Blue Mountain Itinerary
Got half a day off from work (started at 7am, so was left off at around 11am+) and my boss suggested that I go to Taronga Zoo. Was thinking that I might as well head to the Blue Mountains since it was a weekday and I could avoid the weekend crowds.
There are two options to head to the Blue Mountains. One would be to drive, that's recommended if you are traveling in a group and enjoy going to more hiking areas such as Leura and Echo Point Otherwise, it is much more economical to go by train $3 - $4 and takes about 2 hours from Central Station in Sydney. The Opal card is $8.30 (peak adult) and $5.81 (off peak adult) and there is a max cap of $15.00 for all Opal cards. The Sydney administration really encourages family travel on Sundays so there is a cap of $2.50! I decided to avoid going on Sunday because I was unwilling to put up with the long queues.
The only downside is that they only have trains that leave every hour. So I had just missed my train. No worries, there are loads of cafes nearby. Decided to get a quick lunch at Devon Cafe 5 minutes walk away from the station. They are having a winter truffle menu but their kitchen was down, so they only served the truffle toastie (truffle with mushroom and a really rich and nice cream on toast) or chia seed pudding or french toast. Decided to go with the truffle toastie!
When I got on the train, I chose to sit in the quiet carriage. Haha it was very amusing, it had signs that suggested that loud conversations can be offensive. But the Canadian couple next to me acknowledged the sign and blatantly disregarded it, talking the whole 2 hours of the journey.
Finally arrived at the village of Katoomba after enduring a 2 hour journey with a very noisy couple in a quiet carriage! :(
The village itself is very quaint and pretty. There's a tea shop and a kebab shop and also a posh 5 star hotel where you can have high-tea. It's a little bit dated for my liking but you may want to consider it for staying over / tea.
The outside and inside of the famous hotel
You can also choose to get the hop on / hop off bus which is $44 for adults and $22 for child and $38 concession or a family package for $110. If you get the Lyrebird Pass, it also includes the Scenic World Rides. And you can also choose to splash out on the Cockatoo Pass which has the bus + scenic world + cockatoo pass (waradah aboriginal centre).
I was only there for half a day so it was uneconomical for me to get a bus pass. The next local bus was going to be another 20 minutes. So I decided to walk the 30 minutes to Scenic World...
I decided to try the Scenic World Package (which includes the scenic skyway, scenic railway, walkway and cableway).
Finally reached after trekking the 30 minutes uphill!
The Entrance to Scenic World
Fun Fact: This tree has many branches because it is sickly and trying to survive.
I really enjoyed my trip to the Blue Mountains.
Loved going down the incline and you could adjust the incline based on your sense of adventurism / conservatism. It used to be for transporting miners during the mining rush few decades ago. The guy had an idea to set up this Blue Mountain park when a group of soldiers came and enquired whether they could ride on it. It's actually relatively exciting.
If I had more time, I would visit Leura, the Three Sisters and Echo Point.
PLACES FOR BLUE MOUNTAIN HALF DAY TRIP
There are two options to head to the Blue Mountains. One would be to drive, that's recommended if you are traveling in a group and enjoy going to more hiking areas such as Leura and Echo Point Otherwise, it is much more economical to go by train $3 - $4 and takes about 2 hours from Central Station in Sydney. The Opal card is $8.30 (peak adult) and $5.81 (off peak adult) and there is a max cap of $15.00 for all Opal cards. The Sydney administration really encourages family travel on Sundays so there is a cap of $2.50! I decided to avoid going on Sunday because I was unwilling to put up with the long queues.
The only downside is that they only have trains that leave every hour. So I had just missed my train. No worries, there are loads of cafes nearby. Decided to get a quick lunch at Devon Cafe 5 minutes walk away from the station. They are having a winter truffle menu but their kitchen was down, so they only served the truffle toastie (truffle with mushroom and a really rich and nice cream on toast) or chia seed pudding or french toast. Decided to go with the truffle toastie!
When I got on the train, I chose to sit in the quiet carriage. Haha it was very amusing, it had signs that suggested that loud conversations can be offensive. But the Canadian couple next to me acknowledged the sign and blatantly disregarded it, talking the whole 2 hours of the journey.
Finally arrived at the village of Katoomba after enduring a 2 hour journey with a very noisy couple in a quiet carriage! :(
The village itself is very quaint and pretty. There's a tea shop and a kebab shop and also a posh 5 star hotel where you can have high-tea. It's a little bit dated for my liking but you may want to consider it for staying over / tea.
The outside and inside of the famous hotel
You can also choose to get the hop on / hop off bus which is $44 for adults and $22 for child and $38 concession or a family package for $110. If you get the Lyrebird Pass, it also includes the Scenic World Rides. And you can also choose to splash out on the Cockatoo Pass which has the bus + scenic world + cockatoo pass (waradah aboriginal centre).
I was only there for half a day so it was uneconomical for me to get a bus pass. The next local bus was going to be another 20 minutes. So I decided to walk the 30 minutes to Scenic World...
I decided to try the Scenic World Package (which includes the scenic skyway, scenic railway, walkway and cableway).
Finally reached after trekking the 30 minutes uphill!
The Entrance to Scenic World
Fun Fact: This tree has many branches because it is sickly and trying to survive.
I really enjoyed my trip to the Blue Mountains.
Loved going down the incline and you could adjust the incline based on your sense of adventurism / conservatism. It used to be for transporting miners during the mining rush few decades ago. The guy had an idea to set up this Blue Mountain park when a group of soldiers came and enquired whether they could ride on it. It's actually relatively exciting.
If I had more time, I would visit Leura, the Three Sisters and Echo Point.
PLACES FOR BLUE MOUNTAIN HALF DAY TRIP
1. Devon Cafe
Address: 76 Devonshire St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
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