Home » Special Features » The World’s Best » Best Museums Sydney
These can’t-miss museums offer an array of attractions designed to mesmerize art addicts and curious gallery-goers alike. Distinguished by their modern art masterpieces, architectural triumphs, oddball collections, or undeniable cool factor, these are the best-in-class museums in the world’s hottest cities.
Best Museums in....
Best Cool Museums
Sydney
Australian National Maritime Museum 2 Murray St., Darlinghurst, 02.9298.3777 anmm.gov.au
The Draw: Harbor cities have a fascination with the sea. Sydney is no different, and this museum gives you a porthole-peek into its maritime history.
The Scene: Ay, me hearties, there are kids aplenty here. In addition to viewing indoor displays of maps, art, and maritime technology, you can clamber around on several floating vessels. Though there’s no climbing on the rigging, the confined cabin spaces and submarine gangways are heaving with one-legged visitors with parrots on their shoulders. Daily 9:30am–5pm, until 6:30pm in Jan. $ Hot Tip: Budding captains can charter a yacht or have an introductory sailing lesson with Sydney by Sail (02.9280.1110, sydneybysail.com), which operates from an adjoining wharf.
Hyde Park Barracks Museum Queens Square, Macquarie St., Hyde Park, 02.8239.2311 hht.net.au
The Draw: This museum reeks with atmosphere, from the swinging hammocks to the displays on the rations and routines of convicted felons. The Scene: Being transported to Australia for kicking a policeman up the backside or stealing a bolt of cloth meant a stint in leg irons in the hold of a rat-infested ship. Once on land, you might have ended up in these convict barracks doing your best to avoid a flogging. Daily 9:30am–5pm. $ Hot Tip: Wander down historic Macquarie Street and visit some of Sydney’s oldest buildings, including St. James’ Church and the site of the old Sydney Hospital.
The Draw: Sydney’s largest public museum, the Powerhouse Museum is an interactive mind-meld of touch-screen computers, audio phones, science experiments, virtual-reality 3-D theaters, movies, and displays. The Scene: On weekdays, school kids run amok, and the squeals of battle can deflect your attention from a mock autopsy room or from a temporary exhibit of extraordinary large-format photographs of comets, planets, galaxies, nebulae, and supernovae—so come on a weekend if you can. Daily 10am–5pm. $ Hot Tip: Take the monorail from Town Hall to the Powerhouse Museum, and for lunch try some sushi and hang out with the pelicans at the nearby Sydney Fishmarkets.
