Your First Week in Australia: A Sydney Backpacker Guide

Short answer: Spend your first two days in Sydney on admin (SIM, Opal card, bank account, tax file number) and sleeping off the flight, then use the rest of the week to see the harbour, walk Bondi to Coogee, do one Blue Mountains day and meet people. If you land solo and want the first week handled for you, the Sydney & Beaches Group Tour, 7 Days (from $969, ages 18 to 35) picks you up at the airport and runs the whole week with a group.

Prices are per person in AUD, from our current listings (October 2026), and can change.

Day 1 and 2: get set up

You will be jet-lagged. Do the boring stuff now and the rest of the trip runs smoother.

SIM card

Buy a prepaid SIM at the airport, a supermarket or any phone shop in the city. Bring an unlocked phone. The three big networks all sell prepaid plans with plenty of data; coverage along the East Coast is good in towns and patchy in national parks, whichever network you pick. An eSIM works too if your phone supports it. You need an Australian number before you open a bank account or apply for a tax file number, so do this first.

Opal card

Opal is Sydney’s public transport card for trains, buses, ferries and light rail. Pick one up from a convenience store or station and top it up, or just tap on with a contactless bank card or your phone wallet, which charges the same adult fare. Fares are capped per day and per week, so once you have hit the cap the rest of your travel that period is free. The Manly ferry counts as public transport, which makes it the cheapest harbour cruise in the city.

Bank account

If you plan to work, open an Australian bank account in the first few days. Most banks let you start the application online, then verify your identity in a branch with your passport. You will need an Australian address for the card to be posted to; hostels are used to this.

Tax file number (TFN)

A TFN is the number the tax office uses to identify you. Apply online through the Australian Taxation Office once you are physically in Australia; it is free and the number arrives by post, so use an address you will still be reachable at for a few weeks. Without a TFN an employer has to withhold tax at the highest rate, so get it moving before you start job hunting. When you do start work, your employer will also ask for superannuation details; you can nominate a fund then. If you’re after regional work for a second-year visa, our 88 days jobs page shows where the harvest work is by season and checks whether a job’s postcode counts.

Then buy sunscreen and a hat. The sun here is stronger than you think, even on cloudy days.

Where to stay

Sydney hostels cluster in a few areas.

Central is the easy default for a first week: it is where the Blue Mountains day tours and the Sydney & Beaches Group Tour, 7 Days depart from, and where you will find the most people in the same boat as you.

Day 3: the harbour

Walk it first: Circular Quay to the Opera House, around the Royal Botanic Garden to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, back through The Rocks and up onto the Harbour Bridge footpath (free). Then get on the water: the Manly ferry on your Opal card, or under sail on the Afternoon Discovery Cruise (from $79) is ninety minutes on a tall ship out of The Rocks, past the Opera House, the bridge and Fort Denison, with the option to haul a sail or take the helm.

In whale season (winter into spring), the High-Speed Whale Watching from Circular Quay (from $139) runs two hours out through the Heads on a fast RIB, with sightings guaranteed under the operator’s policy.

Day 4: Bondi to Coogee

The coastal walk from Bondi to Coogee is the best free half-day in Sydney. Bus or train to Bondi Junction, bus down to the beach, then follow the cliff path south through Tamarama, Bronte, Clovelly and Gordons Bay to Coogee. Allow a couple of hours with swim stops; Bronte and Clovelly have rock pools if the surf is big.

If you have dived before, the Sydney Double Shore Dive with All Gear (Certified) (from $179) runs two guided shore dives out of Manly in the Cabbage Tree Bay sanctuary, with giant cuttlefish and all gear included, done by midday.

Day 5: the Blue Mountains

A couple of hours west of the city, the Blue Mountains are the one day trip almost everyone does in week one. You can train it yourself to Katoomba, but a tour removes the planning and gets you to lookouts the train does not. The main options we sell:

If you are on a budget and like walking, the $119 waterfalls walk is the pick: the walk is the point, and there is nothing to pay for once you are on the bus. If you want the railway and cableway rides, go for the $209 or $279 tours rather than paying for them as extras.

Day 6: do something stupid (in a good way)

For a skydive, the Sydney Wollongong 15,000ft Tandem Skydive (With Transfer) (from $399) jumps over the beaches at Wollongong, an hour south, with up to 60 seconds of freefall and transfers included. See how much skydiving costs in Australia before you decide where to jump.

Day 7: meet people, plan the coast

By now you will know whether you want to keep going solo or with a group. The three ways most backpackers do the East Coast are a bus pass, a group tour or a semi-guided trip; the trade-offs are laid out in bus pass vs group tour vs semi-guided. For the all-in version, the East Coast Explorer Sydney to Cairns (5 Weeks) (from $5,209) is 36 days with a group leader, 33 nights’ accommodation and all tour transport. The East Coast Explorer + Sydney Week (6 Weeks) (from $6,109) bolts the Sydney week onto the front, so your first week is already sorted.

A gentler first step out of the city is the Surf & Stay Spot X (3D/2N) (from $389): three days at a beachfront surf camp at Arrawarra on the North Coast, a lesson for each night, all meals and dorm beds steps from the waves, on the way to Byron Bay.

The social option: a 7-day group tour

If you are arriving alone and the idea of a hostel common room on night one fills you with dread, the Sydney & Beaches Group Tour, 7 Days (from $969) is built for exactly that. It is for ages 18 to 35, starts with airport pickup and a welcome dinner, and includes 7 nights’ accommodation (5 in a central Sydney hostel, 2 in beach cabins at Port Stephens), a tour leader, a guided city walk, a private harbour catamaran cruise with lunch, 4WD sandboarding on the Stockton dunes, the Mt Tomaree hike, a dolphin-spotting cruise and the Coogee to Bondi walk. Flights, insurance, unlisted meals and optional extras (Harbour Bridge climb, zoo, Blue Mountains day) are not included.

It covers your first week’s beds, your airport transfer and most of the activities in this guide, and you finish with a group of mates heading the same direction. Doing the same things independently is cheaper if you are disciplined, but most people are not disciplined in their first week. Either way, book your first few nights before you fly: the hostel is the biggest first-week spend, and the best things in this guide (the bridge walk, Bondi to Coogee, the Manly ferry) cost next to nothing.

FAQs

Do I need a tax file number before I arrive? No. You apply online once you are in Australia, and it is free. Do it in your first week if you intend to work, because the number takes a few weeks to arrive by post.

Can I use my own phone in Australia? Yes, if it is unlocked. Buy a prepaid SIM or eSIM on arrival; the three main networks all cover Sydney and the East Coast towns well.

Is the Opal card worth it or can I just tap my bank card? Either works and costs the same adult fare. A physical Opal card is handy if you would rather not risk international card fees on every tap.

How long should I stay in Sydney before heading north? A week is enough to do the harbour, the coastal walk, the Blue Mountains and your admin. Most backpackers then move up the coast; see our solo travel guide to the East Coast for how to plan it.

Which Blue Mountains tour is best for backpackers? The Blue Mountains Waterfalls Walk & Picnic Lunch Day Trip (from $119) if you like walking and want no extras; the Blue Mountains Day Tour with Return Harbour Cruise (from $99) if you want to choose your own add-ons and cruise home across the harbour.

Is the 7-day Sydney group tour worth it for a solo traveller? If you want the first week handled and a crew to travel with afterwards, yes. If you are confident and on a tight budget, do the same things independently and put the saving towards the coast.