Sydney/Upper North Shore

The Upper North Shore is a leafy and affluent residential area to the north of the heart of Sydney. It is east of the Lane Cove river, north of Chatswood and south of the uppermost border of Hornsbyshire council area.

Understand
The Upper North Shore starts north of Chatswood and stretches all the way to the Hawkesbury River. It consists of mainly residential and bushland suburbs, with the apartments and high density of the Lower North Shore giving way to the detached houses in the leafy suburbs of Killara, Pymble, Turramurra, Warrawee, Wahroonga and Hornsby and further north to villages carved out of the bush near Berowra and Mt Colah.

Containing some of the oldest residential areas of Sydney, the North Shore is known for its extensive gardens and mature European trees, making it one of the most attractive areas within the Sydney metropolitan area. This is particularly true in November of each year, when the blossoming of the Jacaranda trees provides streetscapes of bright purple flowers.

Get in
The T1 train line and the Pacific Highway provide the spine of the region, running parallel to each other for much of their length.

By train
While there are plenty of train stations in the Upper North Shore, the two most important ones are listed.
 * is a major station on the North Shore line. All trains on this line, including expresses, stop there.


 * is a terminal station for both the North Shore and Northern lines, as well as providing onwards services north through the Central Coast, Newcastle and beyond.

By car
The Sydney/Upper North Shore is very accessible from nearly every part of Sydney, as it faces no major geographical obstructions, and is not too far away from the CBD, being about a 20-40 minute drive, depending on where in the Sydney/Upper North Shore you'd want to go to.

From other parts of Sydney it's:
 * 15 minutes from Mona Vale, via the Mona Vale Road
 * 15 minutes from Lane Cove National Park, via the Ryde Road
 * 20 minutes from Brooklyn, via the and
 * 30 minutes minimum from Berowra Waters. Although this is part of Outer Sydney, getting here is hard due to the lack of infrastructure
 * 30 minutes from Parramatta, via the and
 * 30 minutes from The Hills, via the

Get around
Trains and public buses are available, mainly centred around a city commute. You'll probably be able to get to a single destination and return to the city by public transport easily enough, but touring the area requires a car especially in the northern areas of Ku-ring-gai Chase and Garigal National Parks. The main road linking the North Shore suburbs together is the Pacific Highway (A1) in a northwest to southeast (and vice versa) direction.

See




Connect
Mobile coverage is quite strong in most of the area, but is basically non-existent in the national parks at the north.

Within Sydney

 * Take a break from the nature walks and dive into the Northern Beaches via the A3 Mona Vale Road.

Further away

 * Brooklyn is a pleasant town on the banks of the Hawkesbury river, just a few stops north on the train line.
 * Wisemans Ferry is a nice pleasant picnic spot on the Hawkesbury.