Sydney Airport, officially called Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport and with the airport code SYD, is only about 8 kilometres south of the centre in the suburb of Mascot. The quickest way from Sydney Airport to the city centre is the Airport Link train, which runs underground from both the international and the domestic terminals and reaches Central Station in 11 to 13 minutes. The catch is that the train isn’t cheap, because a special station access fee is added on top of the fare, so the trip into town costs 22.94 dollars (around £17) at peak times.
Here you’ll find all the options with prices, journey times and where to find them at the airport: the train, the public buses, taxis, Uber, shuttle buses and private transfers, and car hire. I also explain how to get between T1 International and T2/T3 Domestic, and how to get into the city if you land at Sydney’s new airport, Western Sydney International. 1 Australian dollar is worth roughly 53p.
Planning your trip to Sydney at the last minute? 🇦🇺
Here are some of the best things to do, plus hotels and other tips for your trip to Sydney.
🛌 Best Hotels:
1. Park Hyatt Sydney is the city's luxury hotel, with a rooftop pool and views across the harbour to the Opera House
2. Rendezvous Hotel Sydney The Rocks gives you a base in The Rocks and an outdoor pool at a reasonable price
3. YHA Sydney Harbour is a hostel with private rooms and a rooftop terrace overlooking the harbour
Contents
Quick overview
- Airport Link train: 22.94 dollars (around £12) at peak times and 21.64 dollars (around £11) the rest of the time with contactless payment or an Opal card, 13 minutes to Central and about 20 minutes to Circular Quay.
- Bus 420 and train via Mascot: usually under 10 dollars (around £5), because you avoid the station access fee, but it takes roughly three times as long.
- Bus 350: direct from T2/T3 Domestic to Coogee and Bondi Junction for no more than 5.77 dollars (around £3).
- Taxi: about 60 dollars (around £30) to the CBD, about 20 minutes without traffic.
- Uber and other rideshare services: dedicated pick-up points at all terminals, and you see the price in the app before you book.
- Private transfer: from about 53 dollars (around £28) per person, must be booked in advance.
- Car hire: desks on the arrivals level in all terminals. Unnecessary in the city, but good for the Blue Mountains and the coast.
How to find transport from Sydney Airport to the city centre
Sydney Airport has three terminals. T1 International stands on its own on the western side of the airport and handles all international flights, while T2 and T3 Domestic sit side by side just over a kilometre further east. T2 is used by Virgin Australia and Jetstar, among others, and T3 by Qantas domestic flights. You can’t walk between the international and the domestic terminals, so always check your boarding pass so you know where you’re landing and where you’re flying from.
The train stations are beneath the terminals. At T1 International, leave the arrivals hall by exit A, turn right and carry on to the end, or take the lift or escalator by check-in counter A. At T2 and T3, you’ll find the station by the lift and escalator at baggage carousel 1. The taxi ranks are just outside each terminal, and the public buses stop on the arrivals level outside the terminals. The airport has its own overview of taxis and the pick-up points for Uber and the other rideshare services.
1. Airport Link train from Sydney Airport to the city centre, Central and Circular Quay
The train is the option I recommend if you’re staying in the centre and travelling alone or as a pair. Airport Link is part of Sydney’s regular rail network and runs on the T8 Airport & South Line from International and Domestic via Mascot and Green Square to Central Station. From there, the train continues around the City Circle beneath the centre, stopping at Museum, St James, Circular Quay, Wynyard and Town Hall, so you can get all the way down to the harbour without changing.
According to the timetable, the journey takes 13 minutes from International and 11 minutes from Domestic to Central, and around 20 minutes to Circular Quay. Trains run every 7 to 10 minutes for most of the day and every 15 minutes early in the morning and late in the evening, from roughly 5am until midnight. If you’re heading to Town Hall or Wynyard, it’s worth changing at Central to a train that goes there directly, as the airport train takes the long way round the City Circle.
