Taking a day trip away from Sydney Australia. Any suggestions?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My wife and I will be vacationing in Sydney in a couple of weeks for 7 days. It is likely to be the only time that we will ever make it to Australia. I expect that we’ll spend most of our time in and around Sydney since we’ve already paid for the hotel. However, I’d also like to get a taste of the “real Australia”. By that, I mean that if someone visited the US and spent all of their time in Los Angeles or New York City, they’d come away with an impression that wouldn’t be entirely accurate of the country as a whole. I realize that our time is limited and there’s no way to fully appreciate the intricacies of a country and a culture in a mere 7 days. But I’d at least like to get a glimpse of the country outside of the big city.

About us. We’re both 53 and in reasonably good condition. I walk around 5 miles a day according to my Fitbit and my wife gets a little less than that usually. She is fascinated with Australian wildlife, particularly koalas. I find them OK but mainly I just want her to be happy. This trip was my gift to her for our 30th anniversary.

I’d be interested in hearing suggestions of what to do outside of Sydney and recommendations for getting there. I’ve Googled Katoomba and it looks interesting. Anywhere by train would be nice. I’d also consider spending a night in a hotel somewhere if the price was reasonable and there was enough to do there for a day and a half or so. We’d just leave most of our things at our Sydney hotel and not use the room there that night. We’re not what you’d call party animals but a trip to a pub (bar?) would be fine.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

TIA.

2

I can’t recommend something specific, but look at bush walking through the Blue Mountains. Do it at the right time of day and you should get plenty of wild life encounters.

3

I’ll second the Blue Mountains. You can take the very convenient commuter train and hike in some incomparable terrain. There’s a pretty cool funicular that takes you down into the canyon.

4

But if you spent the whole time in Sydney, it would be pretty representative of the country as a whole – because around 1/4 of the country live in Sydney, and most of the rest live in similar cities. Most of Aus is empty, the people mostly live in the coastal cites. An unfortunate side effect of this is that you have to go a fairly long way to get really out of Sydney – it’s a big spread out city.

Sydney does actually have a really world-class harbour, but not something it’s easy to appreciate as a visitor. It touches lots of Sydney, and gives Sydney some excellent (and expensive) real-estate. But even as a local, you’re more likely to notice that the harbour makes it difficult to get around (since all the roads had to go around the water).

If you’re up for a couple of hours on a bycycle, I enjoyed the bicycle tour.

The pubs mostly have a civilized side that (50 years ago) was missing in parts of the USA where you had to drive out to an industrial area. The USA developed a cheap chain restaurant with drinks market segment because you wouldn’t take the family and kids to a bar. In Aus, you could take the family and kids for a meal in the lounge of a pub, and have a drink with your meal, so, for many years, they held that market segment. (The public bar section of a pub is for drinking. It used to be that the bar prices were cheaper. May still be true in some locations)

You won’t legally be able to “cuddle” a Koala anywhere in NSW, and they aren’t easy to notice in the wild, so Toraonga zoo (which does allow you to get close) is a good location.

Kangaroos are a bit easier (since they like grass), and if you want to see them in the wild Murramarang National Park is probably a good bet (I see that Durras North has a money-back Kangaroo Guarantee!). All the national parks will have some, mostly at dawn or dusk. Glenbrook is at the base of the Blue Mountains.

Early European vistors often commented on “the light”, and it is different, but not something you’d necessarily notice unless you’re a painter or a pilot. And the trees are just as interesting as the animals – if you have any interest in trees or animals.

Also, Australia is an old and worn-down continent. Most of it isn’t very spectacular at all: it’s old and worn-down. I’ve long thought that is the most interesting thing about Aus: it’s big and flat and empty. It’s very big and flat and empty, and unlike Siberia, it’s not cold, it has good transport, and we speak English.

This makes it difficult for me to recoment “places and sites you must see”. I think the special character of Aus is the absence of places and sites. Even Katoomba, that you mentioned… it’s not Yosemite…, It’s not even Santa Barbara… It’s a bit cooler than the city, so the locals used to take summer holidays there.

[It is, of course, a great place to live.]

5

A third vote for the Blue Mountains.

6

If you wanted to do a beach trip, the beaches around Newcastle are gorgeous - I’m thinking of Port Stephens, Nelsons Bay. You don’t say exactly when your trip is, but IMHO March is perfect for beach trips, as the weather is warm but not roasting, and all the kids have gone back to school, thinning the crowds. It’s further than Katoomba, about 2.5 hours drive from Sydney, depending on what part of the city you’re staying in. And, bonus, there’s a fair koala population at Tilligerry.

