Sydney Attractions

Venue: Paddington Market    When: Daily; Sat only

Paddington Market is a bit of an institution, popular with locals and tourists alike. It's stuffed full of stalls, mostly selling hand-made crafts and clothes. The clothes range from cheap street-market ware to pieces by start-up designers, and there are also a couple of very good retro clothing stalls. It's a good place to find a second-hand leather jacket.

The market is set up round an old church, the Paddington Uniting Church, and is always packed on sunny days. If you're a tourist you're guaranteed to bump into some compatriots.

Should you tire of shopping, there are a couple of better-than-average pubs across from the market. The Paddington Inn on the corner is particularly good, with a pool table, lots of seating, and warm ciabatta bread and dips available. It's quite trendy and laddish but blissfully free of the ubiquitous English backpacker. It's strictly drunk Aussies in their Armanis in this one.

This stretch of Oxford Street also has some of the nicest shops in Sydney: small clothing and shoe boutiques with some beautiful stuff, although a little pricier than the market. If you're really on a spree, venture down some of the smaller streets, such as Queen Street and Elizabeth Street, leading north off the main drag towards Paddington. This is one of Sydney's smartest and most stylish areas, full of pretty colonial houses, art galleries and exquisite shops full of luxurious treasures.