Top Oz Tours offers a great range of Sydney tours and experiences. You can browse the options here.
Ask any Aussie to compile a list of the country’s most iconic places, and chances are Bondi Beach will be on it.
The Sydney seaside suburb is best known for golden sand, sun kissed surfers, celebrity homes, and even a reality TV series. However, there’s so much more to Bondi. Scratch beneath the surface and you’ll discover a wealth of innovative eateries, charming Art Deco architecture, wellness sanctuaries, and creative endeavours.
Here are ten of the best things to do in Bondi.
Watch our video of ten top things to do in Sydney:
10 Top Things to Do in SYDNEY, Australia in 2024 | Ultimate Travel Guide & To-Do List
Support our channel and save on travel by joining our new Top Traveller Club! 😄 Member benefits include a branded travel water bottle delivered to your door, and 10% off day and multi-day tour bookings worldwide!
1. Have brekky at Bills
What began as a modest inner-city Sydney café has become a global dining empire, stretching as far as London, Tokyo, and Seoul. Bills has been a perennial local favourite for breakfast/brunch for close to 30 years, and the Bondi venue serves up sunny vibes, a laidback atmosphere, and the dishes that are now synonymous with this success story. Tuck into fluffy ricotta and banana hot cakes coated with maple syrup — the perfect fuel for your day of exploring ahead!
2. Go to the beach
OK, it would be very wrong to come to Bondi and not step foot on the sand. The crescent-shaped beach is about one kilometre long and overlooks the shimmering Pacific Ocean. On a hot summer’s day, both sand and surf will be coated with bronzed bodies in bikinis and boardies. Stake your claim and spread out a towel, then splash about between the flags or learn to longboard with the local surf school. Afterwards, stroll along the promenade (past the Art Deco Bondi Surf Pavilion) with an ice-cream in hand and do some people watching.
3. Do the coastal walk
Pack a hat and your walking shoes; you’ll need them to do the popular Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk. Approximately six kilometres each way, this well maintained track snakes along the clifftops between Bondi and Coogee Beach. You’ll pass Tamarama, Bronte, and Clovelly beaches, and enjoy breathtaking ocean and foreshore views in between. Depending on the season, you may be lucky enough to spot frolicking dolphins and even spouting whales. You can do the walk in as little as two hours, or make a day of it and take extended breaks by the beach along the way.
4. Swim with the iconic Icebergs
The much-photographed outdoor lap pool at the Bondi Icebergs Club — better known simply as Icebergs — has been a part of Bondi life for more than a century. Home to Australia’s oldest winter swimming club, hardy members are expected to compete on three out of every four Sundays for five years to keep their membership active. The ocean-fed pool is open to the public all year round — but if you aren’t up for braving the blue, dive into a meal at one of their food and beverage venues instead.
5. Walk and talk with a lifesaver
You’ve seen them on the telly, now get to know Bondi through the eyes of a real life lifesaver. Surf lifesaving as we know it began in Sydney back in the early 20th century, and today these trained volunteers protect swimmers at beaches across the country. Lets Go Surfing offers a walking tour of the Bondi foreshore with a surf lifesaver. Enjoy the engaging commentary and get a photo with your guide while holding a rescue board.
6. Enjoy a long lunch
Those up for a long, lazy lunch should pull up a pew at Totti’s. Tucked away behind Bondi’s iconic Royal Hotel, this casual Italian-style eatery offers an innovative menu designed for sharing, an easy-to-navigate wine list, and tables in a lovely alfresco courtyard shaded by olive trees. Start by ordering the wood-fired bread — an oversized disc of dough, puffed up to perfection and flecked with salt. Tear it up and fold the pieces around silky strips of mortadella and other delicious house-made antipasti. It’s a taste sensation!
7. Shop for surf wall art
Back in 1999, Aquabumps founder Eugene Tan began waking up at sunrise to take photos of Bondi Beach. More than two decades later, his combined passion for surfing and photography have led to collaborations with companies as diverse as Speedo, Havaianas, and the Australian Ballet. Eugene’s distinctive images of beach life are emailed out to 40,000+ subscribers every morning. Join the mailing list online and/or swing by the Aquabumps gallery on Hall Street to snap up a glossy print for your wall.
