Cheapest here1,688 reviews
10 hBlue Mountains Small Group All Inclusive Multi Award Winner!
★ 4.8 · 1,688 reviews
- Ten hours, a local guide
- Scenic World rides
- Cheapest here
- Free cancellation
$142$14.20 / hour
Check availability→ Small group
Blue Mountains small group tour: what a minibus of twelve changes about the day
A Blue Mountains small group tour from Sydney puts ten to twenty people in a minibus instead of forty-odd on a coach, and that one change shapes the whole day: where the vehicle can park, which lookouts it reaches, how long you spend at each, and how much of the driver you actually hear. Four of the twelve listings on this site are small-group days, from $142, and one of them is also the cheapest tour here.
Quick answer
A small group tour reaches lookouts a coach cannot park at, walks a rainforest track most coach days skip, and spends more of the day in the mountains than on the motorway. The cheapest listing on this site, $142, is a small-group day with the Scenic World rides included and a ferry home, rated 4.8 by 1,688 people. The coach days start at $149 and carry the most reviews on the page. Both reach Echo Point and Scenic World; the minibus adds the quiet parts in between.
Small group against coach, at a glance
- People on board
- 10 to 20against about 40 on a coach
- Cheapest small group
- $1421,688 reviews at 4.8, ferry home
- Cheapest coach day
- $1494,696 reviews at 4.6
- Our top pick
- $150a coach day with the zoo and a koala photo
- Small group with dinner
- $2118 hours, 305 reviews at 4.9
- Deluxe, ten people at most
- $166koalas, cable cars and kangaroos
- Lookouts the coaches skip
- Lincoln’s Rock, Govetts Leapno coach parking
- Bushwalk on the day
- Most small groupsa track of 30 to 90 minutes
- Hours in the mountains
- about sixof a ten-hour day, on either kind
- Free cancellation
- Up to 24 hon every listing here
Every trip, current fare
Every Blue Mountains tour, by group size
Ordered by fare. The coach days are the cheapest way to see the classic three stops; the small groups cost a little more and go a little further; the private days are priced per vehicle.
| Tour | Length | Price | What is included | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Mountains Adventure: Scenic World, Zoo & Koala PhotoScenic World, a zoo and a koala photo, our top pick | 10.5 h | $150 | Rides + zoo | $14.29 | 4.8 · 2,885 |
| Blue Mountains Small Group All Inclusive Multi Award Winner!The small-group day with a ferry home, and the lowest price here | 10 h | $142 | Rides + ferry | $14.20 | 4.8 · 1,688 |
| From Sydney: Blue Mountains Full-Day TripThe classic coach day, and the most reviewed listing | 10 h | $149 | Wildlife park + Echo Point | $14.90 | 4.6 · 4,696 |
| Blue Mountains Steam Train Tour + 3 Sisters & Scenic WorldA heritage steam train, then the Three Sisters and Scenic World | 11 h | $169 | Steam train + rides | $15.36 | 4.8 · 158 |
| Sydney: Blue Mountains Small Group: Walks, Wildlife & DinnerBushwalks, wildlife and dinner in a small group | 8 h | $211 | Walks + dinner | $26.38 | 4.9 · 305 |
| Sydney: Blue Mountains Scenic World, Wildlife Park and LunchScenic World, a wildlife park and lunch, all included | 10 h | $195 | Rides + lunch | $19.50 | 4.8 · 63 |
| Blue Mountains Tour - Deluxe Small Group Day Trip from SydneyA deluxe small group of ten at most | 10 h | $166 | Rides + wildlife | $16.60 | 4.7 · 19 |
| Blue Mountains day Tour small group from SydneyA small-group day at the lookouts the coaches skip | 9.5 h | $255 | Lookouts + walks | $26.84 | 5 · 20 |
| Sydney: Blue Mountains Private Day Tour with PickupA private day with hotel pickup and your own driver | 10 h | $757 | Private vehicle | $75.70 | New |
| Private Blue Mountains, Scenic World & Wentworth Falls TourA private day that adds Wentworth Falls | 10 h | $889 | Private + rides | $88.90 | 5 · 15 |
| Blue Mountains Tour from Sydney - Full-Day Private ToursA private full day with a Katoomba operator | 9 h | $1,031 | Private vehicle | $114.56 | 4.5 · 8 |
| Sydney:English or German Private Premium Blue Mountains TourA private premium day, in English or German | 8 h | $1,109 | Private, EN or DE | $138.62 | 5 · 2 |
What the minibus changes
Four things that are different by ten in the morning
Parking, minutes, the driver, and the feel of it.
