Visitor Information -- You can pick up maps, walking guides, and other information and book accommodations at Blue Mountains Tourism, Echo Point Road, Katoomba, (tel. 1300/653 408 in Australia; www.visitbluemountains.com.au). The information center is an attraction itself, with glass windows overlooking a gum forest, and cockatoos and lorikeets feeding on seed dispensers. It’s open from 9am to 5pm daily (closed Christmas Day).

The Blue Mountains Heritage Centre, end of Govetts Leap Road, Blackheath (tel. 02/4787 8877; www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au), is run by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and offers detailed information about the Blue Mountains National Park. It’s open daily from 9am to 4:30pm (closed Christmas Day).

Another good website is www.bluemts.com.au.

Timing Is Everything: When to Visit

If you can, try to visit the Blue Mountains on weekdays, when most Sydneysiders are at work and prices are lower. Note that the colder winter months (June–Aug) are the busiest season.

Escorted & Package Tours

Many private bus operators offer day trips from Sydney, but it’s important to shop around. Some offer a guided coach tour, during which you just stretch your legs occasionally, while others let you get your circulation going with a couple of longish bushwalks. Remember, this will be a long day, leaving at 7am or 8am and returning to the city at about 6pm.

Trips with Oz Trek Adventure Tours (tel. 1300/661 234 in Australia, or 02/9666 4262; www.oztrek.com.au) include all the major Blue Mountain sites and time for a bushwalk; it costs A$59 per person. Sydney Tours-R-Us (tel. 02/9498 4084; www.sydneytoursrus.com) runs minicoaches to the Blue Mountains, stopping off at the Telstra Stadium (where the Sydney Olympics were held) on the way. Then you see all the major sights in the mountains and come home via ferry from Parramatta to Circular Quay. The trip costs A$110 for adults and A$85 for kids ages 4 to 12 (not including lunch). Wonderbus Tours (tel. 02/9637 4466; www.wonderbus.com.au) offers a Blue Mountains tour for A$165 for adults and A$113 for kids 3 to 12, including all entry fees and lunch. You also come back by ferry. All these tours include a stop at Featherdale Wildlife Park.

Blue Mountains Walkabout (tel. 0408/443 822 mobile; www.bluemountainswalkabout.com) is owned and operated by Aboriginal man Evan Yanna Muru. This guided walk follows a traditional walkabout song line for about 8 km (5 miles), exploring part of the Blue Mountains wilderness for a full day (about 3 1/2 hr. walking and 4 hr. of relaxation and activities). You’ll see ancient art, ceremonial sites, and artifacts, and hear Dreamtime stories. Also included is ochre-bark and body painting, bush-tucker tastings, wildlife viewing, sandstone cave exploring, and bathing in a crystal-clear billabong (pool) below a waterfall. You should be reasonably fit. Bring wet-weather gear, good boots or walking shoes, lots of water, and lunch. The trek costs A$95 per person (no kids under 7). The walk begins in the Blue Mountains on Faulconbridge Railway Station platform at 10:35am weekdays and 10:45am weekends and public holidays. Take the train from Central Station in Sydney.

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