We enjoyed experiencing the local transportation. Although…read moretheir system was NOT as user friendly as NY, London, or Italy, it was easy enough. Quality/Quantity - New and old trains, see pictures. Liked that they had double decker trains, cool. Accurate and easy to read signs. Atmosphere - Safe. I believe you can use your credit card to scan in and out, but we were given an Opal card by our friends. Good signage to find our way around and to get on the correct trains. Mostly clean, well the newer trains were much cleaner than the older trains. Service - Mostly self service. They did have an employee or two at each station. Price - No idea, as our friends gave us funded Opal cards and it never ran out of $$. I am told that seniors (not me) are only charged $2.50 a day, what a great deal! We paid per trip. The Opal card was also good for buses, ferries, metro, light rails, etc. Owner Comment - Thank you for a good system.

This is one of those semi-major interchange stations, where you can change between stopping all…read morestations and express trains, and also trains that go to different parts of the city. As a station, it actually isn't that bad, though of course not all of the trains stop here. However, as is generally expected with most stations in Sydney, it is fairly accessible.

Marayong Station, is a very local station, with few customers on the platform. Just one station…read morefrom Blacktown, it is perfectly situated on the T1 Richmond Line. Unfortunately, due to this, trains will come less frequently and have more stops. When staffed, the staff members are extremely helpful and friendly and will assist at any time. I definitely recommend Marayong Station.

Just like its sister station Museum, St James is one of the grand old dames of the Sydney rail…read morenetwork. Built as a major station in the 20s, the line it was supposed to serve ended up running direct to Town Hall instead so St James became a neglected backwater on the City Circle until it was restored to its full 1920s glory. Full of ornate brass and ironwork, polished timber, original tiles and period advertising (including the iconic Chateau Tanunda brandy sign at the Elizabeth St entrance). Travelling to St James is like stepping back to the 20s. St James is also known for the abandoned rail tunnels that were built for the line that was supposed to run through it but never did. Apparently one is now flooded and forms an underground lake which is used to water the grass in the Domain. The other contains a large bell. No one knows why. If you like tunnels you can do tours. For fans of the Matrix movies, you may well recognise parts of St James from Matrix Revolutions.

FREE! Yep, free bus, every 10 minutes around the main area of Parramatta…read more Number 900, they're usually bright green. Although the transport website claims they've only been in operation since earlier this year, I think it was just called something else previously. I'm pretty sure this was the first free bus loop in Sydney, and I remember going on it for the first time quite a few years ago. It goes from the interchange at the train station to Argyle and Macquarie Streets west, up O'Connell, past the Leagues Club to north Church Street, Prince Alfred Park, Lennox Bridge, Phillip Street, Parramatta Wharf (where you can catch the Rivercat), Charles and Macquarie Street and back to the interchange again. Phew. Actually, the whole loop only takes about 25 minutes, so you can jump on anywhere and get to anywhere you want in pretty darn quick time. I'm all for walking, but to save some weary feet and to keep cars off the road, this is a fantastic initiative for the community and tourists alike. The driver of one I caught the other day seemed a little harried at the other less-than-perfect vehicular operators on the road, for which the solution, I think, is more buses. More free ones. Yay.

There is a collective mass of tailors and alteration shops in and around Wynyard. I guess they…read morefigure that this is the central location for the suits of Sydney. They are likely correct. So of the many, I chose this one in particular for a few reasons. I have walked by it a few times and they are always busy. Crazy busy. When a customer comes up, they are always attentive. And when I see someone leave with their good in hand they look happy. So when I required their services, I travelled over 45min to try them out. Arriving at Thursday lunch time, I needed to get my suit pants mended by Friday. With a wedding to attend on the weekend, it was a bit of a deal breaker. "How about Friday at 5pm" was the counter offer. Looking down at the massive pile of suits this guy had to work through before getting to mine, I did not know how it was going to get done, but what the hell.... So I come back at 4:45pm on Friday, and their they are. Pants were mended so well it was ridiculous. He even added a bit of silk on the inside for a bit of comfort. I was totally satisfied and think this store offers brilliant value. When I need something done next time, I will be back.

