Spending diary: what I spent on a weekend in Sydney

18.10.2024 - 22:05 / lonelyplanet.com / Ace Hotel

Oct 18, 2024 • 6 min read

I'm an Adelaide-based travel writer and photographer, capturing adventures across Australia – although, shamefully, I hadn't visited Sydney since the pandemic lockdowns. So when an invitation arrived to go to the harbor city to launch the latest Lonely Planet Australia guidebook series (for which I'd helped pen the South Australia chapter), I took it as a sign to return.

My biggest splurge was on accommodation, which you can easily trim by booking a central hostel, or a room outside the city center. Weekend public transport was surprisingly cheap, with a daily fare cap limiting my spend to $9.35 per day (excluding airport fees). I recommend pairing a few indulgences with free activities; a must in a notoriously expensive city.

All prices are in Australian dollars.

Accommodation: $560 for two nights at the central, classy and convenient Ace Hotel. A 10-minute walk from Sydney's Central Station and close to the city’s downtown core, it eliminated the need – and temptation – to take pricey Ubers.

11am: I touch down at Sydney International Airport, collect my luggage and head toward the domestic terminal's underground train station.

To avoid the minimum spend required to buy an Opal card (Sydney's tap-on, tap-off metro pass), I use my contactless credit card across the weekend, delivering the same benefits as an Opal adult card, without carrying the extra plastic.

The feeling of frugality is short-lived as the airport's “Station Access Fee” surcharge ($17.34) whacks me on top of the fare to Museum Station ($2.94) in central Sydney.

12pm: After a brisk train ride and a downhill stroll, I drop my bags at Ace Hotel and I'm back outside, all within 30 minutes.

To shake off the post-flight stiffness, I walk the 1.5km to White Rabbit Gallery in Chippendale for my lunchtime catch-up with old workmates. I'm ravenous by the time I arrive and we waste no time loading our table with handmade dumplings and aromatic teas (my share $17.50).

I wave my comrades back to their office and battle a food coma while roaming the gallery's four levels of contemporary Chinese art (free).

3:30pm: Having not learned my lesson, I wander to the nearby Brickfields bakery and munch down a Sinner's Schmear, a sweet cinnamon brioche with vanilla glaze ($8).

Keeping my urban food crawl going, I head 20 minutes north, where the Chinatown Friday Night Market (free) has just kicked off. The air is already thick with spice, and I eye off a braised pork belly Chinese crepe ($17) for an early dinner. With juices dripping down my arm, I complete my short circuit back to the hotel.

Friday total: $62.78

8:15am: I'm up early to take advantage of Sydney's unseasonably warm winter day. I hop on the 373 bus ($3.05) toward the city's iconic