Train ride from Sydney to Katoomba and checking out the Blue Mountains
Summary
The Blue Mountains are one of the (many) natural highlights of Australia, with their scenic lookouts over rugged sandstone cliffs, blue-tinged eucalyptus forests and sweeping canyons for some excellent bush-walks, so it is no wonder they have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The added benefit is that they are very accessible on a day trip from central Sydney, which takes 2 hours to Katoomba and includes some wonderful scenery on the way
Three top tips:
#1 If possible, limit your time in Katoomba – when getting the train, the stop you want is Katoomba which is also where many of the famous sites and activities are, and where the majority of the fellow tourist traffic is. For sure give yourself the time for Echo Point to see the Blue Mountains’ most famous site – the Three Sisters Rock Formations that stick out across the canyon and the prime photo taking spot. But see if you can head out of Katoomba to get away from the crowds. That being said, if the crowds aren’t too busy, the Skyway Gondola and Scenic Railway are great fun, especially the 2.5km / 1.5miles forest boardwalk at the foot of the railway
#2 Head to Blackheath and the Grand Canyon Walk – Blackheath is 2 stops up from Katoomba and you find the fellow tourist numbers dropping substantially. From Blackheath, take a taxi to Evans Lookout and from there its a spectacular 5km / 3miles of the Grand Canyon Walk. Will take around 3 hours and very much worth it
#3 Stay overnight – whilst you can easily check out the Blue Mountains on a day trip from Sydney, the best way to experience them is the evening and early morning before the masses of tourists arrive. Wandering around looking over the distant views of the Three Sisters in the early evening and waking up early to have some of the trails largely to yourself – magical
highlights
#1 Walking the spectacular 5km / 3miles of the Grand Canyon Walk from Evan's Lookout
#2 Seeing the famous Three Sisters from the Echo Point Lookout in Katoomba
#3 Taking the Scenic Railway literally through parts of the mountains for the forest boardwalk at the bottom
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Mountain Experiences around the World
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone