Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley

Fly into Sydney Airport (SYD), where a driver meets you in arrivals for the half-hour drive to a central hotel near Hyde Park; if your room is not ready, leave your bags and rest in a cafe or the park. At 3 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the lobby for a short briefing, then we walk to Gadigal station, named for the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, on whose land Sydney stands. The Metro takes us under the harbour to Victoria Cross in North Sydney in a few minutes. From there we walk down through Kirribilli, past the houses facing the Opera House across the water, and up onto the Harbour Bridge's eastern footway. The crossing takes about 20 minutes, with the Opera House and Circular Quay below on the left as we walk south, and brings us down into The Rocks, the oldest part of colonial Sydney.

Option plus facile : Skip the bridge walk and meet the group at the welcome dinner; your guide arranges a taxi.

Temps libre : Free until the 3 pm briefing

Activité : About 3 km on foot, with steps up to the bridge footpath at Kirribilli. The airport pick-up covers flights landing by about 1 pm; send us later flights and we arrange the transfer so you join at dinner.

We take the Metro from Gadigal one stop to Martin Place and walk down Macquarie Street, past the colonial sandstone of the Hyde Park Barracks and the Parliament of New South Wales, to the Sydney Opera House, listed by UNESCO in 2007.

Option plus facile : Stay in Watsons Bay over a long lunch while the group walks to the lighthouse.

Option plus active : Walk back from Watsons Bay along the harbour to Rose Bay, about 5 km, and take the ferry from there.

Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

Activité : The Opera House tour climbs about 200 steps in all. The South Head trail is about 2 km return on paths and boardwalk.

This is the full day of the trip, and it starts early. Our vehicle takes us to Bondi at 7:45 am, and by 8 am we are on the coastal walk south, ahead of the sun and the crowds: about 6 km over sandstone headlands, down into Tamarama, Bronte and Clovelly and past the ocean pools, ending at Coogee by about 10:30, with a chance to swim on the way. Then we drive west for about two hours into the Blue Mountains, part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, on the land of the Darug and Gundungurra peoples.

Option plus facile : Walk only from Bondi to Bronte, about 2.5 km, and meet the group at Coogee by van.

Option plus active : Before lunch, walk with your guide from the Leura Cascades picnic area down to the cascades and back (about 1 km return with steps, to be confirmed), while the others go on to the restaurant; the vehicle meets you at the picnic area.

Temps libre : Evening free in Katoomba

Activité : The coastal walk is about 6 km on paths with many steps, and two to three hours on foot. Scenic World involves short walks on boardwalks and standing in cable cars. A full day: if you are tired after the coastal walk, sit Scenic World or Echo Point out at the hotel.

At 8 am, before the day-trippers from Sydney arrive, your guide leads an easy section of the Prince Henry Cliff Walk, the track that runs along the cliff edge between Katoomba and Leura. We go from Echo Point to Katoomba Falls, about 2.5 km on a mostly level path through eucalypt and banksia, with lookouts over the Jamison Valley and Mount Solitary in view, and listen for lyrebirds in the gullies. At about 10 am we leave the mountains and drive about three and a half hours, with a coffee stop, down to the plains and north by the motorway and the Hunter Expressway to Pokolbin, in the Hunter Valley, one of Australia's oldest wine regions, where vines were planted from the 1820s.

Option plus facile : Walk only from Echo Point to the first lookouts and back, about 1 km, and wait at a cafe for the group.

Option plus active : Start at 7 am and walk the cliff track the other way, from Echo Point to Leura Cascades, about 3.5 km, and meet the vehicle in Leura.

Temps libre : Evening free in the Hunter Valley; dinner not included

Activité : About an hour on foot on a mostly level cliff-top path with a few steps. Non-drinkers are welcome at the tasting; ask for juice or sparkling water. Pokolbin has no walkable town: dinner (not included) is at the hotel or a short transfer to a nearby winery restaurant, arranged by your guide and shown at booking, so nobody needs a car.

Option plus facile : Rest at the hotel until the 10:30 am departure.

Temps libre : Free time in Pokolbin before the drive

Activité : Book a domestic flight leaving Sydney after about 3:30 pm or an international flight after about 5 pm, or ask us to add a night in Sydney.