Katoomba is the main town of the Blue Mountains and the natural gateway to one of the most dramatic landscapes in eastern Australia. Perched on the edge of the Jamison Valley about 100 km west of Sydney, it sits within the Blue Mountains National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site covering a vast sandstone plateau cut through by gorges up to 760 metres deep, cloaked in eucalyptus forest that releases a blue-tinted oil haze on warm days, giving the range its name.
The town itself has the slightly faded character of a Victorian resort that was once grander: the Carrington Hotel anchors one end of Katoomba Street with its grand two-tiered verandah, and the Art Deco shopfronts of the Paragon Cafe and the old State Theatre evoke the 1930s heyday when Sydney families came up by train for months at a time. Now the visitors come mostly in a day, and the main street makes its living from coffee, antiques and outdoor gear.
Echo Point is the essential viewpoint, a short walk south of the town centre along the escarpment edge. The Three Sisters — three sandstone pillars rising from the valley floor — stand directly in front of the platform, and on clear days the view extends across ridgeline after ridgeline of blue-hazed forest. This is Gundungurra and Darug country; the Gundungurra story of the Three Sisters tells of three sisters turned to stone by a cleverman to protect them during a battle, the magic that could return them to human form lost when he was killed.
Scenic World, 1.5 km west of Echo Point, packages the valley into four rides: the Scenic Railway (the world's steepest), the Scenic Cableway (the Southern Hemisphere's largest aerial cable car), the glass-floored Scenic Skyway, and a 2.4 km boardwalk through Jurassic rainforest at the valley floor. From Echo Point you can also descend on foot via the Giant Stairway (800 steps, 300 metres down) into the valley, then return by rail — the best way to experience both the drama of the cliff descent and the forest below.
Most visitors come as a day trip, but two nights is a better measure: it lets you do the morning walk before the tour buses arrive, explore the escarpment beyond Echo Point at dusk, and have dinner somewhere other than a packed lunchtime cafe. The neighbouring village of Leura, 3 km east, adds gardens, antique shops and the best food in the mountains.