The Five Best Outdoor Cinemas in Sydney

Dress in your best ’60s get-up and step back in time at one of the only drive-ins left in Sydney. With a Happy Days-esque diner offering classic snacks like hot chips, ice creams and frozen cokes, and a pub down the road (to sneak in alcohol), you better not do anything more than hold hands with your sweetheart otherwise you’ll ruin the schmaltz of the experience. There are two opposing screens which show double features nightly.

The north side offering has a few attractive features that will make your night fairly stress free, including lots of parking, good public transport access and best of all, undercover seating if it rains. There is a fairly impressive range of food on offer, and lots of sugary snacks and coffee to keep you awake. The film selection is safe; blockbusters and the occasional nostalgic film like Grease or Breakfast in Tiffany’s make up the program.

The popular cinema in Centennial Park is great for watching scary movies due to the huge screeching bats that often fly in front of the screen during films. Food hampers are available, as is alcohol, but a picnic will probably be a more fruitful option. You get a discount if you book as a group, so gather some friends and steal the best spot.

If getting grass stains on the seat of your pants or having a stranger’s feet dangerously close to your picnic blanket is not your thing, then go upmarket to the cinema at Lady Macquarie’s Chair. It has proper gourmet canteen and a bar, super comfortable chairs and usually a freebie from one of the cinema’s sponsors. It is slightly more expensive than others but nothing quite beats seeing the screen rise up from the water or hearing the waves gently lap the shore as you watch on.

If you can’t drag yourself away from the beach this summer, then spend the day at Bondi, grab some dinner at one of the many excellent restaurants and then flop on a bean bag with a tub of Ben & Jerry’s on the grass overlooking the beach for a movie. There is often live music playing before the movie to fill in awkward first date silences.