Fares and the station access fee
The two airport stations are owned by a private company, Airport Link Company, so you pay a station access fee on top of the normal fare whenever you get on or off at the airport. With contactless payment or an Opal card, the fee is 18.61 dollars (around £14) for adults, and the fare into the centre is 4.33 dollars (around £3.20) at peak times and 3.03 dollars (around £2.30) at other times. That makes a total of 22.94 dollars (around £17) or 21.64 dollars (around £16) to all the stations in the centre and Kings Cross, according to Airport Link’s fare overview.
There’s a 30 per cent discount on the fare itself on Fridays, at weekends, on public holidays and off-peak on weekdays, but the station access fee stays the same all week. If you buy a single ticket from the machine, it costs more: 24.20 dollars (around £18) for an adult. Children aged 4 to 15 pay 18.15 to 18.80 dollars (around £14) with a child Opal card, and children under 4 travel free.
The station access fee doesn’t count towards the Opal system’s daily and weekly caps, but it has its own weekly cap of 37.75 dollars (around £28) from Monday to Sunday. So if you pass back through the airport in the same week, for example on a domestic flight, you’ll pay almost no fee on the third journey. Be careful about leaving the station and going back in, as the usual 60-minute transfer rule doesn’t apply at the airport, so you’ll pay the fee twice. All the fees are listed at Transport for NSW.
Contactless payment or Opal card
You don’t need to buy a travel card. Adults can simply tap a contactless Visa, Mastercard or American Express card, a phone or a smartwatch on the reader at the gates when they go in and again when they come out. Use the same card for the whole journey, and remember that each person needs their own card or phone, so you can’t pay for two people with the same card. It’s also worth checking whether your bank charges a fee for payments in foreign currency.
If you’d rather have an Opal card, you can buy one at the ticket office at the airport stations or at the WH Smith shop in the terminal, but at the stations you need to load at least 35 dollars (around £26) onto the card straight away. Child Opal cards are also available at the stations. With either payment method, you never pay more than 19.30 dollars (around £14) a day from Monday to Thursday, 9.65 dollars (around £7) from Friday to Sunday and on public holidays, and 50 dollars (around £37) a week for all public transport, apart from the airport station access fee. Fares are usually adjusted once a year.
From Central onwards into the city
Central Station is Sydney’s main hub at the southern end of the CBD, the city centre. From here, the light rail runs up George Street to Circular Quay, the metro goes to Martin Place, Barangaroo and North Sydney, and regional trains run to places including the Blue Mountains. If you’re staying in Surry Hills, Haymarket or Chinatown, you can usually walk to your hotel in 5 to 15 minutes.
If you’d like to stay right by the station, YHA Sydney Central is on Rawson Place just a few steps from Central. It’s a large hostel with a rooftop pool, and you can see prices for YHA Sydney Central here. If you’re heading all the way down to the harbour, you can stay on the train to Circular Quay, where Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay is on Pitt Street, a couple of minutes’ walk from the station.
If you’re not sure which area to choose, read my guide to where to stay in Sydney, where I go through the CBD, The Rocks, Darling Harbour, Surry Hills, Bondi and Manly with hotels in several price ranges.
2. Public buses from the airport
The bus is the cheapest way out of the airport, because you avoid the station access fee. You pay with the same contactless card or Opal card as on the train, and a journey costs 3.30 to 5.77 dollars (around £2.50 to £4.30) depending on distance, and 30 per cent less off-peak. The buses stop on the arrivals level outside the terminals, and three routes are useful for travellers.
Bus 350 to Coogee and Bondi Junction: This bus runs from T2/T3 Domestic via Mascot, Maroubra and Coogee to Bondi Junction at least every 10 minutes during the day, seven days a week. It’s ideal if you’re staying near Coogee Beach, and for Bondi Beach you change at Bondi Junction to one of the many buses down to the beach. If you land at T1 International, first take the free terminal transfer bus over to T2 and T3.
Bus 420 and the train from Mascot: Bus 420 runs between Burwood and Mascot Station via Campsie and Rockdale and stops at both T1 and T2/T3. Here’s the budget trick: take the bus to Mascot Station and catch the train from there to Central. Mascot is on the same line as the airport but has no station access fee, so the whole journey usually costs less than 10 dollars (around £7.50). Allow 30 to 45 minutes in total and an extra change with your suitcase.
