The Tower that takes you to the pinnacle of Sydney's views, while offering you a choice of restaurants.
Sydney is a city that abounds with interesting perspectives, and superlative views. None of those will prepare you for the awesome vista laid out at the top of the Sydney Tower, however. Built with just one purpose in mind – to elevate – it's been dishing out the wow-factor for the last three decades. And it ticks all the boxes of ultra-high observation. Highest observation platform on the continent? Check. It measures in at 309 metres, higher than anything else in Oz. Lightning-fast lifts to the top? Check. The lifts whip you to the top in 40 seconds. Rotating dining high-latitude dining experience? Check. The first floor of the Sydney Tower's 'pin-head' spins diners at a leisurely 360 degrees an hour. And if any city was made to be laid out like a map at your feet, it is Sidney. 'Panorama' is probably its middle-name. To the east lies the shimmering path out to the Pacific Ocean (and its beaches), along the wrinkled Sydney Harbour. To the south swell the suburbs and the distant glimmer of Botany Bay. To the west, the smoky peaks of the Blue Mountains rise from the city's edges, while to the north the Harbour Bridge leaps across towards North Sydney. But peering through the grill of the enclosed observation deck isn't your only option, once you've been lifted to the Tower's pinnacle. There are three other ways to enjoy the spectacle. The one many choose is the fully-rotating 360 Bar and Dining, on the first floor. This houses a superb first-class restaurant that's free to enter, and is reputed to have one of the city's top menus. It's certainly the highest. A table for two, as the sun goes down, is pretty hard to beat in the romance stakes. The second floor houses a self-serve buffet, handy if you've come up with kids. But it's the floor above the observation deck that tops them all. The Skywalk, it's called, and it involves donning a special flight-suit (and a harness tethering you to the building). You then step outside onto a glass-floored deck that's exactly twice as high as Sydney's mammoth Harbour Bridge. It's an experience as close to flying as any you'll get – when you're not arriving or leaving Sydney in your plane, of course.
