This is a follow-up to my previous post (https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/six-nights-sydney-and-cairns).
I'm making some plans for my 2 1/2 days in Sydney. After spending 4 nights in Fiji, my flight from to Sydney arrives at 12:30 pm on Thursday, March 28.
I've booked three nights at the Little National Hotel (https://littlenationalhotel.com.au/sydney/). I fly out to Cairns early on Sunday (Easter) morning, March 31.
For the night I arrive, I booked a ticket to West Side Story at Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour.
I have the day completely open on Friday (Good Friday).
On Saturday morning (starting at 7am) I have a Backstage Tour of Sydney Opera House, including breakfast. That runs 2 to 2 1/2 hours plus the time to eat breakfast in the Green Room afterwards.
This leaves me all day Friday and almost all day Saturday to take in as much of Sydney as I can. Not a lot of time.
For those with first-hand knowledge of Sydney (either as resident or previous visitor), what strategy would you recommend for getting the maximum enjoyment for those two full days. I know I won't have time to see everything or even close to it, but I'll squeeze as much into the time I have as I can.
Will it be easy and straightforward to explore Sydney on my own, with the help of a guide book and some internet research?
Or would you suggest one or more organized walking or bike tours (such as these Nomadic Matt recommends: https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/best-walking-tours-sydney/)?