SYDNEY day trips out of the city
 

I'm planning to rent a car and do a 1-day Grand Pacific Drive from the Royal National Park to maybe Wollongong. Instead of using the same road back to Sydney, is there an alternative route you'd recommend to return to Sydney?

if you're going all the way to Nowra you could return via Bowral (Southern Highlands) and complete your trip by taking the Hume Highway into Sydney. Driving time is about 2.5 hrs and the first hour will get you to Bowral.

That sounds good, thanks a lot! Looks like it isn't as long as I envision it to be.

Would it be too ambitious if I were to also make a quick detour into Blue Mountains, just to do a quick sightseeing / taking of photos, since I'd have the car for a full day? This would be after using your suggested drive to take the Hume Highway into Sydney.

I'm not sure why you would go all the way to Nowra, because I would take the Macquarie Pass from around Dapto to go to the Southern Highlands.

If you want to go to Nowra then you might as well stop off at the Fitzroy Falls (or one of the other falls around that area) on the way to Moss Vale, but beware - there are gravel roads in that area

To me going west and south/SW from Sydney are 2 separate trips.

Depending on when you start, and the season, it may be too dark to see anything by the time you get to Katoomba. Also you would need to pay the M7 toll to avoid wasting time. Wouldn't you rather spend the day walking around the places you drive to instead of sat inside the car?

I'm planning to do this late March, either on a Thursday or Friday. You do have a point. I've looked up places of interest along the Grand Pacific Drive, and there does seem to have plenty of places to do a quick pit-stop. Might even drop by Jervis Bay for the renowned white beach if we've time.

Another alternative (and I have done this MANY times myself,. and it is well worth it) is to get to the Hume Freeway, go to Goulburn, then head up through Oberon, eventually meeting the Great Western Highway near Hartley. This will bring you back through the Blue Mountains to Sydney. via Katoomba.

you'd probably want to schedule a night in the upper Blue Mountains though as it will be a bit of a drive from Goulburn to Hartly via Oberon. although you might be able to schedule a Jenolan Caves visit in with that.

Dave

Sydney to Nowra to Bowral & back to Sydney is way longer than 2.5 hours. IMHO, it's more like (& these times are approximate), Sydney to Wollongong is 1 hr, Wollongong to Nowra, almost an hour, Nowra to Bowral (going through Kangaroo Valley) is about an hour - and it's two winding country passes, so, not a relaxing drive - then Bowral back to Sydney is another hour.

I could see doing Sydney to Wollongong (Royal National Park, Grand Pacific Drive), then to Albion Park (southern most suburb of Wollongong), up Macquarie pass (8 winding kilometers) through Robertson (where the movie Babe was filmed), along the Illawarra Highway, then turning to go through Bowral (upscale yuppie country town where wealthy Sydneysiders have their weekend homes) and getting back on the Hume Highway to Sydney. That's probably about 2.5 to 3 hours driving.
If you wanted to make it a bit longer, and more "country" you could keep going south on the Princess Hwy past Wollongong to Kiama, (and see the only blowhole in the Southern Hemisphere) which is a pretty seaside village with a nice harbour - then possibly visiting Minnamurra Rainforest - if you'd like to walk through the rainforest, then travel via Jamberoo (small rural country village) up to Robertson (visiting the Illawarra Flywalk on the way - a walk high up in the rainforest), and connect with the Illawarra Hwy there (near the top of Macquarie Pass) and carry on to Bowral and Sydney.
If you pass through Robertson the Bakery (now called Southern Rise, or something similar and when I was in there today I saw it now has an area attached with seating) is a great little bakery, and Pizza in the Mist offers really good wood-fired pizza's (but, possible only in the evening, my memory fails me- they do have a website). There is also Robbo pub (the Robertson Hotel) And, just a few miles past Robertson on the Illawarra Hwy, you'll see a turn-off to Burrawang, it's only a couple of kilometres detour, and a great little country pub.

