Your Vivid Sydney guide to the perfect long weekend

Vivid Sydney is back with an itinerary that’s bigger than ever in 2024.

Vivid Sydney has become an international sensation. While light installations from renowned local and international artists still create the centrepiece, this is now an all-encompassing winter festival, offering talks, events, live music, special food offerings and more.

Narrow down the best of Vivid with this guide. (Image: DNSW)

To help you wade through the seemingly endless options, we’ve created the perfect three-day itinerary to help you get front-row access to the best of the festival, while avoiding the worst of the crowds.

Friday

3pm Check into your accommodation. You’ll want to be close to all the action, so the iconic Park Hyatt Sydney is the perfect option to catch a glimpse of the Vivid lights. We’re talking front-row seats to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge without leaving the warmth (and room service) of your hotel room.

Book their Vivid at the Park stay package for a two-night stay, complete with full breakfast for up to two guests daily in The Dining Room. Other bonuses include valet parking, a $350 dining credit and more.

Book into the Sydney Suite at Park Hyatt Sydney.

6pm No need to leave the premises to start soaking up the views and atmosphere of Vivid. Instead, head from your room to Park Hyatt Sydney’s hatted restaurant, The Dining Room by James Viles.

From 24 May until 15 June, the restaurant will transform its menu to one that pays homage to the essence of Vivid Sydney, while maintaining the imaginative, seasonal, sustainable cuisine the restaurant is renowned for.

The Dining Room by James Viles has been hatted for its innovative dishes.

The floor-to-ceiling windows offer unimpeded views of the Opera House as it lights up – this year, the iconic sails will be transformed by Julia Gutman and her take on Roman poet Ovid’s myth of Narcissus, Lighting of the Sails: Echo.

Enjoy Vivid Sydney while eating.

8pm After dinner and drinks, catch a short taxi ride over to the waterside pathways of Darling Harbour where you can watch free live music performances from DJs spinning dance mixes, to the rocky pop tunes of singer-songwriter Mallrat to the iconic Christine Anu. Check the full Tumbalong Nights lineup here.

Enjoy free contemporary music over 12 nights.

After the show, take a leisurely stroll through the Darling Harbour section of Vivid’s Light Walk, which stretches a total of 8.5 kilometres from The Sydney Opera House to Central Station. Be sure to stop at Nest – an installation following the mesmerising mating dance of brolgas – as well as The Poem Booth – a machine hailing from The Netherlands where computers and humans interact to create AI poetry.

This computer has a romantic side.

8pm Park yourself on a plush stool at The Bar to keep enjoying your Vivid Sydney lights while also choosing between an award-winning wine list or a locally-inspired cocktail.

Saturday

9am Head to breakfast in The Dining Room. Help yourself to the buffet (the pastries are to-die-for) and order more substantial meals – from homemade bircher muesli to eggs benedict – from the staff.

Then why not spend your day getting to know the local area where your hotel sits?

Enjoy breakfast as good as the views at The Dining Room.

10.30am Begin your adventure at Cadman’s Cottage in The Rocks where you will meet Margaret Campbell for a Dreamtime Southern X Illi-Langi The Rocks Aboriginal Dreaming Tour. No matter how often you’ve visited Sydney, you haven’t experienced it like this before. Margaret, who will ask you to call her Aunty, shares a wealth of knowledge about the land you stand on and local Indigenous practices from long before colonisation.

Join Aunty Margaret on a tour around The Rocks. (Image: DNSW)

12.30pm Head back to your hotel for a casual lunch at The Living Room, and share what you’ve learned from Aunty Margaret over a Wagyu Beef Cheeseburger or Grilled Mushroom Baguette.

Find all-day casual dining at The Living Room.

2pm The pool at your hotel might just have the best view in Sydney. Bring your book and enjoy birds’-eye views of the Opera House from one of many deck chairs or take a splash in the pool or heat spa. Speaking of spas, The Spa offers holistic treatments, tailored to individual needs, using La Mer and iKOU skincare products.

Spend summer days in the pool with Sydney’s best view.

If you’d rather get out and about, The Art Gallery of New South Wales in The Domain awaits. While the architecture is an artwork in itself, don’t miss a trip into The Tank – an underground room turned into an art exhibition. Or discover the latest exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art nestled along the waterfront of The Rocks.

Explore the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ new building. (Image: Zan Wembley)

6pm Time to venture outside, joining the other Vivid Sydney revellers as they make their way around the years’ best installations within easy walking distance of Park Hyatt Sydney.

Customs House in Circular Quay will be lit up with the signature illustrations of Gumscape with Road and Creatures by Australian artist Reg Mombassa. Wander into First Fleet Park in The Rocks to celebrate human connection with the installation, Embrace.

A little further along, in Walsh Bay, discover the mindboggling mirror maze Shifting Perspectives and become part of the art in a new way.

Reg Mombassa’s unique style is easily recognisable.

8pm Having truly worked up an appetite (and a need to rest), retire to the comfort and cosy luxury of your room. And no, we didn’t forget about dinner. Time to make use of that $350 room credit and order in.

From a DIY pasta option to rib-eye steak and an impressive selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, there’s plenty to feast on for the rest of the night.

Open up the curtains, set up dinner at your desk, coffee table (or bed, you’re on holiday after all) and enjoy the beautiful lights and crowd buzz of Vivid Sydney while wrapped up in your bathrobe and slippers.

Marvel at Vivid Sydney from your very own Park Hyatt Sydney room.

Sunday

10.00am Park Hyatt Sydney’s beds are like dreamy clouds, so enjoy an indulgent sleep-in and leisurely breakfast in The Dining Room.

11.00am All good things must end, and it’s time to check out of your hotel and say goodbye to Vivid Sydney for 2024. But not before one last feast.

Taste flavours from around the world. (Image: Shaun Clark)

12.30pm Jump in an Uber and head to The Fire Kitchen at The Cutaway, which has returned this year after making its very successful debut in 2023. This food truck haven offers some of Sydney’s best cuisine – from the vegan offerings of Alibi to tender meat offerings fresh from the barbecue. Speaking of barbecues, stop and watch live cooking demonstrations by some of the country’s best grillers.

To book your Vivid at the Park package at Park Hyatt Sydney, visit parkhyattsydney.com or contact 02 9256 1234.