Australia has very few cities where the most of the population is concentrated and Sydney is one of the most populous city in Australia. Due to the laws and pay rates here in Australia everything is over priced. It is the same with the transport options. The lowest charge for the first time in a day to get to the next train station which is 2-3 minutes away can be around $2.5. Hence, budget friendly transportation is the most discussed topic in the city.
I will be explaining the best ways to explore Sydney on a tight budget.
Sydney is not a big city, as i came from India where the cities are more crowded and takes a lot of time and effort to get around the city. But, in Sydney you can go to any place with little to no trouble, Its different when the public transport gets disrupted due to signal faults.
Public Transport:
The need to buy a ticket for every travel is gone and now Opal (Similar to Oyester card in UK) is used allover the public transport network, where you can just tap and get on to the bus, train or ferry. If you are going to visit only one place on that day then the public transport is best. The charges for the longest travel can be around $5.8 and the lowest being $2.45. If you travel again within one hour of getting off any service, your next tap would be considered as a “Transfer” and can be subsidised, which is automatically done in background. Never forget to Tap On or Tap off as you may be not correctly charged if you forget to tap off. The main problem is when you don’t tap On, you can be fined for $400 for not tapping On before boarding.
But when you are exploring city and you need to visit many places in a single day, you can use Uber which is not cost efficient.
To be on your budget, You can get car from any car rental service for around 50$ per day (inclusive of insurance) and drive around the city. But be careful, as the cameras are watching you all the time and cops are literally everywhere (In the unexpected spots such as behind bushes along the road). You can be fined for any act which is unethical while driving. Sydney has free parking spots and also paid ones, just refer to the parking signs and mind the parking time limits. Its better not to park at private parking locations as they can be expensive when compared to paid street parking.
Some operators such as Car next door provide some niche service for car rentals, this can also be an affordable way to go around the city.
Please reach out to me via comments if you need any more information about Sydney, I have been living here from 2 years and have some knowledge about the things in sydney.