To the OP, have a look at a map, check out some websites, and see what appeals. North of Wollongong, at Helensburgh, there is Symbio Animal Park, if you need a dose of kangaroos & koalas, in a smaller more relaxed setting than some other parks.

Heading south from Sydney, then to the Southern Highlands is a full day, but, you can see a variety of scenery - coastal, rural, highland, and more generic "australian bush". It is a full day - you should stop & get out the car, not just drive. Trying to include the Blue Mountains would not make a lot of sense, and would be an exhausting day spent at the steering wheel.

I grew up in Wollongong, then moved to Robertson, so know the area well.

The driving time of 2.5 hours is just the return from Nowra to Sydney. The drive South will vary more with your stops and spped (or slowness to take in the views). I would save the Blue Mountains for another day.

A couple of day trip questions that I'm hoping someone on here can add some color too. I'm trying to do a day trip to the Blue Mountains and a day trip to Hunter Valley at the beginning of April during my time in Sydney. I'm traveling by myself if that has any impact on these.

I've narrowed down to a couple options for each based on TripAdvisor but I'm always a little wary of relying solely on that. I did a search on FT and didn't find much so I'm asking here. All of these are day tours with varying pricing. I'd prefer to keep the price down but am willing to move a little to a higher priced tour if the value is there.

Blue Mountains:

1) Blue Diamond Tours
2) Anderson's Tours
3) Blue Ribbon's Day Tour
4) Boutique Tours

Hunter Valley

1) Kangarrific Tours
2) Boutique Tours
3) Hunter Valley Wine Tasting Tours

For Hunter Valley - I don't have a tremendous amount of knowledge about wine, but I do enjoy drinking it and expanding my knowledge and palette. I would also want to be on a tour that focuses on trying something local that I can't easily get here in the states.

Thanks all in advance

For the Hunter my own preference would be whichever tour takes in more smaller boutique wineries. Wherever you go there you'll be treated to great wines and knowledgeable people, but at the smaller places you'll be more likely to be tasting with the owners of the vineyards who will have a passion for what they are doing, rather than employees of a big company. For example, McWilliams have some lovely wines (my favourite is the Elizabeth Semillon), but if you visit Marsh Estate (long time ago, it mightn't still exist but just an example) you'll likely be talking to Mr or Mrs Marsh or one of their adult kids and you'll try some wines that you won't be able to taste or buy at every bottle shop in the country.

I was born and raised in Katoomba, so it's hard for me to comment on a tour to the Blue Mountains. If it's a day trip, I'd tend to do the one that fits the least in, a trip to the Three Sisters and Scenic World or whatever it's called these days is probably enough, a long leisurely stroll through the valley at the bottom of the Scenic Railway is great. The food at Scenic World is nothing to write home about, so if that is a selling point for any of the tours then ignore that! A meal at one of the pubs in the Mountains would be great - Grandview at Wentworth Falls, for example. All thing being equal I'd probably go for the tour that has the most comfortable looking seats on the bus, if there are traffic problems between Lawson and Katoomba you might be spending quite a while in your seat.

I know the Three Sisters is the big wow place in the mountains, but I've always thought the best view up there is from Govett's Leap.^

I think he meant the drive back from Nowra.

Thanks for the detailed reply Auscal! I've noted down some of the things you mentioned. Indeed, putting Blue Mountains together in one day wouldn't make sense. I think I'll probably go down all the way to Kiama, and make a couple of stops. The official site for the Grand Pacific Drive did have some suggested things to do.

Symbio Animal Park sounds interesting as well. I've been teaching my youngest brother (who has Down's) the words for koala and kangaroo, and it would be a fantastic real life lesson for him to meet these animals he has only seen in pictures.

Perry's Lookdown easily better.

Dave

Ahh, that makes more sense :-) I'l glad you clarified, I'm sure it will help the OP in his plans.