Free museums in Sydney

Did you know you can walk in off the streets of Chippendale and suddenly be looking at a 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy – for zilch? That's at the University of Sydney's secret trove of antiquities, the Nicholson Museum - and it's just the tip of the city's free museums iceberg.

The Australian National Maritime Museum has an impressive collection of boats and objects on naval, indigenous, sporting and trade topics as well as a free temporary exhibition of relics from Charles Darwin's voyages. Get down to the State Library to see mind-blowing news photography in the World Press Photo competition (annually in July).

Also deserving of a mention is the Reserve Bank's Museum of Australian Currency Notes in Martin Place. Remember: you can look, but you can't touch.

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