What’s On in Sydney Guide for the week July 10 – July 16, 2026.

Here is the curated guide for Sydney’s major museums, libraries, and heritage sites for this week (July 10 – July 16, 2026), complete with exact physical addresses and comprehensive details on their current winter exhibitions.

 Museums & Cultural Institutions

 The Australian Museum

• Exact Address: 1 William Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010 (on the corner of College Street, directly opposite Hyde Park)

• Exhibition Highlights This Week:

  • Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches: The museum’s massive winter headline exhibition. It explores the science, myth, and pop culture surrounding blood-feeding creatures, spanning from ticks and leeches to vampire folklore. For adults looking for a weekend plan, they are also running the Bloodsuckers Film Series, showing cult vampire classics in the theatre.

  • Fang-tastic Winter Special: Running all week to capture the school holiday crowd, they are offering a popular 2-for-1 ticket deal to the museum’s main ticketed zones alongside interactive drop-in science labs for kids.

  • Garrigarrang (Sea Country): A permanent but highly essential exhibition showcasing the rich, enduring coastal cultures of First Nations peoples across Australia, which is a perfect anchor visit to conclude the NAIDOC season.

 Australian National Maritime Museum

• Exact Address: 2 Murray Street, Darling Harbour NSW 2000 (at the northern end of Pyrmont Bridge)

• Exhibition Highlights This Week:

  • Treasures of the Viking Age – The Galloway Hoard: Just opened for the winter season, this rare, highly anticipated international touring exhibition showcases early medieval Viking treasures found by a metal detectorist in Scotland. It features remarkably preserved silver armrings, gold vessels, and mysterious textiles dating back to AD 900.

  • Secret Strike – War on our Shores: A poignant history exhibition marking the anniversary of the WWII Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour, displaying personal logs, recovered relics, and interactive mapping of the event.

  • Action Stations: Step directly onto the cold iron decks of the destroyer HMAS Vampire and the submarine HMAS Onslow, docked right in the harbor outside.

 Powerhouse Museum Network & Sydney Observatory

• Status Alert for Ultimo: The main Powerhouse Ultimo site on Harris Street remains closed to the public as its historic heritage revitalisation project moves into its final phases. Simultaneously, the new $1B Powerhouse Parramatta has completed its main structural build and is undergoing interior exhibition fit-outs ahead of its opening later this year. However, the historic astronomical site is wide open:

• Sydney Observatory:

  • Exact Address: 1003 Upper Fort Street, Millers Point NSW 2000 (perched high on Observatory Hill)

  • What’s On: Open Thursday through Sunday. Winter provides the absolute clearest night skies of the year for stargazing. You can book their popular night tours, which include access to the historic dome telescopes, an exploration of the transit room, and 3D space theater sessions.

 Historic Libraries & Archives

State Library of New South Wales

• Exact Address: 1 Shakespeare Place, Sydney NSW 2000 (adjacent to Parliament House and the Royal Botanic Garden)

• The Precinct: The library bridges two brilliant eras—the neoclassical Mitchell Wing (historic reading rooms) and the modern Macquarie Street Wing.

• Exhibition Highlights This Week:

  • The Curious World of Pamela Allen (Amaze Gallery): An immersive winter retrospective celebrating the creative genius of one of Australia’s most treasured children’s authors and illustrators, showcasing original sketches, drafts, and interactive rooms based on Who Sank the Boat? and Mr Archimedes’ Bath.

  • The Mitchell Library Reading Room: Walk through the grand sandstone entrance of the Mitchell Wing to view the iconic, multi-tiered light-filled reading room. Around the perimeter galleries, the 200th Anniversary Collection Viewing highlights rare, foundational manuscripts and maps from early modern Australian history.

 Customs House Library

• Exact Address: 31 Alfred Street, Circular Quay NSW 2000 (directly opposite the Circular Quay ferry wharves)

• What’s On: Housed within a stunning 1845 heritage building that served as the original customs gateway to the colony. While it operates as a fully functioning modern library, the true highlight is the massive City of Sydney 1:500 Scale Model built directly into the glass floor of the ground level atrium. It provides a fascinating bird’s-eye perspective of the entire Sydney CBD layout, perfect to check out before heading to a ferry or a museum across the quay.