have five days and want to keep costs down, the formula is simple: to go to free events, to avoid Christmas menus in restaurants, and to eat where the locals eat. And because it’s Christmas, I threw in some Aussie jokes so bad that a Christmas cracker blushes.
Day 1: Arrival and Christmas Lights in the City Heart
Make yourself at home first before starting on the sight-seeing. In the middle of the afternoon, go to Hyde Park, then past St Mary’s Cathedral to Martin Place. At Christmas time, there is a light and a market from 28 November to 24 December, where handicrafts are sold and festive snacks are offered – browsing costs nothing. In tonight’s evening, you can go to a nearby market for bread, cheese and fruit to prepare your breakfast for tomorrow.
Dinner tip: If you are too jetlagged to cook, Mappen on George Street is that rare central business district unicorn where a bowl of udon or soba costs little more than ten bucks. Grab a tray, point at what you want and you’re done; efficient, like a seagull at a chip shop, but with better manners.
Day 2: Harbour Landmarks and a Rocks Sunset
GET TO THE OPT: The Sydney Opera House early to take pictures of the outside. One can appreciate the building without paying a tour. From there, go to the Royal Botanic Gardens and continue on to Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair—the best spot for free photos of the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and Harbour Tunnel. Come before 11:45 am or after 1:30 pm, unless you have a hobby for queues. For lunch, skip the tourist traps at Circular Quay. Walk five minutes inland and prices will plummet. Chat Thai, on the sixth floor of Westfield, serves up Pad Thai and green curry for a few dollars more and the taste is excellent, especially considering its shopping centre location.
In the evening go to The Rocks, where the weekend market is worth a look – but remember that most souvenir shops sell the same things at half price in Chinatown. For dinner, try the roof of The Glenmore Hotel – harbor views without the tourist price.
Why did the sea say nothing to Saint Nicholas? It just bowed. You’re welcome.
Day 3: Bondi Beach and the Coastal Walk
Take bus 333 straight to Bondi Beach. Bondi is buzzing at Christmas, but don’t eat at the pricey restaurants on the beachfront. Take some water and a few snacks and take the six-kilometre coastal walk from Bondi to Coogee: past the quieter beaches of Tamarama and Bronte, and with a view to match any tourist attraction. Take a picture of the Icebergs Pool – it costs a couple of dollars to enter – just buy a coffee, don’y eat there.
Lunch on a budget: Chaco Ramen has a branch in Bondi, in addition to the Darlinghurst one, and serves ramen with enough modern flair to justify the hype, without the beachfront price tag. Or, if you come back through Bondi Junction, try the Burger Project, which serves celebrity chef Neil Perry’s food for fast-food money: Cape Grim beef, no white tablecloths…
When you’re tired, the North Bondi RSL Club at Coogee is a budget-friendly option with mains under $40, a sea-view balcony and a relaxed atmosphere. Note: this venue does offer a $95-plus buffet on Christmas Day itself, but its regular menu is priced well and will suit budget travellers.
Day 4: Fish Market and a Free Culture Afternoon
Get up early for the Sydney Fish Market; it is very crowded on Christmas Eve, but is open from seven in the morning to four in the afternoon (except Christmas Day). Buy a kilo of cooked prawns and a few oysters, and eat them while sitting on the edge of the outdoor platform – cheaper than any restaurant Christmas dinner menu. The Sydney rock oyster is the city’s special treat: tender, soft, fatty, with an indefinable iodine taste of the sea – and you don’t have to sell a kidney to afford it.
In the afternoon, go to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. It’s free and its aboriginal art collection is worth a look. If you’re still bouncing, take the ferry to Manly. Its 30-minute crossing is the cheapest harbor cruise you can find, and if you sit on the right-hand side of the deck you’ll see the Opera House go past.
Dinner in Chinatown: Sayong Laksa and curry in Pitt Street arcade has earned its reputation as one of the best cheap and cheerful lakse joints in town. The broth is deep and fragrant, the noodles bounce rather than sag, and most bowls are between $17 and $20. Alternatively, ‘Spice Alley’ in Chippendale is a laneway of hawker-style restaurants—Alex Lee Kitchen, Bang Luck, Hong Kong Diner—run by some of Sydney’s best Asian chefs.
I am out of it. What do you call the man who is scared of Father Christmas? Claustrophobic.
Day 5: A Final Free Morning and Departure
Plan your flight around your stay. If you have the morning free, go and see Barangaroo Reserve, a free park with open views of the harbor and suitable for a picnic with breakfast from the store. Or take a look at the Martin Place market you didn’t get to on Day 1 and buy some last-minute presents.
Mamak has several branches in the city center, serving Malaysian roti and curries that will make you rethink every sad sandwich you’ve ever eaten. The queue moves fast, the rotis are brittle and flaky, the sauces thick enough to be classified as a food group. Or grab a Banh Mi sandwich from one of the bakeries in Haymarket for about A$12—cheap, fast, and infinitely better than whatever Qantas is charging these days.
Public transportation runs on a significantly reduced schedule on December 25. If you need to get to the airport on Christmas Day, check the schedule in advance and allow plenty of buffer time.
Budget Essentials (and More Food You Should Actually Eat)
Accommodation is the biggest expense in Sydney at Christmas, and the prices of hotels in the centre are very high even when booked early. Consider staying near Central Station or Chinatown—good public transport and cheap food nearby.
Food expanded. Beyond the laksa in the food-court and the shrimp from the supermarket, here are a few more budget-friendly Sydney institutions worth knowing.
- Bill & Toni’s in Darlinghurst has been serving cheap pasta and grilled chicken plates since 1965, with $15-$20 plates big enough to count as dinner and possibly tomorrow’s breakfast. Free cordial with every meal. The decor hasn’t changed since the Whitlam era, and that’s part of the charm.
- Pastizzi Café in Newtown does diamond-shaped Maltese pastries filled with everything from cheese to beef curry to chocolate and ricotta. They’re cheap, they’re warm, and they’re the perfect snack while pretending you’re not lost in Newtown.
- Kood in Surry Hills is a teapot-sized Korean eatery with no website, no phone number, and no Instagram-just a bento box with two mains, three sides, rice and japchae for $17.50, and lines that speak for themselves. The chilli pork has a fruity depth from cooked-down apple and pear that will ruin all other chilli pork for you.
- Paul’s Famous Hamburgers in Sylvania has been doing classic Aussie burgers since 1957. The Works burger-patty, salad, fried egg, cheese, bacon, pineapple-costs $15.50, which in a city where pub burgers hit $30 feels like you’ve won the day. It’s a bit of a trek from the CBD, but worth it if you’re heading south anyway.
Native ingredients on a budget: If you want to eat something authentically Australian without spending a fortune, try the Native Foods Enterprise bakery in the central business district. It’s a social enterprise selling pastries, sausage rolls, and pies made with aniseed myrtle, wattleseed, saltbush, kangaroo, and macadamia. It is a lunch and an educational experience, and it costs less than a harbour cruise.
Use an Opal card. Sundays and public holidays have a cap on the fare, so arrange your car-dependent days around the caps.
Five days is enough to record Sydney’s Christmas atmosphere without having to rush so much that you forget that you are on holiday. And if you leave without trying a pavlova, a lasagne, and at least one terrible joke in a Christmas cracker, have you done Christmas in Australia at all?
“What is Father Christmas’s favourite singer? Elf-is Presley...” Well, I’m off now.
ERIC BURDON