A new way to experience the Sydney Harbour Bridge is set to open

A new museum centred on the sydney Harbour Bridge is set to become Sydney’s newest big-ticket drawcard when it opens on May 27, targeting the 4 million international visitors who spend $12 billion annually in the harbour city.

Located in the bridge’s south-east pylon, the immersive, self-guided BridgeMuseum will feature interactive multimedia displays, artefacts from the construction, and exhibits that explore the Sydney Harbour Bridge’s cultural significance.

“The museum takes visitors on a journey of why the bridge was needed, what it took for it to get there, and how it’s become an important part of our social fabric since it was built,” says Deb Zimmer, chief executive of BridgeClimb, who is overseeing the $10 million renovation of the museum space.

The museum worked with Indigenous design agency Balarinji to include First Nations perspectives, and features works by Indigenous artists.

“By embedding Gadigal stories and cultural insights throughout the journey … visitors are invited to see Sydney Harbour and the bridge as part of a much longer, living story that began long before the bridge was built,” Zimmer says.

BridgeMuseum will be offered as both a stand-alone attraction and as an add-on experience to the iconic BridgeClimb, with the new museum an appealing alternative for those who lack the time, resources, or nerve to tackle the summit of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Unlike BridgeClimb, which is limited to participants aged eight and over, the new museum is open to all ages.

While BridgeClimb was revolutionary (and controversial) when it opened in 1998, it’s now considered a must-do experience for international visitors. It was the inspiration for many other bridge experiences to open internationally, with the Auckland Harbour Bridge climb opening in 2003 (bungy.co.nz), and the Story Bridge in Brisbane opening its Adventure Climb in 2005 (storybridgeadventureclimb.com.au).

However, while BridgeClimb repurposed the Sydney Harbour Bridge for tourism 66 years after it was built primarily for today’s traffic, engineers and architects are reimagining bridge design from the foundation up, incorporating tourism, leisure and even hospitality venues into their plans.

Opened in 2018, the award-winning Matagarup Bridge in Perth is renowned not just for its elegance, but also for its innovative design. The 370-metre pedestrian bridge, which spans the Swan River, was designed with a customised climb experience and a glass-floor viewing platform at the summit and includes a 400-metre dual zip line, where thrillseekers can glide to the shore below.

In Brisbane, the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge, which opened in late 2024, takes the concept one step further, incorporating two hospitality spaces. Spanning the Brisbane River, the footbridge incorporated a small cafe into its riverbank design, while suspended directly above the bridge is a popular fine-dining restaurant, Stilts (stiltsdining.com.au), which offers wraparound views of the river.

But long before bridges were retrofitted and reimagined as tourist attractions, the architects behind the Sydney Harbour Bridge understood the aesthetic appeal of a well-designed bridge: the four art deco-style pylons that visually anchor the bridge serve no structural purpose and were more about shaping public perception than being an engineering necessity.

Admission to the museum starts at $39.95, while a sunset experience, SkyHouse After Hours, is available on Thursdays and Fridays. This premium experience includes museum entry, complimentary drinks and canapes with views from the 87-metre lookout platform (from $79.95).

See bridgemuseum.com.au