If you think that most of my time in Australia is spent scouting out the best beaches and warm weather, you’re right. But good ol’ Sydney has a little bit of everything for everyone – including the mountains. Two and a half hours away from central Sydney and you can find yourself in the Blue Mountains, a region entirely different from the city life and the beachy suburbs.
The Blue Mountains are a vast landscape filled with waterfalls, cliffs, gorgeous views and eucalyptus forests. You can spend your day swimming in pools beneath the falls, going on beautiful hikes and wandering through the mountain towns of Katoomba and Leura. If you like organized tours there are a number to choose from but if you prefer to do things on your own and with a little more freedom, it’s easy!
Whether you drive or take the train from Central Station, it will take you about two and a half to three hours to reach Katoomba, your starting point for the day. We rose at the crack of dawn, hopped on the train and watch as the scenery turned from city to the spread out land of Western Sydney, getting to Katoomba at around 9:30AM ready to begin.
There are a few options for getting around the Blue Mountains. There is a local bus that works with your Opal card that, in hindsight, we probably should have just used as it would have made a much cheaper day. The buses seemed to run pretty frequently but I’m not sure if it goes to all of the major stops in the Blue Mountains or not. Instead, we purchased the Blue Mountains Explorer Bus pass and hopped on and off throughout the day. Our first stop from Katoomba was Katoomba Falls.
Still early hours of the morning, fog had settled in and was drifting between the trees as we took the steps down into the rainforest and the base of the waterfall. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love traipsing through a forest – especially a rainforest – and the foggy morning just made it that much more beautiful.
From the falls, we followed the the wooden pathway up through the forest, with nothing but a thick cloud of fog beyond the railing as we set off to chase more waterfalls. Next up, Leura Cascades. Leura Cascades is a great spot to spend a while – there’s picnic tables set up for you to have lunch and it’s a nice walk down to the falls.
After a quick peek at Leura Cascades, you can continue walking along a path that will lead you to a beautiful viewpoint looking out into the mountains. We waited until we had the place to ourselves and watched as the fog began to lift above the trees.
The rest of our day in the Blue Mountains was spent exploring trails in the trees and being led to stunning views over cliffs and mountaintops, like the famous Three Sisters.
Legend has it that these three rocks are actually three Aboriginal sisters who had been turned to stone by a witch doctor in order to protect them from an impending battle between two tribes. But, when the witch doctor was killed during battle, he was unable to turn them back into their human form and here they still stand today.
After a beautiful day in the Blue Mountains we finished off with dinner in Katoomba before catching the train back into Sydney. A trip to the Blue Mountains is definitely a must-do when you’re in Sydney and can easily be done over a weekend rather than just one day.