Martin McAllister is a freelance online journalist. He lives in Scotland.
From its spectacular New Year's fireworks to its stunning harbour setting, Sydney is truly one of the world's most attractive cities and it's no wonder that Sydney has long been a popular destination for travellers in Australasia and beyond. Whether you're keen to enjoy the warm weather ‘down under’ when it's winter in the UK, or if you simply want to make a getaway during your summer holidays, Sydney offers a variety of arts, entertainment and sports events to cater for every tourist's taste.
As Australia's largest city, Sydney offers a wide range of cultural attractions. The most visited parts of the city are, of course, its most iconic landmarks: the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. However, Sydney holds an array of other popular attractions that should not be overlooked if you're visiting the city. Sydney Tower, for example, is the city's tallest free-standing structure at 305 metres high, and its observation deck offers visitors staggering views across the city.
Furthermore, Sydney has a dedicated artistic tradition; a range of Australia's best artistic companies hail from the city, including Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Dance Company and Sydney Theatre Company. Sydney is also famous for its distinct gay community, which centres on Oxford Street and plays host to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras every year.
In fact, the Mardi Gras is only one of Sydney's numerous annual festivals. Every January, the city stages the Sydney Festival, which has been Australia's largest and most popular cultural festival since its inception in 1976. Its annual programme includes over 50 free events which span across a range of genres: from classical and contemporary music to dance, drama, circus events and public lectures. Attracting around 1.5 million people every year, the Sydney Festival truly captures the spirit of what makes Sydney such a great city to visit.
Sydney is also home to the Sydney Film Festival; moreover, since the opening of Fox Studios in Sydney in 1998, the city has become steadily more prevalent on cinema screens around the world. Famous movies that have been filmed in the city include Mission Impossible II, The Matrix, Moulin Rouge and the last two instalments of the Star Wars franchise.
Travellers hoping to see something of Australia's history while in Sydney will not be disappointed with the variety of museums in the city. The biggest are the Australian Museum (a centre for natural history and anthropology), the Powerhouse Museum, which showcases exhibits on science, technology and design, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Australian National Maritime Museum.
If you live in Britain, you're sure to be able to find plenty of flights to Sydney on a daily basis throughout the year. So whether you're keen to enjoy the warm weather ‘down under’ when its winter in the UK, or simply want to take a break to the Emerald City during your summer holidays, you'll always be able to find a suitable way to travel to Sydney.
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Mumbai Weekend breaks
By: Gaurav Kaushik | 02/01/2010The stunning getaways from Mumbai, Lonavala & Khandala do not require any introduction. Unquestionably the most preferred with the Bollywood filmmakers and localities of Mumbai alike, Lonavala is also recognized as the gem of the Sahayadri Hills. Positioned in the Mumbai-Pune Highway, approximately 5 kms at a distance from each other, these look-alike hill stations are most excellent in the rainy season, when they throw on the best shadow of sea green. Stroll through mist covered places, stopove
Weekend breaks near Mumbai
By: Gaurav Kaushik | 02/01/2010Keshavraj and Vyaghreshwar: The Shrines of Keshavraj and Vyaghreshwar positioned at Asud in close proximity to Dapoli are also wonderful and splendid tourism options. Located on a hill close to the village, one has to amble through wooded land to arrive at the temple. You can also unearth some of the most stunning selection of flora and fauna with wild cacti, attractive butterflies, and thick plantations of coconut and beetle nut trees.All these places perhaps give you some most wonderful unforg
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By: Gaurav Kaushik | 02/01/2010Even though the chief views such as St Mark's Square and Basilica, the Rialto Bridge and the Palazzo Ducale are crowded with large number of people all the year around from all over the world but at the same time it is not complicated to get away from the crowds. The backside streets are creased with buildings that in any other city would be most important attractions, the museums are bursting with riches and the drowsy islands of Italy's most well-known lagoon embraces glories of their own.
Weekend Break to Barcelona City
By: Gaurav Kaushik | 02/01/2010There are numerous Flights to Barcelona and they are relatively cheap. During the summer months the booking of the ticket is done in advance as there is lots of crowd. The Scottish and Irish citizens and European Union nationals are excused from taking a visa to go to Spain, they only require the passports when they land. There are lots of changes in the rules and regulations so it is always advisable to check the details before one plan out for a weekend.
Weekend break near Kolkatta
By: Gaurav Kaushik | 02/01/2010Dr Graham's Home: Currently a chief traveler attraction, this was an instituition constructed to impart quality education to the children of the tea-estates. It is at present also an orphanage and has a museum which is raised in the remembrance of the creator, Dr J.A. Graham and his partner Catharine. The establishment extends over a 500 acre land full with own dairy, poultry and their own confectionary house.
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By: Gaurav Kaushik | 02/01/2010This National Park is attracts the lovers of nature as there are many things to explore over here. The park is known for its picturesque beauty and lovely surrounding, there are variety of flora and fauna. There are large numbers of animals which one can see some of them are lion’s safari, crocodiles, serpents and pets corner. The government of the state also decides to start a butterfly park in the vicinity of Bannerghatta.
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Lease, Don't Buy, for Business Savings
By: Martin Mcallister | 05/07/2007 | Small BusinessNo matter how big or small your business might be, you will always need equipment and supplies. Leasing equipment is one option that allows you to get the things you need for your business, without having to pay for the items up front.
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By: Martin Mcallister | 21/06/2007 | TechnologyAs a first collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission (EC), Galileo was extremely ambitious. With hindsight, the desire to set up a public-private partnership in competition with GPS was perhaps too ambitious. But with the Global Monitoring of the Environment and Security (GMES) programme now taking shape as the second joint ESA-EC programme, what lessons have been learned so far from Galileo and GMES?
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By: Martin Mcallister | 04/05/2007 | InternetToday's news carries details of talks between Microsoft and Yahoo! with a view to the former buying the latter.
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