Private Sydney City Tour: The Key Attractions

Peter Bailey gave us a real treat when he showed us his home: Sydney! He picked us up in a comfortable car, on time and heard about what we wanted to see in Sydney. Then he brought us on a tour that we thoroughly enjoyed. Peter brought us to a variety of venues that gave us great views of the city, and an opportunity to experience what is special about Sydney, including neighborhoods with their unique architecture & personality, Bondi Beach and a subtropical harbor park. This added up to a more personal experience with very few crowds. He shared interesting geography & history that helped us understand Sydney today. Best of all we weren’t in the car the whole time, we had fun opportunities to walk about the sites Peter brought us to. Some of our favorite highlights were Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair (views), stopping to meet and feed a flock of Cockatoos, the Bondi Beach walk, the Harbor Bridge walk and our suggested route back to the city on the Manly Ferry (a true Sydney experience). Peter’s commentary was strong and enthusiastic. He encouraged and answered our questions. Lastly, we really appreciated Peter’s suggestions for exploration on our own. It was clear to us that Peter cares about and appreciates the city he lives in: Sydney.

We enjoyed a wonderful Sydney Key Attractions tour with Peter Bailey on March 30, 2026. He picked us up at our hotel at the agreed upon time, discussed some itinerary choices with us and then provided a wonderful tour! We very much enjoyed visiting Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair as it provides one of the iconic views of the opera house and harbour bridge. It was interesting and fun to see the architecture and activities in the various suburbs that he drove us through. It was nice to stretch the legs and enjoy the beautiful day on the Bondi coastal walk, the harbour bridge walk and part of the Spit to Manly walk. Each walk provided a unique view and feel of the area. We purchased lunch (steak meat pie’s - yum!) from the Grumpy Baker and ate them at a nearby park with an awesome view of the city. We opted to take the Manly Ferry back to Sydney for our return, so our tour ended at Manly Warf. The ferry ride was nice and it provided great views of Sydney on its approach to the city. It was indeed a wonderful day! Peter’s knowledge of Sydney was top notch. He provided good commentary during our tour and answered our many questions along the way. If we get back to Sydney, we’d definitely book another tour with Peter. One of the questions we asked was where to see animals unique to Australia? His advice was to visit Featherdale Wildlife Park. We visited Featherdale the next morning and thoroughly enjoyed seeing and feeding (where permitted) the animals. I’d recommend the Koala Experience!

My husband and I went on two tours with Peter - sydney city and the southern coast. Peter is a wonderful guide; understood our interests, customised the trip accordingly and gave honest recommendations about what was worth our time and money while in Sydney. His love for Sydney is obvious and we enjoyed our conversations with him. If we ever do visit Sydney again, we fully intend to do the Blue Mountains with him!

Peter Bailey is a superb guide! He met us on time, helped us make choices on our priorities. He absolutely KNOWS Sydney and environs! He has a lot of interesting stories of the area as he is a lifelong resident. The private tour is the only way to go, and Peter makes it easy and fun!

Peter is a wonderful guide and a pleasure to spend the day with. He knows the ins and outs of Sydney and knows how to avoid the crowds and takes you to places others don’t get to see. If you want to really explore Sydney and don’t have a lot of time Peter is the guide for you!

Peter was an amazing tour guide giving us hidden secrets and insights into Sydney! My husband had never been down under whereas I’d been many times but even I found this tour fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable. We enjoyed the coastal walk & starting relatively early in the morning meant that it wasn’t too crowded either at some of the more touristy spots. Lunch was in a fab cafe & the end point of Manly meant that you could either spend time there and make your own way back or jump on the ferry straight away and take in all that the wonders of the Sydney Harbour has to offer. If I could give Peter & his tour & banter 10 stars I would & next time we are in Sydney for our holidays we will not hesitate to book him for a trip to the Blue Mountains !

Peter was an excellent host!! He gave us a great insight of Sydney as well as the surrounding areas! We saw all of the “must-sees” and so much more! He picked us up from the cruise terminal and off we went!! My husband and I were traveling with my elderly parents, and Peter was most accommodating. There were several opportunities for us to enjoy a beautiful walk, and while my husband and I walked, Peter entertained my parents. Peter gave us our first taste of meat pie!! He was a wealth of information and helped with dinner and activity suggestions! Would highly recommend!!! Thanks, Peter, for an excellent day!!

