New South Wales

New South Wales [1] (NSW) is one of Australia's south-eastern states and with a population of 6.7 million, the country's most populous. As the core territory of the first British colony on the Australian continent (settled in 1788), NSW is home to the country's oldest and largest city, the state capital of Sydney. The state also encloses the Australian Capital Territory, the location of the Australian national capital of Canberra, in its south-east. NSW is bordered by three other Australian states: Victoria to the south, South Australia to the west, and Queensland to the north.

Regions

• Sydney - the capital and its surroundings form their own vibrant region

North from Sydney:

• Central Coast - immediately north of Sydney, a region of bush, waterways and beaches.
• Hunter Valley - home to NSW's second city of Newcastle and some of the best vineyards in Australia
• Mid-North Coast - Publicised as the holiday coast, including Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour
• Northern Rivers - home to 5 World Heritage Listed National Parks, as well as the towns of Byron Bay and Lismore and Grafton

South from Sydney:

• Illawarra just south of Sydney, beaches, bushwalking, and the coastal citie of Wollongong
• Shoalhaven
• South Coast

West from Sydney:

• Blue Mountains - located immediately to the west of Sydney, a region of unique scenery and wilderness
• Central West
• The Far West - Outback NSW, including Broken Hill and the opal mining town of Lightning Ridge.

North West from Sydney:

• New England - home to 4 World Heritage-listed parks, the country music capital of Tamworth, and the pretty seasonal city of Armidale.

South West from Sydney:

• Southern Highlands a day trip or a weekend away from Sydney. Bushwalking, forests, country pubs and cafes, antiques, crafts and country communities.
• Snowy Mountains - the roof of Australia, a region of mountains, unique scenery and winter sports, shared with Victoria
• Riverina

Cities

New South Wales boasts a number of large cities that are well worth the traveller's attention:

• Sydney - the state capital and largest metropolitan area in Australia
• Newcastle - located to the north of Sydney, NSW's second largest city and industrial capital of the Hunter Valley region
• Wollongong - located to the south of Sydney and industrial capital of the Illawarra region

Other regional cities include:

• Albury - On the Victorian border town, on the banks of the Murray RIver.
• Armidale - The city with easy road access to several World Heritage-listed parks.
• Coffs Harbour - A popular beachfront town for visitors and seachangers, with many accommodation options from the budget to resort.
• Tamworth
• Wagga Wagga - The largest inland city in New South Wales, on the banks of the Murrumbidgee.

Other destinations

Many of the prime wilderness areas in the state are administered by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) [2] - national parks and nature reserves in NSW currently number over 780 and cover over 8% of the state's surface area. Some of these parks and reserves are:

• Blue Mountains National Park is a large World Heritage-listed park.
• Jenolan Caves
• Mt Warning National Park
• Oxley Wild Rivers National Park is a large World Heritage-listed park that has several locations where 4WDs are permitted.
• Royal National Park
• Warrumbungles (Warrumbungle National Park)
• Wollemi National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed park

Culture and History

No, there is not a New North Wales. The state is named after South Wales, the most heavily populated area in Wales, a principality in the United Kingdom.

History

The home of a large number of Aboriginal tribes for thousands of years, New South Wales was only settled by Europeans in 1788 - spreading outwards from Sydney. Inland settlement was at first impeded by the rugged Blue Mountains for a time and settlers did not cross the mountains until 1813. The first inland town of Bathurst was founded in 1815.

Geography

New South Wales is the most populous state in Australia. Most of that population is concentrated in Sydney, which has 4.2 million of the state's 6.7 million inhabitants. The next largest cities are (in order) Newcastle and Wollongong - after that the larger towns are merely moderately-sized country towns of 40,000-50,000 people. Hence, many of the cultural sights are concentrated in Sydney and nearby. That isn't true of historical or natural sights though. Many of the state's most beautiful natural sights, obviously enough, lie well outside the Sydney metropolitan area. Australian history and identity is to some extent tied up with rural settlement and lifestyle, and thus you will find many of the outlying regions of New South Wales base their tourism industry around pioneer and rural history.

People

In common with most Australians, the people of NSW have a tradition of great sporting rivalry with neighbouring states. This is expressed each year, for example, in the State of Origin Series of Rugby League matches between NSW and Queensland (NB: Rugby League, somewhat distantly followed by Rugby Union, is the winter ball sport of choice in NSW, as opposed to most of the rest of Australia - apart from Queensland - which follows Australian Rules football).

