Australian Museum
The world's fifth oldest natural history museum has been in Sydney since 1827 — older than the colony could really afford it.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Sydney offline.
Founded by Earl Bathurst with £200 a year, this is Australia's oldest natural history museum, built on the European encyclopedic model covering zoology, mineralogy, palaeontology, and anthropology. Its scientific reputation was forged under curator Gerard Krefft in the 1860s, and its researchers still run a coral reef station on the Great Barrier Reef.
What to look for
- Vertebrate and invertebrate zoology collections — the breadth runs from insects to large fauna
- Mineralogy and palaeontology galleries tracing the original encyclopedic scope from 1827
- Anthropology holdings, one of the four disciplines the museum was built around from the start
State-funded and operated by the NSW government; permanent galleries run alongside rotating temporary exhibitions — check current shows before you go.
Australian Museum is one of 23 sights worth the detour in Sydney, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Sydney pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Sydney
- Sydney Opera HouseJørn Utzon won the design competition in 1957, directed construction, then resigned before it ever opened — Queen Elizabeth II cut the ribbon on 20 October 1973.
- Sydney Harbour BridgeWalk the arch of the world's tallest steel bridge — nicknamed "the Coathanger" — with Sydney Harbour spread out below you and the arch top rising 134 m above the water.
- Accor StadiumBuilt in 1999 for A$690 million, this was the largest Olympic stadium ever constructed — originally squeezing in 115,000 people.
- Sydney Tower EyeAt 309 m above the CBD, this is the highest observation deck in the Southern Hemisphere by deck elevation — clearing Auckland's Sky Tower by nearly 30 m.
- Taronga ZooFive thousand animals on the Mosman shore — and the Sydney skyline watches from across the water.
- Sydney Cricket GroundA British Army garrison pitch from February 1854, now one oval shared by two sporting codes.