Blue Mountains is a spectacular World Heritage-listed region located about 90 minutes west of Sydney. Known for its dramatic eucalyptus forests, sandstone cliffs, waterfalls, and the iconic Three Sisters rock formation, it offers a wide range of hiking trails and scenic viewpoints. The area is also home to the Scenic World Railway, one of the steepest passenger railways in the world.
To reach this place from CBD Sydney, you have the following options :
- Rent a car and drive which will give you some flexibility
- Train from Central station – This was what we did – from Circular Quay we took a train to Central (10 min ride). We then jumped onto another train which left at 8:26am to Katoomba station. The whole train journey took 2 hours 15 minutes.
Once you reach Katoomba, here are a few options –
- use hop on hop off bus to Viewpoints and Scenic World – $55 AUD per day per person and runs hourly – this was not convenient for us
- Take a taxi or Uber
- Public bus #686 – This bus stop was across the street a few meters away from the rail station.
When we reached Katoomba, the weather was rainy and cloudy with poor visibility, so visiting viewpoints weren’t an option. We walked over to the bus stop and within minutes bus #686 arrived. We decided to go directly to Scenic World which was only 10 minutes away. Despite the conditions, we decided to buy tickets for all the rides, hoping the weather would improve. The ticket allows unlimited rides on all the attractions, making it worthwhile even if you need to wait out the weather.
- Scenic Railway
- Scenic Walkway
- Scenic Cableway
- Scenic Skyway
- Katoomba Waterfall
- Three Sisters
- Cliff View
- Katoomba Cascade
Here is a map of what you can do here. The entry to all the cars are at various points within the ticket/shop area.
Scenic Railway – We first took the scenic railway which descends 310 meters through a cliff tunnel to the valley floor at a 52-degree incline. You really can’t see much scenery on this ride.
Scenic Walkway – Once you are down in the rainforest, there are a few hiking paths on board walks with the longest one about 50 minutes. We took the longest walking path through the rainforest.
Scenic Cableway – After the walk in the rainforest, we took the Cableway back to the top which was a 510-meter ride offering panoramic views.
Scenic Skyway – We then had lunch at the only restaurant at the top, hoping the fog would clear up before we took the Skyway. Luckily, the weather got better after 1pm.
Scenic Skyway, Katoomba Waterfall – We got a great view of the Waterfalls by standing on the left side of the cable car.
Scenic Skyway, Three Sisters – We also got a great view of the 3-sisters as we rode the Skyway (stand on the right side of the car if you want to get this view). The Three Sisters are an iconic rock formation located near Katoomba, rising above the Jamison Valley. The three peaks—Meehni (922 m), Wimlah (918 m), and Gunnedoo (906 m), were formed around 200 million years ago during the Triassic period, as wind, rain, and river erosion gradually wore away the surrounding sandstone plateau, leaving behind these distinctive pillars.
Once you reach the other side at Scenic World, there are several viewpoints and walking tracks to explore. We first walked about 7 minutes to the Cliff View lookout, which offers amazing views of the Blue Mountains, with clouds drifting in and out of the valley.
We then took the hiking path in the opposite direction which was another 7 minutes to Katoomba Cascade (part of the Katoomba Falls).
There are some longer hikes available, including a scenic 40-minute walk back to Scenic World. After exploring, we took the Scenic Cableway back up and then made our way back to Sydney CBD.