Blue Mountains Australia

kriss_boy

I just cant seem to find a map to see the scale of the place, ie how far the trails begin from ourB&B and how far apart the various sights are.

We are only there for 2 nights so perhaps need to just pick 3 or 4 trails to walk.

gedebage

If you look on the national parks website I posted above, then click on ' Sydney and surrounds', then 'Blue Mountains National Park', you will be able to view some maps. They are basic , but will give you some idea of the walks there.

You may have to buy a more detailed map when you get there, or try Ebay.

caeler

Definately spend a few days, I only had 24 hours, although it was amazing it was more of a pass through which was a shame. I drove so don't know about trains etc but it was an amazing place (Just looking through pictures again!!).

gedebage

The Blue Mountains was on my doorstep when I lived in Sydney. I have been there many times, and you never really get to see all of it. Every trip there is always something new to see. Even the places around the mountains have some spectacular scenery, like coming back into Sydney via the ' Bells line of road and stopping off at Mt Wilson for a devonshire tea. It is like a little piece of England in the rugged aussie bush.

colinw

We did it by train many Moons ago. If I was doing it now though I would do what you are doing and stay for a night or more. A bus does do to the sights but I suppose you could also hire a car.

Generali

kriss_boy wrote: »

I just cant seem to find a map to see the scale of the place, ie how far the trails begin from ourB&B and how far apart the various sights are.

We are only there for 2 nights so perhaps need to just pick 3 or 4 trails to walk.

If you're there for just a couple of nights staying in Katoomba then I'd recommend that you stay pretty local to there as there are plenty of things to see and do in that part of the mountains.

There's Wentworth Falls, the 3 sisters/echo point (which has the steepest railway in the world down that escarpment I was talking about - it'll show you why MTB in the Blue Mountains is a problem!), a toy museum at Leuma (if you like that sort of thing it's excellent) and there are lots of nice cafes and restuarants in Leuma including a really excellent cafe that makes its own pies.

There are plenty of bushwalking groups up there:

http://www.bluemountains.org.au/Bushwalking/walks-program.html
http://www.ubmbc.org.au/
http://www.springwoodbushwalker.org.au/

and if you go to the tourist information (there is one in Katoomba and one at the bottom of the mountain open IIRC 8.30am-5.30pm, 7 days) they sell maps of bush walks.

Bear in mind that the climate in Katoomba is very different from Sydney. It's much colder in winter (they get snow!) and much hotter in summer (it can easily reach 45C at the height of summer).

Please take my warning about not just wondering off seriously. At the very minimum, tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back and take an emergenct beacon with you (link) - Katoomba police station will lend you one for free. If you go missing in the mountains then you may not be found until it's too late, even if they know the area in which you are lost.

What time of year are you considering going there?