A network of villages, all within approximately 20 minutes’ drive of the city centre, Sydney’s Inner West is your go-to destination if you’re a lover of art and design. Immerse yourself in the buzzy atmosphere of former working-class areas reborn with distinctive personalities, such as Newtown, Marrickville, Glebe, Leichhardt and Balmain, as you rub shoulders with locals at live-music venues, theatres, art galleries, vintage fashion boutiques and quirky bookstores.
 

Browse the day away in boutiques and markets

Join the locals in observing an Inner West tradition by spending your Saturday morning browsing through neighbourhood markets, which are usually set up in the grounds of a school. Follow keen-eyed shoppers to Glebe Markets, on Glebe’s main road, to leisurely pick your way through stall after stall of recycled fashion, music and books, and Rozelle Collectors Market in Rozelle, next to Balmain, for more recycled fashion, jewellery, art and music, as well as antiques and collectibles. After browsing Rozelle Collectors Market, drive a couple of minutes to the Balmain end of Darling Street for stylish fashion boutiques and designer homewares stores.

Haunt an eclectic collection of second-hand fashion boutiques, ranging from charity shops like Vinnies and Red Cross to vintage clothing at U-Turn and one-off high-end pieces at SWOP, on Newtown’s King Street and Enmore’s Enmore Road. Support a worthy social program by snapping up colourful clothing at The Social Outfit, an ethical employer offering free training to refugees. Linger on King Street to pick up vintage LPs at Repressed Records, something new to read at second-hand specialist Elizabeth’s Bookshop, or the latest must-read novel at Better Read Than Dead.

Indulge your love of the written word in the treasure trove of fiction, academic and cookbooks that is Gleebooks in Glebe, one of the city’s most famous bookstores, which also hosts regular events with renowned authors. Then soak up the literary atmosphere over a vegan-friendly lunch at Sappho Books, a second-hand bookstore next door to Gleebooks.

Feel your senses come alive with great art and design

Immerse in the creative arts at galleries right across the Inner West. Be instantly engrossed in one of the world’s most significant collections of contemporary Chinese art at the White Rabbit Gallery in Chippendale, before recharging and collecting your thoughts over handmade dumplings and fine Chinese and Taiwanese tea at the gallery’s Tea House.

From the White Rabbit Gallery, take a pleasant 20-minute walk through streets of Victorian terrace houses and a leafy park to Chau Chak Wing Museum, the University of Sydney’s museum of art, science, history and ancient cultures. Soak up a sense of serenity in the light-filled galleries as you immerse in the largest collection of antiquities in the southern hemisphere and commune with large-scale Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks and objects.

Connect with the art of the world’s oldest living culture at Aboriginal art specialist Kate Owen Gallery in Rozelle. Exult in the diversity of techniques and practices of Indigenous artists across current exhibitions of artworks, artists in residence and authentic museum-quality works from leading Indigenous artists, such as Clifford Possum and Emily Kngwarreye. Then take a 10-minute detour from Kate Owen Gallery to walk down King George Park to view a public artwork depicting traditional Aboriginal fish traps on the banks of the Parramatta River.

Get your fill of street art as you sample Newtown’s multicultural food offerings with a Newtown Chewtown – Food & Street Art with Local Sauce Tours. And keep an eye on the Annandale Galleries website for exhibitions of prominent Australian contemporary and Indigenous artists in a striking space in a former church in Annandale.

Shimmy your way to the front of the stage to see innovative musicians perform across the Inner West. Catch a gig at the longest-running live music venue in New South Wales, the 1908 Enmore Theatre. Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Coldplay and Oasis have all stepped on stage here. At the university end of King Street, see your new favourite acts at The Vanguard, an intimate stage with restaurant seating. Or head to nearby Marrickville for an eclectic mix of world music, jazz, blues and cabaret at Camelot Lounge.

Balance your culture fix with some sunshine in open spaces as you discover that a lot of the Inner West actually sits on Sydney Harbour. Follow the Glebe Foreshore Walk from Bicentennial Park to the Sydney Fish Market to enjoy great views of the Anzac Bridge and the working inner harbour (and plenty of dogs at play).

Take in million-dollar views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge from Illoura Reserve in Balmain before cooling off with a dip in Sydney’s oldest pool, the Dawn Fraser Baths, just around the corner. You’ll be soaking in history — the tidal saltwater pool was built into the harbour in 1880 and is surrounded by Victorian-era wooden pavilions.

Recharge in luxury — or in Inner West style

Tap into the energy of both the Inner West and central Sydney by staying in Chippendale, on the edge of both parts of the city. Feel the sense of community and creativity imbued in The Old Clare Hotel, a quirky luxury boutique hotel created from a heritage-listed pub and the former Carlton United Brewery on Broadway, a busy thoroughfare heading west from the city. Recharge for another day of exploring the city in a chic room with quirky original features, a super-soft king-sized bed and huge windows, and refresh with a dip in the rooftop pool. A block further down Broadway from the Old Clare, check into a room at Four Points by Sheraton Sydney, Central Park to unwind in the sanctuary of a spacious living room and re-energise in a rain shower in a roomy bathroom.

In Newtown, settle in for a longer stay at The Urban Newtown, just steps away from the buzz of King Street, where your sleek, modern studio has a full kitchen and there are laundry facilities on-site. Get a taste for old-school pub accommodation at Sydney Park Hotel, at the southern end of King Street where Newtown morphs into St Peters, or nearby The Erko Hotel in the heart of Erskineville. Both offer simple traveller’s rooms with shared bathrooms.

And in Glebe, ease into a comfortable room and enjoy a touch of quirkiness at Haven Glebe, in a central location on Glebe Point Road.