Best places to stay in Sydney Australia

Many people are surprised when they arrive in Sydney to find it’s a large, cosmopolitan city. Make a poor choice of hotel, and you could spend your vacation lost in suburbia, a very long way from where the action is!

Sydney is very spread out. Most Australians still live in houses on big blocks of land, so the city is large in proportion to the number of people who live in it. The commute from the outer suburbs of Sydney to the CBD is well over an hour, even on a fast train - and in peak hour, the traffic can be horrendous.

The main sights in Sydney are either on the coast, or in the CBD. So it’s best to stay close to the city or in a beach suburb – otherwise you'll waste too much time travelling. Unfortunately, staying in the CBD is ridiculously expensive, unless you're happy with a backpacker hostel or YHA (the backpacker hostels vary a lot in quality and standards, so do Google them before you book!).

Most visitors to Australia want to see the sun and sand. So while Sydney's Eastern Suburbs are the most expensive, they're also the place most tourists prefer. Bondi is the most famous beach, but in my opinion, Coogee is better value: it has a great vibe, lots of cafes and restaurants, a long sandy beach to rival Bondi's - and an express bus to the city.

You can save money by staying a little away from the coast, in Randwick, Kensington or Kingsford – the beaches are a short bus ride or walk, and there's good bus transport to town.

Warning - the clip below is a short comedy film, not a travelogue - I've included it because it gives a good view of Coogee, but the story is - thankfully - pure fiction!

Other great beaches - less well-known outside Australia - can be found to the North. Surfers will hotly dispute which Sydney beaches offer the best surf, but my surfer friends all seem to live in the Northern Beaches at Curl Curl, Narrabeen, Dee Why or Palm Beach (where the soapie Home and Away is filmed). Getting to other parts of Sydney from these suburbs is an absolute pain in the neck as there's no train line - but if you're a surfer, you may never leave the beach!

Manly is one northern beach that is easy to reach, thanks to the ferry. A hundred years ago, it was said that Manly was "seven miles from Sydney and a thousand miles from care". Of course, these days the city stretches far beyond Manly, but it's still a popular spot with Sydneysiders for a weekend getaway. The ferry trip from the city is as good as a harbour cruise (for a fraction of the price), and the Manly peninsula has no less than 18 beaches, a National Park, over 100 restaurants and a good range of hotels and apartments.

If you’re not a beach bunny, then you'll find it cheaper to book accommodation to the west of the city, away from the beaches - but don't go too far!

Sydney CBD, with its Opera House, Bridge and Zoo, is very close to the coast. The rest of Sydney sprawls to the west, all the way to the Blue Mountains. The Western Suburbs are where most Sydneysiders live and bring up their kids, but they're not really suitable for holidaymakers - you're likely to find yourself in suburbia, with limited options for dining out and entertainment, and poor public transport.

Stay closer to the CBD, though, and the West can be a value-for-money vacation choice - because the Inner West is where the young and trendy live, so most Inner West suburbs have good nightlife and great eateries. There are buses to the city and you're close enough to town that a taxi fare won't be astronomical.

My favourite inner west suburb is Leichhardt, which is historically the Italian quarter of Sydney and still has a strong Italian influence, reflected in the quality of the coffee and the restaurant food. For Portuguese food, head to Petersham. Glebe is on the city's doorstep and has an "alternative" feel.

If you're planning to holiday in Sydney over New Year, be prepared!

Hotels close to the fireworks (in the city or on the North shore near the Harbour Bridge) double or even triple their room rates over New Year. Even so, they are booked out months ahead. If you've left it too late - try:

• King's Cross, Potts Point, Rushcutters Bay or Woollomoolloo. These suburbs are so close to the city as to be almost part of it, and there are some excellent vantage points to view the fireworks.

• The Eastern Suburbs. You can see the fireworks from the cliffs near Bondi (Dover Heights) or from various places all the way along the Eastern Harbour foreshore between Watson's Bay and Rose Bay. You'll need a car to get to the viewing points - it's true you can get there by public transport, but services after midnight are limited so you may not be able to get home! If you drive, take a picnic and make an evening of it, because you'll need to arrive early to get a parking space.

I don't recommend staying out West or on the Northern Beaches if you want to see the midnight fireworks. Although special buses run after midnight to get people home, there is huge demand for the service and you may have a long, long wait. However, there is a 9pm show (mainly for families) - for me, it's not quite the same as actually seeing in the New Year at midnight, but the fireworks are just as spectacular.

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All text copyright Marisa Wright.

All photos from Flickr.com. City skyline and Bondi photos courtesy of t3rmin4t0r. Sydney fireworks photo thanks to Rob and Jules.  Manly ferry photo by tm-tm. Sydney surfside pool photo from Tarotastic.