Sydney, Australia
Ancient sites near Sydney
No site on our atlas is within 800 km of Sydney yet — these are the nearest. Distances are straight-line (“as the crow flies”); road journeys are longer.
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962km
Budj Bim Cultural Landscape
Australia · at least 6,600 years old · UNESCO
Gunditjmara channels, weirs and dams built to trap and farm eels in lava-flow wetlands.
Nearest town: Heywood
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5,113km
Borobudur
Indonesia · 9th c. CE · UNESCO
Nine stacked platforms, 2,672 relief panels and hundreds of Buddha statues in Central Java.
Nearest town: Yogyakarta
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7,260km
Angkor Wat
Cambodia · early 12th c. CE · UNESCO
The largest religious monument on Earth, built as a map of the Hindu cosmos.
Nearest town: Siem Reap · Best time to visit: November – February
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8,737km
Sigiriya
Sri Lanka · 5th c. CE · UNESCO
Gardens, frescoes and a lion-gate stairway leading to a palace in the sky.
Nearest town: Dambulla
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8,757km
Terracotta Army
China · c. 210 BCE · UNESCO
Found by farmers digging a well in 1974 — each soldier with individual features.
Nearest town: Xi’an
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9,159km
Rapa Nui
Chile · moai c. 1250–1500 CE · UNESCO
Nearly a thousand stone figures carved by Polynesian settlers in the middle of the Pacific.
Nearest town: Hanga Roa
Day trips and distances from Sydney
What is the closest ancient site to Sydney?
Budj Bim Cultural Landscape in Australia is about 962 km from Sydney in a straight line; the nearest town is Heywood.