Review: Blue Mountains Tour from Sydney with FJ Tours

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A three-day stay in Sydney is the average for most visitors, and it’s just enough time to see the main city sights, visit a beach or two, and do a day tour to the magnificent UNESCO World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains.

Any day trip to the 11,000-square-kilometre Blue Mountains can only provide a taste of its scenic beauty, but the daily Blue Mountains Tour from Sydney offered by FJ Tours covers many of the key sights.

On a crisp June morning I set off with FJ Tours for a day of discovery in the Mountains. Our amiable driver/tour guide Jason chats away en route, providing nuggets of interesting information about each of the areas we pass through.

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10 Top Things to Do in SYDNEY, Australia in 2024 | Ultimate Travel Guide & To-Do List

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The first stop of the day is at popular Featherdale Wildlife Park, which has been completely modernised since I last visited. Visitors can get up close to a wide range of iconic Australian animals. There are wallabies and kangaroos to hand-feed, and beautiful birds to admire. It’s also a chance for visitors to learn about Australia’s endangered species.

We continue on through the outer suburbs of Sydney and across the Nepean River, which forms a natural divide between the greater city and Blue Mountains. Having ascended the Mountains via the winding Great Western Highway, Jason pulls over in the quaint township of Leura. There’s time for a sunny stroll to soak up the ambience and browse in the many gift shops.

The next stop on our itinerary is Echo Point in Katoomba for a fabulous view of the Three Sisters rock formation. From there, we make our way around the cliff top to Scenic World — home to the world-famous Scenic Railway, Skyway and Cableway. A ride on each of the three attractions is included in the cost of our tour. With two hours to explore, I opt to take the Scenic Cableway down into Jamison Valley, walk through the rainforest on the valley floor, and return on the Scenic Railway.

The Cableway descends 545 metres past impressive sandstone cliffs and deep into temperate rainforest. It’s wonderfully peaceful at the bottom. The only sounds are bird calls and drops of water falling softly from the forest canopy onto the understorey of tree ferns. Artefacts from long-abandoned coal mines remind me that the Scenic Railway was originally built to haul coal out of the valley. My journey back up the escarpment on the steepest passenger train in the world is, as always, a big thrill.

At the appointed time we reboard the bus and head down the Mountains towards the city, but Jason has one more treat for us. It’s a river cruise from Olympic Park (the site of the 2000 Sydney Olympics) to Circular Quay, where the tour ends. As the sun sets behind the peaks, ridges and valleys that we’ve just had the pleasure of visiting, our ferry powers along Parramatta River towards the glittering city lights.

The writer travelled as a guest of FJ Tours. You can book this tour here.

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Additional images: Bigstock

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