Visiting Sydney on a Backpackers Budget
Sydney is a must see stop off point for any East Coast Roadie. The city is iconic, very beautiful and well, world famous but this comes with a price – Sydney is pretttyyy spenny (believe me) – you’ve gotta make that money last.
We’ll be sharing with you…
- The ultimate hacks to visit Sydney as a BackPacker
- Where to get EPIC freebies
- How to avoid those ‘city’ food and drink prices
- And OF COURSE, how we can save you money with our discounts..
So, here are some tips and tricks for exploring the city on a budget….
Click images to see more.
Sydney on a budget
Free walking tours
The best way to see all of Sydney’s ICONIC sites, rolled in to one is to hop on a FREE walking tour…amazing!!
These tours are also a great way to meet fellow travellers.
Hostel freebies
When booking your accommodation, keep an eye out for hostels that offer meals. They’re usually a fraction of the price you’d pay eating out and are a great way to mingle and meet people. Some hostels may also provide free brekkie!
There is also always the ‘free shelf’ in the kitchen – sounds super cheap – but you can actually find some decent stuff in there (we said this would be budget friendly ;)).
Getting around
In Sydney, you’ll need to purchase an Opal Card to use on public transport…
All day on SUNDAYS you can travel on the metro, train, bus, ferry and light rail services for $8.40 a day – so Sunday is a good day for exploring the ins and outs of the city.
Free events
Sydney pretty much always has something going on – it’s a big ol’ city that has to cater for everyone.
If you search ‘Sydney free events’ I am sure you’ll find a list of things to go and try out…
Check out: Markets, music events, museum events and if you’re there over NYE you cannot miss out on the fireworks!
with RatPack Travel?
Places to explore
Sure, the centre has got it all going on – and it’s great fun – but Sydney has so much more to offer.
Why not get off the beaten track and head a little further a field:
- Surrey Hills – cool vibes and great cafes.
- Newtown – hipster, cool, artsy vibes.
- Northern Beaches – check out Manly and Curl Curl.
Backpacker bars and nights out
If you’re keen to take on the true backpacker lifestyle, I’m sure you’ll find yourself on some sort of bar crawl/night out…There are quite a few backpacker bars in Sydney, so grab a tinny and let the night begin yeewww…
- Scubar – bar come club
- Sidebar – party party!
- Scary Canary – Great food and drinks
- Darling Harbour – Head to Pontoon and home club. There are also LOADS of happy hours and food deals going on at the many restaurants and bars around the harbour
- Opera bar – Not a backpacker bar BUT abit of a treat and a memory!
Beach Day
THE best activity to do for free – lounging on a beach with a book in your hand – it really doesn’t get better than that!!
I’m a proper water baby and absolutely LOVE the beach, so here is a lil list of my faves:
- Shelly Beach, Manly – paradise (my fave)
- Bronte Beach – surf
- Tamarama
- Watsons Bay
- Curl Curl – Northern Beaches
- And of course, you gotta check out Bondi Beach (check out the walk to Coogee!)
Freebies!
The one you’ve been waiting for…FREEBIES – gotta love em (lol).
So here goes, my little list of freebies to check out in Sydney:
- Harbour Bridge and Opera House – free to look at
- Royal Botanic Gardens
- Mrs Macquarie’s Point – epic viewpoint over the harbour
- China Town – cool at night
- Beaches – lying on a beach is the best thing to do for free!
- Hyde Park – grab a picnic and chill
- Art Galleries and Museums – there are tonnes
- Bondi to Coogee coastal walk
- Luna Park – free entry (pay per ride)
- Manly to Spit walk
- North Head look out – insane views of the city
From our RatPackers
Genuinely saved me a lot of dolla and stress, thank you so much!
Steve and I were incredibly impressed with Reuben's great professionalism and his ability to find us a wonderful deal for our upcoming N.Z holiday in 2024. Reuben was so helpful, informative and gained us a awesome JUCY Campervan package. Thank you so much for all your assistance.🤩 I would highly recommend Rat Pack Travel to all travellers. 😊Lindy Jurd.
Great service from Ben, can’t recommend RatPack enough. Got us a great price over a really busy period and got us the van we wanted. So easy and will definitely use them again in the future.
Gregg was very helpful in helping me plan my trip very last minute! Thanks so much
Jenna was a huge help getting me a camper for my trip up through the East Coast. Availability was tight and I can’t thank Jenna enough for sorting and at a great price. Definitely worth taking the stress out of searching and using these guys.
Seems to good to be true but Ratpack are everything they say and more. Helped me so much to choose a van and made the whole process so easy! Big shout out to Jenna and all her help above and beyond thanks so much!! Highly recommend
Ben from RatPack Travel was amazing!! Highly recommend getting in contact with this company if you’re unsure what kind of vehicle is best suited for your road-trip plans!
Jenna was so helpful and informative. She made the whole process of booking a camper so easy and answered any questions that I had. I would 100% recommend Ratpack travel for booking a campervan trip! Thanks Jenna 😀
Jenna was amazing! She took all the worry and stress out of booking our holiday! She was so helpful and patient, offering so much advice and securing us a lovely discount as well! Congratulations RatPack Travel - you have a winner in Jenna!
Messaged on Instagram and within a few minutes Reuben had replied, he went through every bit of detail to help arrange our east coast trip, providing the specification of the van and the true costings without any pressure. Very excited to start our trip next month, credit to the team for sure
Mikey was amazing and helped us out a great deal! Can’t recommend them enough!
Just booked a camper through Ratpack Travel with Gregg. He was super professional and talked me through the entire process with constant updates - absolute legend. One of the easiest experiences booking a camper I've had. Would definitely recommend!
Reuben was so helpful to deal with. Would highly recommend
Thanks for sorting out a camper for us Ben! I look forward to the trip and travelling in the RV you found for us
Gregg was fantastic chasing a great price and was extremely responsive - he called when he said he would, chased options immediately and was quick with follow up communication. The process was quick and painless and ended with us getting a great deal.
