Coward Street? In Mascot? Not at all convenint.

If you stayed at a central location eg Sydney Harbour YHA then you would not need a bus to get around. Walk to Opera House, Harbour Bridge, ferry to Zoo or Uber when necessary.

Other places to stay are Meriton in the city.

The problem with the mini bus is traffic and the where to park it (plus not cheap).

Agree Coward St is not convenient to anything except the airport.

Hi Felina,

How many days in total are you planning for your Australian trip?

I notice from your post on the Australian forum, that your original plan was to visit Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road and Phillip Island, renting a mini-van. Agree with the advice that the GOR would not be ideal with 2 small children and can understand your decision to drop that.

The other parts of that Itinerary - Philip Island, Melbourne and the Grampians or Ballarat would certainly work.

So would Sydney, the Blue Mountains another out-of-town trip. Two elements of your proposal won't, though:

1) A mini-van in Sydney city is an expensive, unnecessary nightmare. Don't rent it until you are ready to go to the Blue Mountains or elsewhere out-of-town. Sydney has excellent, cheap public transport.

2) Accommodation in Mascot has nothing to recommend it for visitors and less so for those on a short Itinerary like yours. Whilst Sydney has great public transport, you don't want to spend too much time & $ getting from your accommodation to the places you want to visit.

Here's an interactive map of Sydney that will be useful in orientating yourself.

Sydney map:

https://goo.gl/maps/PFmeA45BAKXruh4F8

Use http://www.booking.com.au to find more centrally located accommodation for your family. We'll be happy to help you narrow down your choices if you give us a nightly budget in AUD.

This is a good reference for things to do & see in Sydney.

Visit Sydney: https://www.sydney.com/

Sydney is located on a justifiably world famous harbour. Trips on harbour ferries to Manly, Watsons Bay and any of the inner-harbour suburbs are highlights in themselves as well as transport links to interesting places with lots to see & do for all ages.

Have you had a look at Sydney temperatures in August? It’s not Edmonton cold, but it’s still cold and could be wet.

I would definitely consider heading north to Cairns/Port Douglas for all that has to offer, and in our winter, I’d do four nights Sydney, five FNQ.

For Sydney, do not stay near the airport. It is false economy, especially with such a large group, getting in to CQ and back out again each day is going to eat in to your sight seeing time and wear out the kids in no time.

Find somewhere as close to Circular Quay as you can within budget. There are many apartment hotels available,and the Sydney Harbour YHA is also excellent value and location.

Cheers.

+1 for the Sydney YHA. You could book out a dorm room and/or family rooms. It's well located and has a great rooftop deck where you could comfortably laze around after sightseeing.

Everything you mentioned you want to see, you can easily walk to, or for the slower ones in your group, catch the odd train/bus/light rail.

One trip you must add is a ferry to Manly. Make sure to time it right on the return ferry to Circular Quay, when you'll get the sunset. Or Watsons bay, and book a large table in the pub beer garden for a long lunch. Strongly recommend doing this on a weekday.

Totally agree about the mini-van comments - only book it for out of town trips like the Blue Mountains. There's also a YHA up in Katoomba, so I'd suggest staying there for the night.

Edit: Circular Quay & The Rocks are the most ideal places to stay, but I'd go with anywhere down to Town Hall station. It's a walkable city.

It would help knowing how mobile the elderly are. Please can you share that information?

Hello. Sorry for the delayed response but thank you all for the comments and suggestions! I might have caused some confusion-i was meaning to say that I have a certain amount of budget for my vacation that I would like to stick to but wasn't meaning to say that I'm looking for a cheap accomodation. I'm willing to select an accomodation for coziness, comfort and convenience as long as price is reasonable or even slightly higher is fine too. Travelling with kids and elderly, we are not really able to have full itineraries so sometimes we do spend more time in the hotel, hence I was looking for aparthotel.

My mom is 73 and my in laws are between 67-70. That said, all three are not able to walk too much (eg going to a zoo for three hours sightseeing and one stop at Cafe is considered tiring). So from what I see in the map, even if I select a hotel close to Circular Quay there is some amount of walking to do. Just felt it wsnt very convenient since theres many of us. Again, we are willing to spend on parking and car rent (for convenience). Another reason for car renting is with the number of people we will likely need 2-3 ubers to go somewhere so it might add up to the logistic cost,

Another two questions I have that I hope to get some I put; there are many zoo/wildlife parks. With all these mobility in question, which do you suggest would be good for us. I selected Taronga but it's huge! Also, is the Sydney river cruise worth it? It looks like a fun touristy thing to do.

Again, appreciate all your time and feedback. Thanks

Felina, if you are in Sydney, you do not need or want a car. There is limited but expensive parking, the city is difficult to drive through. One way streets, pedestrian plazas, bus and tram only lanes. There is a first class train, tram, ferry and bus system to get you to most places.

Forget the Sydney river cruise. Just catch a ferry.

Hi Felina,

If it were me I would find a house on airbnb or Stayz (VBO) in a nice Eastern Beach suburb . I would also rent a 9 seater van for your family. If wanting to spend time in Sydney and on the ferries going to the zoo or Manly or exploring, the Rocks etc. you could park near railway station or shopping center and catch a bus.