Peter, our driver for a day in Sydney was great. We took advantage of the highlights tour. He provided a good overview of the city, the beaches, and points of interest. We especially liked the opportunity to hike the beach trail at Bondi Beach, and ride the ferry to Manly both where he let us explore on our own and then met us at the end to resume our journey. He shared good information about the city, made restaurant recommendations, and went out of his way to get us to our final destination and help us with our luggage. We appreciated his kindness and his company on our first day on our first visit to Sydney.

We are a "family"of 3 adult females from 30 to 70. This is important because Peter made our one Sydney day delightful for all of us! Due to a unavoidable delay, we had a rocky start. Peter handled the situation with aplomb smoothing our ruffled feathers. By the time we left the pick up point, we were laughing; we had a friend in Oz. Our requests for the day: meat pies, good Guiness, and Peter had to fill in the rest. From the Featherton animals to beaches to cityscapes, Peter shared knowledge while making it seem freshly told. If you're looking for Tours for People Who Don't Like Tours, stop the search immediately! Here's the info: 0409-008-767 peter@baileys-sydney.com www.baileys-sydney.com Communication is excellent and Peter himself replies. PS We can't wait to return

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the tour given by Peter. He gave us a day of special sights and key attractions. He also accommodated our special requests and seamlessly incorporated into our tour. His knowledge of Sydney was special and you can tell he loves his hometown. It was a real pleasure to to have his company and we couldn't have packed more into a day on our own.

We had an amazing tour all around Sydney with Peter Bailey. He was very flexible with catering the tour to our needs and was an expert on all of the places we went. He had some secret places for some great pictures of Sydney harbor and the bridge. It was also a pleasure to ride the ferry back from Manly afterwards. Peter was also able to make recommendations for my dietary needs. I would highly recommend Peter Bailey and would definitely try out some of his other tours if I return to Sydney in the future.

We wanted to get a better understanding of the neighborhoods of Sydney. Peter was helpful in driving us around and dropping in places where we could explore a bit more.

My mum and I just shared a wonderful day with Peter. It was Mum's first time in Sydney and my second time, but in Peter's company we both learned something new! The great advantage of a personal tour is that you can really set your own pace. We found Peter to be a kind, attentive guide who was flexible throughout the day, creating extra breaks for us. It was such a comfortable and enjoyable experience, as we spoke about a wide range of topics from history to politics to Eircodes with lots of humour and laughs along the way. Finding Peter's website was truly serendipitous and I hope that there'll be future opportunities to tour with Bailey's Sydney Tours.

Our guide , Peter, Really knows Sydney and surrounding areas. He took us to places we would not normally think of going to both in and around Sydney and he has a wealth of knowledge and experience which made the day one to remember. Roy Tambly ,Sheffield, UK.

Sydney is such an amazing city. So many different spots and nice places. And Peter knows them all... Peter has an incredible knowledge about Sydney - and Australia in general. During the day, we discussed many different topics. And Peter's positive and calm attitude made everything easy. If you're travelling to Sydney, you should definitely book Peter as your guide. You won't get disappointed.

After months cooped up, this tour reignited my love affair with Sydney, our home city. My 8yo daughter and I were collected by Peter yesterday morning from our home for a day of many firsts for both of us. My daughter was super impressed that his immaculate VW van was classed as a limo so we could take the bus lane like VIPs! Peter was so knowledgeable, being a Sydney-sider born and bred (whereas I am not), was terrific company, and had thought of every single detail so we could just relax and enjoy so many experiences that I realistically couldn’t/wouldn’t put together myself. Before the pandemic, I wouldn’t have thought to tour my home city, but I fully recommend this experience as Peter made everything easy. I now have a long list of activities to get away from the screens and take advantage of our harbour city.

We were visiting Sydney on a cruise and wanted an overview of the city in one day. Peter's tour did just that by taking us to all of the sites and neighborhoods. He was very knowledgeable and provided excellent commentary along the way. More than that, he was very personable and we really enjoyed the day with him. I highly recommend his services if you have limited time and want to see the many great areas of Sydney that are out of the immediate downtown area.

We had done tours of Sydney in the past and enjoyed our visit to Featherdale Wildlife Park. Peter drove us through many Sydney neighborhoods, but was very argumentative and disparaging of the US. He didn’t seem to know a lot of Sydney’s history and argued that my husband was wrong when he tried to point out interesting bits. We won’t use him again.

