Best way to get to Palm Beach?

[kimberleylouisee]

Hey guys, I'm new here so I'm really sorry if this is the wrong section. I tried looking for a topic but couldn't find one...

For those who have been to visit the set what way did you find best to get there?

I've seen a few different tours, and have also been suggested public transport so I was hoping for some advice on which way seems to be best and easiest? Or any reviews etc if you have them?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Fyn3]

Hi kimberleylouisee, I would probably say the easiest way to get to Palm Beach is by car, but if you don't have one or hiring one is too expensive, there is a bus that you can get from the city. Palmy is a fair way north of Sydney's CBD, so it is not a quick bus ride.

I can't speak about any of the tours because I've never done one but it is easy to explore the main H&A sites on your own. The beach/surf club are a short walk from the Pier Diner/Alf's Bait Shop Bay area. If you wanted to watch filming you would probably be best to go independently because with the tours you have time restrictions.

I guess it depends on the kind of experience you were wanting!

[Dan F]

As Fyn says it all depends on the amount of time you want to spend there.

If you don't have a car and want to see a few different locations without spending a day doing long walks between bus journeys, then a tour would probably be the easiest. If you do decide to go down that route, there's a great one you can book via our site, which picks up in the city and visits many filming locations on the way up to Palm Beach and on the way back - obviously seeing filming can never be guaranteed, but the tour often gets lucky and they're quite flexible. There's plenty of TripAdvisor reviews that you can read from that page too - Home and Away Tour

If you want to spend a whole day just at the main filming area at Palm Beach, then the bus would probably be easier. These are extracts from a future page on the site that I've written up:

By Bus

Palm Beach is a 90 minute bus journey from Sydney on the L90 bus, which leaves the city from Lee Street, near Railway Square, approximately every 20 minutes. Other stops within Sydney include Clarence Street and Wynyard Station. To download route maps and timetables, visit the Sydney Buses website and select the L90 route from the dropdown box.

There are a number of drop-off points in Palm Beach. If you disembark on Barrenjoey Road you will find the town centre of Palm Beach with a number of shops, cafes and the Palm Beach Ferry Wharf. However this is at least a 10-15 minute walk over the hill from the main beaches and Surf Club. If you disembark immediately on the other side of the hill, on Beach Road near the Golf Course, you will be at the southern end of Governer Phillip Park where you will find the North Palm Beach Surf Club (Summer Bay's Surf Club) and the Barrenjoey Boathouse (Pier Diner). Alternatively if you wish to walk the length of the beach, you can wait until the bus terminates at the southern end of the beach at Ocean Place. Here you will find a couple of shops, a cafe, and you will be near to the rockpool.

Will I see them filming?

'Home and Away' is typically filmed for 46 weeks of the year, with a 4 week break over Christmas and a 2 week break mid-year. Filming schedules vary from week to week, and whilst there was a time when you could ring Seven Network to find out in advance, this is no longer possible. Usually they film location scenes in the earlier part of the week, so Monday-Wednesday are all likely days to catch them filming (though bear in mind that not all location work is done at Palm Beach). The peninsula is a big place so if there's no sign of crew vehicles around the Surf Club area, it's worth checking on the Pittwater side near the Barrenjoey Boathouse (Pier Diner).

[JamesC10]

To Fyn3 and Dan F, I was actually planning to visit Palm Beach next month. Having read your solutions, they are amazing/very useful as I'm British so I will be using your tips. Thanks for that

[Fyn3]

To Fyn3 and Dan F, I was actually planning to visit Palm Beach next month. Having read your solutions, they are amazing/very useful as I'm British so I will be using your tips. Thanks for that

Happy to help JamesC10.

[Dan F]

Glad to hear it James, it's a question I get asked an awful lot via email too, hence why a new section on the site is in the works to answer everything anyone needs to know about visiting Palm Beach.

[Jacklost]

Are there actually people living there or is it empty when not being filmed?

[Dan F]

Palm Beach has around 1600 inhabitants (amongst them a fair amount of millionaires) and hundreds of tourists visiting - all building exteriors used in the show are real businesses and homes. It's a lot bigger than it appears on screen, with the show tending to use the small area around Governer Phillip Park for most filming.

[cadyctslover]

I would recommend walking up to the lighthouse if you have time. Walk along the beach towards it on the Pier Diner side and eventually it's signed off to the right by a boat shed. It's a fair walk up the hill, but it's do-able and the views from the top are spectacular. I went in July so it was pretty cold, and that was before the bushfires in that region a couple of months back. For this reason you might not be able to get up to see the lighthouse, as I think that area was damaged, but give it a go .

Also if you are as much of an anorak as me, wander around the suburbs nearby and see some of the locations like Leah's house . The addresses are in the Locations section of this website. Whale Beach Road is great too.

[Inactive User]

These are helpful tips for me because I may be going to Palm Beach sometime this year Will the Home and Away cast be there filming and having photos taken of them with fans?