Paddington/Surry Hills Nightlife
Where To Bond With Beers On The Sydney Shore


Australians are attracted to beaches as much as they are to pubs and clubs..

Some of Sydney's most alluring nighclubs are located in the Paddington/Surry Hills area just south of King's Cross and on Victoria Street.

Nearby is Oxford Street, where Austalia's gay population parties. Yet this area offers something for every intrepid PubClubber.

Pubs

Victoria Street, from memory the Cross (local lingo for Kings Cross) through to Oxford St Darlinghurst. Oxford Street becomes Paddington and there are some terriffic pubs and bars in this area.

The Paddo Inn (or Paddington Inn to give it the full name) on Oxford Street is a great bar. with a good-looking crowd. It's best later at night, from about 10:30-2, and is especially good Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Two other popular places are The Four in Hand and The Royal.

The Lord Dudley (Jersey Road, just east of Paddington) is an English/Australian pub serving more than 30 kinds of beer. It has dart boards and TVs, making it a popular venue for watching sports.

Neighboring Surry Hills is a feast for pub lovers. The most popular are The Clock Hotel, Forresters Bar, The "O" Bar, Shakespeares Hotel, Bar Cleveland, The Dolphin and The Hopetoun, which features great live bands.

Clubs

The Fringe Bar (Oxford Street, Paddington) is where the cool princes and princesses of the Eastern Suburbs hang out - and for those who like real people, know how to play pool and don't care what anyone else thinks of them. It has both the bohemian and rebellious influence of Darlinghurst and the black cool chic of Paddington.

Fringe is a fine place to just hang out, enjoy the dim candlelit lighting and enjoy whoever is "mixing" on the night. It has two floors; the basement is only open Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights when it really takes on a nightclub atmosphere instead of the bar it happily proclaims to be during the day/afternoon.

It boasts great food, okay wines and wide selection of beers and is staggering distance to a plethora of other bars along illustrious Oxford Street.

Arq (Flinders Street, Darlinghurst/Surry Hills) is an openly gay club which is packed full to the brim every Thursday to Sunday (Sunday being the busiest). It has three floors of surprises and atmosphere, like the huge and somewhat magical aquarium spanning the length of one of its curved walls.

The top two floors contain the dance floor and a balcony where one can inspect the waxed, tanned and flawless bodies jamming to some of the best music in Sydney. The basement is a wholly different atmosphere and is somewhat more laid back (well there's more chairs than upstairs; its still insane).

Trying to be the new Home bar, it has made its mark on the Gay Oxford Street crowd and regularly attracts on Friday and Saturday night girls who just want to have fun and an array of drag performances. Home to the filming of the Pepsi Chart, Arq is a lot of fun if you don't mind lining up for ages, being selected to enter and then squirming around all night amongst a lot of topless sweaty gorgeous guys (and nearly topless gals!).

It has an elegant selection of wines, basic basic beers and as you'd expect with this type of club, lots of water.