Blue mountain range is located about 50 km from Sydney. The Blue Mountain is listed as a world heritage site. The best way to reach the blue mountain is by train. It takes about 2 hours to reach Katoomba railway station from Sydney central. I would recommend to start early from Sydney because you need entire day to explore the blue mountain region. After reaching Katoomba station i went to the blue mountain explorer bus station in order to buy tickets for the hop on hop off bus. The best way to explore blue mountain region is by using this bus service. The bus usually stops at all the important locations along the region. You can get off at any point along the route, explore the place at your own pace and then can hop on to the next bus from the same location. The buses usually passes through the point every 30 minutes. The guidebook and the time table provided by the blue mountain bus explorer will be very handy during the tour.
I skipped the first few stops which were The Arts corner, Gingerbread house, Lost Bear Gallery, Lurline house, Three sisters motel. I directly went Cliff lookout stop. Katoomba cascades and Katoomba waterfalls are located very close to the Cliff lookout view point. It was very windy but the view of the mountain, valley and the rain forest were beautiful. Most people went to the Scenic World and I was the only one at lookout point. The Skyway cable car eastern station is located just close to the Cliff view lookout point. After spending some time at Cliff view lookout point I went to explore Katoomba cascade and Katoomba waterfall. It is easy to follow the sign post to the waterfall and cascade from the view point. The trail passes through dense forest area and eventually it passes though rocky terrains. Since it was dry season the view of the waterfall was not that great. I went back to the same bus stop in order catch the next bus to Scenic World.
Scenic World – I already purchased the scenic world combo tickets along with the explorer bus tickets. The combo tickets includes Skyway, Cable way and SKY Train ride. I recommend to purchase the combo tickets because it is around 25% cheaper. It takes about 1 hour to explore Scenic World and this is must do if you are visiting Blue mountain. After reaching the scenic world I immediately took cable car ride to the east station near the Cliff look out point. The Skyway cable car is suspended above 270 m and the floor of the cable car is made from glass. You get to see great 360 views of Katoomba falls, Echo point lookout and Jamison valley from the Sky Way. It takes about 10 minutes to reach east station from the scenic world station. Since i already visited the Cliff lookout i didn’t get out of the cable car and waited for the return ride back to the scenic world station. I would recommend to eat their lunch at scenic world because this is the only point in the entire route where you will find restaurants and souvenir shops.
My next ride was scenic Cableway. Cableway descends into the valley and it is a 545 m long downhill journey. You can get great views of three sister viewpoints, Katoomba falls and orphan rock during the cable car ride. After getting out of the Cableway i walked along the boardwalk in order to explore the rain-forest situated at the valley floor. The region was used as a mining establishment and you can also see old mining trail and the home of the miners situated along the boardwalk. I followed the sign post and took the uphill scenic railway ride in order to reach the scenic world station. The railway ride is at an incline of almost 60 degree and it is the steepest railway ride in the world. I was fortunate to get the front seat of the sky train and I was thrilled by the experience. The pass includes unlimited ride of the Skytrain. I tried both downhill and uphill ride in the Skytrain and it was a very unique experience because the path was very steep.
Echo Point & Three sisters – My next stop was Echo point and the three sisters. I checked my clock and it was around 1 pm and i realized that there was only 4 hours left in order to explore other places. It was just 10 minutes ride from scenic world to the echo point. You get the best view of the surrounding blue mountain from this location. The view of the three sisters Sandstone Mountains was amazing from the echo point. The Echo point is the biggest and the most developed lookout point in the entire region. The lookout point is divided into two separate decks. The upper deck is usually more crowded and I would recommend to go to the lower deck in order to take some great photos of the surroundings.
From Echo point I took the bus to Honeymoon lookout point. I scenic trail in order to reach three sister rock. The rock formations are very unique. The trail was very scenic and you hike through dense forest for about 10 minutes in order to reach Honeymoon lookout point. The lookout point was completely empty and you get to see great views of the Blue Mountains from this point. Three sister mountain was visible after another 20 minutes hike along the rain forest. You have to descend through giant stairway in order to reach prince Henry cliff walk. The cliff walk is a bridge which connects the sister rock formation. It was a great experience to walk on the Henry cliff walk. The stairway is very narrow and steep. I followed the trail back to the Honeymoon lookout view point bus stop and boarded the bus to Leura Cascades.
Leura Cascade and Gordon view point – I reached Leura Cascade by 3pm and I had only 2 hours before the last bus leaves for Katoomba station. From the Leura Cascade bus stop it takes around 20 minutes walk in order to reach the cascade. You pass through lots of small streams and dense forest along the way. After passing some small waterfalls I finally arrive at Leura cascade. The Cascade looked beautiful and it was worth the hike. I wanted to visit one more spot before I end my trip to Blue Mountains. I spent some time at the Cascade took some photos and then came back to bus stop.
Gordon falls lookout point was my last stop of the trip and it was just a short ride from Leura Cascade stop. The view of the waterfall from the lookout point was amazing. The waterfall was falling from a height of around 200 m. The flow of the water was weak because I visited the place during the dry season. You actually get to imagine the vastness of the place and the depth of the valley from this viewpoint. Each lookout point in the region gives completely different view of the Blue Mountains. The Blue mountain region was well maintained and the mountains looked stunning. There are lots of small hotels situated near the town for people who wants to stay overnight. I took the second last bus from Gordon falls lookout point to Katoomba station in order to catch my train to Sydney. For people staying longer in the region you can also do lots of hike along the guided trail. Overall it was a long tiring day but visit to Blue Mountain was completely worth it.
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