Blue Mountain Tours or self-guided?
 

We will only have 5 full days in Sydney and several days at the beginning will be very jet lagged. Should be dedicate one full day to a side trip to the Blue Mountains? To see the Blue Mountains, it doesn't sound difficult to hop on a train from Sydney to Leura or Katoomba. But what do we do next? Are buses sitting around waiting for passengers or do we need to set up a tour in advance? Is it possible to also stop at the Featherdale Wildlife center on the way to Katommba? I found a tour called www.visitours.com which seems to encorporate both for $83 au per person. The four of us have a strong adversion to large groups and would prefer to avoid being herded around but in this case, is it possible to combine Featherdale and the sights around Katoomba on our own in one day?

I think we are looking at that same tour. The things that appealed to me about it was that not only did it include the Featherdale Park (which we wanted to see) but there is also a boat trip returning to Sydney which sounded cool. When I contacted them asking whether we could wait until we got there to book, they recommended that we get a reservation. We only had 2 days to choose from since we have even less time in Sydney than you, and I knew we wanted to do the Blue Mountaisn so I took them at their word and booked ahead.

Did they require a credit card payment to book? I would hate to prepay then discover something better. I always tend to overplan and don't leave any room for spontaneous suggestions by locals. But I must admit this tour covers both areas very efficiently which I doubt we could accomplish on our own.

Rent a corolla from bayswater car rentals and do it yourself...

get away early..

"wild" roos at euroka clearing

katoomba..3 sisters..cable railway..valley walk

blackheath...national park hq...govetts leap.

visit featherdale on the way back.

the organised tour harbour cruise is a ticket on the rivercat from homebush.

Thanks for the Bayswater car rental suggestion. Would we find it difficult to drive in and out of Sydney, driving on the left side? Could we take the train to a smaller city and pick up a car?

I would also self-drive. Or you could take the train to Katoomba and then catch a shuttle to Echo Point for viewing of the Three Sisters. (We were lucky enough to have our local friends drive us-- the best of both worlds!)
We took the train down onto the floor of the mountains, walked 15 minutes through the trees to the gondola and took it back up. Highly recommended!

Unless you're fond of a challenge, if you're not used to driving on the LH side I wouldn't choose Sydney as my first learning experience. Think Boston or similar.

On another thread I think someone mentioned readily available hop-on, hop-off buses in Katoomba. All you need to do, really, is get from the railway station to Echo Point, which is less than 3 km straight down the main street. After taking in the view of the Three Sisters and Jamieson Valley, take the clliff walk back in the general direction of the town centre and after a while you'll come across the Scenic Railway, which gives you an exciting (and steep) ride to and from the valley floor. By the time you get back you should be ready for lunch. I'm sure other Fodorites here can make further suggestions to fill in part of the afternoon before catching the train back.

The train certainly has more appeal that renting a car and driving in and out of Sydney with right side steering and driving on the left. However, we will miss Euroka Clearing and Featherdale if we take the train in both directions. Is it best to avoid the Blue Mountains on the weekends?

For the Blue Moutain tour you saw on visitours.com they do not require payment in advance. We booked on line and were told where we would be picked up and the time and told that the driver would accetp payment in cash or credit card at the time of pickup. I am also struggling between overbooking to make sure we get to do what we really want to do and leaving some spontaneous time to do last minute things.

Richard J
You have been helpful in comments on my USA south west loop in april.

I drive to Bathurst via the Blue Mountains fairly regularly.Perhaps I could give you a lift up and you could get the train back.

If you are interested drop me an e mail.

Hi - I'm normally all for doing your own thing on the assumption that you can make better use of your time if you make your own choices. BUT, I wouldn't drive to the Blue Mts unless I was going to stay there overnight. If you have two days then you would need those wheels to go and check out places that the shuttle bus doesn't take you to. My pick of these would be one of the amazing walks you can to around Wentworth Falls.

If you are only going for the day then take the train - and use the hop on hop off bus - or take a tour. It isn't that it is a long drive from Bayswater Rentals to Katoomba in terms of kms but it takes a long time to get out of the built up areas.

There are so many tours that I don't believe it would be necessary to book more than a day or two in advance - ie book once you are here.

in case you haven't found it already this one looks interesting.

http://www.sydneywildernesstours.com.au/

Cheers.

There are 2-3 companies offering hop-on and hop-off buses from Katoomba. Their offices are 1 min walk away, on the right hand side as you exit Katoomba station. You won't miss the offices. Here are the links that show you the schedule and frequency:
www.trolleytours.com.au
www.explorerbus.com.au

If you are planning to take the train, Cityrail offers a combined Rail + bus touring ticket, but don't think it is much cheaper...better to wait till you arrive in Katoomba, as you can avail of any packages (eg the bus companies have discounts to the Scenicworld/Scenicsender etc). Plus, if you are a member of YHA/HI, I think there are some discounts.

