Blue Mountains tour from Sydney

What the tour is

This is a guided day trip, not an entry ticket. A live guide in English takes a small group of up to 20 in a mini coach from central Sydney to the Blue Mountains and back, over about 10 hours. The stops are Scenic World at Katoomba, Echo Point for the view of the Three Sisters, lunch on the all-inclusive option, a wildlife park, and a ferry along the Parramatta River to Circular Quay. Pickup is from set locations in central Sydney, so check which one is yours when you pick a date. Your confirmation shows the start time.

A tour, or your own route?

Choose a tour if you want the driving, the timing and the commentary handled for you. Choose your own route if Scenic World is the main event. Scenic World suggests two to three hours to ride all three rides and walk the rainforest boardwalks, and the tour's own itinerary allows a shorter stop there than that. This is not a flaw, because the tour also fits in Echo Point, a wildlife park and a ferry. It does mean you get a guided version of Scenic World rather than a slow one. If you would rather linger, the train and a pass give you that.

Read next: Scenic World: rides, season, tips

All-inclusive or no lunch

The tour comes in two options. The all-inclusive option has a chef-prepared one-course lunch at a local restaurant in the mountains, with vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and halal choices catered for, and you can pick Featherdale Wildlife Park or Sydney Zoo for the wildlife stop. On the no-lunch option you buy lunch yourself or upgrade on the day, and the wildlife stop is Sydney Zoo. If you like to eat at set times, have a dietary need or care which animals you see, the all-inclusive option removes the guesswork. Snacks and drinks are listed as extras.

• All-inclusive: one-course lunch and a choice of wildlife park
• No lunch: lunch at your own expense, Sydney Zoo
• Both: guide, Scenic World entry, Echo Point, ferry to Sydney

Featherdale or Sydney Zoo

On the all-inclusive option you must tell the operator your wildlife choice at least 24 hours before departure for it to be considered. Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park is at Doonside, near Blacktown, and describes itself as home to more than 2,000 Australian native animals, among them koalas, kangaroos and wombats. Sydney Zoo is the other choice. If your main aim is to see Australian animals up close, ask which park you would pick on your own, then choose that one. Both stops sit in the Sydney area, so they add to the day rather than replace time at the lookouts.

Small group or large group

The tour linked here caps each group at 20 guests and runs a mini coach, so boarding is quicker, it is easier to talk to your guide and there are fewer people at each stop. For a limited time over the Christmas holiday period, the operator also runs a large-group version for up to 50 guests on selected dates, and your ticket is marked Large Group when that applies. It has its own driver and guide. If you are booking for late December, check which size your date is before you pay, because the feel of the day differs.

How the tour handles Scenic World

The tour includes early entry to Scenic World, with the Railway, Cableway and Skyway and a guided rainforest walk, and the operator says groups go straight to the rides and skip some of the general queues. Scenic World itself says waits range from none or a few minutes when it is quiet to 40 to 60 minutes when it is busy, and that every guest has to leave each ride at each station and queue again. On a busy day, that queue handling is the strongest practical reason to take the tour rather than turn up yourself.

Going without a tour

You can do the mountains yourself. Sydney Trains run from Central Station to Katoomba on the Blue Mountains Line. By car it is about 90 minutes and 100 km from central Sydney, with free parking at Scenic World. Scenic World is 3 km from Katoomba station, and local buses and the Explorer Bus stop outside both. Scenic World recommends booking online in advance, and in school and public holidays bookings are often online only. You gain time and freedom and take on the planning, and the wildlife park and ferry are not part of it.

Booking, cancelling and how far ahead

Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the start, with a full refund, and you can reserve now and pay later. Places are limited, because each group is capped at 20, and Scenic World says popular sessions sell out. So book once your date is fixed, especially for school holidays, public holidays and the Christmas period. Nobody publishes which days fill first, so treat any claim about that with care. If your date shows no places, try the days either side. Late arrivals cannot be accommodated, so be at your meeting point early.

Before you pay: a short checklist

A few minutes of checking prevents most problems on the day. Choose your option and your wildlife park when you book, because the park needs 24 hours' notice. Check which pickup location suits your hotel, and keep your confirmation, which holds your start time and meeting point. Add any dietary need straight away. Bring layers and shoes you can manage steps in, because Scenic World's Railway involves stairs and the mountains are cooler than the city. If your group includes a pram or anyone with limited mobility, read Scenic World's accessibility notes first, because the Railway's stairs and the longer boardwalks do not suit everyone.

• Option: all-inclusive or no lunch
• Wildlife park: Featherdale or Sydney Zoo, 24 hours ahead
• Pickup location and meeting time on your confirmation
• Dietary needs, mentioned at booking

Who this isn't for

If you want a slow day at Scenic World with time for all three boardwalks, take the train and a pass instead. If you want to hike the clifftop or valley tracks, a coach tour leaves little time for them, and the national park's walking tracks are better done on your own. If a 10-hour day with a coach and a ferry sounds long, a shorter option may suit you better. And if you use a wheelchair, note that Scenic World does not allow wheelchairs on the Railway, though the Cableway and Skyway are accessible.