Circular Quay Tours and Activities

Circular Quay isn't just Sydney's premier transport hub, where boats, buses and trains converge in an endless and elegantly choreographed dance. It's the cove where Sydney was christened, and where Australia itself was born as a nation. The first British settlers arrived on this very spot in 1788, as part of the country's founding First Fleet. Sydney Cove it was named, and the 1,300 who made it across the 24,000-kilometre sea journey from Great Britain were to form the nucleus of New South Wales, Australia's first State.The Cove has a very different buzz now to when those 11 sailing ships first weighed anchor here. As a city fronting one of the largest natural harbours in the world, the criss-crossing of Sydney's two halves is done as much by ferry, as any other form of transport. 14 million travellers take a ticket-to-ride on the Harbour City Ferry's boats and catamarans each year. And Circular Quay is the most important start and endpoint for those water-borne journeys. It is also home to city's main bus terminal, as well as the Circular Quay Railway Station. Chances are that, on your travels around the city, you will pass through one of the Quay's many ticket gates. But it's not just a pass-through. It's a destination in its own right. The City of Sydney Library is here, as is the Customs House, one the oldest buildings in Sydney. So old, in fact, that it has a resident ghost – a convict who was hanged here in 1790 (and who might just offer you a glass of rum). And you can catch up with the contemporary at the Quay too. The MCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) is here, housed in the Art Deco splendour of the Maritime Services Board Building. With Sydney Opera House literally around the corner (and Sydney Harbour Bridge a stone's throw the other way), you could almost say that if you've done Circular Quay, you've done Sydney. It'd be a real shame if you did though. This is a city meandering along ten miles of harbour: beaches, coves and forested shorelines all begging to be explored. So Circular Quay is really the ideal launching point for your Sydney adventure proper.