3 ways to get from Sydney to the Blue Mountains

For Sydneysiders, the Blue Mountains have always been a place to disconnect from big-city life. Starting just 35 miles west of Australia’s biggest city, the range gets its name from the blanket of bluish haze, reportedly a product of eucalyptus leaf oil, that hangs in the air.

The region is filled with natural wonders so unique that it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Area in 2000: geological formations with legendary backstories (like The Three Sisters), Aboriginal rock art, and even ink-dark caves populated by otherworldly glow worms. These days, the Blue Mountains are emerging as a culinary hotspot, too, with buzzy breweries, surprising wineries, and farmhouse cideries, and worth-the-trip restaurants like Ates, a Mediterranean wine bar and restaurant centered around a 150-year old ironbark-wood-burning oven. Elsewhere, you’ll find trendy converted motor lodges, vintage and design shops, and even a lively street art scene.

Whether you’re arriving by car or by train or just soaring overhead on a flightseeing tour, there’s more than enough to see and do in the Blue Mountains for a weekend holiday or simply, ahem, a g’day tour.

The Blue Mountains region is scattered with must-see natural attractions like Jenolan Caves—the world’s oldest cave system—and antique-shop-filled small towns like Leura and Blackheath. Naturally, the easiest way to get around them is to drive yourself. (Note: you’re fine to use your own driver's license for up to three months if you're visiting from overseas.)

The route to Katoomba, the region’s gateway town, is a straight shot west along the Great Western Highway from Sydney that, without traffic, takes about 90 minutes. As you leave Sydney’s metropolitan area, the road passes through a series of historic villages, each of which have their own charming reasons to stop and stay awhile. In Glenbrook, recaffeinate with a “speculatte” (which tastes like Dutch spiced biscuits) at Kickaboom, or continue along to Springwood for brekkie at Finn & Co. Café, where the menu spans a hearty bacon and egg roll to a tropical granola bowl served with piña colada panna cotta. And if you stop in Wentworth Falls to take in the 614-foot-high eponymous cascades, Mountain High Pies is beloved for its variety of pies, including lamb, rosemary, and Shiraz pies and hot custard tarts.

If you take the Great Western Highway to get out to the Blue Mountains, you can return to Sydney along the Bells Line of Road, a scenic byway that'll show you a different side of the New South Wales countryside. Along the way, make stops at attractions like the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah, which is dedicated to cool-climate flora from ecosystems like alpine rainforests. Bilpin, meanwhile, is an unfussy agricultural hub famous for its apples, where, depending on the season, you can pick your own artichokes, persimmons, peaches, walnuts, chestnuts, and more at family-owned farms like Pine Crest Orchard.

Of course, if all that fresh air has you feeling restored, you can stick around for a night or two at charming accommodations like the Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort and Spa, which occupies a 19th-century summer home, or the Old Leura Dairy, a quirky B&B on a former farm.

If you’d rather sit back and enjoy the scenery without having to get behind the wheel, NSW TrainLink Intercity trains run between Sydney’s Central Railway Station and Katoomba at least every hour and up to every half-hour at peak times. The journey takes just under two hours, with fare starting at less than $5 USD if you use Opal public transit cards or contactless payment on your card or smartphone. (The rates go even lower if you’re a child or senior citizen, starting at about $2 USD.)

When you arrive in Katoomba without a car, there are plenty of options for getting around, though the most convenient is the instantly recognizable red hop-on/hop-off bus you find in cities around the world. The Blue Mountains Explorer Bus picks up and drops off at the train station and offers a few reasonably priced options: a one-hour sightseeing tour, a full day of hop-on/hop-off , or a full day of hop-on/hop-off with admission to Scenic World.

Speaking of Scenic World, it's home to some of the region's most superlative attractions: the Scenic Railway, the world’s steepest passenger train at an incline of 52 degrees; the Scenic Skyway, the largest aerial cable car in the Southern Hemisphere, suspended nearly 900 feet above ancient ravines and rainforests below; the Scenic Cableway, the steepest aerial cable car in the Southern Hemisphere; and the Scenic Walkway, the country’s longest elevated boardwalk.

For a completely different view of the Blue Mountains, book a flight-seeing tour on either a small airplane or a helicopter. On a one-hour scenic flight with Fly Australia Charter, you’ll board a light aircraft in the southwestern Sydney suburb of Bankstown and then fly out over the Three Sisters and the Warragamba Dam, among other highlights. At about $163 USD per person, it’s a relative steal, though you won’t have the chance to engage with the region at ground level—in other words, it’s a quick and convenient way to see the Blue Mountains if you’re in town for business or don’t have the free time for a full-day itinerary.

For a bit of a splurge, Sydney Helitours offers a six-hour private tour ($1,240 per person) that begins with a helicopter ride over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House, before heading westward over the Parramatta River. After landing in the Blue Mountains, you’ll head out on an off-road drive through the Megalong Valley. Keep your eyes peeled for kangaroos before you stop for a picnic lunch in the rainforest.