Hop-On Hop-Off Bus in Sydney

[gators70]

Has anyone used the Hop-On Hop-Off bus in Sydney?  We will be in Sydney in December and are looking to get a general overview of the city when we arrive. I think I saw a Hop-On Hop-Off bus on Trip Advisor. 

 

We are on a Princess Land Tour, but are arriving a couple days ahead of the tour.  Our tour in Sydney is supposed to be of the Opera House, Bondi Beach and The Rocks.  They are also supposed to take us to a wildlife park at the base of the Blue Mountains for a Koala Encounter and to the Blue Mountains Lookout and ride the Southern Hemisphere's steepest arial cable car as well. 

 

If anyone else has any other suggestions on must see and do in Sydney when you only have about a day and a half, would love to get your feedback.  We will be staying at the Amora Hotel Jamison Sydney, so would also need to know how to get around for sightseeing.  Do you think it's safe to say we can use a credit card for sightseeing, or will we need local currency.  Hoping to stay away from getting cash. 

[Chiliburn]

Sydney has a fantastic public transport system and you can use your credit card as a ticket.

You will pay no more that $18.70 for a full day. I would suggest to download the Opel app .

 

https://transportnsw.info/apps/opal-travel

[Sparky74]

I’ve heard that some people still use cash. 🙄

 

I use my credit card for almost everything these days. As long as it’s a MasterCard or Visa you should be fine. American Express isn’t as widely accepted. Oh, and our cards have a chip for contactless or "tap and go" payment. 

[Chiliburn]

3 minutes ago, Sparky74 said:

I’ve heard that some people still use cash. 🙄

 

 

You can still buy the old paper tickets from the station master or a machine but you don’t get the daily cap of $18.70 .

[JJK2008]

1 hour ago, gators70 said:

Has anyone used the Hop-On Hop-Off bus in Sydney?  We will be in Sydney in December and are looking to get a general overview of the city when we arrive. I think I saw a Hop-On Hop-Off bus on Trip Advisor. 

 

We are on a Princess Land Tour, but are arriving a couple days ahead of the tour.  Our tour in Sydney is supposed to be of the Opera House, Bondi Beach and The Rocks.  They are also supposed to take us to a wildlife park at the base of the Blue Mountains for a Koala Encounter and to the Blue Mountains Lookout and ride the Southern Hemisphere's steepest arial cable car as well. 

 

If anyone else has any other suggestions on must see and do in Sydney when you only have about a day and a half, would love to get your feedback.  We will be staying at the Amora Hotel Jamison Sydney, so would also need to know how to get around for sightseeing.  Do you think it's safe to say we can use a credit card for sightseeing, or will we need local currency.  Hoping to stay away from getting cash. 

We bought a 48-hour HoHo pass. It was Great. There are two different routes around the city (blue & red). We used it as our own little private taxi service. We'd get on and off where we wanted and when we were done for the day we would take it back to our hotel. We stayed at the Sydney Boulevard Hotel which is in the heart of the CBD. The HoHo bus stop was literally out the front door. Also, the public transportation in Sydney was excellent. We spent over 7 weeks in Oz, travelling around the country and had NO local currency at all. Used a CC for everything. Oz was about as close to a cashless society as I've seen. Enjoy your trip, Spectacular city. 

Edited August 2 by JJK2008

[MicCanberra]

There are good reports on the HoHo bus, it is certainly great way to see and get around to the various points of interest. 

[Hamwen3839]

Best half day outing is the Manly Ferry from Circular Quay. You get to see so much of the harbour for not much money. When you get to Manly walk through The Corso to Manly Beach( pretty much follow everyone else).Get fish and chips or pick a restaurant if you want and enjoy great views.

[windsor26]

9 hours ago, gators70 said:

Has anyone used the Hop-On Hop-Off bus in Sydney?  We will be in Sydney in December and are looking to get a general overview of the city when we arrive. I think I saw a Hop-On Hop-Off bus on Trip Advisor. 

 

We are on a Princess Land Tour, but are arriving a couple days ahead of the tour.  Our tour in Sydney is supposed to be of the Opera House, Bondi Beach and The Rocks.  They are also supposed to take us to a wildlife park at the base of the Blue Mountains for a Koala Encounter and to the Blue Mountains Lookout and ride the Southern Hemisphere's steepest arial cable car as well. 

 

If anyone else has any other suggestions on must see and do in Sydney when you only have about a day and a half, would love to get your feedback.  We will be staying at the Amora Hotel Jamison Sydney, so would also need to know how to get around for sightseeing.  Do you think it's safe to say we can use a credit card for sightseeing, or will we need local currency.  Hoping to stay away from getting cash. 

The bridge climb is fantastic although a little expensive  it is a one off experience  you may not need to pre book but turn up early and see what times they have spaces if the weather is nice to you.

