Sustainability meets sophistication in Sydney, where you can indulge in a luxe stay while minimising your impact on the environment. Once you've settled into your eco-friendly room, seek out some incredible farm-to-table and seasonal dining experiences that will make your low-impact visit even more memorable.

Stay sustainably in the city centre

It's easy to keep close to the action in the heart of the city while ensuring the hotel you stay in applies environmentally responsible practices. At the five-star Swissôtel Sydney, the Ecotourism-certified hotel's “seamless sustainability” manifests in everything from energy-efficient infrastructure to the rooftop beehives making the honey you drizzle on your toast in the morning (70 per cent of all produce served up at Swissôtel Sydney is sourced within a 200km radius).

A block back from the majestic Moreton Bay fig trees of Hyde Park, The Porter House Hotel – MGallery blends sustainable practices such as its carbon footprint reduction efforts into its offering as smoothly as the hotel's modern tower melds with its adjoining 19th-century sandstone building.

In Sydney's financial district near Circular Quay, Capella Sydney combines ultra-luxury with environmentally sustainable practices and a deep engagement with the city's cultural life. Alongside preserving historically significant elements of its heritage-listed building and integrating low-impact materials, like the reclaimed-marble bathtubs in the generously sized guest rooms, the hotel offers up authentic experiences and unique encounters via its Capella Culturists program.

And high above the Barangaroo precinct, The Langham, Sydney continues to maintain its EarthCheck Gold certification – a science-backed, people-focused sustainability certification process – through responsible resource management, sustainable sourcing of produce and community engagement while offering impeccable service, opulent suites and a comprehensive wellness program.

Bed down at Taronga Zoo

Thrill to immersive encounters with Australia's iconic native animals, savour modern Australian dining and soak up superb Sydney Harbour views when you stay at the Wildlife Retreat, a one-of-a-kind eco-retreat nestled in the grounds of Taronga Zoo Sydney.

Whether you stretch out in a luxe Treetop Suite, an Animal View Room or a room overlooking the surrounding bush or the harbour, by staying at the retreat you'll be supporting the zoo's mission of securing a shared future for wildlife and people. 

As you'd expect from a leader in the fields of conservation, research and environmental education, Taronga's commitment to sustainability shows through in the lodge's use of low-impact timber over concrete and steel, best-practice waste and water management, and offering only environmentally sustainable and responsibly sourced seafood, to name but a few initiatives. 

So you're bound to feel great as you enjoy guest privileges such as the included guided tour of the Advanced Ecotourism-certified wildlife sanctuary, two days of zoo access and breakfast with sweeping harbour views in the retreat's exclusive N'Gurra Lounge.

Feast on fresh farm produce

If transparency in a restaurant's supply chain is just as important to you as the creativity and skill that's evident in the dishes it serves, you've come to the right city. You can dine on fresh, locally sourced ingredients that minimise your food's carbon footprint while supporting New South Wales's farmers and producers at farm-to-table eateries across the city. 

Secure some of the 18 seats available in each sitting at The Blue Door in Surry Hills and tuck in to the first of seven-plus courses in a tasting menu of the most ethical produce the state has to offer. From only sourcing whole animals from producers chef Dylan Cashman and his team have visited in person to purchasing vegetables exclusively from farmers who engage in regenerative practices, The Blue Door is a hyper-local dining experience. 

Seafood lovers will bliss out at Saint Peter in Paddington, where chef Josh Niland famously pursues his “scale to tail” philosophy of using all parts of the sustainably caught fish he sources, as well as championing the use of underutilised fish species to take pressure off more popular varieties. Come for a three-course lunch of line-caught fish, or indulge in the set dinner menu which may feature fish offal and delicacies such as coral trout bone noodles and charcuterie from the chef's Fish Butchery. 

A short walk away from Saint Peter, Fred's takes pride of place on Paddington's Oxford Street with its farm-to-table menu of sustainably farmed and fished seasonal produce cooked to perfection in an open-fire hearth and paired with minimal intervention, organic and biodynamic wines.

For those venturing west of the city, Sinclair's in Penrith takes the paddock-to-plate philosophy to impressive lengths. This restaurant sources almost all ingredients from within 50km of its dining room, with chefs personally visiting local farms to connect with growers in the Hawkesbury, Blue Mountains and Nepean countryside.

Savour what's in season

Tap into Japanese cuisine's tight focus on seasonality at the contemporary kaiseki restaurant Garaku, one of the refined offerings within the Prefecture 48 dining precinct in the city centre. Secure a spot at the 16-seater chef's table or a settle in at a table in the neon-lit dining space and feel time slow down as you concentrate on each sublime dish in a seasonal menu meticulously curated by Derek Kim, a former executive head chef at the now defunct Sydney fine-dining icon Tetsuya's.

Draw on the energy flowing through the buzzy dining space at BTWN, looking out over Darling Harbour at W Sydney, as you peruse a seasonal menu celebrating the state's producers and providores. Whatever dish you choose spotlights the provenance of the ingredients, from oysters plucked from lakes on the NSW South Coast to cod from the Riverina region in the southwest of the state and honey from the Blue Mountains. Pair your selection with a glass or a bottle from a wine list crowned the state's best in the 2025 NSW Sommelier Wine List Awards for the way BTWN's Daniele Campo has highlighted local wineries. 

Vegans and vegetarians can also sample some of the great wines and beers NSW has to offer while filling up on tempting animal-free dishes inspired by South-East Asian and Mediterranean cuisines at Yulli's, a much-loved restaurant that's been serving up vegan and gluten-free food in Surry Hills since 2008.