If you decide to take a tour, I agree with a previous poster that there is no need to pre-book - there are many tour companies going to the Blue Mtns. The hotels will have many brochures, with a range of prices. It would also give you more flexibility in choosing the best day (the weather can be a bit temperemental).

Regarding Featherdale Wildlife Park, it is possible to go via train (you need to get off at Blacktown station and change for a bus, but not so convenient. On a bus tour, it would normally be included as a stop, enroute to the Blue Mountains (of course, you will sacrifice flexibility by going on the tour). Personally, I'd prefer Taronga Park Zoo, as you can take the ferry across the Harbour to the zoo and experience the magic of the Bridge and Opera House. You can get great photos here too!

Lastly, if you are thinking of spending a day in the Blue Mountains, another option to add to your itinerary is a trip to Jenolan caves www.jenolancaves.org.au There are various cave tours, the adventure caving (which involves abseiling and crawling through caves) is a fun experience (you need to book in advance, as this is popular). You can take a tour bus from Katoomba station or there are also tours leaving from hotels that go to both the Blue Mtns and Jenolan caves area.


Enjoy your trip!

Enjoy whatever you decide. We did a bus tour with friends (locals) up to the Blue Mountains because we found it relaxing to be able to visit and see the sights instead of concentrating on driving. We fit in as much as we could have in a day. Be sure you don't leave Featherdale till too late in the day as critters aren't always all out at the end.

Having been to the Blue Mountains hundreds of time in my life - I live in Sydney - let me mention that you actually see more from the train than from the road, as the traintrack goes along the ridges ,and the raod doesn't. You can see something of the valleys on both sides from the train. I actually prefer to drive up and particularly back down the specatacular Bell's Line of Road through Kurrajong, rather than the Great Western Highway. But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone not used to driving on the LH side, as it's quite dangerous, even for us locals. Anyway the driver would be concentrating on the road and not the scenery.

We just returned from Australia a few days ago, and did do a 1-day "self tour" of the Blue Mountains while staying in Sydney. We had rented a car a few times earlier in the trip, so was used to the LH driving at that point.
The train to Katoomba was our original option, but the 2 explorer-type buses that take you to attractions only went to places in Katoomba and Leura. With the car, we were able to stop along the way at our leisure.
I picked up a couple of brochures from tour companies, and tried to use their itineraries as a guide for us.
It was very easy to get around, and everything is clearly marked so it'd be hard to get lost.
In total, we spent about $100 for the car and gas, as opposed to about the same amount for train/explorer tickets, or at least double for the tours.
Another plus was that we had the car for the night upon return to Sydney, so we got to eat in Little Italy, something we wouldn't have been able to easily do without the car.

Is it best to go to the Blue Mountains on the weekend or week days? If we get courageous and decide to drive, would we have an easier time getting in and out of Sydney on the weekend?

If you are going by train, it is best to go on a week day, as the trains are often subject to weekend closedowns, necessitating changes en-route to buses, and a MUCH longer journey. Even if you strike the two weekends out of three when the trains are running normally, you will find there are far fewer of them at weekends.

If you are driving to the Blue Mountains, I would still choose weekdays. Since most of the traffic will be going into the city from the Mountains in the morning, and back from the city to the Mountains in the evening, you wouldn't find many delays. However, I agree with the poster who said that the train is a more scenic route.... really, the road is quite boring until you get past Emu Plains, and that's an hour's drive from Sydney!

Sydneysiders holiday in the Mountains at weekends or in school holidays. These can get pretty hectic, and accommodation can be pricey. It's quiet and lovely on weekdays. You are lucky that you can choose your time. Try also and make it a DRY period, as, while the frequent mountain mist is very pleasant, it can reduce your visibility to next-to-nothing.

whatever you do, don't hire a car and drive up to the mts on a Sunday - as getting back on Sunday night will see you stuck bumper to bumper crawling down the "mountain" until the single lane road becomes a dual carriageway.

Honest - you have been warned!!!!

I really appreciate your suggestions. Sounds like traffic problems going to the Blue Mts is the same that Denverites experience driving to Vail on the weekends to ski. During the week, the drive is less than 2 hours, on Sat or Sunday nights, the drive home can be over 5 hours, bumper to bumper. There have been so many great ideas about driving, train and tours to the Blue Mts. We'll make that decision when we arrive in Sydney but now I know that we should avoid the weekend. Thanks so much.

We just got home and we found the guided tour very good as we were short on time. With a pick up at our Sydney accommodation and it was very helpful having someone explain all the stuff along the way. The Blue mountains villages and scenic spots are quite spread out and we could not have navigated around by ourselves without wasting time. We got good advice and hints from the driver too. The tour was run by Tours r us and it was a good day out for our family. Take plenty of water and some extra pennies to do the train down the valley to the rain forest ,we loved that walk in the forest.