Blue Mountains: New South Wales, Australia

For our third day in Sydney, we took advantage of our Opal cards again and headed out to the Blue Mountains for a day trip. Unlike the London Oyster cards (which only apply to the London Underground and buses), the Opal card can be used on this trip despite the fact it takes you two hours outside of Sydney - which makes it a great option for seeing the beautiful Blue Mountains. We debated going on our first day in the city (Sunday) because all Opal card journeys are capped at $2.10. While this would have been cheaper, we thought it might make the trails busier and the full price journey is only $7.

We started our day in Sydney's Central Station where we grabbed a coffee and a snack for the two hour train ride to Katoomba. The train was incredibly clean and was similar to trains I've had in Italy where you have two levels. We chose the top floor to get better views of the journey. One aspect I've never seen before: the seats can change direction! GENIUS. So you can always face forwards if you prefer or, if you're in a group, you can move the seats to make your own bubble facing each other. I was amazed.

When we arrived in Katoomba, we made a bee line to the Coles supermarket just off the main drag to pick up some snacks for our hike. In retrospect, it would have been better to grab these in Sydney as the selection wasn't as varied as we'd hoped. We grabbed some nuts and water but luckily, there was a little cafe next door where we were able to grab a simple pasta salad and sandwich for our lunch so it all worked out fine. Once we were ready, we headed down to the first of many overlooks and wow, the Blue Mountains were stunning from every angle!

The photo above is of the Three Sisters - sandstone peaks that are in a continuous state of erosion. Behind them you can see the blue haze that gives this mountain range its name. This haze is created by the concentration of eucalyptus trees found here.

Honestly, we could have sat at Echo Point (where there is a viewing platform to see the Three Sisters) all day and just looked at the view but as tour groups started to wander in, we headed out on the Prince Henry Cliff Walk to find a nice spot for lunch. The route is a relatively easy hike with a mix of dirt paths and stairs with some lovely views.

Along the way, there are lots of opportunities to check out different sites. For example, this arch way leads to Giant Stairway and was opened in 1932. It was incredibly steep so I didn't want to risk any photos!

We also passed Honeymoon Point on our journey so had to commemorate it since we were on our honeymoon!

At times the path was a bit narrow and headed through thick brush - I was a little worried about spiders since the internet is awash in terrifying Aussie spider images! But, we actually didn't see any. We did see a little echidna climbing around the underbrush. We were so surprised that we didn't get a photo but it looks a bit like a small porcupine.

When we started to get hungry, I was a bit worried we wouldn't be able to find somewhere to sit but we came around a corner and found a perfect bench just waiting for us! The view was perfect - definitely the best picnic I've ever had!

After that point, the path got a bit more involved with bridges and stairs like the ones below. The stairs weren't too difficult but I could see how they might get slippery if we'd visited on a wet day so it's definitely worth checking the weather reports before heading up!

We were amazed and grateful to have the cliff walk mainly to ourselves for most of the day. It was so peaceful and a nice break from the city. As we got closer to the Leura Cascades, the scenery became more rugged and wild looking. It was an interesting change from the more touristy setting at Echo Point.

It was incredible how the views shifted and the colours changed depending on where you stood - the mist seemed to catch the light in some places whereas others treated us to scenes like this one...

Finally, we made it to the Leura cascades (below). It was so nice to sit and watch the water after the hike and there was also a little picnic area nearby where we finished off our sandwich before heading into town. Leura is quite similar to Katoomba but felt a bit smaller with one main street of shops. These included ice cream parlours, antiques, and other places to pop your head in along the way to the station. Strangely, we had thought this would be the perfect location for a pub since a pint after a hike sounded glorious but we couldn't find one!

This was such a lovely way to spend a day up in the Blue Mountains and we'd highly, highly recommend giving them a visit if you're in Sydney. I had been concerned that trying to do it all in a day trip was too much but we didn't feel rushed at any point and could have even stayed longer!

We left Sydney on the 8:48 train from Central Station, which had us arrive in Katoomba at 10:35. Even with the pitstop at the grocery store, we still managed to complete our hike with lots of photo stops in time to catch the 15:24 train from Leura back to Sydney. We arrived at 17:21 and were back in our hotel by 18:00. Completely easy and well worth the adventure!

I would definitely recommend following a similar journey (starting in Katoomba and ending in Leura) as this means you don't have to double back on yourself at all. While the paths themselves are not particularly accessible for strollers or wheelchairs, the little towns are nice to wander with paved sidewalks.

Details:

Train Timetable: https://transportnsw.info/routes/details/intercity-trains/bmt/02BMT