If you are making a bucket list trip to Sydney, iconic capital of New South Wales on Australia’s east coast, you might be planning on spending time in the city centre. Or you might want to make a base in one of the city’s exciting and diverse suburbs – close to the action but within easy reach of the stunning scenic beauty that surrounds the Big Smoke.

A residential district and cultural melting pot with the cuisine options to match, park-filled West Ryde is a potential base to explore the city lying around 10 miles from Sydney’s central business district. This is a well-connected suburb with a ferry, train station and regular bus services into the centre of Sydney.

With an Avis Car Rental, you can easily and conveniently explore northwest Sydney and the surrounding country and experience the lifestyle this vibrant city has to offer.

You’ll find our friendly Avis team on hand to offer advice and provide the perfect rental car for your trip at our Avis agency at 899 Victoria Rd, West Ryde. Our rental location is conveniently close to the centre, a 7min walk from West Ryde train station.

The Avis rental office in West Ryde, is conveniently located right by the A40 highway and close to the intersection with the A3 giving great access to main routes into the centre of Sydney as well as to major attractions including the Sydney Olympic Park which is just a 20min drive, Depending on the time of day, the journey from Avis West Ryde to Sydney’s CBD will take around 40min.

While it goes without saying that Sydney has plenty to offer visitors and must-see sights from the Sydney Opera House to Sydney Harbour Bridge, the harbourside Museum of Contemporary Arts and Bondi Beach, the suburbs have their own attractions.

West Ryde is close to Macquarie University, renowned as a leading research centre and within easy reach of The Sydney Olympic Park as well as The Concourse, a major Sydney cultural music and arts venue in Chatswood on the Lower North Shore.

Few cities are within easy reach of such stunning natural beauty as Sydney, whether that’s beaches, rolling hills or mountains.

Great Pacific Drive

Breathtaking can be an overused word but you may even be lost for words when it comes to getting behind the wheel to steer your way along the Great Pacific Drive south of Sydney. Take the M1 out of the city and join this magical drive from Coalcliff to Jervis Bay as it sweeps around the cliffs hugging the deep blue South Pacific Ocean. The 200km trip to Jervis Bay will take you around 2hr45min and when you get there, the reward is the vast, white stretch of sand and crystal clear waters of one of Australia’s most popular beaches.

Blue Mountains

Take the famous Bell Lines of Road route through the stunning Blue Mountains, a UNESCO world heritage site. The drive will take you through ancient eucalyptus forestry. The 87km drive of around 1hr27min via the B59 highway will take you up through the mountains to a heavenly destination, the 28-hectare Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens.

Royal National Park

On the southern fringe of the city, Royal National Park was the first national park in Australia. The 15,000-hectare reserve combines a rich natural habitat of forestry dropping down to dramatic cliffs and hidden beaches. Take the M1 and then the A1 south as far as Loftus turning onto Sir Bertram Stevens Drive, a scenic route of around an hour from West Ryde that leads eventually to beautiful Garie Beach, an ideal spot to while away a day, kicking back, swimming, picnicking, and even if you are lucky, whale watching.

While central Sydney is easy to get around with a great public transport network, walking and cycling tracks, the city area is vast and filled with interesting and diverse neighbourhoods just waiting to be explored, not least destinations like Bondi Beach, so it is worth hiring a car to travel across and outside the city. Renting a car in West Ryde gives you the chance to explore further afield opening opportunities to plan a road trip around New South Wales.

If you are planning to drive in Sydney, there are several road rules unique to New South Wales to be aware of. These include a speed limit of 25mph around dedicated school zones which are enforced between 8am and 9.30pm and 2.30pm and 4pm. There are also a few toll roads in the city so our top tip for driving around Sydney is to plan your route before you travel and use GPS to navigate. In Sydney, like the rest of Australia, you will be driving on the left-hand side of the road.

It’s worth checking the driving rules in Australia before you arrive to pick up your hire car. But if you have any questions, you’ll find the rental teams at our Avis locations in Sydney are experts in the local area and ready to help you get the most from your driving experience with us.