[MicCanberra]

1 minute ago, windsor26 said:

The bridge climb is fantastic although a little expensive  it is a one off experience  you may not need to pre book but turn up early and see what times they have spaces if the weather is nice to you.

You may want to book, my niece had to wait 3 months.

[windsor26]

17 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

You may want to book, my niece had to wait 3 months.

It may depend on school holidays and etc  My daughter and sil just wandered up and got the 11.30am slot in early December and I have seen notices of vacancies as we pass by other times

[MicCanberra]

49 minutes ago, windsor26 said:

It may depend on school holidays and etc  My daughter and sil just wandered up and got the 11.30am slot in early December and I have seen notices of vacancies as we pass by other times

Okay, good to know.

 

I just checked and there are quite a few time slots still available tomorrow although most are selling fast. In the next few days, there is more availability.

Apart from them adding more tours per day, the price has gone up considerably which would account for the availability now. 

[gators70]

17 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

Sydney has a fantastic public transport system and you can use your credit card as a ticket.

You will pay no more that $18.70 for a full day. I would suggest to download the Opel app .

 

https://transportnsw.info/apps/opal-travel

So am I reading this correct, that this works like it does in London, where you just tap in and tap out with your credit card.  I'm sorry to ask a silly question, but do you have underground and also buses that you can use this process on?  

[buchhalm]

Opal card (or credit card tapping) works on all modes of public transport. Trains (they do go under ground in the inner city areas), tram ( like a street-car), buses and ferries. It's pretty much all integrated. 

You MUST tap on when you get on and AGAIN when you get OFF! Otherwise you get charged a penalty rate. Tapping facilities for buses are inside the bus, by the doors. Tapping for trains, trams and ferries happens at turnstiles or terminal before you get on/after you get off. (Just see what others do).

When you are switching between two or more modes of transport ( say, from a bus to a train) you get charged a "transfer" rate, not two separate, full price fares. The allowed transfer time is quite generous. Quote from the Transport NSW website:

"Transfers happen when you switch transport modes or routes, and if they're within 60 minutes, they count as one journey, except for the Sydney Ferries Manly ferry service, which has a 130-minute transfer time."

 

[buchhalm]

Back to the original question about HoHo in Sydney :

they are very good and show you pretty much all the sights.

BUT they do NOT run nowhere near as frequently as in, say, London or Paris. The line that goes to Bondi ( the blue line, i believe) shows you some very pretty sights, BUT you may be stuck in a lot of traffic for long times. 

[Chiliburn]

6 hours ago, gators70 said:

So am I reading this correct, that this works like it does in London, where you just tap in and tap out with your credit card.  I'm sorry to ask a silly question, but do you have underground and also buses that you can use this process on?  

Yes that’s correct 

Buses ,Ferries,Trains and light rail (street car) all use the same card .

You can get a Opel card and put money on it or use a credit card. You can also put on your phone.

 

If you use the same card there is a daily cap of $18.70 AU

So you won’t pay more than that for unlimited travel.

Edited August 3 by Chiliburn

[possum52]

17 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

You may want to book, my niece had to wait 3 months.

My son and his family were in Sydney for the last Australia Day weekend. Granddaughter was pestering her father to try and see if they could do the climb and as they were exploring The Rocks on Australia Day, went and found out there were spots available for the next climb. It is something an eleven year old will never forget, with the harbour full of sailing craft, including the tall ships and they  were on the top of the bridge when the Roulettes flew over. 

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, possum52 said:

My son and his family were in Sydney for the last Australia Day weekend. Granddaughter was pestering her father to try and see if they could do the climb and as they were exploring The Rocks on Australia Day, went and found out there were spots available for the next climb. It is something an eleven year old will never forget, with the harbour full of sailing craft, including the tall ships and they  were on the top of the bridge when the Roulettes flew over. 

Wow! They were very lucky. I agree that the experience would be memorable.

[buchhalm]

3The Harbour Bridge Climb is indeed spectacular.  If the budget allows,  DO IT. Try your luck on the day for standby tickets. 

They do have several climbing options now, but I would highly recommend the "original " tour .

Basically up one arch, cross from one arch to the other on the summit,  then back down the other arch.

All up a good 3 to 3.5 hours.

[lyndarra]

If youi have a few days in Sydney, and you love wine, there are day trips from Sydney to the famous Hunter Valley.

I did a quick Google search and came up with this one which has 5* reviews on Trip Advisor.

https://www.huntervalleywinetastingtours.com.au/tours-from-sydney/

It is also a great way to get out of the Big Smoke and see the coutryside.

Edited August 4 by lyndarra

[dreamin'ofthesea]

I have used the hop on hop off bus. It covered a lot of the places you may want to go to without having to think too much by catching public transport. My favorite place was the Chinese garden also liked Paddington markets (I was there on a Saturday). Since COVID, everywhere seems ok to take CC even on small purchases (at least in Melbourne and Sydney)