From Wikitravel

The North Shore district is situated "across the harbor", north of both Sydney City and North Sydney, and stretches a broad swathe of land from the northern edge of Sydney Harbour up to the Hornsby Plateau. Despite the name, North Shore suburbs are almost all located well inland from the ocean and only a very few have actual harbor frontage.

[edit] Understand

The North Shore consists of two quite distinct districts, the "Lower North Shore" and "Upper North Shore", running respectively from North Sydney to Chatswood, and Chatswood north to Hornsby and beyond.

The Lower North Shore includes North Sydney, which is is a sizable commercial center in its own right (it has more office accommodation than Adelaide's CBD), and the trendy harbour side suburbs of Neutral Bay, Cremorne, amd Mosman. There is considerable high density accommodation in this area and it is a good base for travellers staying in Sydney for any length of time. Many workers commute by ferry into the city.

Further north on the train line and Pacific Hwy (which run parallel with each other through the middle of the Norths Shore) are the adjacent suburbs of St Leonards and Crows Nest, mixed commercial and residential.

The Upper North Shore, generally reckoned to start around Chatswood, consists of mainly residential suburbs with relatively low density housing, their inhabitants tending to be wealthy "well-to-do" middle-class families. Servicing their perceived needs, the North Shore area includes a large number of the most expensive and prestigious private schools in Sydney.

As one of the older residential areas of Sydney, the North Shore is also known for its extensive gardens and mature European trees, making it one of the most attractive areas within the Sydney metropolitan area. This is particularly true in November of each year, when the blossoming of the Jacaranda trees provides street-scapes of bright purple trees. The North Shore, however, has very few tourist attractions that might interest the traveller. Most travellers will appreciate the area as a convenient, and comfortable - base from which to explore the wider city.

It is also a good area to visit by train for a night out at one of the many high quality restaurants in the district, particularly on the Lower North Shore.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By train

The North Shore is serviced by regular Cityrail [1] trains running on the North Shore line between the City and North Sydney and the upper North Shore suburb of Hornsby. These are extremely busy at peak hours, but not at other times. Trains for the North Shore depart from Central, Town Hall and Wynyard stations in the city as well as Penrith, Richmond, Blacktown, Parramatta and Strathfield in the western suburbs.

[edit] By bus

Regular State Transit [2] buses run from the city as far north as Chatswood. North of Chatswood services are run by private bus companies, are slightly less regular and oriented towards locals who want to travel between North Shore suburbs. From Chatswood there are regular bus services to the City, North Sydney, Crows Nest, Bondi Junction, Parramatta, Eastwood, Ryde, Macquarie Uni/Centre, Gladesville, Northbridge, Mosman, and the Northern Beaches.

[edit] By car

North Shore suburbs are between twenty minutes and an hour north of the City by car. Travellers should drive up the Warringah Freeway to Chatswood and follow the Pacific Highway north. The Pacific Highway passes conveniently through the center of many North Shore suburbs.

[edit][add listing] See

• Rose Seidler House[3], 71 Clissold Road, Wahroonga, tel 02 9989 8020, fax 02 9487 2761, mailto:info@hht.net.au, open Su only 10am-5pm, admission adults $8, child/concession $4, family $17. The first building designed by the renowned Australian architect Harry Seidler. This famed piece of Australian modernist architecture, built in 1948-1950, has been preserved in its original condition and features panoramic views of Kuringai National Park.

[edit][add listing] Do

• The North Shore is bounded by three of Sydney's national parks: Garigal, Ku-ring-gai Chase and Lane Cove. All of the parks offer great walks and have many pleasant places for a picnic.
• Tambourine Bay Reserve in area of Riverview, has a park adjacent to it with a variety of bbq facilities. The park is also a peculiar meeting place for dogs and their owners. On most days, usually between 2-5pm, a group will gather and the dogs will play while the owners socialise. Not far from the park is a distinctive mangrove swamp and a reserve with many bush walking trails. Notes on these trails and sights to see can be obtained from www.planning.nsw.gov.au/harbour/pdf/historical_notes_harbour_bridge_to_hunters_hill.pdf. The bay is picturesque with its yachts and native vegetation in the foreshore. A sea scouts clubhouse is located in the area, and is popular with rowers and sailors alike. Also nearby is the historic St Ignatius (Catholic) college, a prestigous seconday school in Sydney. The school has football fields and outdoor basketball courts that are often used freely by members of the public.

• Chatswood's Victoria Street Pedestrian Mall, very close to the train station, has regular musical performances, public chess games on a giant board, an ethnic food market on Thursdays, and occasionally performances from buskers.

[edit] Cinema

• Roseville Cinema [4] regularly shows movies not released in larger cinema chains, tel 9416 8555.

• Chatswood Mandarin Centre - Hoyts Cinema [5] Mandarin Centre cnr Albert & Victor Sts, CHATSWOOD Tel: (02) 9411 8811 Fax: (02) 9411 8276. In addition to mainstream movies, often features Asian films, including Japanese Anime, and films from Bollywood and China.

[edit][add listing] Buy

Most North Shore suburbs have small shopping villages oriented towards locals and their needs. The major exception is Chatswood, which has two large shopping centers: Chatswood Westfield and Chatswood Chase, as well as the smaller Chatswood Mandarin Centre, and many other reasonably small shopping locations such as Chatswood Centre.

Chatswood Chase is an upmarket shopping center with designer clothing stores and the upmarket department store David Jones. Chatswood Westfield is a mainstream shopping center with cheaper clothing stores. Chatswood Mandarin is a smaller shopping center with an Asian food court, a number of electronics stores, and a Chinese supermarket on the ground floor.