The N20 night bus: Between midnight and 4am, when the trains take a break, the N20 night bus runs from T1 International into the centre. According to Transport for NSW, buses 350 and 420 run from early morning until around midnight.
3. Taxi from Sydney Airport
There are covered taxi ranks just outside all three terminals, and at busy times staff are on hand to help manage the queue. They can also arrange a maxi taxi for larger groups, a taxi with a baby seat or a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. Only take a taxi from the official ranks, as taxis aren’t allowed to pick up passengers anywhere else at the airport.
Expect to pay around 60 dollars (around £45) for a standard taxi from the airport ranks to Sydney CBD, including fees and tolls, and a little more for a maxi taxi if there are five or more of you. If you pay by card, a surcharge may be added. Fares and any fixed prices to the CBD are set by the New South Wales authorities, so check Point to Point’s page on airport taxi fares before you travel.
Outside that area, taxis run on the meter with a flag fall of 5.17 dollars (around £4) and 2.61 dollars (around £2) per kilometre during the day, a little more between 10pm and 6am, with tolls added on top. To Bondi Beach, expect around 45 to 65 dollars (around £35 to £50). The journey to the city centre takes about 20 minutes without traffic.
If there are three or four adults heading into the CBD, a taxi actually works out cheaper than the train. Three train tickets at peak times cost 68.82 dollars (around £50) compared with around 60 dollars for a taxi, and the taxi takes you right to the door.
4. Uber and other rideshare services
According to the airport, UberX picks you up at T1 International at bay C, about 20 metres outside arrivals hall B. Here Uber uses a PIN system: once you’ve booked your ride, you get a six-digit code, which you give to the first available driver in the queue before you get in. The pricier Uber options, including Uber XL, wait at bay B and send a specific car to you.
At T2 Domestic, Uber picks you up in the Priority Pick-up Zone, and at T3 Domestic the cars stop at the kerb just outside the arrivals level. Other rideshare services pick you up in the Priority Pick-up Zone. You’ll see the price in the app before you book, and it depends on the type of car, traffic and distance. When lots of flights land at the same time, prices go up, and a taxi from the rank may then be the better choice. Only book your car once you’ve collected your luggage.
5. Shuttle bus and private transfer
According to the airport, the DART Express Shuttle runs from T1 International to several places in the city centre, including Central, Hyde Park, Kings Cross, Darling Harbour and The Rocks. It can be handy if your hotel is close to one of the stops and you don’t want to drag your suitcase through a train station. Check prices and departures directly with the company before you travel.
A private transfer is a pre-booked car with a driver who meets you in the arrivals hall and takes you straight to your hotel. On GetYourGuide, prices start from around 53 dollars (around £40) per person, and there are also cars with a fixed price for the whole group. It isn’t the cheapest option, but it gives you peace of mind after the long flight from Europe, especially if you’re travelling with children or have a lot of luggage.
Book a private transfer from Sydney Airport here.
The transfer must be booked at least 10 hours in advance, so it isn’t something you can sort out once you’re standing in the arrivals hall. Enter your flight number when booking so the driver can keep track of any delays, and check how many people and suitcases the price covers.
6. Car hire from Sydney Airport
Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, Thrifty, Dollar, Redspot and Sixt all have desks at the airport. At T1 International the desks are in the arrivals hall, and you collect your car on the ground floor of the P7 car park directly opposite the terminal. At T2 and T3 Domestic it depends on the company: Avis, Budget and Sixt have their cars at arrivals level, Europcar in the P2 car park and Hertz, Thrifty and Dollar on Ross Smith Avenue, while Redspot takes you by free shuttle bus to its office in Mascot. You can compare prices on car hire at Booking.com before you travel.
Australia drives on the left, just like the UK. Many of Sydney’s motorways have electronic tolls with no barriers, and the hire company charges you the tolls afterwards, often with an admin fee on top, so ask at the desk how they handle this. You don’t need a car in Sydney itself, as trains, ferries and buses cover the city, and parking in the CBD is expensive. A car does make good sense for the Blue Mountains, the Hunter Valley wine region and the coast south of the city, so my advice is to pick up the car on the day you leave Sydney.
