Sydney: The World’s Best City
The readers of CNNGo voted Sydney as the world’s best city.
As proud Australians, here are the top ten reasons why, Sydney was choosen as the best city in the world.
Read more: The world’s best city | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/sydney/visit/worlds-best-city-423142#ixzz1fp3yZubG
10. Blue Mountains … and other asphalt-free places
The dramatic escarpments of the Blue Mountains (where you find three sisters that are actually a single rock), river cruises along the Hawkesbury and a raw, southern nature reserve are all within an hour’s drive.
Read more: 50 reasons why Sydney is the world’s greatest city #4 | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/sydney/life/50-reasons-why-sydneys-best-city-world-291350?page=0,3#ixzz1fp0vmTpE
9. Heritage architecture
Beautiful people require beautiful buildings.
Everybody knows the Opera House, but Sydney maintains 18th-century buildings in The Rocks and old dames like the Queen Victoria Building (now a shopping arcade) and The Town Hall on George Street. Victorian-era, split-level terraces surround the city center. You can pick up one of these numbers in Paddington or Balmain for less than $2million — bargain.
8. Land of equal opportunity
Females dominate local politics: the city mayor, state and federal members, governor, prime minister and governor-general are all women. This, Sydney aspires, gives the place more humanity than tall buildings and wars.
7. A New York restaurant that’s as cheap as Bangkok
Amid the neon lights of Kings Cross, the New York Diner on Kellet Street has hardly changed — in food or price — since 1953. It’s still a favorite of stars and marginals alike. Big breakfasts, steaks, chops and veges (just like grandma’s) can be accompanied by 80-cent glasses of milk.
New York Restaurant, 18 Kellett St., Kings Cross; tel. +61 (0)2 9357 2772
6. Clear ocean sunrises 338 days a year
On any given day — assuming it’s not one of the 27 cloudy mornings — you can walk to the ocean and see the sunrise.
5. A nearby major airport
Whether you’re on your way out, or flying in, SYD is so close to the city you don’t have to slog through a one-hour train or get ripped off taking a cab ride from one side of the metropolitan area to the other.
4. A few trillion leaves
Paris might be the City of Light, but we’re the city of trees. Approximately 29,000 trees of more than 120 species line the streets of Sydney, making the city beautiful while removing carbon dioxide and returning oxygen to the atmosphere, boosting property values and providing much needed shade.
3. Big Bridges (but small walls)
The Harbour Bridge is not only pretty, it’s the world’s largest steel arch bridge (weighing 53,000 tons) and the widest (49 meters/160 feet) long-span bridge in the world. Weekend drives through harbor inlets take in the 120-meter-high (393 feet) ANZAC Bridge — the nation’s biggest suspension bridge — and the 305-meter (1,000 feet) Gladesville Bridge, once the world’s biggest concrete arch. Other standouts: Iron Cove, The Spit, Ryde, Captain Cook, Tom Uglies.
2. 100 Beaches
It’s been called “London on the Caribbean.” From Bondi down to secret crevasses, Sydney has about 100 beaches in all.
Bondi Beach: where people take sick leave
1. Everyone loves you … or pretends to
Many locals call you “darling,” particularly in inner city Darlinghurst. Let’s be honest. It makes us feel loved!