Four Easy Day Trips From Sydney on the Train

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All information in this post is accurate as of the publishing date, however it is always best to check timetables, pricing, or opening hours before visiting a destination or venue.

Sydney is such a wonderful place with SO much to see and do. However if you’ve got a spare day or want to see a quieter part of NSW, we’ve got four amazing day trips from Sydney that you should consider. Even better is that they are all easily accessed via train straight from Sydney Central Station! You could of course also drive to any of these locations if you have access to a car.

If you do choose to catch the train, all of the day trips from Sydney that we recommend are accessible on the Opal network (the payment system for Sydney’s public transport). You can tap on and off with a dedicated Opal Card, or simply with your bank-issued contactless card. If you want to know more about how to use the public transport system in Sydney, we have a post that has everything you need to know!

All four of these day trips we have personally done in one day and while they are long days, they’re all wonderful. So read head to see which ones might be right for you!

If you want to keep train prices down you can travel outside of peak hour times. For intercity trains these times are 6am – 10am and 3pm – 7pm. It’s $3.10 more per journey to travel during peak hour but for a day trip it’s probably just more convenient.

Four Easy Day Trips From Sydney on the Train. A train coming in to the platform with a yellow front and a blue and yellow line on the platform letting people know how far back to stand. Behind the train is a view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, some trees and some apartment blocks.
A Sydney train coming in to the station with the Harbour Bridge behind it. What a cool view!

Blue Mountains

Cost: $7.23 per way on the train outside peak hour or $10.33 per way during peak hour

The Blue Mountains is probably the most famous day trip from Sydney. It is a mountain range that runs for 96km west of Sydney and takes almost 2 hours on the train to reach. The name comes from the blue tint in the air that you can see from a distance. This is caused by the eucalyptus oil from the many eucalyptus trees. We have a whole post about things to do in the Blue Mountains if you’re heading there!

Towns

The main towns that people tend to visit are Katoomba and Leura, both of which are on the train line. They have some wonderful shops and restaurants and are lovely places to spend the night if you’ve got time. If not, its entirely possible to see them both in the same day and have a look around. Leura has one of our all time favourite bakeries called “Bakehouse on Wentworth” that has incredible pies.

Views and Attractions

However the main thing to do on your visit to the Blue Mountains is to see the landscape. Head to the “Echo Point Lookout” that has an amazing view of the Three Sisters rock formation. You can also walk down and across a little bridge into one of them.

Next head to Scenic World which is a tourist attraction with the worlds steepest railway. It also has the Southern Hemisphere’s steepest aerial cable car and a glass skyway that runs between two cliffs. These attractions are cool but the walkway through the forest floor is one of the best and most beautiful bits. Tickets range depending on season but are around $50-$60 per person. It’s best to book online as you have to book an entry time as well. Both the Three Sisters walk and Scenic World can be driven to or easily accessed by bus from Katoomba train station.

A view over a valley in the Blue Mountains, NSW with lots of trees and a mountain in the background. The valley has a blueish tinge and in the foreground are green trees and a cable car line heading down into the valley out of sight "Four Easy Day Trips From Sydney on the train"
The aerial cable car down to the forest
The 3 sisters rock formation in the Blue Mountains, NSW which is 3 sections of rock where the cliff has broken off around them. What's left is 3 huge bits of rock next to each other sticking up on the side of the mountain. Behind the formation is the valley with lots of trees and a blueish tinge and in the foreground is some long green grass and trees "Four Easy Day Trips From Sydney on the train"
The Three Sisters rock formation

Wollongong

Cost: $7.23 per way on the train outside peak hour or $10.33 per way during peak hour

Wollongong is a coastal town about 2 hours on the train south of Sydney. Just outside the train station is the town centre which has some nice independent shops and restaurants. Most of the year there should be lots of people around as Wollongong has a well known university, but during break it’ll probably be pretty quiet.

After walking around town, the best thing to check out is the Flagstaff Point Lighthouse at Wollongong Head. You can’t go inside but it has some wonderful views of the coastline which makes for some great photos. On either side of Wollongong Head are Cove Beach and City Beach which are great to relax on.

Krissie walking along the edge of the ocean on some rocks. In the distance Flagstaff lighthouse can be seen sitting on a headland in Wollongong, NSW "Four Easy Day Trips From Sydney on the train"
Flagstaff Point Lighthouse in the distance
Krissie standing and looking up at a huge kite of a black whale on a big patch of green grass. Behind the kite is the Flagstaff Point Lighthouse in Wollongong, NSW "Four Easy Day Trips From Sydney on the train"
Lots of kite flying when we visited Wollongong

Newcastle

Cost: $7.23 per way on the train outside peak hour or $10.33 per way during peak hour

Newcastle is a great beach town 2.5 hours on the train North of Sydney. The train gets in to Newcastle Interchange and from there it’s an easy walk into the city or there’s a light rail. The city has some great shops to explore and lots of delicious food. If you want a beach, Newcastle beach is a beautiful one right next to the city. However if you’d rather avoid the sand, the Newcastle Ocean Baths are right beside the beach.

