How to have a wellness weekend in Sydney

Be enveloped by the city’s beautiful surrounds as you enjoy a relaxing escape spanning wellness centres to nutritious dining. From bespoke facials to all-vegetarian restaurants, here’s your guide to the ultimate Sydney wellness weekend.

Destination NSW

Jan 2024 -

min read

Highlights

Stay in calming luxury at CBD hotel Capella
Destress in a hot or cold bath in Balmain
Enjoy a native foods tour through the Royal Botanic Garden
Do a downward dog under the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sip organic juices and elixirs on the beach

Morning

Ease into your wellness weekend by checking into utter luxury at Capella Sydney. Kitted out with beautifully appointed suites, a full-service spa, fitness facilities, vitality pools, yoga platform and in-house brasserie and hotel bar lounge, this hotel has all the ingredients for a tranquil stay in the city.

Inside a room at Capella Sydney

Afternoon

Once settled into your room, make your way to Auriga Spa: Capella’s on-site wellness centre open to both hotel guests and those staying elsewhere. Choose from a menu of treatments spanning the body rainforest exfoliation to full-body mud wraps and ‘connect to country’ Aboriginal stone treatments. Luna Beauty & Apothecary in Surry Hills also offers rejuvenating natural face and body experiences including bespoke facials, skin nutrition consults, LED light therapy and an infrared sauna.

Auriga Spa wellness centre at Capella Sydney

Evening

Swoon from massage to dining table at Paddington’s Fred’s. Enjoy a farm-to-table meal in the open-space restaurant, with a complementary wine list featuring organic, minimal intervention and biodynamic wines. Yellow in Potts Point is another option – an all-vegetarian, two-hatted restaurant set in a bright yellow terrace. Just around the corner is Fratelli Paradiso, the place to go for a spoonful of tiramisu.

Fred's Paddington - Credit: Steve Woodburn

Morning

Commence the second day of your wellness weekend right by the water, with a nourishing elixir from Orchard St in Bondi, a juice bar/cafe offering nutrient-rich juices, botanical teas, smoothies, cleanses and plant-based food. Here you can be your own alchemist as you concoct a beverage using plant-based milks, naturopath-formulated powders and a matcha, caramel or cacao flavouring.

Bondi Icebergs Club at Sydney's Bondi Beach

Bondi Icebergs, Bondi Beach

Afternoon

Post-breakfast, slow down at Slow House Bondi, a wellness space with infrared and traditional saunas, ice baths, LED light therapy, and body and facial treatments. Alternatively, pick up the pace on a walk with Soulful Hikes. Soulful Hikes facilitate mindful walking tours focused on boosting spirit and mood while engaging with nature. Similarly, Healing With Nature, an eco-certified operator, offers forest bathing experiences in Sydney's north.

Slow House, Bondi- Credit: Emily May Gunawan

Evening

Dinner – with ocean views – at Sean’s Panaroma is a must after an afternoon of literal or forest bathing. This farm-to-table-style kitchen boasts incredible panoramic views of Bondi Beach to match a three-course set menu for $120. Wine is BYO with corkage and the dining room – with its seashell lights, scrawled blackboard menu and peg board dotted with artworks – is unlike any other in Sydney. If there’s room for dessert after your nourishing dinner, toddle down the hill to Mapo for a scoop or two of simple artisan gelato or sorbetto – the perfect palate cleanser.

Sean's Panaroma, Bondi - Credit: Sean's Panaroma

Morning

Start your day with a pep in your step at Sammy Junior: bespoke coffee spot by day, lush cocktail bar by night. Once well-fed, wander on over to Yoga Under the Bridge – a free yoga class led underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge every Sunday. If you’d prefer an even slower pace, book into the Sofitel Spa Darling Harbour – a sanctuary of renewing spa treatments complete with Sydney Harbour views.

Yoga Under the Bridge - Credit: Place Management NSW

Afternoon

Get in touch with nature and learn about the oldest continuing culture on an Aboriginal Bush Tucker Tour at the Royal Botanic Garden. On the tour you’ll hear from a First Nations guide about indigenous bush foods, their traditional use and how they’re used today, all while meandering the 30-hectare garden oasis in the middle of the city – you'll even sample a few goodies. For lunch, head to the inner west suburb of Annandale and find Cornersmith, a family-run cafe with a seasonal menu made with produce donated by the neighbourhood.

Aboriginal Bush Tucker Tour - Credit: Botanic Gardens of Sydney

Evening

Round out your wellness weekend with a bathing experience at Nature’s Energy Balmain bath house. Here you can flit between hot and cool spas, the steam room and traditional Finnish sauna – a soothing ritual before you head home. The Dawn Fraser Baths are also in Balmain, if you seek an extra dip in this harbour pool.