Shopping precincts
Shoppers can watch miniature figurines enact moments from history as the Royal Clock strikes the hour in the historic Queen Victoria Building in the city centre. After browsing the shops, enjoy lunch at one of numerous nearby cafés or restaurants.
Pick a neighbourhood and explore its diverse shops and places to eat. Visit the fashion boutiques in Oxford Street on your way to Bondi Beach. In Balmain, lunch at a historic pub after browsing bookshops and fashion boutiques. Newtown’s King Street is close to the University of Sydney and is popular with young people.
Tempting delights in Sydney
The grand Queen Victoria Building, built in the 1890s and wonderfully restored in the 1980s, is Sydney's premier shopping destination, with more than 180 shops on three levels devoted to fashion, jewellery, homewares and gifts as well as cafés and restaurants.
The palatial arcade, affectionately called the QVB, occupies an entire block in the city centre, near Town Hall Station. Shoppers should stop to admire the Royal Clock, which has mechanically moving figurines enacting scenes from English history when the clock strikes the hour.
There are many more shopping options in the city centre, including the pretty Strand Arcade. Find all the leading international brands in Pitt Street Mall, Westfield Sydney and Martin Place.
Beyond the city centre, neighbourhood shopping precincts tempt browsers with an eclectic mix of shops and markets.
For homewares and funky fashion head for Crown Street in Surry Hills, Newtown’s King Street and Darling Street in Balmain. Check out upmarket Paddington and Woollahra for designer fashion, antiques and galleries. On the north side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Mosman’s Military Road is full of great shops.
You can get to Balmain’s Darling Street by ferry from Circular Quay, near the Sydney Opera House. Trains depart from Circular Quay for Newtown. Walk to Carrington Street, near Wynyard Station, for a bus to Mosman. At St James Station at Hyde Park, a short walk from Pitt Street Mall and the QVB, you can take bus to Oxford Street in Paddington and Crown Street in Surry Hills.
