Watsons Bay and South Head

Watsons Bay is the half day we would give any visitor who has already done the Opera House and the Bridge and wants to understand why Sydneysiders are so smug about their harbour. It sits at the very tip of the South Head peninsula, where the harbour meets the Pacific, and getting there is part of the pleasure: the ferry from Circular Quay takes under twenty minutes, running past the Opera House, Garden Island and the eastern harbour mansions before it docks at a little wharf with a park, a pub and a seafood restaurant all within a few steps. From the wharf, the trip splits neatly into two short walks. Turn south and up the hill into Gap Park and you are suddenly on top of 80-metre sandstone cliffs facing the open ocean, the scene of the 1857 wreck of the Dunbar, one of the worst disasters in colonial Sydney's history, with an anchor from the ship mounted on the clifftop. Turn north instead and the South Head Heritage Trail runs past Camp Cove, a calm, sandy beach that is one of the best family swims in the harbour, then Lady Bay (a long-established clothing-optional beach, so be aware), old gun emplacements and finally Hornby Lighthouse, the candy-striped tower built in 1858 after the Dunbar disaster, with views straight out through the Heads. Back at the wharf, there are two classic ways to finish: takeaway fish and chips from Doyles on the Wharf eaten on the grass of Robertson Park, or a drink in the beer garden of the Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel as the sun drops behind the city skyline. Entry to everything is free; the only costs are the ferry and lunch.

The history here is surprisingly deep for such a small place. The South Head peninsula is Birrabirragal and Gadigal Country, and middens around the harbour record thousands of years of fishing and shellfish gathering. In January 1788, the British party scouting the harbour for a settlement site camped at the little beach now called Camp Cove before choosing Sydney Cove further in. Watsons Bay grew as a fishing village and a pilot station, guiding ships through the Heads, and the cottages along the waterfront still have that maritime scale. South Head was fortified through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the gun emplacements you pass on the heritage trail are part of the Sydney Harbour National Park now. The Dunbar wreck of 1857, when the ship mistook The Gap for the harbour entrance in a storm and only one person survived, led directly to Hornby Lighthouse being built at the tip of the headland.

How to do it well: catch a mid-morning ferry from Circular Quay, walk the South Head Heritage Trail first while it is cooler, and swim at Camp Cove on the way back. Then climb to The Gap for the cliff views before lunch. The lighthouse loop is short and mostly easy, though there are steps and some exposed stretches; allow about an hour with stops. Strong walkers can continue south from The Gap along the Federation Cliff Walk, a five-kilometre clifftop path towards Dover Heights, and pick up a bus to Bondi, which turns the day into a full harbour-to-ocean crossing. Whale watching from the clifftops is a winter and spring pleasure, roughly May to November, so the season has just ended; the views are spectacular regardless.

Practicals and fit: ferries run from Circular Quay every day, and buses also link Watsons Bay with the city and Bondi Junction. Weekends in summer are busy, so go on a weekday if you can, and arrive early if you want a table at the beach end of the bay. There is little shade on the heritage trail, so bring a hat and water. Families love Camp Cove and the fish and chips on the grass; couples should time the visit for a sunset drink with the city lit up across the water. It pairs perfectly with a morning at the Opera House or the Botanic Garden before the ferry.