Four Perfect Picnic Spots in Sydney

Christine Knight

The harbour city is renowned for its natural beauty – and astronomical cafe prices! Instead of ponying up $18 for your next avo smash in a trendy inner west cafe, pack a boozy picnic basket throw down your blanket at one of these scenic spots where you can laze the day away (and maybe snap an Insta story or two).

Mrs Macquaries Point

For the ultimate picnic with a view, Mrs Macquaries Point takes the cake. The Point is a part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, and features a spectacular view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. Nearby Mrs Macquaries Chair, the place where the wife of Governor Lachlan Macquarie used to sit and watch the boats sailing into the harbour, is a prime place for tourists to take the ultimate Sydney selfie, but we prefer to lay down a blanket and just soak in the view.

Mrs Macquaries Road, Royal Botanic Gardens

Centennial Park

This large parkland is gateway to Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. It was designed with wide avenues to allow the rich folks in Sydney to promenade in their carriages and ‘take the air’. Centennial Park has plenty of shady trees, ponds with ducks, heritage buildings and gardens to picnic in. Bring a portable BBQ and a bottle of bubbly for the ultimate Sunday set up.

Grand Dr, Centennial Park

Parsley Bay

This tiny harbour beach has been a well-kept secret by Sydney locals for a long time, but the word is out! Parsley Bay has stunning water views with a hundred-year-old wooden footbridge running over the top of the bay. There are plenty of picnic facilities set up around the bay and a short bushwalk that takes you to a waterfall. The area is famous for its Eastern Water Dragons, who like to sun themselves on the rocks.

Parsley Road, Vaucluse

Shark Island

No, there are no sharks waiting to take a bite out of you in the water surrounding the island, the name comes from its shape rather than the predator. Shark Island once served as an animal quarantine but is now an idyllic spot to wile the day away under a shady tree. The best bit about Shark Island is how hard it is to get to, meaning that for the effort involved to arrive on its shores (you’ll need to hire a water taxi or catch a special ferry), you’ll be rewarded with your own private paradise.

Sydney Harbour, off Point Piper

Christine Knight is an Australian travel writer and blogger. When she’s not chasing her energetic five-year-old through Sydney’s inner west, you’ll find her “researching” her way through the best high teas in the city.