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→ The verdict
Is a Blue Mountains day trip worth it? The honest answer
For almost anyone with a spare day in Sydney, yes, and the reason is simpler than the scenery: the three things people go for sit in three different places, and a Blue Mountains tour is the one way to reach all of them between breakfast and dinner. The Three Sisters at Echo Point, the rides at Scenic World, and a koala at a wildlife park on the plains. There are two cases where we would choose differently, and we set them out below rather than burying them.
Quick answer
Worth it if you have a full day and want the Three Sisters, Scenic World and a koala in one go from your hotel door. Worth choosing the train instead if you have two days, want only Katoomba, and are happy to skip the wildlife park. Worth a private day only if there are four of you or you have a list of your own. The cheapest Blue Mountains tour here is $142 with 1,688 reviews and the Scenic World rides included.
The verdict, in numbers
- Cheapest listing
- $1421,688 reviews at 4.8
- Our top pick
- $1502,885 reviews at 4.8
- Most reviewed
- $1494,696 reviews at 4.6
- Reviews across all twelve
- 9,859weighted average 4.7
- Distance from Sydney
- About 100 kman hour and a half each way
- The day
- 8–11 hourshotel to hotel
- Places covered
- 3Echo Point, Scenic World, a wildlife park
- By train instead
- 2 hours each wayto Katoomba, then a local bus
- Scenic World rides
- Included on moststated on every card
- Free cancellation
- To 24 hoursevery listing here
The case for
Three places, one day, one pickup
Three places, and the plateau between them.
The geography decides it. Echo Point and the Three Sisters are in Katoomba, on the plateau. Scenic World is a few kilometres away. The koalas live at Featherdale or Sydney Zoo on the plains, forty minutes back towards the city. A tour links all three with one vehicle and one pickup.
The escarpment earns the day. A World Heritage sandstone plateau cut by valleys 600 metres deep, with the eucalyptus haze that names the range hanging over every one of them. From Echo Point you look across the Jamison Valley to Mount Solitary with nothing built in between.
Scenic World is the part children talk about. The steepest passenger railway in the world at 52 degrees, a glass-floored cabin 270 metres above the valley, and a rainforest boardwalk at the bottom. Most listings here include all of it in the price.
And it costs $142. For transport, a guide, the rides and the wildlife park, from a Sydney hotel and back, that is a full day for the price of a good dinner for two.
The case against
Two situations where we would choose differently
The train for two-day walkers; private only for four.
Take the train if you have two days and want only Katoomba. Sydney to Katoomba is about two hours by rail from Central, and a local bus from the station reaches Echo Point and Scenic World. It is cheaper, it is slower, and it is a good day for walkers who want the Prince Henry Cliff Walk at their own pace. The wildlife park needs a separate day, and the Scenic World ticket is extra.
Book a private day only if the numbers work. From $757 for the vehicle, a private day is five times the coach price for two people and roughly the same per head for four. It goes where you ask, reaches Blackheath and Wentworth Falls, and skips the queues. For a couple who want the standard stops, the small-group listings deliver most of the same freedom at a fifth of the price.
The other small case: it is a ten-hour day with three hours on the road. If you have one day in Sydney and the harbour is the reason you came, spend it on the water and come back for the mountains next time.
Book direct
If you decide it is worth it
The cheapest, our top pick, the small group with dinner, and the best-evidenced private day.
Our top pick2,885 reviews
10.5 hBlue Mountains Adventure: Scenic World, Zoo & Koala Photo
★ 4.8 · 2,885 reviews
- Ten and a half hours, including Scenic World and waterfalls
- Free koala photo
- Harbour ferry cruise
- Free cancellation
$150$14.29 / hour
Check availability→ 
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→ 
PrivateWentworth Falls
10 hPrivate Blue Mountains, Scenic World & Wentworth Falls Tour
★ 5 · 15 reviews
- Ten hours, Preferred Pickup/Drop off
- Scenic World Rides
- Hidden lookouts
- Free cancellation
$889$88.90 / hour
Check availability→ Four ways to make the day worth it
If you are going to spend the money
These separate a good day from a long one.
- Book the small group if you can
A minibus of ten to twenty reaches lookouts the coaches cannot park at, and on this page the small-group day is also the cheapest listing.
- Go in spring or autumn
The clearest air on the plateau, mild days, and running waterfalls. Winter mist usually lifts, but spring never has any.
- Do Echo Point before Scenic World
Morning light on the Three Sisters, and a shorter queue at the Railway after lunch. Most operators run it this way.
- Take the ferry home if the listing offers it
Fifty minutes down the Parramatta River past the harbour is a better last hour than the motorway, and it lands you in the city.
1,688 reviews at 4.8 — a small group with the Scenic World rides included and a ferry home, and the lowest price on this page.
Check dates for the cheapest day→In short
A Blue Mountains day trip: worth it, with two exceptions
Yes for the day, the train for two, private for four.
Yes, if you have a full day. The Three Sisters, Scenic World and a koala sit in three different places, and a Blue Mountains tour is the one way to reach all three from your hotel door between breakfast and dinner.
Take the train instead if you have two days, want only Katoomba, and would rather walk the cliff tracks at your own pace.
Book a private day only if there are four of you or you have a list of your own; for a couple, the small-group listings buy most of the same freedom at $142.
Common questions
Is it worth it?
Is a Blue Mountains day trip from Sydney worth it?
For most visitors, yes. The Three Sisters, Scenic World and the wildlife park are in three different places, and a tour reaches all three in one day.
What is the cheapest way to do it?
$142 for a small-group day with the Scenic World rides included and a ferry home, 1,688 reviews at 4.8.
Is the tour better than the train?
For one day and all three places, yes. The train suits a two-day visit focused on Katoomba and the walks.
Is a private tour worth five times the price?
For four people or a list of your own, it can be; the price is per vehicle. For a couple, a small group buys most of the same freedom.
Will I see the Three Sisters?
Almost always. Winter mist can hide the valley for an hour or two in the morning and usually lifts by eleven.
What would you book?
$150 for the rides, the zoo and a koala photo, or $142 for the small group and the ferry.
Three people who should book, and two who should think again
Stated as plainly as we can
If you recognise yourself in the second group, the train is a good day too.
- Book if you have one spare day in Sydney
A Blue Mountains tour is the one way to see the escarpment, the rides and a koala in that day.
- Book if you are travelling with children or grandparents
Hotel pickup, a guide, the rides and the animals, with no train timetables to manage.
- Book if you want the day organised
Twelve listings, every one with free cancellation, from $142.
- Think again if you have two days and want to walk
The train to Katoomba and the Prince Henry Cliff Walk at your own pace is a fine day, and cheaper.
- Think again if the harbour is why you came
It is a ten-hour day with three hours on the road. Spend a single day on the water and come back for the mountains.
What people say afterwards, across 9,859 reviews
Four themes that repeat
Read across the ratings, the same points come up again and again.
- The Scenic Railway
Mentioned more often than the view. The 52-degree drop is what people tell their friends about.
- The guide
On the small-group days especially: the commentary on the drive, the lookouts a coach never reaches, and the pace.
- The koala photo
The stop people came for, and the reason the wildlife park sits first in the day.
- The long day
What the mixed reviews mention, almost without exception. Ten hours with three on the road, and nobody says it was not worth it.
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.
Small groupSmall group or coach?
What a minibus of twelve changes about the day, and what it does not.
