Sydney Observatory

A fun and enjoyable experience for a couple or for the whole family. The guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining. A historical journey into Sydney's time keeping and astronomical past. We booked our tour for 9:30pm on a Friday night. It was easy to get to and easy to park the car. Well worth a visit.

I noticed that most of the comments about the Observatory, are actually about the view you can have from there. Don't get me wrong, the view is indeed outstanding, and it is a must visit spot in Sydney, however, I want to comment about the guided visit to the Observatory itself. Yesterday, was Valentine's Day and I took my loved one to see the stars from the telescopes there. Unfortunately, the weather didn't contribute for that, it was even raining, and we couldn't use the telescopes. But still, we were amazed about the visit. Our guide, Jack, was simply FANTASTIC! We have learnt very interesting things about the Observatory, how it was used, how it's being used, the flags communication (fascinating!), and lots of other bits and pieces really interesting. It's a paid visit, but it worth every cent. Once again, I'd like to thank Jack his kindness, knowledge and passion for what he is doing there. It was a great night! Cheers.

This place was great. Walked up to the top of the lighthouse and it was stunning. So much history and it’s incredible and so beautiful.

Even in today's technologically advanced world, when I saw the observatory's 1880s telescopes, I marveled at the science and rigor of the foundry industry of that era. Many related information came from a girl called Khushi; she was warm, polite and attentive. Her style of presentation was very lively and interactive. It was an unforgettable memory.

For our (belated) Valentine’s Day celebration my girlfriend took me to a surprise date night tour of the Observatory! Badjhur (My apologies if I spelt it wrong) was an enthusiastic, knowledgeable and engaging tour guide who made our entire group gasp many times with surprise at the interesting facts regarding our universe. I absolutely recommend this night tour to anyone who is interested.
Thank you for such a wonderful night 🌌

The hill has wonderful views of the city and it topped with the magnificent observatory. I recommend a visit to the hill when you’re in Sydney and I HIGHLY recommend the tour of the observatory. It is well worth the ticket price. I recommend purchasing a ticket ahead of time and going even if it is cloudy or looks like rain.

Our tour guide, Jack, spent over an hour with us, providing the most interesting information about the history of the hill and observatory itself and how it was used when it was started all the way until now. He loved questions and was a wealth of information. As a lay person with only the most basic knowledge of the stars, navigation, and weather (I.e. they exist), I could easily follow Jack’s explanations, and also learned more than I ever thought I could understand about these complex topics.

Even though it was a cloudy night, opening the dome and looking through the telescope were big highlights of our trip to Sydney. Jack was still able to find celestial bodies for us to look at and show us a bit on how the complex computer system attached to the telescope works.

Overall, I can’t imagine anyone who has ever looked up at the sky that wouldn’t find value in this tour. Thank you, Jack and the powerhouse team for your hospitality!

Crowded even on a weekday noon. Follow the signs and you’ll get here, there’s steps behind a cafe which brings you up. We left before sunset but I reckon it’ll be a nice spot for that. It goes a round, so you can have your pick of harbour bridge, city, or water view.

Did a guided night tour which i highly recommend to those who love astronomy or even history. Small group max 15 (you have to make your bookings early as tickets quickly sold out!!) which was excellent. With night tour, you'll get the opportunity to look through two telescopes to view planets. Luck was not one our side as it was very cloudy, hence the telescope was directed to man made objects in the Sydney harbour area instead. My guide was Nadia which was very knowledgeable engaged well with the group. Highly recommended!

Great views of harbour bridge from unusual angle nice place for picnic or just relaxing in the sunshine 👍👍👍

My partner and I visited on a Saturday night, we arrived early and walked around the grounds, the views of the harbour are breathtaking. The tour itself was very informative and interesting, we were quite lucky to be able to see Saturn and Alpha Centauri through the telescope. Highly recommend as you also learn about the colonial history of Sydney.

We did the night tour and it was awesome! Worth every dollar, and glad that we persevered through navigating the endlessly confusing Powerhouse website to get our tickets. It’s about an hour long and the guide (Gideon) was knowledgeable and funny. We had a cloudy night so couldn’t see any stars but got to see some lighthouses and landmarks in the distance. Would absolutely recommend to others to check it out!

Great place to visit, tours take place in the evening priced around $36. As part of the tour you will learn the history of the building and grounds. As part of the tour you are able to view two of the telescopes on display (weather permitting). It’s a pleasant experience and the tour guides are very knowledgeable.

We went during the day and it was lovely. Heaps to look at including a Astro photographic competition. The grounds are well kept and our young kids were well entertained for a long while. It’s a bit of a walk from The rocks but honestly not too far. The staff were really friendly and helpful also.

We took an evening tour of the observatory which lasted around an hour and included entry to the buildings where you see the 2 large telescopes. I can’t recommend the tour highly enough, despite knowing the city reasonably well we learned lots of interesting facts about Sydney’s history and of course the views are superb.
Special thanks to our guide Gideon who was absolutely fantastic, keeping things moving at a good pace and really bringing the site and its history to life.

Lawn for picnic . Awsome sea and city view .wonderful

Loved the historical tour. Got to see both the new and old telescopes in action. Only slight downside was that it was a rather cloudy day on the day of visit so we weren’t able to see much.

Weather conditions will play a crucial factor in determining what you can see (if anything).

Visited a while ago. Very well preserved. Facilities and information provided. Great lookout of the Barbour views. Nice walk and fresh air that is just in the city. Definitely recommend a visit.

We had the good fortune to visit the Sydney Observatory during a quiet time midweek. Normally it’s so busy and crowded that you don’t get the opportunity to look at everything. But because of COVID-19 it was almost deserted, so we ended up spending almost 2 hours exploring the wonderful exhibits across the 3 levels, as well as the lovely gardens which have views of the city, the harbour and the bridge. The staff were wonderful. Very knowledgeable and helpful.

Awesome little observatory with a sense of history and great stories to hear. Late night tours are out of this world... well, at least out of this planet. Once you are done with the tour, make sure to look around for one of the best views in Sydney CBD, it is called Observatory Hill for a reason.

Wonderful experience, esp for the kids. You have to sign up in advance for the planetarium tour and telescope view. Night sessions are best so you can see the stars and planets. Great service by the astronomers. We'll be back.