Where it stops. Echo Point has a coach park and a road built for buses. Lincoln’s Rock, Govetts Leap and the smaller platforms above the Jamison Valley have a gravel bay for a few cars. A minibus fits; a coach does not, so a coach day sees the Three Sisters from the busiest lookout in the mountains and moves on.
How long it stops. Getting forty people off a coach, through a lookout and back on takes twenty minutes before anybody has looked at anything. Twelve people are off and back in five. Over a day that difference becomes a whole extra stop, and it is usually the walk.
Who you hear. A coach driver talks into a microphone to rows of seats. A minibus driver talks to the people around them, answers questions and changes the route if the mist is sitting on Echo Point at eleven and lifting at Wentworth Falls.
How the day feels. This is the one people write about afterwards. The Blue Mountains are a World Heritage escarpment a hundred kilometres from a city of five million, and the small-group days are the ones that feel like leaving it.
Book direct
The four small-group days
The cheapest listing here, the walking day with dinner, the deluxe ten-seater and the nine-and-a-half-hour lookout day.
Rated 4.9With dinner
8 hSydney: Blue Mountains Small Group: Walks, Wildlife & Dinner
★ 4.9 · 305 reviews
- Eight hours, in late afternoon sun
- Lunch included
- Bestseller
- Free cancellation
$211$26.38 / hour
Check availability→ 
Max 10 peopleSmall group
10 hBlue Mountains Tour - Deluxe Small Group Day Trip from Sydney
★ 4.7 · 19 reviews
- Ten hours, Scenic World rides
- Three Sisters
- Leura Village
- Free cancellation
$166$16.60 / hour
Check availability→ 
Rated 5.0Small group
9.5 hBlue Mountains day Tour small group from Sydney
★ 5 · 20 reviews
- 9.5 hours, on small group tours
- Scenic World
- Up-close encounters
- Free cancellation
$255$26.84 / hour
Check availability→ What the coach still does well
Four honest reasons to book the bigger bus
A small group is better on most days for most people. It is not better for everyone.
- It is the most proven listing on the site
The classic coach day carries 4,696 ratings at 4.6, more than every small group combined. That is a lot of people who went and said it was fine.
- It reaches the three things people came for
Echo Point, Scenic World and a wildlife park are on every coach day here. If those three are the whole list, the coach delivers it for $149.
- It includes the zoo and the koala photo
Our top pick, $150, is a coach day. The stop at Sydney Zoo and the koala photo are the reason it carries 2,885 ratings at 4.8.
- It is easier with a pram or a bad knee
A coach has steps and a driver who waits; a minibus day includes a track. Families with very small children often prefer the coach for exactly that reason.
Small group, Scenic World rides included, a ferry home and 1,688 reviews at 4.8 — the cheapest listing on this site.
Check dates for the small-group day→The walking day
Why the small group with dinner is rated highest
Tracks, wild kangaroos at dusk, and dinner.
One small-group listing here does something the others do not: it stays out until after dark. The day runs eight hours rather than ten, because it starts later, and it trades the Scenic World rides for tracks — a rainforest walk, a lookout circuit and time on the ground at Echo Point when the coaches have gone.
Then it does the thing most visitors never see. Late in the afternoon the minibus stops at a clearing on the plateau where wild kangaroos come out to graze, and the group watches them from a few metres away as the light goes. Dinner follows before the drive back to Sydney.
It is $211, rated 4.9 by 305 people, and it is the listing we would send anyone who has already ridden a cable car somewhere else.
How to choose between the four small groups
One question each
They are similar on paper and different on the day.
- Do you want the Scenic World rides?
Then $142 or $166. Both include the Railway, Skyway and Cableway; the walking day with dinner does not ride them.
- Do you want to end the day on a ferry?
Then $142. It comes back down the Parramatta River into Circular Quay instead of spending the last hour on the motorway.
- Do you want the smallest group of all?
