Goat Island, west of the Harbour Bridge, has been a shipyard, a quarantine station and a gunpowder depot in its previous lives. Heritage tours are offered twice monthly from Circular Quay, see the national parks website (www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au) for details. Plans to restore the island to Indigenous ownership are underway.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Sydney attractions

1. Waterman’s Cottage

0.36 MILES

Just up from the ferry slip, this cute sandstone cottage was built in 1841. It's one of many historic houses of this era scattered through Balmain.

2. Balls Head Reserve

0.37 MILES

Scruffy, bushy Balls Head Reserve not only has great views of the harbour, the city skyline and the industrial relics on Goat Island, it also has a wiggly…

3. Cahermore

0.39 MILES

Balmain’s hibiscus-studded streets contain dozens of historically significant buildings, most of which are privately owned. Darling St has Cahermore,…

4. Barangaroo Reserve

0.41 MILES

Part of Barangaroo, the major redevelopment project of what was a commercial port, this park sits on a headland with wonderful harbour perspectives. The…

5. McMahons Point

0.6 MILES

Is there a better view of the bridge and the Opera House than from the wharf at this point, a short hop by ferry northwest of the centre? It's all…

6. Walsh Bay

0.61 MILES

This section of Dawes Point waterfront was Sydney’s busiest before the advent of container shipping and the construction of port facilities at Botany Bay…

7. Argyle Place

0.63 MILES

A quiet, English-style village green lined with terraced houses, Argyle Place offers the sacred appeal of Garrison Church and the more secular delights of…

8. Garrison Church

0.68 MILES

Also known as Holy Trinity (1843), this pretty sandstone Anglican church at the western end of the Argyle Cut was the colony’s first military church…

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