My wife and I visited Sydney with another couple in January and engaged Peter for a full day driving/walking tour of Sydney and surrounds on the MAIN ATTRACTIONS & MORE TOUR. We have had the benefit of great guides of the highest ability on several continents ... and Peter quickly jumped into the top 5 on our lifetime list. While many are pleasant and great at visiting and touring, Peter's laid back Aussie humor and style brings the area alive ... with a spark of wit and wisdom. He met us with his comfortable blue/silver van at our hotel, had planned our visit so we became familiar and comfortable with the local ferry system, made great restaurant recommendations, explained what and where we would tour, and engaged our imagination throughout. To really bring things alive, he kicked us out of the van and made us walk! Brilliant! It was, truly, as we walked iconic path's from Mrs MacQueries Chair, the coastal path from Bondi Beach, the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and then from the Spit up towards Manly Beach. All of these walks got us to really look and remember, and every gorgeous site in Sydney is one to treasure. And thanks to Peter Bailey and having our friends join, all of these memories and learnings were also a lot of FUN! I highly recommend. There is a reason Peter is rated 5-star by many.

Hands down the best prepared, informative, knowledgable guide I have ever met. Sydney tour was effortless. Explanations, jokes, sarcasm at times, ease of communication and, above all, data books about australia’s global place prepared meticulously made this memorable and one of a kind experience. Highly recommended.

We went out with Peter immediately after arriving at our hotel! It was a wonderful 1/2 day. He took us all around, explained the neighborhoods and put everything in context with Sydney history. One thing I especially liked was Peter dropping us off at the beginning of a short walk and picking us up at a designated point. Allowed a little "at your own pace" touring. Nice touch. He was going to drop us off at Manly beach (must see), give us ferry tickets and allow us to take the ferry back ourselves. We were too wiped, so he gave us the ferry tickets and dropped us at the hotel. We went on our own the next day.

Peter was an incredible guide and did a fantastic job of getting us acquainted with Sydney. We had a wonderful time exploring the different neighbourhoods, enjoyed the food, and lived for the beaches! Definitely recommend his services to anyone!

I am so glad I found Peter on TripAdvisor! He picked up my family (myself, my husband and our mothers) at the airport with all of our luggage in tow. We had a great and intimate experience with Australian animals at Featherdale Wildlife Park. We had a spectacular hike around Bondi Beach where the views are breath taking. We had great views of Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. My husband loves birds and we stopped at a park where he could feed wild cockatoos! While I regret not taking the ferry from Manly back to the Rocks, we were a bit tried from our flight and were happy to be taken back to our hotel. Even my hard to please mother, thought Peter was a great find.

Peter was a very knowledgable and helpful guide, we could not have chosen better. I have mobility issues for which Peter made every allowance and he managed to get us to the best places to take photos and take in the scenery. His knowledge of Sydney and its history was almost encyclopaedic, a thoroughly enjoyable morning. (Sorry it's almost a year since our tour, still catching up!)

We spent two days on tour with Peter at the end of July and had the most wonderful experience. Peter took us on the Sydney Key Attractions and the Blue Mountains tours. Peter was very flexible and catered to our every need. He even offered to swing back to our hotel to pick up my in laws who arrived two days later than schedule. Peter was very knowledgeable about Sydney and Australia in general and my family was very happy with his service. We will recommend Bailey’s tour without hesitation.

Never been to Sydney before? This is the tour to take. High end, can’t imagine a better way to get exposed to highlights of an amazing city. Peter is worldly and interesting, a lifelong Sydney native. Have fun!

Actually we did two tours with Peter and both were excellent. On the first day we did the Sydney city tour. and saw all of the major attractions of Sydney, i.e., the Opera House, the Harbour bridge where we walked across the bridge to get a great view of the harbor, did several walks along the Bondi and Manly beaches, and the highlights of the city. On the second tour we drove to the Blue Mountains, with a stop at the Featherdale Wildlife Park where we fed wallabies and kangaroos. At the Blue Mountains we did several walks and rode the Scenic Railway and Cableway, saw the Three Sisters and great scenery. Both were excellent tours and Peter was an awesome guide. He told us what he needed to, but did not bore us with a lot of information that we would soon forget. He also seemed to have an answer for any questions that we had along the way. All in all two of the best private tours we have been on.

