Where to find the cuddliest koalas in Sydney

What’s the one question everyone wants answered when travelling to Sydney?

Where are the koalas? And in extension, how can I hug them?

Let’s face it. These fuzzy little creatures are enough to even make the coldest of hearts melt in need of a koala bear cuddle session. When you get to Sydney, unpack your bags at The Macleay Hotel and let’s head out and find you some koala bears!

Feeling the need to cuddle?

A little bit about the koala bear

Once you get past the impulse to hug – OK, that impulse may never go away – you might want to learn a little bit more about this incredibly adorable creature. So before you get your cuddles on, we’ve got a couple of interesting koala facts to share with you!

We hate to burst your bubble, but koala bears are not, in fact, bears. Instead, they’re marsupials – similar to a wombat or kangaroo. This means the females have those cute pouches that they use to carry around their young in.

They’re also not quite as cuddly as you’d expect. In order to really get a grip on the trees that they hang out in, koalas have rough soles of their feet and sharp claws for digging in. They also have thick, almost spinney fur on their bums so they can sit comfortably for hours on hours.

The koala bear is a relatively fussy eater – their favourite food is eucalyptus leaves, and even though there are over 600 types of eucalyptus trees, koalas limit themselves to two or three kinds. Once they’re done feasting it’s nap time. But in order to support their low-cal diets, nap time means a bountiful sleep of about 20 hours a day.

Now that you know koalas are actually quite complex little animals, we’ll show you where to find them in Sydney!

If only you could bring this little guy home with you…

Taronga Zoo

The best place to get up close and personal with your favourite little bear is at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo, of course! You have a slim chance of seeing these guys in the wild, and an even slimmer chance of wrangling a wild koala into a bear hug, so stick with the zoo! Taronga Zoo is also conveniently located a mere 11 kilometres away from your stay at The Macleay Hotel, so you can go visit the koala bears as many times as you want.

Featherdale Wildlife Park 

You can also head on out to the Featherdale Wildlife Park – the ultimate hands on wildlife experience. The park allows you to cuddle with koalas and meet with other animals like kangaroos and wallabies. We know koalas are the main attraction, but it’s cool to see the other animals that are native to Australia as well!  The park also includes a collection of over 1,700 mammals, birds and reptiles, so there’s plenty to do once you’ve gotten your cuddle fill. This stop is a little further out, but it makes a great day trip if you’re looking to get out of the city for a little bit! If you’re a koala fanatic, then this needs to be a must-visit on your trip!

Make your reservations with The Macleay Hotel as soon as possible so you have a place to stay that’s nearby all the cuddle action! You don’t want to miss out on going to visit a koala bear or two – your holiday simply would not be complete! So once you’re all settled in to your suite head out to these destination in pursuit of the best koala snuggles in Sydney.