A Day Trip to the Blue Mountains, New South Wales.

The breathtaking Blue Mountains are just a 2 hour drive from Sydney, so naturally while my mum was visiting we decided to hire a car and venture out to finally see them for ourselves. Mum was only visiting for just over a week, so we opted for a day trip rather than an overnight one.

A day trip to the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, just a two hour drive from Sydney

We set off in the morning, after I had a mini-meltdown over my outfit while mum stood there and laughed at me! I tried three different outfits before throwing on my ‘bag dress’ as mum calls it, because the other outfits were too tight and uncomfortable. I touched on this in my February Update, so I won’t go into more detail. Also the weather was a funny one, it was forecast to rain, but it was also 25 degrees…WTF do you wear when it’s going to be 25 and raining!? It remains my biggest outfit mystery and every time we get a day like that I change numerous times before settling on an outfit.

Anyway, we eventually got going, and as usual hit some traffic trying to get out of Sydney. I live in Paddington, and we had to go straight through Sydney to get to the motorway. The traffic in Sydney is always absolutely awful, and after two hours driving we finally arrived in Katoomba, which is the main town in the Blue Mountains. We used a sat nav, but actually it’s literally one road all the way from Sydney out to Katoomba, and we managed to get home without the aid of technology.

We followed the signs to Echo Point, and found parking really easily. We’d taken a picnic with us (a picnic isn’t a picnic without a beautiful Picnic Basket!), so carried it out and across to the lookout so we could eat our picnic overlooking the mountains and the Three Sisters! Both of us were completely blown away with the beauty of the mountains and the canyon. It was a little like Grand Canyon but with way more vegetation and trees.

We spent a while walking around to see the full panorama in-front and around us, and then hopped back in the car to go to Scenic World. Scenic World is a bit over-priced (around $45 each I think it was?), but you see a fair amount, and you get to ride on the World’s Steepest Railway, which feels a bit like a rollercoaster!

It was really funny, we were waiting to get on the train and we heard screams from the people on the train before us. Mum laughed and goes “Why on earth are they screaming? It’s just a train”…and then we got on and as soon as the train started we went down a big drop and we were pretty much sat vertically and mum screamed SO loudly…so obvs I made fun of her for laughing at the other people, haha.

It literally did feel like a rollercoaster though! It was so steep and the train went through an opening in the rock that felt as though you were in Universal Studios on an Indiana Jones ride or something! It was great fun.

 

We got to the bottom and took the short 15 minute walk along a boardwalk from the train stop to the Cableway that takes you back up to the top (and gives you an amazing view!). It was so lovely walking through the rainforest and seeing the Blue Mountains from below, Mum and I absolutely loved it.

All along the boardwalk there were loads of vines hanging from the trees, like the ones in Tarzan…obvs I decided to grab onto one and pull it to see how strong it was, and then realized it probably wasn’t the best idea…I mean what if a snake fell down and killed me!? All jokes aside, the vines actually carry water down to the ground, and I didn’t really want to damage them.

Finally we took the skyway across right over the canyon below. The ticket includes all three attractions, you can’t get a ticket for just one. From the skyway you can see Katoomba Falls, the second highest waterfall in the world!

We started our drive back to Sydney just as the heavens opened and it started pouring down with rain! Talk about good timing!! After the two hour journey back we finished our adventure with a delicious dinner at Saint Peter, an amazing seafood restaurant just round the corner from my house.

I still can’t believe that such a different landscape is just a two hour drive from Sydney, it’s one of the reasons why I love Australia…you have every time of landscape in the world all in one country! You name it they have it; rainforest, desert, mountains, snow, sun, beaches, and even lush green countryside. It’s a pretty incredible place.

PIN FOR LATER:

PIN FOR LATER: Find out how you can visit the Blue Mountains in Australia - they're just a two hour drive from Sydney in New South Wales. The Blue Mountains are breathtakingly beautiful and well worth visiting!

 

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Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux

Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of SEO at Havas Media Group by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.

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10 Comments

  1. Gary J Berry
    March 2, 2017 / 10:06 am

    Looks so beautiful! First on my list if I ever make a trip to Australia!!

  2. Honey @ The Girl Next Shore
    March 4, 2017 / 10:32 am

    Ahhhhh…. love the look of that, hun. Captures the beauty of nature and how amazingly gorgeous our world is!

  3. Suze @LuxuryColumnist
    March 4, 2017 / 8:46 pm

    The world's steepest railway sounds like a lot of fun, I'd probably be screaming too

  4. Wanderlust Chloe
    March 6, 2017 / 8:56 am

    Wow those views are something else! I don't know if I'll ever make it out there but I hope I do! Gorgeous pics.

    Wanderlust Chloe

  5. Angie SilverSpoon
    March 7, 2017 / 9:14 am

    We actually stayed in he Blue Mountains for a couple of nights. It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been!

  6. Reena LifestyleEnthusiast
    March 8, 2017 / 12:29 pm

    Loved this post! My mum did the exact same with the train! I loved Blue Mountains. having visited for the first time in October. It is so beautiful and I would love to go back some day!

  7. LydiaCLee
    March 25, 2017 / 8:29 pm

    I love it up there. We usually over night in the school holidays once a year, but we missed last year. Must get myself organised….

  8. thetravellinglindfields
    March 26, 2017 / 2:29 am

    Sometimes the best places are close to home. We go to the Blue Mountains regularly to visit a friend but I haven't played tourist there for a while. Your posted has reminded me how much fun that can be.

  9. VickYves
    January 8, 2018 / 1:19 am

    We are from Quebec, Canada and we are going in march and we will visit Blue Montains as we planed to… Can’t wait to see this beautifull country !!! ❤️

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