7

Just make sure you check the weather before you head up to the Blue Mountains, if you take the multiple recommendations for it here. When I went, it was rainy and cloud-covered, and without the wonderful views, it’s pretty much a wasted trip.

8

Depending upon what you and the missus are most interested in, there are few options for day trips,

  • The aforementioned Blue Mountains, I endorse this, I can’t say I necessarily agree with Melbourne’s post, the Blue Mountains have some fabulous terrain and sights.
  • A trip up to Newcastle would be ok, there are a couple of nice beaches up there, but if it’s just to visit some beaches, there are some very nice ones in Sydney itself, besides Bondi which IMO is overrated.
  • If you like wine and cheese, a day trip up to the Hunter Valley is an option. It has some similarities with the Napa Valley if you’ve ever been there.
  • Most of my fellow Aussies will laugh at this, but you might consider heading up to Canberra for the day. This option would depend very much on what would interest you, as the most interesting things to see in Canberra are the National War Memorial, Questacon (an interactive Science display/museum), Parliament House, and the National Gallery. If you did go to Canberra the National Zoo offers a range of ‘Wildlife Encounters’, which gets you up close and personal with a range of the animals, although oddly enough only one is with a native species.

If you want to satisfy your wives interest in native species, your best bet would be either:

  • Taronga Zoo, which is a well regarded zoo, with a wide range of animals. It is however a traditional zoo with little direct interaction with the animals, or
  • Featherdale Wildlife park, I’ve never actually been, so can’t recommend it from personal experience, but it appears to fit the bill for up close and personal encounters with native Australian wildlife.
9

Thank you all for all of the replies. I appreciate all of them. We’ll almost certainly go to the Blue Mountains depending on the weather conditions. We’ll also do one or both of the zoos.

My Googling shows that mass transportation can be had for $60/week (plus an airport fee), this sounds like a great deal to me. I’m scared of having to drive on the left side of the road. 30 years ago, I spent a few days in Hong Kong and every time we’d go around a corner I thought that we were going to die.

We’ll be there the week of the 10th, I understand that that is Sydney’s rainiest time. Is it rainy as in “it rains a little every day” or more like “when it rains, it rains a lot”?

10

About half way between the city and the Blue Mountains is a wildlife encounter park called Featherdale, where you get to pat a koala, walk among and feed (small) kangaroos and stuff like that. There will be bus trips that include it en route, I’m sure.

Hard to generalise really - it can be either. We did have some near-monsoon rains a couple of weeks ago which is very unusual. As you are here a week you’d be very unlucky to get more than a day or two of rain in that time I’d say.

Would this be the Opal card? Because that’s the only way to take most public transport in Sydney now - it covers ferries, government buses, and trains. I wouldn’t call it cheap but it’s extremely handy. And after you’ve done 8 trips within a week (Monday-Sunday) all subsequent trips that week are free!

For two of you it’s somewhat cheaper to take the train from the airport to the city (~$16 each) than a cab (~$50), and there’s no wait in the epic queue for the taxi rank at the airport. The train station is right underneath the airport.

Unless you’re real nightclubbers I’d avoid Kings Cross. Good touristy stuff all within a few minutes’ walk of each other is The Rocks, the Opera House of course, The Domain (the view from Mrs Macquarie’s Chair is breathtaking), and the NSW Art Gallery is also right there if you’re into art. The Bridge Climb is apparently amazing, if expensive. Just around the point to the west from there is the new area Baragaroo, still under construction but the man-made sandstone headland is a joy to wander around.

Bondi Beach is easy to get to (train then bus), and there is a beautiful walk along the ocean coast from there to the next beach Tamarama, which is a better beach anyway.

For a longer walk you can now get along the entire northern shoreline of the harbour from the Harbour Bridge past Taronga Zoo all the way to Mosman if you like.

Another great way to see the harbour is take a ferry from Circular Quay to Manly , then a 5-10 minute walk along the Corso to see the famous Manly beach.

That should do you - have a great time!

11

I think I know what he means. Australia doesn’t have the bold, spectacular, in your face beauty that a younger country like New Zealand has. It is worn and softened, like an old man’s skin. This doesn’t mean there aren’t great things to see, but it is different. Some things are beautiful because they are set amongst the GAFA (Great Australian Fuck All).

12

I HAVE been to Featherdale, and can recommend it. Hanging out with koalas and kangaroos is pretty awesome.

