There are trips where days are spent ticking off sights, and then there are trips where the landscape sets the pace. Our Blue Mountains Pack-Free Hiking adventure falls into the latter category: spectacular hikes, ancient geology, Aboriginal stories, good food, charming shops and enough time to simply slow down and enjoy being there. It's a small group too - just 10 of us plus our AW Tour Leader - which means we can move at the landscape's pace.
The Blue Mountains are famous for their dramatic sandstone cliffs, deep valleys and endless eucalyptus forests. But seeing them in photos, or even from a lookout, doesn't quite prepare us for what it feels like to walk through them. The scale is huge, the landscape constantly changes, and, yes, there are a lot of stairs.
Fortunately, the overall experience is very good at making us forget the stairs!
Hiking is, no surprise, the focus of the adventure. Over the course of five days, we enjoy four varied pack-free hikes, starting with the Katoomba Falls Night-Lit Walk. This gentle 1.3 km after-dark walk offers a unique atmosphere and perspective on the landscape.
We then explore the Grand Canyon Walk, surrounded by sandstone walls, lush greenery, rock pools and waterfalls. It's easy to see why this 6.3 km walk is one of the most iconic in the region.
For the Grand Clifftop Walk, we split the trail into two sections (11 km and 8 km) allowing plenty of time to enjoy the spectacular scenery without feeling rushed. The hike follows the dramatic sandstone escarpments, with huge views opening up across the valleys and forests below, including the Three Sisters, the rock formation that has become the unofficial symbol of the region.
And then there are the stairs. They appear when we least expect them, disappear just when we think we've finally finished, and occasionally seem to have been designed by someone who wanted to test our character. But they're also part of what makes these walks so rewarding. The trails take us down into gullies, through rainforest-like pockets of vegetation and back up towards the cliffs, constantly changing our perspective of the landscape.
Find out more about pack-free hiking.
Part of what makes hiking here so fascinating is understanding that we're walking through an incredibly old geological landscape.
The Blue Mountains are largely shaped by sandstone plateaus, cliffs and valleys that have been carved and eroded over vast stretches of geological time. Water, wind and weather have gradually sculpted the dramatic cliffs, canyons and rock formations we see today.
The result is a landscape of contrasts: enormous open views from the escarpments, narrow sandstone passages, deep green valleys and waterfalls dropping into the valleys below.
But why are the Blue Mountains blue? The mountains get their name from the blue appearance that often hangs over the forested valleys. The colour is thought to be associated with the vast eucalyptus forests, which release fine oils into the atmosphere. Combined with the way light scatters through the air, this creates the characteristic blue tint that gives the region its name.
The mountains are also much more than beautiful scenery. They are Aboriginal Country, with a history and cultural connection stretching back tens of thousands of years.
Our guided Aboriginal cultural experience gives us an opportunity to learn more about the people, stories and traditions connected to this land. It adds another layer to our experience of the mountains and helps us see the landscape not just as a place to visit, but as a place with a deep and continuing cultural history.
What makes the trip especially enjoyable is that we don't constantly move from one hotel to another. Staying in one hotel means we can unpack once, settle in for four nights and relax.
We enjoy Devonshire tea at Everglades House & Gardens, a relaxing way to finish our journey. And on a clear night, we head out for stargazing, taking in skies far removed from city light pollution - a fitting way to end days spent surrounded by such old, open landscapes.
In between, there's plenty of time to explore the charming Blue Mountains towns of Katoomba and Leura. We'll enjoy great meals, browse specialty shops and bookshops, and take time to discover the character of each town.
It's this balance that makes the adventure so appealing: big walks and ancient landscapes, fascinating stories and wonderful scenery, balanced with good food, good company and time to simply exhale. And, of course, a few thousand stairs along the way.
Keen to come along? Join our upcoming Blue Mountains hiking tour.