Time zone

New South Wales has the same timezone as Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania. It has the same daylight savings periods as well, except that [Queensland does not observe daylight savings]]. Time zone is GMT+10 when on standard time, and GMT+11 when on daylight saving time.

Travel to New South Wales - Visa Requirements

Flights and airtickets to New South Wales

Most air travellers arrive in Sydney, which has Australia's largest international and domestic airport. It is the only international airport in New South Wales. It is likely to offer the cheapest flights into the state.

Three other airports in New South Wales have interstate flights.

Flights from Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Canberra operate into Newcastle airport. Flights from Melbourne and Canberra operate into Albury. Flights from Adelaide operate into Broken Hill.

International and domestic visitors to the Northern Rivers including Byron Bay should consider the Gold Coast airport, which is only minutes from the New South Wales northern border, and has many domestic and some international flights. Similarly interstate travellers visiting the south of New South Wales may choose to fly through Canberra Airport, to access the Snowy Mountains or Wagga Wagga.

By land

Travellers arriving overland will usually pass through the (near) border towns of Broken Hill from South Australia, Albury-Wodonga or Eden from Victoria and Tweed Heads from Queensland.

By sea

For detailed information about sailing into NSW coastal ports:

• NSW Maritime Authority - official web site and information portal

Tours and Getting around New South Wales

60% of the state's population lives in Sydney and much of the inter-city transport infrastructure is dedicated to taking travellers to and from Sydney.

Transport connections between other New South Wales towns are often much less convenient. There is usually a reasonably direct road route between any two New South Wales towns, but public transport links are likely to be abysmal or non-existent, unless the two towns are on the same route to Sydney. As in the rest of Australia, there is very much a culture of making your own way by car.

It is common for travellers to make their way up or down the coast from Sydney by bus. Buses traverse these coastal routes several times a day, and it is quite possible to stop off at a few of the coastal towns of your choosing.

Expect intra-city public transport to be terrible outside Sydney: other New South Wales cities have small or non-existent commuter infrastructure aside from roads, and the public transport there is largely designed for school children. Travellers who wish to tour the outback regions of NSW would be well-advised to consider hiring a car or travelling within the main transport routes in and out of Sydney. There are some exceptions. The northeast corner of New South Wales is reasonably well serviced by an extension of the Gold Coast transport. [[[Newcastle]] and Wollongong have passable bus and train networks. Other New South Wales cities expect taxis, and an irregular bus services at best.

By plane

Most New South Wales cities are within a day's drive of each other, there are a number of airlines that connect cities in the state:

• Qantas has flights between Sydney and many cities and towns throughout the regions.
• Regional Express has flights between Sydney and cities in the North Coast, New England, Riverina, Central West, Far West and South Coast regions.

Flying within New South Wales is more typically far more expensive than flying between capital cities. However the routes serviced by Virgin Blue to Albury, Ballina and Port Macquarie offer opportunities for discount flying.

By car

Close to Sydney, there are dual carriageways and motorways linking Sydney with the cities to the North, South and West. The Hume Highway heading towards Albury and Melbourne is mostly dual carriageway for its entire length. The Pacific Highway towards Coffs Harbour changes rapidly between new sections of high quality freeway, and older sections of winding, two lane road. Most roads to major centres are reasonable quality, with a single lane in each direction. It isn't uncommon when accessing smaller towns, or national parks to end up gravel and dirt roads. You usually don't need a 4 wheel drive to use them, just be sure to drive to conditions. See Driving in Australia for more information.

The State speed limit is 100 km/h outside of built-up areas unless otherwise signposted.

Some popular NSW roadtrips:

• Drive down the south coast from Sydney to Batemans Bay and Eden. The road stays by the coastline for much of length, with numerous towns and villages to stop in. Divert at Batemans Bay for the pretty drive to Braidwood and Canberra.

• Drive around the Snowy Mountains in summer.

• Take a trip along Waterfall Way which passes through some of New South Wales' most scenic countryside and has been voted the number one tourist drive in NSW.

By train

Long distance

Countrylink [3] runs a network of trains to major destinations, and a network of connecting buses to offer a service to most New South Wales towns. It isn't exactly quick, or frequent, however some sort of service is generally offered to most towns once a day.