This is a "pre-getting my clothes" back review. I will update to a 5 once I do…read more Update: got my clothes back....everything was great! Using a tailor in a train station always worries me, but I think this will go well. After reading a review, I searched for Tasanee in Wynyard...but it's really more in Hunter Connection, downstairs from Wynyard. I had 2 dresses to be altered, one just getting a zipper replaced, the other taken in. The guy was very helpful and spent more than 10 minutes with me (an eternity in train station alteration world I imagine). He explained to me why the previous zipper wasn't working (even after a brief defense put on by me that the dress wasn't in fact too small for me) and what changes he would make to fix it. After trying on the second dress, he showed me a reasonably expensive alteration ($40) for having to remove the entire seam, but then showed me an alternative that pretty much had the same affect, but half the cost. Still awaiting the results, but so far so good! Stay tuned!

My partner and I did the "Cut & Thrust of the CBD" tour and what a wonderful day it was. We wanted…read moreto get away from the mainstream grind of touristy destinations & coach trips and our host Marie definitely delivered. Having a local person's 'insider' perspective gave us the opportunity to see and visit many places that are easily overlooked by most Sydney-siders I'm sure. We loved the hidden coffee and cake shops in The Strand Arcade and The Art Gallery of NSW is just a wonderful structure, not to mention the artwork. Winding up at Grasshopper was a wonderful and quirky surprise and it's never where you'd find it. Ironic that it's on "Temperance Lane" . 3 hours (the minimum tour time) is the perfect amount of time to achieve all we wanted to see and to give us a taste of places we may wish to go back and visit again. Some of the highlights worth noting are: Gaffa Gallery in Clarence St - It's run by the artists and a cool place to view and buy art Kinokuniya - Japanese bookshop in Galleries Victoria - to see the fantastic range of art books & literature Gowings Bar in the new QT hotel - apparently they've done an amazing reno and there is a really cool bar/brasserie Strand Arcade - beautiful cake shops & if you like jewellery shopping then this is the place. The history of the building is quite fascinating too! Chinatown - great Coconut Buns. Highly recommended for anybody (travellers and locals) who wants to explore or re-explore Sydney. Thank you again for such a wonderful day, The Sydney Connection is definitely the hidden gem of this town!

With all of the people writing reviews on the railway station I thought I might be a little…read moredifferent and write a review on the park (since it is, but it isn't, the railway station). Okay, this isn't a huge park, but it is quite a quaint little park hidden in the centre of Sydney. I've passed it a few times, however when I ended up staying at a hotel down here I found myself wandering through here quite often, and in fact would grab a large tea from one of the many coffee shops and sit out here with a book. Sure, you do find some interesting people scattered about the place, especially at night, but most of the time (at least as far as I've experienced) it tends to be pretty safe (which probably has more to be with my size). Mind you, come nightfall if you wander through the station you will find that it turns into a makeshift hotel, though I have since heard that they blocked that section off. As for the station well, there are entrances and exits everywhere, and in fact you can get from one side of the park right across to Pitt Street without having to cross a street. I ended up spending quite a bit of time wandering around here, which I have to say was pretty cool.

Got off one station earlier than usual because this station has a lift and I had holiday luggage. I…read morecould then catch a bus to my home destination. If you are visiting Westmead Hospital or Children's Hospital Westmead you can try the 5 minute walk or catch a bus. The bus stop is at the bottom of the ramp & across the road. This station would be great for those wanting to explore Parramatta Park. You could get off here and amble through the park back to the Parramatta city centre. In fact when you plan to attend a Parra Park event, like Australia Day, this would be easier than Parramatta Station......and I'm pretty sure all trains stop here!