How old are your children? Are you heading off to somewhere else in Australia? If not there are some wild life parks in the suburbs where you can see Koalas , Kangaroos etc.
Take a harbour cruise, you will see the bridge and Opera house from the boat. Have a walk round the rocks area . I'm not a big fan of Bondi Beach but Manly beach is worth a visit. I would stay in town maybe the Darling Harbour area, there are a couple of 3* IBis hotels nearby.

Thanks for the reply. Our girls are 23 and 17.

Your daughters may probably want to go to Bondi Beach as I found it much more of a young persons scene, it's easy to get to, you can take the bus though it may take up a bit too much of your limited time. Same can be said for the bridge climb which is also quite expensive. You could walk across the bridge and get some good views. I believe there is now a Hop on/Hop off bus in Sydney though I have no idea how good it is. Another option is to go up the Sydney Tower which will give you lots of beautiful views.
The airport is only about 8km from the city centre and will take about 30mins by taxi.

Judith

We are thinking once we have arrived in NZ we will try and change our flight, apparently we can do this free once we have started our journey. Think we will have two nights in Sydney to make it worthwhile. Will investigate this first before we make plans!
Thanks for your replies.

Some airlines will charge for a change of itinerary but it really all depends on who you speak to on the day. We changed our flight plans twice during a 9 month RTW trip. Singapore Airlines didn't charge, but Air NZ did want to charge us for changing a flight from Sydney to Christchuch to Melbourne to Christchurch. It worked out quite expensive so we kept that segment the same. However, when we changed another Air NZ flight in Fiji for a trip from the Cook Islands to LA, the guy was so nice and waived the charge.

I'm not going to mention the fact that you really need more days in Sydney (drat, I just did!!!) because you probably are already aware but can't accommodate it. We had 5 nights, but could have spent two weeks alone in the city. There is so much to do. If you manage to get two full days I would probably include:-

Circular Quay (Harbour Bridge and Opera House)
Darling Harbour
Either Manly or Bondi Beach
The Rocks

Pretty much the same as Judith suggested. I would seriously consider the Harbour Bridge climb. Sure it's expensive, but if your budget can stretch to it, you won't regret it. It's was a major highlight of our RTW trip. Factor in a beach for sure (Manly was nicer, but Bondi is probably the world's most famous) and definitely get out on a ferry around the harbour day and night. There is only one thing more beautiful than Sydney in the daytime, Sydney by night.

As for a hotel recommendation, well we were originally booked into a hostel but agreed that in a city like Sydney it would be good to stay somewhere a bit nicer. We found a great deal at the Metro Hotel on Pitt Street, which is about 10mins walk from Darling Harbour and 20-25 to Circular Quay. There are plenty of options for transportation though, with a subway station just around the corner. I think we paid £50 per night. It's not overly luxurious (a good 3* in my opinion) but it might be worth a look.

http://www.metrohotels.com.au/sydneyhotels/pitt

If you would prefer to base yourself at the airport as you are only there for a few days the Ibis Sydney Airport was a good option. The train station (Mascot, I think) was only 5mins walk away and it was a straight 25min journey to Circular Quay. They also offer a shuttle service to and from the airport.

http://www.accorhotels.com.au/Ibis-SydneyAirport/default_en.aspx

I wouldn't normally recommend an airport hotel but as a base for 2 days it might suit you especially with the train station being so close. I would still personally stay in the city though.

Best of luck. Sydney is a fantastic city. What are the rest of your plans????

Thats so much for that informative posting! I think we would rather stay in the city... I remember we went to Amsterdam for a long weekend and booked into a hotel near the airport, and it was a pain travelling back and forwards during the day and at night.

We are actually flying from Glasgow to New Zealand to our sons wedding, and have a three night stopover in Dubai on the way. Think we have got that more or less sorted now, accommodation and what to do once there!

When I booked with Emirates I was told by the travel agent that we would be charged £100 per person for making any changes before departure, but subject to availability we should be able to change our flight days with no cost after departure. So here's hoping, I dont really know why we didnt book two nights in the first place. We arrive around 7.30pm so will have time to see Sydney by night and hopefully find a nice place to eat with good views.

I expect I will have lots of questions about hotels once I get round to checking them out. At least now I have an idea where to look. I did find a fab interactive map of Dubai but havent been able to find one on Sydney yet.

Sounds like a great trip and you get to see some of NZ as well, my favourite country in the world!!!

There are limitless options for hotels in Sydney so I don't think you will have a problem. We walked to Circular Quay down Pitt Street from the Metro Hotel and we passed loads of hotels. Some are obviously better than others. I would decide on a budget and then go on Expedia, put in your dates and see what comes up. You don't have to book with Expedia, but it is superb for checking a large number of properties in one go.

We have seen the Novotel Sydney Manly Pacific hotel, on the beach... is this a good base, or would we spend more time travelling back and forward to Darling Harbour, bridge, etc - what would the distances be, cant really gauge this? I think perhaps the fact we have short stay, possibly two nights now, that staying in the city area might be better? The girls really want to visit Manly whilst there.

Also, the girls want to by some UGG boots when in oz - any recommendations??!!

Manly is an easy and inexpensive ferry ride from the Circular Quay area. I would suggest visiting Manly from a base in the city rather than staying at the beach itself. If you were there for 7-10 days and were looking more for the sun than the city experience then great, but the suggestions mentioned already should be a priority in such a short space of time.

There are countless hotel options in the city itself so I doubt you will have a problem.

I can't help with the UGG boots unfortunately.

Definitely the rocks area for views of the bridge and the opera house. If you want them both together in the one picture go to the botanical gardens next to the opera house. Beautiful view! Also Darling Harbour is gorge by night. It deffo the place to be to eat and drink. The best thing you could do in that amount of time is do the hop on hop off city bus tour. It takes 1 and a half hours to do the loop so you can get pics of all the main tourist attractions and decide where to get off and back on again as you see fit. As for the Ugg boots, they not that much cheaper in Australia do a google search for them and you'll be surprised!

Dinner at Harry's Cafe de Wheels, local institution...lovely pie and pea floaters.

No trip to Sydney complete without it

For UGG boots, a bit of retail therapy and not too far from Central Quay, have a look at the Victoria Shopping Arcade. I would agree with most posters that the ferry from Central to Manley is a great trip and a good way to see the Harbour and Opera House.
Darling Harbour recommended for food if you're going to be dining late (A lot of places stop serving food quite early compared to UK) and the Fish Market for breakfast.

Enjoy! It's a great plafce.