Between T1 International and T2/T3 Domestic
If you’re catching a domestic flight after an international arrival, or vice versa, you’ll need to change terminals, and you can’t walk between T1 and T2/T3. The easiest option is the airport’s free Terminal Transfer Bus, which runs every 15 minutes between 5.30am and 10.30pm and takes about 10 minutes. At T1 it stops on the arrivals level outside arrivals hall B, where you follow the signs for T2 Domestic Transfer, and at T2 and T3 it stops outside each terminal.
The train between International and Domestic takes just 2 minutes. Here you pay a lower station access fee of 5.20 dollars (around £4) plus the train fare, so the journey costs around 8 to 10 dollars (around £4 to £5) per person. Bus 420 also runs between the terminals for a standard bus fare. Between T2 and T3 you can walk in about 5 minutes along the walkway through the P1 car park. The airport has more details in its guide to transferring between terminals.
Western Sydney International: Sydney’s new airport
Sydney now has a second airport, Western Sydney International Airport (WSI), about 45 kilometres west of the city centre. It’s open around the clock, whereas Sydney Airport has a night-time curfew for flights between 11pm and 6am, and several airlines fly from there, so always check which airport is on your ticket. No train runs all the way to the airport until the new metro line to St Marys is finished.
The free WSI Link bus is the easiest way. It runs every 30 minutes between the airport and St Marys Station, and from there you take the train on the T1 line into Central. Allow around an hour and a half or more to the city centre. Buses also run from the airport to the train stations in Penrith, Liverpool, Campbelltown, Mount Druitt and Leppington, and you pay for these with contactless payment or an Opal-card. Taxis run on the meter, and there’s no fixed price to the city centre. You’ll find up-to-date connections at Western Sydney International Airport.
Getting back to the airport
The train to the airport runs from Central and all the City Circle stations. Take a train on the T8 Airport & South Line, and check the screen to make sure it goes via the airport, as some T8 trains take a different route south. Domestic is the first stop at the airport and International is the next. If you get off at the wrong terminal, it costs you both time and an extra station access fee to carry on, so check the terminal on your ticket before you set off.
Allow plenty of time during the morning and late afternoon rush hours, when the trains can be packed and the roads to the airport are slow. If you have a very early flight, you might consider spending your last night by the airport. Rydges Sydney Airport is right opposite T1 International, and you can see prices for Rydges Sydney Airport here.
If your trip continues to Melbourne, flying is by far the quickest option, and I’ve covered SkyBus, taxis and the cheap alternatives in my guide to getting from Melbourne Airport to the city centre. There you can also read about where to stay in Melbourne, and if you’re flying on across the Tasman Sea, I have a guide to where to stay in New Zealand.
Which option should you choose?
Here’s my recommendation based on where you’re heading and how you’re travelling:
CBD, Circular Quay and The Rocks: Take the train for 22.94 Australian dollars (around £12) at peak times, and get off at Central or stay on to Circular Quay.
Surry Hills and Haymarket: The train to Central and a few minutes’ walk to your hotel.
3 to 4 adults to the CBD: A taxi for around 60 Australian dollars (around £30) is cheaper than the train tickets and takes you right to the door.
Bondi and Coogee: Bus 350 from T2/T3 Domestic, or a taxi or Uber if you have a lot of luggage.
Manly: The train to Circular Quay and the ferry from there out across the harbour.
On a tight budget: Bus 420 to Mascot Station and the train into the city, typically for under 10 Australian dollars (around £5).
If you land in the middle of the night: A taxi or an Uber, or the N20 night bus from T1 International while the trains aren’t running.
The Blue Mountains and trips out of the city: Pick up your hire car on the day you leave Sydney, so you avoid paying for parking in the CBD.
Travel ressources & websites I use all the time 👇
• Booking.com has the best offers on hotels and unique places to stay
• GetYourGuide is the best place to book tours & activities with free cancellation
• Welcome Pickups is the best & safest place to pre-book airport transfers
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