Peter picked us up from our rented apartment in Kirribilli and drove us all over Sydney, pointing out the various areas of interest and stopping to feed the huge cockatoos. The birds in this part of Australia are stunning. We went out to the suburbs and beaches, walked along the cliffs of Bondi Beach and caught the ferry back to town from Manly Beach. A great day, very informative which gave us our bearings to start discovering the city on our own. He also kept in contact, sending us lists of places to eat and visit. Totally worth it and would highly recommend.

Peter Bailey is THE guide to use in Sydney and outside the city. He met us at the airport in a clean, comfortable van. He is knowledgeable, reliable, timely, funny and flexible. We saw the beautiful UNESCO Blue Mountains and rode the tram. Went to a wildlife preserve. The second day we saw Sydney. Walked the famous bridge, feed parrots at Mrs McQuaries Chair, walked Bondi Beach and saw all city districts and important sights. All 4 of us would highly recommend Peter Bailey.

Sydney is a busy city, but Peter took us to parts of the city that were not crowded with tourists. He picked us up at our hotel and first took us to a park to feed the cockatoos, then off to get the best view of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge before the crowds came. Our tour was a mix of driving through the neighborhoods, seeing the city from various lookouts, and allowing us time to do a few walks.Our favorite walk was the Bondi Beach coastal walk. For lunch we went to a local cafe for one the best meals we had on our trip. At the end of our tour he dropped us off at Manly Beach and we took the ferry back to Circular Quay. Being a native of Sydney, Peter knew the best places to go and had the best stories to tell about the city. But above all, Peter is just a great guy and we had a very enjoyable day spending time with him.

Peter's tour promised to show us the undiscovered parts of Sydney and certainly lived up to expectations. He was very professional and friendly throughout and catered the tour to our wishes, as we'd already explored certain areas on foot. It was great to see all the different areas of Sydney and get a feel for how it all fit together around the water. We went on a few short hikes, Bondi to Coogee being the best, and Peter always met us at the other end. We stopped at a great place for lunch and also took the Manly ferry back to Circular Quay, before Peter dropped us at the airport. Just having someone who has lived in Sydney all his life and knew everything without reciting it all by rote was great, and it was the only way to do these short walks without the nightmare of taxis or public transport. Not only did we feel we learnt a lot about ordinary Sydney people's lives, but we had a great day out full of wonderful views. An excellent tour.

Great day sightseeing, no time wasted, and super chill day. Highly recommend this tour for anyone wanting to see the best of Sydney with great fun dialogue and guide. Peter was a supurb guide and had great insight to the city. Overall, the best experience!

I had a wonderful time with Peter as he drove me around and showed me different parts of this beautiful city. We stopped at great locations for photo opportunities and he told me lots of stories about the different parts of the city we visited. He is extremely easy to talk to and carefully listens to your ideas for the day. For instance, at one lookout I exclaimed about how beautiful the Anzac Bridge is in the sunset, and the next thing I knew we were driving across the bridge! He knows all the best places to get great views of the Northern Beaches and the city, and sent me ideas for hikes after our day together. I also quizzed him about other parts of Australia, as I'm going to multiple cities, and he had great ideas to help me plan my trip. He is a fantastic tour guide and he does actually provide the tour for people who don't usually take tours! He's got an eye for detail, from to the perfect place to find a cup of coffee, to the kookaburra sitting in the tree above our heads, and birdseed in case we met some bush turkeys (which we did)! Highly recommended!!

After researching on TripAdvisor, we [two adults and two teens] took two all day tours with Peter on a trip to Sydney in March 2018: the "Regular Attractions Tour" of Sydney and the "Blue Mountains & Featherdale Wildlife Park" tour. We took the Sydney Tour first followed by the Blue Mountains tour two days later. Peter had a well established plan, was right on time and had some surprises in story. The Sydney Tour consisted of two loops - a southern loop and a northern loop - tied together with a walk across the harbor bridge. Each loop included a good walk where Peter got us started, drove to the other end and then walked back to meet us. This plan worked well. Trip ended up with Peter dropping us at Manly Beach for a swim and a Ferry ride back to the hotel. While there were a number of highlights, maybe the best part was the surprise bird feeding in the botanical gardens near the beginning of the day. We had birds eating out of our hands and sitting on our heads. The Blue Mountains tour was also memorable. We started early so that we could be at the Featherdale Wildlife Park by 8 am {tours get in early]. A huge number of animals to see and feed. We had never witnessed koalas running around on the ground before [they were hungry]. I highly recommend Featherdale. We then headed to the Scenic Railway and the Blue Mountains. Peter had a plan to ride all of the rides at the Railway and worked in a downhill hike for us [much better than an uphill hike]. Please note that everything on the tour was customizable and at our own pace. In addition to the Tours, Peter is quite a nice guy and very interesting. I enjoyed our discussions on many different topics and learned a lot about Australia and Sydney. I would highly recommend Bailey's Sydney Tours.

