Palm Beach should definitely be on your bucket list while visiting Sydney, if you like getting off the beaten track a bit. The Palm Beach Lighthouse Walk takes you to the Barrenjoey Lighthouse and a sweeping view of a beautiful isthmus with surrounding hilly bays.
You would already know the place if you were a fan of “Home and Away” – this is where it was filmed! Sadly this show wasn’t too popular in the US so I never watched it, but I know many people freak out a bit over Palm Beach being the setting of the show and visiting the ‘Home and Away lighthouse.’ You can even book a Home and Away tour of Palm Beach!
About Palm Beach
The northernmost beach of Sydney’s ‘northern beaches,’ Palm beach is as scenic as they come. It’s the northernmost tip of a peninsula that is bordered by the Ocean on one side and a massive inlet on the other, with good surf on the first side and beautiful calm waters on the other.
Palm Beach is the stunning meeting of the two sides, and has a massive headland to climb. The Palm Beach lighthouse walk gives you an unbelievable view of the thin stretch of land between Palm Beach and Pittwater inlet. It’s pretty freakin’ cool.
This massive inlet is also part of Ku-Ring-Gai National Park (one of Australia’s Amazing National Parks) so it’s extra-specially preserved. Take more time to explore this National Park, or even take a day tour of the northern beaches/Palm Beach/The National Park from Sydney!
The Palm Beach Lighthouse Walk
You start out the Palm Beach lighthouse walk by walking to the end of the road that goes up north from the main street (On google maps look for ‘North Palm Beach Parking.’ Walk as far north as you can go until you see a sandy path right in the middle between the two beaches. Then follow it!
It’s pretty much as simple as that, there are signs directing you the entire way. I’m not sure whose idea it was to make a walking track out of soft, dry sand… it’s a better workout but exponentially more difficult to walk in. But the view will be worth it!
The Palm Beach lighthouse walk will take you over left to the calm beach that borders the inlet, then you will have two choices to get up the hill. You can either take the longer way up the hill, or a shorter way with stairs that go straight up to the lighthouse. I was pretty happy with our decision to take the long way up and the short way down. That way, we got to see both ways and weren’t killed by the stairs going up.
Views from the Barrenjoey Lighthouse
The views across the massive bay are unbelievable to say the least. From the top of the hill you can look out over the ocean in all directions, all across the Pittwater, and of course down over the isthmus of Palm beach where two parallel beaches come within just a few dozen meters of each other. You can explore around the lighthouse, read some history of the area, and just essentially take in the 5-star view that I can’t quite find the words for.
I hope the pictures may do the trick – it was just one of those moments where you can’t really stop whispering ‘wow’ but also can’t really think of much else to say: one of those moments where you just really appreciate the earth we live on and validate your love of exploring it. That kind of view.
Where to Eat + Swim After Your Palm Beach Lighthouse Walk
There are a few super cute places to eat in the area after your palm beach lighthouse walk too. One amazing little cafe/restaurant on the sea side is called Dunes Plam Beach, or you can walk to the little town on the Bay Side and check out Barrenjoey House Palm Beach which is also a cute boutique hotel.
We went for a little swim in the rock pool and explored the hills in the area – it’s so worth exploring some more of the gorgeous cliffy bits of the coastline in the area.It’s also so worth scoping some of the multi-million dollar monster-homes in the area, if you have a strange love of lusting over homes you’ll never have like I do 😉 Hey, we can dream, right?
More on Sydney
- More Coastal Walks in Sydney
- 27k In One Day: A Hike through Royal National Park
- Things to do in Manly Beach Sydney
- Sydney Harbor Bridge Pylon Lookout
More Palm Beach Lighthouse Pictures
Passionate, full-time travel blogger with over 230k on social media and 150kMPV blog. Extraordinary photographer with two DSLR's + a drone with a love for capturing candid moments, epic drone shots, and magical compositions. I'm a natural-born content creator originally from California, but I've been on the road for 9 years living, working, traveling, blogging, and photographing my way around the world. I recommend the most amazingly adventurous and unique + boutique travel experiences/stays and helpful products to my audience and write comprehensive guides on my website that have helped millions of travelers so far. I love to inspire people to plan their dream trips, and many readers have given feedback as such. The reach on my platforms continues to soar, especially when combining cutting-edge social content with optimized articles on my high-authority website.
Wayne pick
Tuesday 27th of December 2016
Nice one.