Eastern Suburbs Coastal Walk: Sydney, Australia

This was our most physically active day in Sydney and it was so, so worth it. The coastal walk is about 6 km and takes about three hours from Coogee to Bondi, but that includes lots of stops for photographs. To get to the start, we caught the bus from right outside our hotel. The journey took about 40 minutes and once we arrived, we headed straight to Morning Glory Cafe for some breakfast to fuel our walk!

Matt opted for the fry up while I had a delicious avocado toast. And of course we had to go for two flat whites to make sure we were sufficiently caffeinated!

We decided to walk from Coogee to Bondi because we wanted to spend the rest of the day relaxing on the beach. But, having seen Coogee (below), I think going either direction would be nice since this beach was significantly less busy than Bondi.

The walk takes in a variety of scenery with sandy beaches mixed with rugged, rocky cliffs. The route covers several popular Sydney beaches that seemed to be more popular with locals rather than crowds of tourists like Bondi. If we are ever back in Sydney, I think we'll pop down to one of these instead!

Clovelly Beach had a little inbuilt swimming pool right on the beach, which was a handy feature if you wanted to swim some laps for fitness. Apparently this is a beach that's particularly good for families as the curved bay provides a safe space for kids to play and the waves are fairly gentle compared to the other beaches.

Bronte Beach (below) was much larger and had stronger waves when we were passing it. There was also a pool (Bronte Baths) built into the rocks here but it was tucked a bit more out of sight than Clovelly.

Tamarama Beach is the last beach before Bondi. It seemed a bit more exposed than the other beaches (which had cliffs jutting out to protect them). We were so close to Bondi so we hustled along but it did look like a nice spot for some relaxing afternoon sunbathing!

This was the view looking back at Tamarama and Bronte. The air was a bit hazy due to the bush fires that had only just started when we were visiting. At the time we had no idea how bad the air around Sydney would become only a month after we were there!

We were pleasantly surprised to find out our visit happened to coincide with the annual "Sculpture by the Sea" event. Held every year at the end of October, this is a free exhibition that lines the clifftop as you approach Bondi beach. These were some of our favourites!

Finally, we made it to Bondi! After years of watching programmes like Bondi Rescue, it was a bit surreal to be there in person! Walking down we could see lots of people in the water so we were excited to jump in... only to find it was absolutely freezing!!! I have no idea how they were managing to stay in but it was still lovely to hang out and soak up some sun. Matt was braver than me and managed to get in up to his neck (although he quickly joined me back on the sand).

As we walked down to the beach and over to the changing rooms, we passed an entire wall full of these graffiti murals. This one was my favourite!

As an afternoon treat, we grabbed an ice cream while waiting for our bus back to the hotel. Anita Gelato is found right behind the beach on Campbell Parade and had a great mix of flavours to choose from. Mine was pavlova and I think Matt's was salted caramel with chocolate swirls. Heavenly!

This was such a lovely day taking in some beautiful scenery and then relaxing on one of the most famous beaches in the world. We really recommend saving a day for the Coogee to Bondi walk - it was one of our most favourite activities of the whole honeymoon!

Details:

Website: Bondi to Coogee Walk

Website: Morning Glory Cafe

Address: 128 Beach St, Coogee, Randwick, New South Wales, 2034

Hours: 6:30 am to 2 pm Monday to Friday, 7 am to 2:30 pm Saturday and Sunday

Website: Anita Gelato

Address: 180 Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach, Sydney, NSW, 2026

Hours: 9 am to 11 pm every day