8. Sweat it out at a wellness studio
If your time on the beach has inspired a health-kick, kick start it with a visit to the Nimbus Co wellness studio. Be soothed by the white decor, before sweating out those toxins in one of the state-of-the-art infrared saunas. Unlike traditional saunas, which simply heat up the air and surface of your skin, infrared saunas use light to warm you from the inside out — penetrating deep into muscles, tissue, and cells to boost your metabolism. You’ll leave feeling like you’re on cloud nine!
9. Tour on a trike
Want to see more of Sydney’s wondrous beaches and feel the salty wind in your hair? Book a chauffeured trike tour with Trike Trips and explore the Eastern Suburbs coastline from Bondi to La Perouse. Your driver/guide will share some of the history of these cosmopolitan parts of the city, and you’ll get an insight into how the locals live. Helmets, jackets, gloves, and headsets (to hear your guide’s commentary) are provided.
10. Hit the Bondi Markets
No stay in this neck of the Sydney woods would be complete without a relaxed browse in the weekend Bondi Markets, which are held in the grounds of the local public school.
Saturdays are all about fresh produce and gourmet goodies (perfect for putting together a beachfront picnic), while Sunday brings local designers and artisans to the fore. Shop for clothing, jewellery, art, and beachy homewares.
Browse our full range of Sydney tours and experiences here. We offer a Best Price Guarantee.
Do you have any suggestions to add to our list of the best things to do in Bondi? Join the conversation on our Facebook page.
Additional images: Bigstock
About the writer
Cindy Bingley-Pullin is a Sydney-based freelance writer, wanderluster, corporate bee, and happy homemaker. In between analysing spreadsheets in the office, she pursues her combined passions of travel and writing. Cindy’s work has appeared in Virgin Australia’s Voyeur magazine, International Traveller, Fitness First magazine, and the Sydney Morning Herald.
Travel essentials
You can book many aspects of your holiday on the Top Oz Tours & Travel Ideas website, including flights, hotels, car hire, travel insurance, and more. When you purchase a product or service using the following links from our partners, we receive a small commission. It does not affect the price you pay, and it enables us to continue to provide readers with amazing travel inspiration.
Flights
Compare airlines, flights, and fares in one place with Booking.com. They don’t charge any credit card fees and you can always see exactly what you’re paying for in the price breakdown. Search for flights with Booking.com
Hotels
If you’re looking for a great deal on your next hotel or homestay, look no further than Booking.com. Their mission is to make travel affordable and accessible to more people, and to deliver seamless accommodation experiences that complement your holiday. Search for hotels and homestays with Booking.com
Car hire
Discover Cars is an award-winning (World Travel Awards) car rental comparison website, which helps customers find, compare, and hire cars at the most competitive prices globally. Search for hire cars with Discover Cars
Campervans & motorhomes
Make Jucy your first choice for campervan and motorhome hire. Since 2001, this progressive company has had a vision to be world-famous for enabling experience seekers to discover happiness on the road. Search for campervans and motorhomes with Jucy
Day tours & experiences
Search and book day tours, guided experiences, and attraction tickets and passes worldwide with Top Oz Tours and Viator. There are no booking or credit card fees when you book through us, and you’ll have access to the widest choice of activities and most competitive prices. Browse day tours and experiences
Multi-day tours & trips
Top Oz Tours has joined forced with Tour Radar to bring you a fabulous range of multi-day tours and trips from the world’s leading operators. Travel with like minded people and get the best possible price on the holiday of your dreams. Browse multi-day tours and trips
Travel insurance
World Nomads aims to be a part of every traveller’s journey by providing a reassuring range of travel insurance services. Benefits include coverage for emergency medical and evacuation or repatriation, lost baggage, trip cancellation, and more than 150 adventure activities. Get an insurance costing
