Located 24 km west of Sydney is Parramatta, the geographic and demographic centre of greater Sydney and the second most important commercial and retail Sydney Central Business District.

Founded on the 2 November, 1788, and named Rose Hill, it was later changed to the Aboriginal name of Parramatta, meaning “the place where the eels lie down” or “head of the river”. Parramatta was home to the Aboriginal Dharug tribe who were the inhabitants of the area for more than forty thousand years, before British settlement in 1788.

Once the agricultural centre for the settlement of Sydney, the crops of Parramatta saved the earlier Sydney settlement from famine. Parramatta also has a fine collection of colonial architecture as well as other historic buildings, including Old Government House, Elizabeth Farm House, Hambledon Cottage, Experiment Farm, St John's Cathedral and many others.

You can get to Parramatta via train, bus, car or by boat from Circular Quay. In fact, this is a pleasant way to travel, leaving Circular Quay on the RiverCat for a leisurely 50 minute ride up the Parramatta River. Good value for money is the State Transit and Sydney Ferries Day Tripper ticket, that allows you to travel all day on any train, bus or ferry.

Check out our listing of Parramatta accommodation, Sydney Western Suburbs accommodation and Sydney accommodation. In addition to our listed online travel guide information, contact the local tourism visitor centre for your destination for more attractions, tours, local maps and other information.