When Is The Best Month To Visit The Blue Mountains?
Trying to plan the best holiday to the Blue Mountains? Timing is important to nail the experience you’d like to have.
Let me break down the four distinct Seasons we have — and, in all honesty, we love them all.
Summer in the Blue Mountains
Our warmest months are December, January and February — expect daily weather to sit in the mid-20s during these months (and through to mid-March). In Katoomba , it’s usually at least 5 degrees cooler than in Sydney due to the elevation. Now, those of you travelling from warmer places might not think this is that warm, but let me tell you - up here at those temperatures, you’ll want to have a splash in your closest waterfall!
In Summer, the Mountains are at their busiest. Expect to need to plan for all your bookings a few weeks (or ideally months) out. For those that are adverse to colder climes, Summer is possibly the ideal time to explore the Blue Mountains. Although it is our busiest season, the bright weather and many outdoor activities make it a perfect period for travel to the Mountains. Hiking, camping, bushwalking and picnicking are all excellent options to fully enjoy the Summer months.
The Mountains in Summer are hopping with events, festivals and pop-up activities and it is the perfect time to visit with family, friends and children. There is just so much on! A few handy resources for your Summer travel are the Blue Mountains Bushfire Alerts and the Blue Mountains Events Guide. Local advice is always the best for finding the ideal hikes, waterfalls, eats and local activities, so stay with a small business that loves to host - our guide to the best local stays is here!
A delight of dahlias… They grow wildly throughout the gardens of Katoomba Slow and are abundant all Summer long. Image copyright Brittany Millen
Autumn in the Blue Mountains
March to May brings cooler air and a spectacular wash of Autumn colour to the Blue Mountains. It’s one of the most beautiful times to visit when the landscape shifts into those warmer tones, and the bushwalking is a lot easier on the body with crisp and refreshing temperatures. Autumn is also our second busiest season, so expect some friendly company on the popular walking tracks and lookouts (the magic is worth it!).
The Mountains have long been known for their cool climate gardens, and the charming villages - especially nearby Leura - really lean into the season change. Some of our favourite places to soak in the colours are Sinclair Crescent in Wentworth Falls, Wenthworth Street in Blackheath, and the many gardens in beautiful Mount Wilson. Make sure to take your camera and sense of wonder, the golden glow of Autumn magic in the Mountains is incredibly special!
Handy resources for Autumn in the Blue Mountains is this neat little Road Trip Guide and Planner, and our favourite guide for those who love a walk in nature would have to be the AllTrails App (best used on your phone) to find beautiful places to enjoy the outdoors where ever you are on your adventure.
One of our absolute favourite events for Autumn would have to be the Blue Mountains Music Festival which is held in Katoomba each March. It’s an incredible 3 days of Blues and Roots music from local and international artists, held at various venues around the town - all walking distance from Katoomba Slow.
In Autumn Katoomba also welcomes Australia’s premier running trail festival, the Ultra. Expect a lot of runners, spectators and their support crew in town when the scenic and serene little town of Katoomba transforms in May each year.
The gardens of Mount Wilson are an autumnal treasure! Make sure to pack a picnic as there is nowhere to grab a bite while you are there. Photo credited to Leah Wang
Breenhold Gardens would have to be one of the stand out gardens to visit at Mount Wilson - stopping there is a MUST if you chose to take a trip across the ridge from Katoomba. Counting the numbers of magical fairy toadstools we can find (you know the ones: red with the white spots) is one of our favourite things to do when here with the family.
Winter in the Blue Mountains
Winter is my favourite season of them all to visit the Blue Mountains. With the tourist numbers down, and locals hunkering down with good books in front of fireplaces, it can seem like you have the Mountains to yourself at times.
For couples and solo travellers, creatives artists and dreamers - Winter is by far my pick of the seasons here. And I’m not alone. It’s the pick of seasons for the locals that live here for a reason. With wild, moody and ever-changing weather and landscapes, a pinch of otherworldly magic seems to be in the air.
Fun really comes out to play with some incredible festivals held during the winter months, particularly Yulefest and Katoomba’s own Winter Magic Festival.
The average temperatures in the Mountains over the Winter months hover around 5 degrees centigrade and it is the best time to visit if you like snow. Blackheath and Mount Victoria are the most common places that receive early snowfall, and we usually get snow between 3-5 times a year in Katoomba.
Keep in mind that Winter here can get cold and foggy, making the roads slippery and obstructing the views of the Three Sisters and Echo Point (among others). June is our wettest month so perhaps avoid it if you don’t like rain.
Handy resources for Winter travel include checking for road closures due to snow and ice, which can be unpredictable.
The Three Sisters looking magical protruding out of the Winter fog coating the floor of the Jamieson Valley. Sunrise here is quietly magical and can be the best time to get a good view with less crowds. Image copyright Bec Willox @bec_willox
Spring in the Blue Mountains
If you feel like Winter might be a tad crisp for you, my next pick would be Spring - September, October and November. The Mountain gardens begin to bloom again as sunnier days return, and the wildflowers explode into life throughout the bushland of the National Park. In short, everywhere you look is blazing with colour and absolutely stunning!
The Blue Mountains region is famous for its magnificent cool climate exotic gardens. This resource is really handy for listing all the public and private Open Gardens. Our Spring favourites would have to be the Everglades House and Gardens in Leura, the Campbell Rhododendron Gardens in Blackheath, and of course the Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens.
The Garden Festivals during the Spring season are an absolute feature of coming to the Blue Mountains during these months. The Leura Gardens Festival is a standout, as is Rhodo Festival in Blackheath. Totally worth planning your trip around these!
Also if you are an intrepid adventurer, Spring can be the best time to visit the Mountains for you. There are many options for Tours that run across all the usual outdoor activities, including rock climbing, hiking, mountaineering, swimming and biking.
But Spring is not all about the gardens and adventures… There are other events and festivals worth getting excited about as we wake out of our Winter slumber! The Carrington’s Oktoberfest is a delight, and its fun to see people dressed up in their lederhosen and dirndls wandering around the town. The Blue Mountains Writer’s Festival is world class, inspiring and definitely worth a visit.
NSW’s state flower, the Waratah, can be found growing in the wild around the Blue Mountains National Park during the Spring. They are breathtaking! Photo credited to Stephen Irwin
Using the Seasons as a Guide to Where to Stay and What to Do in the Blue Mountains
I loved putting together this little celebration of the Seasons of the Blue Mountains here for you. One of the questions we are most often asked here at Katoomba Slow is, “When is the best time to visit?”.
As you can see, it’s incredible here year-round (and always toasty inside!). The best month and Season for you truly depends on your travel style, and who you are adventuring with. As a guide, I tend to direct families, groups and friends travelling together towards Summer & Autumn, and couples, solo adventures and creatives towards Spring and Winter.
I know with this guide - and the tools included for navigating each Season - you should be well placed to chose the perfect time for you. Whatever your pick, I know you will have the most incredible trip!