Hornsby also has a large Westfield shopping center (Cnr Florence St and Hunter St, ph 02 9477 5111). [6]

Spices of Asia Shp2/ 139 Longueville Rd Lane Cove, ph: (02) 9418 8684. An excellent Asian grocery and video store located a 2min walk from Lane Cove plaza. Its focus is ingredients for Indian cooking, but also caters for cuisine for other parts of Asia. It also sells phone cards and it has an impressive collection of videos/DVDs of Bollywood movies.

[edit][add listing] Eat

• Gourmet Pizza Kitchen, 60 Archer Street Chatswood, (02) 9411 8000. AU$15-AU$25. The Gourmet Pizza Kitchen is a family restaurant which serves thirty different gourmet-style pizzas.
• The Genghis Khan Mongolian Barbeque Restaurant, 77 Archer Street Chatswood, (02) 9411 1147. AU$20. The Genghis Khan is a self-serve restaurant. Your meal is cooked on a large hot plate by a flamboyant chef.
• Cha for Tea, 389 Victoria Ave Chatswood, (02) 9884 7668. Serves light meals, snacks and a wide range of (mostly tea-based) beverages. The leafy courtyard out the back is a very pleasant place to relax on a sunny afternoon.
• Khob Khun Thai, 308 Pacific Highway Lindfield, (02) 9880 8020. A$10-15. Serves light Thai meals super fast! You have barely had time to sit down, or grab some BYO alcohol from the shop around the corner before the food is ready. It is popular with university students from the nearby campus of the University of Technology, Sydney.
• Food & Plonk, 366 Pacific Highway Lindfield, (02) 9416 5026. A$25-35. Food & Plonk serves French meals with a modern twist. The price is quite high for the area but the service is good. The mashed potato is so smooth it glides down your throat.
• The Claypot Restaurant, 788a Pacific Highway, Gordon, tel 02 9418 2599, fax 02 9880 2749. Entreés $15-$20, mains $21-$35. The Claypot is a Greek restaurant specializing in stews cooked and served hot in large clay pots. The restaurant is small with a crowded atmosphere, but it is usually quieter than many similar Sydney restaurants. The food is bursting with every kind of Greek flavor. Fully licensed and BYO wine only.
• Seri Malaya Restaurant, 56-62 Chandos St, St Leonards, (02) 9438 1233. Small and unpretentious, serving quality Malaysian, Thai and Chinese cuisine. Singaporean and Malaysian favorites added to the menu on F and Sa. Fully licensed and BYO. Lunch M-Sa 11am-3pm, dinner M-Sa 5:30pm-10pm.
• Qmin, Shop 5, 207B Pacific Hwy St Leonards, (02) 9966 5557. Tucked away between Pacific Highway offices and the Royal North Shore Hospital, this Indian restaurant is in a surprisingly pleasant setting. Excellent food and service.
• Curry Lane 110 Longueville Rd Lane Cove ph: (02) 9428 2922. Indian sit-down & takeaway restaurant with a range of flavorsome curries, naan bread, snacks, drinks & lassi. Great food & service. Of particular interest is reading the little philosophies on life srawled on the walls.

• Makoto Sushi Bar 336 Victoria Ave, Chatswood Tel +61 2 9411 1838 Fax +61 2 9411 1835. Open 7 days, with dinner starting from 6pm. At a much higher quality than your standard sushi-bar, Makoto offers sushi, sashimi, along with a range of small cooked dishes. The service is authentically Japanese, and the cooks work in full view of the client, enclosed by the sushi conveyor.

[edit][add listing] Drink

• Gilroy's, 75 Christie Street St Leonards, (02) 9439 2213. Friendly Irish Pub catering to a mostly professional clientèle. The upstairs restaurant serves large meals, has comfortable seating and TV screens to keep an eye on the current sporting event.
• Great Northern Hotel, 522 Pacific Highway (cnr Mowbray Rd) Chatswood. (02) 9419 4555. The Great Northern has a friendly outdoor beer garden, and serve generous steak dinners.
• Chelsea Hotel, 10-14 Railway Street Chatswood, (02) 9411 4995. Mostly catering to the after-work crowd and locals, has low priced meals.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

• Sovereign Inn, 220 Pacific Highway Crows Nest, Sydney, [7]. Each fully air-conditioned room at Sovereign Inn Crows Nest has its own toilet and bath with a shower and tub, cable TV, in-room Internet connectivity, direct dial phone, hairdryer, ironing board, radio, coffee and tea-making facilities. Best rates on official website start at AU$125.  edit
• Ascot Motor Inn, 18 Ingram Road, Wahroonga NSW 2076 Australia, ☎ +02 9487 3455 (fax: +9489 7559), [8]. The Ascot Motor Inn provides a modern, comfortable standard of accommodation at an affordable price. It is very close to the Australian Reptile Park and the Koala Sanctuary. Best rates on official website start at AU$68.  edit
• Killara Inn Hotel and conference center, 480 Pacific Highway, Killara. Great 4 star hotel on the Pacific Highway with friendly service and clean and comfortable rooms.  edit

[edit] Cope

[edit] Medical

• Royal North Shore Hospital, Pacific Highway, St Leonards. tel 02 9926 7111. fax 02 9926 7779. The Royal North Shore Hospital is a fully equipped public teaching hospital. It has an emergency room.
• Chatswood Medical & Dental Centre, 270 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood. tel 02 9413 2222. Open 8am - 10pm, Monday to Sunday.
• Forum Medical Centre, Pacific Hwy, St Leonards (cnr Herbert St). tel 02 9437 1883. Open 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday; 10am - 2pm Saturday and Sunday.