13

Mostly, it means “it rained last night”. Which, unfortunately, means that Sydney is a bit of an outdoors city, and doesn’t work exceptionally well when it rains. But you will notice that the big parade is on March 6 this year: even in March, they don’t expect the weather to ruin their outdoor plans.

14

The BoM has been promising us rain all week. We got about four spits on the windscreen on the way home from work. That often counts as ‘rain’ in Sydney.

15

One time bump in case anyone has any additional ideas. We leave tonight. I’m very excited about everything but the 15 hour flight. Thanks again for all of the replies.

16

No new ideas but just: have a wonderful trip!

17

Thanks! If I can ever get out of the Oklahoma City airport and to Los Angeles for my Qantas flight, I will.

18

Katoomba is nice. Between growing up in western Sydney, and taking friends there, i’ve been a bunch of times over the years. I took my wife, mother-in-law, and a friend up there in July last year. There’s some pictures of the town and the Three Sisters here.

There’s certainly enough to do up there for a day, especially when you consider that you need to factor in about two and a half hours each way for the train. The train trip itself is interesting, especially if you haven’t been to Sydney before. The first half of the trip is through the inner and then outer suburbs, and you get a good sense of the sprawl of the city, as well as different architecture, and stuff like that. After about an hour, you begin the climb into the Blue Mountains, and get a bit more nature. The mountains themselves aren’t spectacular in the same way as the Rockies or the Sierra Nevada, but there are some lovely vistas and plenty of bush to see.

It’s about 3km (just under 2 miles) from the train station to the Three Sisters, and the main street has cafes and restaurants, as well as a bunch of quaint little antique and curio shops. We had lunch at the Paragon Cafe (the first few photos in the gallery). The food is pretty good, the service is no-nonsense and friendly, from waitresses who have probably been serving there for 20 or 30 years, and the interior has some lovely art deco finishes.

Once you’re down at the Three Sisters, you can basically spend as much or as little time as you want walking. If all you want is a view of the valley and the sisters, you don’t need to walk far at all once you’re there, but there are trails that go all the way down into the valley, and you could have yourself a pretty strenuous hike, if that took your fancy.

If you want an easier way down into the valley, you can take the scenic railway, at Scenic World. It’s about the same distance from the regular railway station as the Three Sisters, but in a slightly different direction. If you want a great view of the valley, the Scenic Skyway cable car is lots of fun, especially if it’s windy!

There are taxis in Katoomba, and for all i know you might even be able to catch an Uber, so if you don’t want to walk between all these attractions, you could probably get around the town by cab for not much money.

If you’d prefer the coast, and are willing to do a bit more walking, a really nice day trip is a walk in the Royal National Park, from Bundeena to Wattamolla and back. You catch the train from Sydney to Cronulla (about an hour), then catch a ferry across to Bundeena (about 30 minutes). The ferry ride makes for a nice change from the train.

The walk from Bundeena to Wattamolla is about 11km (just under 7 miles), but you have to turn around and come back again, so think about whether you can both cope with a 14-mile day. The walk isn’t too strenuous; there’s not too much elevation gained or lost. Wattamolla is very pleasant, but i don’t think there is anywhere to buy lunch there. It’s basically a lagoon and beach and picnic area, so you might have to pack your food with you.

The walk itself starts out through a sort of coastal scrub, and the first bit doesn’t provide much in the way of views, but once you hit the coast itself it’s really nice.

If you don’t want to walk so far, you don’t have to go all the way to Wattamolla. You can follow the same trail out to the coast, then to Wedding Cake rock, where you’ll get good views north and south, and then to the beach (i’m not sure if it even has a name) about another mile to the south, where you could stop to eat.

This walk is only about 3.5 miles each way. Last time i went, we saw whales about 500 feet off that beach, although their migratory patterns are seasonal, and we were there in winter.

If you do this, remember that you need to be back at the Bundeena wharf before the last ferry leaves, or you’ll be stranded.

19

Have a check of the weather before you commit to anything away from Sydney. For the last 30 days or so the temperatures have been 30+ (86+) with warm nights. What has made it hard to cope with away from the coast is the almost complete absence of any decent wind. I live in western Sydney but at every opportunity lately I head for the coast. The weather for the next week looks similar with the odd small shower thrown in. The top of the Blue Mountains (Katoomba) is cooler, in fact midweek is forecast to be quite cool - 68F . Weathernzone is good for forecasts and has a nice app.

Whatever you decide have a great time.

20

I didn’t make it obvious that nearer the coast there will invariably be a sea breeze to make life more comfortable.