18/679 Bourke Street, Surry Hills

Surry Hills

Once the centre of Sydney's garment trade, the Surry Hills of today is a trendy and essentially gentrified inner city address with a distinct arty edge. Less than 1.5km from the CBD, it's home to many creative agencies and enterprises, renowned design stores and some top restaurants.

There are still some factory outlets closer to Central Station on the northern side of the suburb, although many of the warehouses have been reclaimed for conversion, given the high demand for residential accommodation throughout the area.

The main thoroughfare of Crown Street has been completely reinvented as a cosmopolitan restaurant and entertainment hub, with its eclectic eateries and revamped pubs such as The Clock, The White Horse and The Dolphin.

Cleveland Street, which separates the more upmarket eastern side of Surry Hills from the west, is renowned for its affordable ethnic cuisine. The Eastern Distributor road works gave the area a massive boost, blocking off the formerly high-traffic Bourke Street and transforming it to a quieter, leafy enclave lined with large Victorian terraces, groovy cafes and interesting specialty stores.

Increasingly a fashion mecca, Surry Hills has great vintage stores, especially at the Oxford Street end of Crown Street. With cafes every couple of paces, Surry Hills epitomises Sydney cafe culture. Do as the locals do, and plan to spend your day lazing in the sun at Shannon Reserve. Hit Maloneys Grocer (and/or Messina) beforehand to grab some treats for an afternoon picnic at the iconic park. Head to the park on the first Saturday of the month, and you'll be met with the beloved Surry Hills Markets where you can hunt down some fine, bohemian treasures.

The area's many galleries exhibit young local artists, but perhaps the most famous would have to be the Brett Whiteley Gallery on Raper Street, with its iconic oversized burnt matchsticks framing the entryway.

Surry Hills is surrounded by Central Station on its western edge and the Eastern Distributor on its east. Though there are also buses that run through the area, the suburb and its many cafes, shops, restaurants and bars are best explored on foot. The new CBD and South East Light Rail is transforming public transport in Sydney, providing high capacity, clean and reliable services. The L2 Randwick Line extends from Circular Quay along George Street to Central Station, through Surry Hills to Moore Park, then to Randwick and Kingsford via Anzac Parade and Alison Road. The L3 Kingsford Line also extends from Circular Quay, branching from Moore Park through Kensington to Kingsford.

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