If you’re looking for car rental in Sydney, Hertz makes it easy with several branches located at the airport and around the city itself. Known as the Harbour City, Sydney sees visitors from all over the world flock to it for a taste of the cosmopolitan Australian lifestyle.
By car is one of the best ways to explore Sydney, giving you flexibility to travel at your own pace, as well as the freedom to explore the greater Sydney area. Sydney has a fantastic, easy-to-navigate road network, including stunning coastal roads and links to various national parks including Kanangra-Boyd and the Blue Mountains.
Driving and Parking in Sydney
You will need a full driving licence and must be over 21 to rent a car in Sydney. If you are from outside Australia you will also need an International Driving Permit (IDP). For more information about driving regulations in Sydney, take a look at our page about renting a car in Australia.
Driving in Sydney is as you’d expect for a major city. It’s busy most times of the day, but especially so during peak times of 06:30am and 09:30am and 4:30pm and 6:30pm on weekdays. If you are driving within the city at these times, you should expect your journey time to double. If you rent a car in Sydney, you will discover that it is remarkably similar to driving in the UK. Australians drive on the left and there are similar rules around speeding, drink-driving, child seats and mobile phone use.
Parking within the city centre is very expensive. On weekdays, you can expect to pay up to AUS$70 per day or AUS$25 per hour at some car parks, although this does reduce significantly at weekends to around AUS$15-20 for a day. Street parking can be hard to find during working hours on weekdays and, at weekends, there are often four-hour limits on spaces with a metered charge of AUS$1.20-2.20 per hour. You will also find two-to-three hour limits on free spaces at beaches and shopping malls, so take care or you could be liable for a fine.
