Katoomba

See and do
The cooler months are idea for taking in the Blue Mountains' revivifying air, bracing walks and panoramic views. Head straight to Echo Point to see those famous Three Sisters and the blue-hazed Jamison Valley stretching 80km into the distance. Start your epic three-hour trek down the Giant Stairway, 300m to the valley floor and west along the bottom of the cliffs, ending at Scenic World, where the Scenic Railway or Scenic Cableway can take you back to the top. While you're there, take the glass-bottomed Scenic Skyway - a 720m mid-air trip suspended 270m above the rainforest. Scenic World, Cnr Violet St & Cliff Dr, Katoomba 2780. Mon-Sun 9am-5pm.

Winter Magic Festival
The biggest event on the Blue Mountains calendar, the Winter Magic Festival is on Saturday 18 June, 2011. It's a day of celebration with local musicians performing, market stalls set up along Katoomba Street, and a parade of maskmakers, dancers, drummers, poets, pantomime artists and choirs. Community artworks are hung in shop windows up and down the strip. A parade leaves from Katoomba Public School with wild and colourful pageantry. Katoomba 2780. 

Eat 
The best meal in the Blue Mountains is to be had at Darley's. Carl Middleton's much-award Modern Australian cuisine is served in a room of stained glass, chandeliers and astonishing views. Lilianfels, Lilianfels Ave, Katoomba. Katoomba is a treasure trove of art deco buildings and chief among them is the famous Paragon Café. If you don't mind paying through the nose then the Paragon is the place to get a Devonshire Tea, a slice of sacher torte and a dose of yesteryear glamour, its darkwood interiors decorated with signed eight-by-tens of forgotten TV stars. 65 Katoomba St, Katoomba 2780. (02 4782 2928). Throughout June, July and August, Blue Mountains restaurants and guesthouses put on Christmas-themed dinners, luncheons and celebrations for Yulefest.
   
Drink
Actor Jack Thompson owns the historic Hotel Gearin where a beer in the historic long bar is a must. 273 Great Western Hwy, Katoomba 2780. (02 4782 4395). Have a gin and tonic in the bar of the stately Carrington Hotel - you'll think you're in The Shining. 15-47 Katoomba St, Katoomba. For cocktails and the best gigs in town go to the Clarendon. This month catch legendary Kinky Friedman and Van Dyke Parkes (8-9 Jun) or Wagons (24 Jun). 68 Lurline St, Katoomba 2780. 
   
Stay
For a luxury stay with a world-beating view, you can't go past Echoes Boutique Hotel & Restaurant. Each of the 10 Deluxe View rooms is equipped with spa and looks straight out across the Jamison Valley. The upstairs bar and dining room combines chic décor with a hearty modern fireplace and sweeping vistas of the valley. Offering a range of spa treatments, the hotel is a couple of minutes' stroll from Echo Point. 3 Lilianfels Ave, Katoomba 2780. (02 4782 1966). For a home-style stay catering to backpackers or budget travellers, there are a range of dorms and private rooms in the old restored guesthouse of No.14. 14 Lovel St, Katoomba 2780. (02 4782 7104).

Get there
Katoomba is a 90-minute drive west from central Sydney. Take Parramatta Road and the M4 Western Motorway and continue onto the Great Western Highway (Route 32), turning off into Goldsmith Place. Blue Mountains trains depart Central hourly or more often and the journey to Katoomba takes two hours.

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