• Sydney to Coffs Harbour and Grafton via the Central Coast, Hunter Valley and North Coast, with some services continuing to Brisbane
• Sydney to Tamworth and Armidale via the Central Coast, Hunter Valley and New England.
• Sydney to Dubbo via the Blue Mountains and Central West.
• Sydney to Canberra via the Southern Highlands.
• Sydney to Albury on the Victorian Border, via the Southern Highlands and the Riverina, and continuing to Melbourne

Countrylink trains are air-conditioned and equipped with comfortable seats. The overnight interstate trains have limited sleeping room available. Food, including hot lunches and dinners, is available from a buffet car onboard. It is essential to book Countrylink tickets in advance.

Cityrail trains run a surprisingly long distance from the Sydney city centre, even overlapping with the routes of some Countrlnik services. Where they do overlap, it is usual for the Cityrail service to be slightly cheaper, to be more flexible, in that no bookings are required, and they allow luggage a bikes in the carriage, but also a little slower. See destination articles for details and alternatives.

• Sydney to Newcastle via the Central Coast
• Newcastle to Scone and Dungog via Maitland and the Hunter Valley. Taking this service from Sydney is very indirect service, and taking Cityrail over Countrylink will add considerable travel time.
• Sydney to Lithgow via the Blue Mountains
• Sydney to Goulburn via the Southern Highlands
• Sydney to Nowra via the Wollongong and South Coast.

Local

Sydney's Cityrail [4] (tel 13 15 00) commuter train system also runs inter-city trains to areas within three hours of Sydney. Tickets on Cityrail trains are much cheaper than Countrylink tickets, but you will not get an assigned seat. Countrylink does not serve many of the stations within the inter-city Cityrail network. The network covers the following areas:

See the Sydney article for more information on Cityrail and Cityrail ticketing.

Buses to New South Wales

The bus routes in New South Wales are more extensive than the train routes but share the same fundamental design: they take travellers to and from Sydney, or to the region's major hub. Many towns have a bus service especially to meet the trains to and from Sydney in a nearby town.

New South Wales tourist attractions and sightseeing

Landmarks

• Sydney Harbour is one of the state's favourite postcard scenes. See it from the side of a ferry or from one of the islands in the centre.

Wildlife

• See animals at
  • Western Plains Zoo, an open-range zoo in Dubbo. See Australian and exotic animals roaming in large paddocks rather than pacing in small cages.
  • Taronga Zoo, across the Harbour from Sydney.
  • Featherdale Wildlife Park, in Western Sydney. Smaller than Taronga, but flat and emphasising Australian fauna. Visit www.featherdale.com.au/
  • Australian Reptile Park [5], about an hour north of Sydney, with much more than reptiles. (Hint: Go early, move slowly, stay quiet and you can pet the roos.)
• Go on a dolphin cruise in Jervis Bay

New South Wales city tours

• Surf your way up the coast from Sydney to the north coast pf New South Wales.
• Go on one of the bushwalks from Katoomba into the Jamison Valley.
• Hire a houseboat in any one of many bays, lakes and rivers.
• Ski in the Snowy Mountains in winter.
• Climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge and see the sun set over Sydney.
• Go to the Royal Easter Show in Sydney.
• Byron Bay's annual Blues and Roots festival is the state's largest roots music festival.
• Tamworth is Australia's country music capital and holds a country music festival in January each year.
• Camp in one of the many National Parks. (See www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au)

New South Wales Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

The city of Sydney, unsurprisingly, represents the main food lovers' haven in New South Wales. It's the best place in the state to seek out both gourmet food and international cuisine. Particular highlights are Sydney's growing wave of Thai and fusion restaurants, and those top end restaurants whose chefs were often trained in some of the best international kitchens. Sydney's cosmopolitan population guarantees that just about every major cuisine on the planet is authentically and easily available - and generally at a great price.

Most coastal regions, including the Mid-North Coast, Northern Rivers, Central Coast, Sydney and the South Coast are a good place for seafood lovers to eat. Inland the catch may be a little less fresh.

Parts of the Central West specialise in meals made from local produce. Several of these restaurants feature regularly in the Sydney restaurant reviews, and they are beginning to have prices to match.

Vegetarians should be able to find a meal or two to suit them in almost every restaurant in the state, but are best catered for in Sydney and after that, on the somewhat "alternative" Northern Rivers.

