Blue Mountains day trip from Sydney: a simple plan

A Blue Mountains day trip from Sydney is easy to do and easy to overpack. The mountains sit under two hours west of the city by train or car, so you can be at the cliff edge by mid morning. This guide gives you one simple plan: take the train to Katoomba, see the Three Sisters, ride at Scenic World, and walk one short track.

You will not see everything in one day, and that is fine. Pick two or three stops and give each one time.

Sources for this section: Scenic World, home page (December 2008); Blue Mountains Tourism, How to Get Here.

Getting to Katoomba

Katoomba is the best base for a single day. The Three Sisters and Scenic World are both close to it. Here are your options from Sydney.

• Train: Rail services run from Sydney to Lithgow and stop at all the major villages in the mountains. Scenic World says Katoomba is less than two hours from Sydney by train. Check the latest times on the CityRail website before you go.
• Car: Drive west along Parramatta Road to the M4 Motorway. The toll is $2.20, and the road leads to the foot of the mountains at Lapstone. The tourism office suggests stopping at the Glenbrook Visitor Information Centre for maps and walking guides.
• Coach: Greyhound Pioneer and McCaffertys run a daily service. Coaches leave Sydney from Eddy Avenue and stop at Katoomba on the Great Western Highway.

The train is the simplest choice if you do not want to drive and park. Many places to stay and eat in the mountains sit close to the stations.

Sources for this section: Blue Mountains Tourism, How to Get Here; Scenic World, Information page.

Moving around once you arrive

The lookouts are not all beside the station, so plan how you will move. Two companies, Blue Mountains Trolley Tours and Fantasic Aussie Tours, run explorer buses around Katoomba and Leura. They stop at lookouts, walking track starts, attractions and hotels, and you can hop on and off where you like. Some passes also include entry to the main attractions.

The Blue Mountains Bus Company runs regular local services between the main towns, from Penrith to Mount Victoria. Visitor centres at Glenbrook, Katoomba, Oberon and Lithgow hand out maps and ideas. If you want an expert guide, several tour operators run walking and coach tours.

Sources for this section: Blue Mountains Tourism, How to Get Around.

The Three Sisters at Echo Point

The Three Sisters are a rock formation near Katoomba. They rise above the Jamison Valley and are one of the best known sights in the Blue Mountains. Echo Point is the lookout nearby. The three peaks are named Meehni (922 metres), Wimlah (918 metres) and Gunnedoo (906 metres).

They are made of soft sandstone. Wind, rain and rivers slowly wear it away, and water works into small cracks and widens them over time. The orange and yellow patches you can see are fresh rock, exposed by recent erosion.

Sources for this section: Wikipedia, Three Sisters (Australia), as it stood in June 2009.

Scenic World

Scenic World is a short trip from the Three Sisters, on the cliffs above the Jamison Valley. It is open every day of the year from 9.00am to 5.00pm, and the last rides leave at 4.50pm. It has been run by the same family for three generations.

The rides are the main reason to go. They include a railway that runs down one of the steepest slopes in the world, a cableway, a skyway with a glass bottom floor, and boardwalks through old rainforest. Scenic World also posts a daily weather and ride report on its home page, with a live camera view, so you can check the visibility before you leave.

Prices change, so look at the Scenic World website for the current ticket cost instead of relying on a guess.

Sources for this section: Scenic World, home page and Information page (December 2008).

One walk that fits a day

If you only walk once, start at Echo Point. A track leads from the lookout to the Three Sisters, then down into the valley by the Giant Stairway. The stairway has more than 800 well kept steel and stone steps.

At the bottom, the Federal Pass track takes about one and a half hours to reach the base of Katoomba Falls and the Scenic Railway. Walkers who do not want to climb back up can ride the railway to the top for a small fee. That makes a loop with no steep climb at the end.

If waterfalls are your thing, the tourism office also names Wentworth Falls, and the walk from Govetts Leap to Evans Lookout, which gives views of Bridal Veil Falls. These need more time, so keep them for another visit.

Sources for this section: Wikipedia, Three Sisters (Australia), as it stood in June 2009; Blue Mountains Tourism, World Heritage page.

A simple timetable and the World Heritage area

Here is one way to spend the day. This is our own suggestion, not an official timetable.

1. Early morning: train or drive to Katoomba.
2. Late morning: Echo Point and the Three Sisters.
3. Midday: walk down the Giant Stairway and along Federal Pass.
4. Afternoon: ride the Scenic Railway up, then try the cableway and skyway.
5. Before 4.50pm: take your last Scenic World ride, then head home.

Everything you see is part of the Greater Blue Mountains Area. UNESCO gave it World Heritage status in 2000. It covers about 1.03 million hectares in eight protected areas. It is known for its eucalypt forests, with 90 types of eucalypt, and for rare plants such as the Wollemi pine. That is a lot of wild country for a day out from a big city.

Sources for this section: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Greater Blue Mountains Area (listing 917); Scenic World, home page (December 2008).

Sources

1. UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Greater Blue Mountains Area: whc.unesco.org
2. Scenic World, home page and Information page: scenicworld.com.au
3. Blue Mountains Tourism, How to Get Here: visitbluemountains.com.au
4. Blue Mountains Tourism, How to Get Around: visitbluemountains.com.au
5. Blue Mountains Tourism, World Heritage: visitbluemountains.com.au
6. Wikipedia, Three Sisters (Australia): en.wikipedia.org