The Local's Guide to Surry Hills: Coffee, Markets, and Doing It on a Budget
Surry Hills is probably the Sydney neighbourhood you will fall in love with first. It is twenty minutes from the harbour on foot, packed full of small bars and cafes that locals actually go to, and unlike a lot of Sydney, you can spend a Saturday here without burning a hundred dollars.
If you are looking for the best things to do in Surry Hills, here is how to do the neighbourhood cheap and well.
1. Drink at the Best Cafes in Surry Hills
Sydney takes its coffee seriously, and Surry Hills is the undisputed heart of it. Single O on Reservoir Street, Reuben Hills on Albion Street, and Paramount Coffee Project on Commonwealth Street all pull flat whites at the elite level the city is famous for. Expect to pay around 5 to 6 dollars a cup, which is the standard going rate.
2. Eat at the Original Bourke Street Bakery
The original location at 633 Bourke Street has been there since 2004. Grabbing a pork-and-fennel sausage roll plus a coffee for under 15 dollars, and eating it sitting on the kerb out front, is a quintessential Surry Hills morning. It is one of the most reliable cheap eats Surry Hills has to offer.
3. Take the Free Neighbourhood Walks
If it is a sunny day, walk up Bourke Street all the way to Centennial Park. If you want a bit more grit and street art, walk down through to Redfern. Both routes are completely free, and both feel incredibly, authentically Sydney.
4. Browse the Surry Hills Markets
If you time your trip right, the Surry Hills Markets run on the first Saturday of every month from 8 AM to 4 PM at Shannon Reserve (on the corner of Crown and Collins). It features sixty-plus stalls of vintage clothes, plants, books, and ceramics—all priced for actual humans, not just tourists. The food trucks parked along the edges sell better lunches than half the cafes nearby.
5. Hit the Small Bars
A quick note on nightlife: Surry Hills has bars on every other corner. The small, dimly lit spots tucked off Bourke and Crown Streets are significantly friendlier than anything you will find in the CBD. Drinks aren't exactly cheap (Sydney is still Sydney), but covers are usually free, making a Surry Hills pub crawl a great night out.