New South Wales nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

Pubs, Clubs and Bars

• Sydney has much busier nightlife than the rest of the state and is the best place to find everything from international touring acts to backpacker bars and big beats. Other cities like Wollongong and Newcastle also have a diverse scene, with lots of choice of venues.

• Towns that cater to travellers and backpackers, like Byron Bay, Tweed Heads, Batemans Bay, also have a selection of venues to choose from.

• Just about every country town in New South Wales will have at least one pub to choose from, from historical to the modern and upmarket. There is usually at least one also a club, be in a bowling club, services club, etc. Visitors are welcome at pubs and clubs, and clubs usually have a sign out the front saying so. Meals and drinks are usually cheaper in the club, and depending on the town it can be slightly less rough and ready. Even country pubs will often have a band one or two nights a week, a pool table, juke box etc.

Wine

Wines are grown in many parts of New South Wales.

• The Hunter Valley is the state's major wine-growing region, and has a wine tourism industry to match. There are many winery tours from genteel wine-and-cheese tasting trips to minibuses full of partying backpackers and girls out on hens nights. It's a couple of hours drive north of Sydney, and is just a little too far for a comfortable day trip, although it can be done.

• Mudgee is another area of wine production, over the Blue Mountains.

Although tasting at the cellar door has a certain appeal, the wines themselves will certainly be cheaper at the bottle shop down the road.

Beer

Tooheys New (lion Nathan) and Victoria Bitter (Carlton United) are the two big brands that will be on tap in most pubs around the state. Tooheys being the traiditonal New South Wales brand. Beer is served in schooners (smaller than a pint), or middies (about half a pint), so it is entirely reasonable to walk into most pubs and ask for 'schooner of new', and one will appear on bar. Beer glass sizes have different names and sizes in other states. On a hot day in a hot pub in the country, you will find more people drinking middles, as they stay colder.

New South Wales cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging

Hotels

These are many hotels in New South Wales. Consult the sleep entries for the particular city you wish to visit.

Motels

Outside of weekends and school holidays it is usually possible to just drive and find accommodation along the road. Most towns of any size will have a motel or two on the road into town. Sometimes in low season they will display discounted standby rates at the gate as your drive past. If not, sometimes if they are not busy, a little discount can be negotiated at the counter. Generally expect motels to be cheaper the smaller the town, and the further away from the coast, the mountanis, and Sydney that you are.

Some of the chains covering many centres across New South Wales are:

• Country Comfort Hotels and motels

• Golden Chain Motels [6] has 100 locations in NSW.

• Best Western Motels [7]

• Choice Hotels [8]

Pubs

Just about every town has a pub offering accommodation. The standard varies from newly renovated to run-down, with many quaint places in-between. In winter it can even be an idea to take a small heater, as the heating in some can often be a little inadequate.

Serviced Apartments

Serviced apartments are alternative to traditional hotel accommodation with more space, and cooking facilities.

• Quest Apartments [9] - A chain with apartments available in most urban and regional cities in New South Wales.

Stay safe

Dangerous fauna

There are no box jellyfish or crocodiles in New South Wales.

There can be sharks along the beaches, but shark attacks are rare, especially on patrolled beaches.

Natural disasters

There are no tropical cyclones or hurricanes, and tornados are very rare in New South Wales.

Some areas outside are prone to flooding.

Violent crime

Please see destination articles for any areas epecific advice.

Cope

Smoking is banned indoors in all public buildings, bars, restaurants and transport.

Get out

Use the Hume Highway to exit New South Wales to Victoria, or the New England Highway and Pacific Highways to travel to Queensland. Thunderbolts Way through Gloucester is a very scenic and shorter alternative route to take to Queensland.

Destinations in New South Wales:

• Blue Mountains
• Canberra
• Central Coast (New South Wales)
• Central West (New South Wales)
• Collector
• Cooma
• Cootamundra
• Far West (New South Wales)
• Grenfell
• Hunter Valley
• Illawarra
• Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
• Lightning Ridge
• Lord Howe Island
• Mid-North Coast
• New England (New South Wales)
• Northern Rivers
• Quaama
• Riverina
• Roseville (New South Wales)
• Shoalhaven
• Snowy Mountains
• South Coast (New South Wales)
• Southern Highlands (New South Wales)
• Sydney
• Yass

This page was last edited by Ian Sergeant. Based on work by Ryan Holliday and Valtteri Päivinen, Wikitravel user(s) Cgoodwin, Kimjong, JRG and Morph, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license