Sydney Airport has three terminals on two sides of the airfield. Terminal 1 handles international flights and stands on its own. Terminals 2 and 3 are domestic and sit side by side. That split is why a hotel "at Sydney Airport" can still be a bus ride from your flight.
Terminals 2 and 3: walk
The two domestic terminals are about a five-minute walk apart. You do not need a bus or a train to get from one to the other.
Terminal 1 to Terminals 2 and 3: free bus
You cannot walk between the international and domestic terminals. The free Terminal Transfer Bus links them:
| How often | About every 15 minutes |
| Hours | Roughly 05:30 to 22:30 |
| Ride | About 10 minutes |
| Where it boards at Terminal 1 | Arrivals level, outside Arrival Hall B |
| Where it boards at Terminals 2 and 3 | Arrivals level, outside each terminal |
Outside those hours you need the train or a taxi.
The train: quick, with a fee
The Airport Link train has one station at the International terminal and one at the Domestic terminals, about two minutes apart. Trains are frequent from about 05:00 to midnight. The airport stations add a station access fee on top of the fare, so it is not the cheapest way to cover a short hop.
Bus 420: the low-fare link to Mascot
Route 420 is a public bus that serves all three terminals and runs through Mascot, where most airport hotels are. Normal fares apply with no station access fee, so it can link a Mascot hotel to the airport for much less than the train.
What this means for where you stay
- Flying from Terminal 1: stay on the international side. See Terminal 1.
- Flying from Terminal 2 or 3: stay on the domestic side. See Terminals 2 and 3.
- Arriving on one side and leaving from the other: stay on the side you leave from, and make the transfer the evening before.