The Blue Mountains on a train from Sydney

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
8
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
3
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
6
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
4
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
4
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
60 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
288th/454
Top 70%
continent
Oceania
country
Australia
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$50 ($25-$75 in 2025 prices)
Time of year visited
January
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Canyons Mountains Train journey
All Tags
Cable cars Cliffs Forests Hiking UNESCO world heritage site Waterfalls
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐

Summary

The Blue Mountains are one of the (many) natural highlights of Australia, with their scenic lookouts over rugged sandstone cliffs, blue-tinged eucalyptus forests and sweeping canyons for some excellent bush-walks.  So it is no wonder they have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The added benefit is that they are very accessible on a day trip from central Sydney, which takes 2 hours to Katoomba and includes some wonderful scenery on the way.  Combined with the mega wows of Sydney Harbour, this becomes one of the top travelling highlights of Australia.

 

Three top tips:

#1 If possible, limit your time in Katoomba – when getting the train, the stop you want is Katoomba which is also where many of the famous sites and activities are, and where the majority of the fellow tourist traffic is.  For sure give yourself the time for Echo Point to see the Blue Mountains’ most famous site – the Three Sisters Rock Formations.  And if the crowds aren’t fierce, aim for the Skyway Gondola and Scenic Railway, especially the 2.5km / 1.5miles forest boardwalk at the foot of the railway.  But see if you can head out of Katoomba to get away from the crowds.

#2 Head to Blackheath and the Grand Canyon Walk – Blackheath is 2 stops up from Katoomba and you find the fellow tourist numbers dropping substantially.  From Blackheath, take a taxi to Evans Lookout and from there its a spectacular 5km / 3miles of the Grand Canyon Walk.  Will take around 3 hours and very much worth it.

#3 Stay overnight – whilst you can easily check out the Blue Mountains on a day trip from Sydney, the best way to experience them is the evening and early morning before the masses of tourists arrive.  Wandering around looking over the distant views of the Three Sisters in the early evening and waking up early to have some of the trails largely to yourself – magical.

 

Highlights

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#1 Walking the spectacular 5km / 3miles of the Grand Canyon Walk from Evan's Lookout

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#2 Seeing the famous Three Sisters from the Echo Point Lookout in Katoomba

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#3 Taking the Scenic Railway literally through parts of the mountains for the forest boardwalk at the bottom

Experiences Nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other Mountain Experiences around the World

Hiking Bhutan’s Druk Path at the end of winter
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hiking the 4 day / 3 night Inca Trail
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Skiing in Niseko
⭐⭐⭐

Trekking the mountains and jungle around Chiang Mai
⭐⭐

Hiking Zhangjiajie National Park
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hiking near the hot springs of Altyn Arashan near Karakol
⭐⭐⭐

Exploring Petra in winter
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Driving the Transfagarasan Highway of the Transylvanian Alps
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hiking around Interlaken
⭐⭐⭐⭐

3 week European roadtrip for mountains and wine
⭐⭐⭐

The Grouse Grind hike and superb views of Vancouver
⭐⭐

Climbing the summit of Cotopaxi Volcano
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

3 very civilised days in Torres del Paine National Park
⭐⭐⭐⭐

A trip to the end of the earth, 4 days in the Tierra del Fuego
⭐⭐⭐

3 days / 2 nights hiking the Quilatoa Loop
⭐⭐⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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