Tourist labels Sydney 'loneliest place in the world'

Depictions of Australia almost always include images of Sydney and its world famous landmarks. Love it or hate it, it's the first city many think of when speaking about Down Under, and tourists and backpackers arrive here in droves every year eager to experience it.

Yet one Irish woman has lifted the lid on her experience of Sydney, claiming Australia's most iconic city isn't actually all it's cracked up to be and many others — including Aussies — are in total agreement.

"Sydney is the worst place in Australia," Kerry Simons complained recently in a spirited online rant.

"It's not the fact that it's ugly and there's not much to do," she continued. In fact, quite the opposite. "The harbour and the city is beautiful, but it's the energy about the place. People would literally bump into you on the street and they wouldn't even say sorry, they wouldn't even acknowledge your existence."

Simons has previously lived in Sydney for four months but now lives in Western Australia after travelling around and living in regional towns. She moved away after the "dark energy" got too much for her, with even an overnight stay in the city over the weekend putting her in a bad mood.

"I actually feel for solo travellers coming over to Australia and coming straight to Sydney. How do you make friends? It's the loneliest place on the world... it's very cliquey," she said.

Not a 'unique' opinion of Sydney

Despite being one of the most popular travel destinations in Australia, many shared Kerry's opinion of the city, with other large cities across the globe also tarnished with the same brush among the backpacker community.

"I would say that is not a unique opinion towards Sydney, many of the world's top cities get associated with a similar charge; be that London, Paris or New York," Matthew Heyes, Founder of Backpacker Job Board, told Yahoo News.

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Travellers who stay longer than a few weeks and seek to "immerse themselves into a community" often become lost in a large city, and instead they travel to smaller towns to "forge meaningful connections and create lasting memories" beyond the typical tourist experience, Heyes said.

"She's already had a unique experience living and working in a regional town... when the time comes to escape the cost of living in Sydney and find an experience more meaningful, backpackers are heading off the beaten track," he said.

People love to hate Sydney

After Kerry shared her thoughts online hundreds of people were in agreement, arguing the city was overhyped.

"I have lived in Melbourne my entire life and I agree with absolutely everything you’re saying about Sydney! It’s the worst!" one wrote. "Sydney is such a stressful place. Brisbane and Melbourne are much better. Brisbane is sunny and chill and Melbourne is fun and funky," another said.

Yet plenty came to the defence of the "beautiful" city boasting one of the "best harbours in the world", with some suggesting it may be best she was leaving since she can't appreciate it.

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