Just up from the baths is Fort Scratchley, an old defence building from 1882. You can visit for free 10am-4pm every day except Tuesday and there’s also a great view from it. If you’re there around 1pm, don’t be alarmed by the gun firing done 6 days a week. Just down from the fort is Foreshore Park which is a lovely place to walk around, as well as Nobbys Beach. Across from Nobbys beach is Horseshoe Beach which is a dog beach and is our favourite place to sit and watch all the pups! Lastly, up a very windy walkway is Nobbys lighthouse where there’s a great view back at Newcastle.

A view down to Nobbys Beach in Newcastle, NSW. Behind the beach is a headland with lots of sand and some green plants and at the end of the headland is Nobbys lighthouse. The photos was taken on a hill so the view is taken from above "Four Easy Day Trips From Sydney on the train"
Nobbys lighthouse from Fort Scratchley
A huge sand dune with lots of sand hills and some grass growing on them just outside of Newcastle, NSW. Above the sand dunes is a bright blue sky "Four Easy Day Trips From Sydney on the train"
Stockton Bight Sand Dunes

Stockton Bight Sand Dunes

If you like sand dunes and have access to a car, only a 40 minute drive away from Newcastle is the Stockton Bight Sand Dunes. Thousands of years old, they are the largest moving coastal sand dunes in the Southern Hemisphere. They’re a great place to sand board or just go and experience because it’s such a cool place. If you don’t have a car there are some other great things you can do in Newcastle like whale watching trips or true crime walking tours!

An incredible picture of a sunset in Newcastle, NSW. At the bottom are some black silhouetted trees and above that the sky goes in a gradient from orange, to red, to pink, to purple, to dark blue "Four Easy Day Trips From Sydney on the train"
The most AMAZING sunset we have ever witnessed was in Newcastle (this photo has not edited at all)

Kiama

Cost: $7.23 per way on the train outside peak hour or $10.33 per way during peak hour

Kiama is another great coastal town around 2 hours and 15 minutes on the train south of Sydney. It’s the same train that goes to Wollongong, you just stay on for another 15-20 minutes. Kiama in similar to Wollongong in that it has a small town centre with nice shops and cafes. It also has a headland with a lighthouse that has some great views of the coastline.

Markets

There are two things that make Kiama different, the first of which are the Kiama Seaside markets. These are on 9am – 3pm on the third Sunday of every month and are held along the waterfront. There’s over 100 stalls that sell handmade arts, crafts, jewellery and clothing as well as vintage products, fresh produce and food. It’s a really lovely market if the dates work for you!

Kiama Blowhole

The second thing that makes Kiama worth heading to is the Kiama blowhole, which is out on the headland, not far from the lighthouse. Kiama Blowhole is the largest blowhole in the world and the water can reach 30 meters in the air when there’s a big swell. Out on the headland there is also a visitor centre, a café and lots of lovely picnic spots.

Krissie wearing a black and white striped jumpsuit and standing on some rocks looking out at the ocean in Kiama, NSW. Around her are more brown rocks and the sky and ocean are a brilliant blue colour "Four Easy Day Trips From Sydney on the train"
Along the beautiful coast in Kiama
Lots of stalls set up along the water in Kiama, NSW. There are lots of people walking along the stalls looking at them and some people sitting on the seawall "Four Easy Day Trips From Sydney on the train"
The Kiama Seaside Markets are so wonderful

Which One Should You Choose?

These are 4 great day trip options from Sydney that are easily and cheaply accessed by Sydney’s train system. If you can only do one, our favourites are definitely the Blue Mountains and Newcastle. Depending on if you want a trip into nature or to the beach, both places also have enough to keep you entertained if you want to stay the night. If you do go to any of these places, let us know where you went and we hope you have an amazing time!

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Our favourite travel planning resources

Flights: When planning a trip our favourite websites to compare flights on are Google Flights and Skyscanner. We then personally prefer to go through the airlines official website to book flights.

Travel Insurance: Once you’ve booked flights, the very next step should be travel insurance. We highly recommend booking travel insurance for every international trip no matter the length. For our Australian readers, we use and love Travel Insurance Saver, as they accept one way trips.

Travel Items: We have some favourite travel items that we’ll never set off without. We wrote a post here about the best items that we recommend for all travellers!

Accommodation: For everywhere we stayed, we booked on either Airbnb or Booking.com. Both websites allow you to filter to only show you places in your budget, and pick from inclusions such as kitchen and laundry so it’s really easy to find exactly what you need!

Travel SIM: We used Airalo e-SIMs for data while overseas and loved them. You download the app, pick the plan you want and install it on your phone in less than 10 minutes. Our referral code KRISTE3325 will get you $3USD off your first purchase.

Tours & Activities: We booked all our day trips and some activities through GetYourGuide.

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