A Weekend In The Blue Mountains
Fresh air, running water and an unbelievable amount of lush green trees jutting out of sandstone cliffs. The Blue Mountains are an integral part of visiting Sydney and should be on any nature lovers itinerary. To celebrate Chris’ birthday we decided to take a weekend trip to the famous Blue Mountains and spend a weekend hiking, visiting cute cafes and generally escaping the bustling city. We packed our backpacks and took off on the train Saturday morning, each with necessary coffees in hand and excitement within us for our first weekend away from the city.
How to get to the Blue Mountains from central Sydney
You’ll be pleased to know that getting here couldn’t be more straightforward and budget friendly! Firstly get yourself to Central Station and hop on the train straight through to Katoomba falls or Wentworth Falls (depending on if you want the town first of straight into the nature) which takes around the nice short amount of time of 1 hour 50 minutes and costs $6.95!
Trains depart every half an hour on weekdays and Saturdays and your ticket will get you a space on the double decker, air conditioned train. The first half of the journey takes you thorough various towns and the second half lets you get a feel for being a lot more out in the open, with vast fields and green trees whizzing past.
Where to stay in the Blue Mountains
We opted for, and would 100% recommend 14 Lovel St.
A very quaint little hostel located in Katoomba with private rooms and dorm style bedrooms. It has cooking facilities, free toiletries and a beautiful patio area or reading room for the chillier evenings. It also comes with a basic breakfast included (coffee, toast and cereal). Prices vary from $29 – $109 per night.
Where to visit in the Blue Mountains
After checking in and dropping our bags off naturally our first stop here was to refuel with breakfast and more caffeine. We popped into the Savoy Restaurant, right along the main strip. We each had the vegetarian breakfast and shared a side of chips and gravy – you have to make sure you’re ready for hiking, right? Once we had finished eager to begin our day of hiking we grabbed our backpacks and heading off, making a beeline for The National Pass.
To find this trek you’ll walk down a wide road which feels like you have got yourself lost in a residential housing area, but continue on ahead until you are met with signs to the Wentworth Falls car park and picnic area. Here you’ll see a sign and steep steps down to begin your hike. This hike leads you around some breathtaking cliff edges, beautiful cascades and falls. The hike isn’t the easiest and a moderate level of fitness is advised and takes around 2.5 – 4 hrs to complete the hike. It’s easy to get lost within the Blue Mountains and go off trail – and in all honesty I think we did this. But, as long as you feel safe and are enjoying yourselves, who cares? About a few hours into our hike we stopped by Bridal Veil Falls for a picnic we had brought with us and to take in the magnificent scenery around us. The rest of our afternoon was spent exploring the winding paths and breathing in the fresh air.
By about 5 pm we found ourselves at Echo Point. One of the most popular spots at The Blue Mountains due to its incredible view of The Three Sisters. We stopped here for a well deserved glass of wine, or 3 before watching the sunset over The Three Sisters – we watched it from half walk along the path to scenic world, so as to escape some of the crowds. Finally we finished our day with an authentic Chinese meal and fell into a very deep sleep ready to do it all again the next day.
On the Sunday we took a much more relaxed approach to our day, enjoying a leisurely breakfast, a few cups of coffee and a read on the patio getting us ready for the day. We then headed back into the Blue Mountains only this time taking the path away from The Three Sisters and over to Olympian rock. This hike took us deep into the trees and high above the clouds, a route with less tourists and equally as breathtaking. We headed back into the city round 5pm catching the train back from Katoomba. Due to the (amazing) Sunday cap this time it only cost us $2.80 back to central! Worth every penny (or cent).