Then the deluxe day at $166, which caps at ten people and adds a kangaroo stop.
- Do you want to walk more than you ride?
Then the dinner day at $211, or the nine-and-a-half-hour lookout day at $255, rated 5.0 by its first twenty guests.
In short
Blue Mountains small group tour: what to book
The ferry day, the walking day, or the proven coach.
Book $142 for a small group with the rides included and a ferry home. It is the cheapest listing on this site and one of the best evidenced, with 1,688 ratings at 4.8.
Book $211 if you would rather walk than ride, and want the kangaroos at dusk and dinner before the drive back.
Book the coach at $149 or $150 if the three classic stops are the whole list, you are travelling with a pram, or the review count matters more to you than the parking.
Common questions
Small group questions
How many people are on a Blue Mountains small group tour?
Ten to twenty on the listings here, and ten at most on the deluxe day. A coach carries about forty.
Is a small group tour worth the extra money?
On this site the cheapest listing is a small group, at $142, so it is not always extra. Where it does cost more, you are paying for lookouts a coach cannot reach and a bushwalk on the day.
Do small group tours include Scenic World?
Three of the four do. The walking day with dinner trades the rides for tracks and wild kangaroos at dusk.
Where do small group tours pick up?
Central Sydney hotels and a meeting point near Circular Quay, from about seven in the morning.
Which is better for families?
A coach day is easier with a pram or very young children; a small group suits children old enough for a track of thirty to ninety minutes.
Can I cancel?
Yes. Every listing here is free to cancel up to 24 hours before.
What a small group day looks like, hour by hour
The shape of the day on the $142 listing
Times are typical rather than promised; the driver moves them with the mist and the traffic.
- 07:15 — pickup in the city
A minibus at central hotels and a meeting point near Circular Quay. Twelve to twenty people, and the driver has learned everyone’s name by the motorway.
- 08:15 — the wildlife park
Koalas, the kangaroo paddock and a coffee, an hour out of the city and an hour short of the plateau.
- 10:15 — a lookout the coaches skip
Lincoln’s Rock or a platform above the Jamison Valley with a gravel bay and nobody else on it. This is the stop that sells small groups.
- 11:00 — Echo Point and the Three Sisters
The main lookout, the boardwalk to the first Sister, and a section of the cliff track towards Leura while the coach groups queue for the toilets.
- 12:30 — lunch in Leura or Katoomba
Free time on a mountain main street, or a table booked by the driver on the days that include it.
- 13:45 — Scenic World
The Railway down, the Walkway through the rainforest, the Cableway back up, and the Skyway across the gorge. Included on this listing.
- 15:30 — the road down, and the river
To Parramatta wharf and a ferry down the river into Circular Quay with the light going. The coaches are in traffic on the M4 at the same hour.
The ferry home
Why the cheapest listing ends on the water
Parramatta wharf to the Opera House, instead of the motorway.
The last hour of a Blue Mountains day is the least loved: the M4 into Sydney at five in the afternoon, forty people asleep on a coach. The small-group day at $142 avoids it by driving to Parramatta and putting everyone on a RiverCat instead.
The ferry takes about an hour down the Parramatta River, past the mangroves and the mansions and under the bridges, and lands at Circular Quay with the Opera House on the left. For anyone staying in the city it is a better arrival than a hotel car park, and for anyone on their first day in Sydney it is a second sight for the price of one.
It is a small thing that says a lot about how the day is built: the operator found the hour that was dead and turned it into something people photograph. That is the difference a small group tour is selling, and on this site it costs less than the coach.
Go deeper
More on the Blue Mountains
Prices
What a Blue Mountains tour costs
Twelve fares compared, cost per hour, and the charges that are not in the headline price.
VerdictThe best Blue Mountains tour from Sydney
Twelve ranked for one decision, with a straight answer for each kind of visitor.
Tour or trainTour or the train to Katoomba?
What the train day really costs in time and tickets, and when it beats a tour.
Scenic WorldScenic World, explained
The Railway, Skyway, Cableway and Walkway, what a ticket costs, and which tours include it.
Three SistersThe Three Sisters and Echo Point
The rock, the legend, the lookout, and the walk down the Giant Stairway.
PrivateA private Blue Mountains day
What a driver and your own vehicle buy you, and when it is worth five times the price.
