Newtown Sydney???

I have just booked into a hostel in Newton for three weeks with my boyfriend. The place looks lovely and i can only see good reviews.

Only thing is i have just been told that newtown is kings cross!! And i have heard this is not a good place for tourists. Has anyone here been in Kings cross and what do you think of it??? Can it really be that bad???

Err..? Newtown is Newtown. King's Cross is King's Cross. Newtown is to the southwest of the city centre, right near the university, King's Cross to the East. I think whoever told you that was confused.

Newtown is indeed quite a nice place; close to the university, so very vibrant and alive. Not quite as good as Glebe (on the other side of university) imnsho, but good nonetheless. Great used bookstores and cd stores there.

Cool - thanks for your reply sander!!

Also can you tell me, is it easy enough to get from newtown to the centre of sydney??

Yeah, there's busses going every 5-10 minutes most of the day, and it's even walkable (~20-30 minutes?). Plus I'm pretty certain there's a train station in Newtown as well. *looks it up* Yes, three stops from Central, six from Circular Quay. You'll want to get a red weekly travelpass (or a green one if/when you want to go to Manly), which costs something like $32 (AUD, iirc; prices might have gone up a dollar or two by now) and gives you unlimited travel by train, bus and ferry for that week.

Newtown is nothing like Kings Cross.

Newtown is a mixture of students, ferals and a few gays, but it doesn't have the prostitutes or the drug addicts of Kings Cross.

It's very easy to get to the city. Depending where in Newtown the hostel is, and where in the city you want to go, you can almost walk there (30 mins). There are plenty of buses, and a train station.

Apart from bookstores and music shops, there are about 100 Thai restaurants. I hope you like Thai!

Hi guys thanks for your replies.

James we are going to Thailand for a month before sydney! Im sure the food will be great.

Good to hear that Newtown doesnt have the pros and drug addicts that Kings cross has was getting a bit worried there. Newtown sounds lovely and good to hear it is easy enough to get into the centre of sydney and back.

Newtown is great, especially for eating. Go for a walk down King St and you'll find a lot of cheap places to eat and you'll find food from all over the world. Walk down King St into St Peters there's some really interesting and quirky little shops down there.

Kings Cross is nowhere near as bad as it used to be. The Cross in the 80's and early 90's was a mad house, an absolute brothel....literally. Post 2000, Kings Cross has been cleaned up somewhat, you've still got your street kid trouble maker element, but as long as you don't hassle anyone they won't hassle you. Some of the back streets of Kings Cross are beautiful at night.

Newtown's great, just make sure your hostel isn't too noisy.

Cheers,

WONDERBUS

Newtown is great, especially for eating.

dont forget shopping!

kings cross is great when you wanna keep drinking and partying after the clubs in the city have closed. its dirty and sleezy through the day but its ok at night. and its packed with young people on friday and sat nights. plus its cheeps drinks....

i stayed in newtown whiile in sydeny, i stayed in billabong gardens just off the main high street and loved it there, its a very colourful place and loads of great book shops

Hay Liam G

I am staying at Billabong Gardens too!

I have booked in there for three weeks. Glad the place is good. I have heard some mixed reviews on it.

Thanks for everyones replies, i am sooooooooooo excited yipeeeeeee