Such a large and varied city is too much for the uninitiated to explore on your own. Having done a great deal of research we hired Peter, who drove us all over the area for a unique perspective -- seeing many things that a tourist would see and many things that only a knowledgeable Sydneysider would know and do. We drove around all day as well as did a fair amount of hiking and we had a really great time and learned ever-so-much. For anyone spending just a few short days in Sydney, this guy, Peter Bailey is your first and only choice. Friends of ours thought that Peter took us to so many places that gave us a unique perspective on what the city really is.

If you are looking for a great way to spend a day in Sydney, give Peter a call. He's extremely knowledgeable about the city that he obviously loves. HIs pleasant personality and witty sense of humour made our tour very enjoyable. Our lunch stop at Thelma & Louise's ( no relation to the movie) was wonderful. Peter was always quick to respond to our email correspondence and was very detailed in explaining our pick up location. We look forward to visiting Sydney again in the future and will absolutely be in touch with Peter to make tour arrangements with him.

He knows everything about Sydney, and is able to be flexible. He has a sence of humor as well. I had great time.

I picked this tour because I wanted to see more of Sydney than the Opera House. While we did see it from across the bay, Peter showed his love of Sydney by taking us through various neighborhoods and trying to give us a taste of everything...including lebanese food. I hope that the leftovers were OK, Peter. I never asked a question that he did not have a knowledgeable answer from local politics to local flora. All in all, a good way to spend your day in Sydney.

Had a super half-day tour with Peter just before new year. He's knowledgeable, flexible, helpful, punctual and good company. Also he related well to our millennial daughter. Communication was good before and after the tour. Highly recommended!

From the moment Peter Bailey picked us up at the Pullman hotel at Circular Quay we knew we were in good hands with a knowledgeable person about all things Sydney. Because my wife has limited mobility, we were not interested in stopping for walks but instead wanted to see all the neighborhoods and beaches. We are sailors and enjoyed seeing all the boats at mooring in the various harbors, particularly Manly Harbour. At midday we had Peter drop us off at Doyles on Watson's Bay for a seafood lunch which was every bit as good as it was on a previous visit a few years ago. After lunch Peter continued the tour for us through beautiful residential areas with winding and steep streets and views of the Harbour Bridge, CBD, etc. All in all the day surpassed our expectations.

My 84-year-old mother and I had a very comprehensive, comfortable private tour with Mr. Peter Bailey during our few-days' vacation in Sydney. Before I made my reservation back in Manila, I have exchanged a few emails with Peter regarding the 3-hour Sydney tour as I was looking for a private tour exclusively for two people, one aged 84. He was prompt and patient in answering my inquiries. Fast forward to Sydney, he was punctual in fetching us from our hotel in his clean, cozy van. In a span of (amazingly) exactly 3 hours, my mother and I were able to explore and enjoy Sydney's popular, "obligatory" attractions and neighborhood, kicking off with a visit to Mrs. Macquarie's Chair for a breathtaking view of Sydney Harbour with the iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge in the background. We were able to visit and stop as well at Bondi Beach, the Centennial Park and the University of Sydney. A joyride along Sydney's key suburbs and beaches such as Woolloomooloo, Potts Point, King's Cross, Tamarama, Paddington, Darlinghurst and Surry Hills, among many others, was likewise included. Another major highlight is a visit to Balls Head Reserve in Waverton for another magnificent view of the Harbour from the North, along with a relaxing short walk amidst the bushes and trees in this not-too-popular and yet amazing location. Passing by the Aznac and Harbour bridges further added to the fun. These activities were experienced with all the comfort, especially for my old mother. Importantly, Peter was skillful and exquisite in taking our photos, some of which garnered praises from my followers in my social media accounts. To add, Peter was a great conversationalist, making the 3-hour trip more entertaining. My mother and I returned to Manila with pleasant memories of Sydney, its culture and rich history, and its people, thanks largely to Peter. He gets our highest recommendation to anyone who is planning to visit this wonderful city down under.