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Sydney is Australia's largest city and the capital of New South Wales, built around one of the world's great natural harbours -- a shape that has directed the city's growth, transport, and skyline since British settlers first arrived in 1788.
The Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, sitting almost directly across from each other on the harbour, have become the city's defining image, but Sydney's identity extends well beyond its two most photographed landmarks -- to ocean beaches inside the city limits, an Aboriginal history predating European arrival by tens of thousands of years, and a diversity shaped by more than two centuries of immigration.
Sydney's attractions center heavily on the harbour itself -- the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge anchor Circular Quay, with The Rocks, Sydney's oldest colonial-era neighborhood, right alongside.
Beyond the harbour, Darling Harbour and Taronga Zoo offer family-oriented attractions, while the Royal Botanic Garden gives a quieter, green counterpoint right next to the harbour's busiest tourist strip.