Budgets are tight this summer. But even if you’ve got a little less spending money this year, it doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. Everything on this list costs a tenner or less – from $1 hot dogs to happy-hour prawn rolls and free outdoor cinemas – so there’s no reason not to enjoy our spectacular city this summer.
麦夫el at Soda Factory’s $1 hot dog deal
For almost a decade now, Surry Hills good-times bar and dinerSoda Factoryhas been doing Sydneysiders (but maybe not its own bottom line) a solid, serving up $1 hot dogs. Its “dollar dogs” are available on Tuesday nights, when it hosts musical bingo. Plus, its happy hour, from 5pm to 7pm Tuesday to Friday, involves $6 house beer, wine and spirits. On Wednesdays it also does $1 wings and $10 buckets of fried chicken – and head along on Thursday nights, when DJs keep the dancefloor thumping till late.sodafactory.com.au
Enjoy cocktails or prawn rolls at one of Sydney’s hottest bars
TheShell Housedevelopment is a big-budget experience, but there are ways to enjoy its ground-floorMenzies Baron a shoestring, if you know what time to arrive. From Tuesday to Saturday, 4pm to 6pm is Martini hour, with mini versions of the classic cocktail or prawn rolls for $10. If you want both, you’ll need to double the budget, or bring a mate.
shellhouse.com.au
Catch a free exhibition at the MCA
The MCA’s biggest exhibition of 2022, and Do Ho Suh’sfirst solo exhibitionin the Southern Hemisphere, is a major survey spanning three decades of the South Korean artist’s work. Suh, one of the world’s most acclaimed artists, is known for his large-scale sculptures and architectural installations. The exhibition houses a reconstruction of the artist’s parents’ home, made from paper rubbings, as well as a series of vibrantly coloured, interconnecting fabric structures replicating corridors and entryways, which visitors can wander through. Walk across the enormous installationFloor: thousands of tiny sculpted figures with their arms raised support the glass panels beneath you.
mca.com.au
Eat $3 oysters at The Morrison
We love a good cocktail happy hour, but oyster hour takes it one step further. Every Wednesday from 6pm to 7pm, sample some of Australia’s best oysters atThe Morrison– they come either natural or with lemon or mignonette. The menu features sustainable molluscs, sourced from around the country.
themorrison.com.au
Tackle an ambitious beachside trail
Nearly everyone has done the Bondi to Coogee walk. That spectacular and very approachable trail is famous with locals and out-of-towners alike. At 80 kilometres long, theBondi to Manly walkis a more ambitious hike, but the variety of beautiful tracks and coastal views makes it well worth the trip. Take it slow over three days and bring your swimmers for a dip at the start, the finish and along the way.
bonditomanly.com
See the new wing of the Art Gallery of NSW – and catch an exhibition in an oil tank
Argentine-Peruvian artist Adrián Villar Rojas’s The End of the Imagination is the much-talked about installation in the Tank, the ground-floor exhibition space at the Art Gallery of NSW’s extraordinarynew Sydney Modern wing. To find the exhibition, visitors descend an internal spiral staircase into the 2200-square-metre former oil tank. The deeper you go, the darker it gets, with much of the sprawling work taking place in deep darkness. Roving spotlights reveal glimpses of five looming sculptures made from composites of metals, plastics, concrete, soil, glass, salt, wax, resin, tree bark, salvaged auto parts and other materials. If it calls to mind theUpside Down, you’re not alone.
artgallery.nsw.gov.au
Take a dip in a harbour pool
Whether it’s a rough rockpool fed by the crashing waves of the ocean, or it’s a more sedate, saltwater affair with a good view, Sydneysiders are spoilt for choice when it comes to swimming in harbour pools. Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool at the edge of The Domain is open until April; $7.05 will buy you a swim and access to one of the most beautiful views in the city, across the harbour to Woolloomooloo. For a bracing dip in a proper ocean pool, try Mahon Pool at Maroubra for free.
abcpool.org
randwick.nsw.gov.au
Check out a film for free at an outdoor cinema
有很多优秀的outdoor cinemas in Sydney – but The Rocks Laneway Cinema makes your choice easy by being free. Set in the quaint heritage square at Atherden Street, the buildings are decorated with festoon lights, and the Harbour Bridge peeks over the top of a sandstone building. What the square lacks in soft grass to sit on, it makes up for with bean bag chairs and deck chairs set up on the cobblestones. Free screenings are every Wednesday night until the end of January. Bring a picnic or choose from the myriad nearby eateries, and catch films such asThe Devil Wears Prada,Crazy Rich AsiansandLove Actually.
therocks.com
Do the happy hour rounds all over the city
There are venues doing happy hour every weekday in Sydney. Get tap wine, prosecco or bottled beer for $8 on weekdays atBopp and Tonein the CBD; $7 Young Henrys pints atCorridorin Newtown on Fridays from 4pm to 7pm; and $6 tap schooners, wines and house spirits from 5pm to 7pm on weekdays atEl Locoat the back of the Excelsior Hotel in Surry Hills.
boppandtone.com.au
corridornewtown.com.au
merivale.com
Drink a sparkling Margarita in the sunshine
In 2021Cantina Ok!– home toSydney’s best Margarita推出了一个闪闪发光的玛格丽塔,Seltzer Ok!. Made with macerated fresh fruit, including orange peel and lime leaves, mezcal, soda water and a sprinkle of salt (to replicate a salted rim), it’s refreshing with a sour kick. Split a $24 six pack with your mates, and it works out as a very doable $6 per drink. Head to one ofthese parkson a sunny day and crack one open.
okokok.com.au
This article was published on December 7, 2021, and updated on December 9, 2022.
