Quote:
Originally Posted by gary
Hi Graham,
For an $18 round trip, a ride on the Manly Ferry from Circular Quay
to Manly and back would have to be one of the world's most scenic
and best value-for-money boat rides.
Walk from the ferry terminal across to Manly Beach and then walk along
the scenic Marine Parade pathway to the idyllic Shelly Beach/Cabbage Tree Bay
picnic area.
A few hundred meters more takes you up to the Shelly Beach Walking track,
a quick circuit of which provides spectacular views from the cliff of the ocean.
Lunch at The Boathouse at Shelly Beach or in Manly or at Manly Wharf before
making the return trip.
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The boat ride is really excellent, but the Manly itself is just a very expensive touristy beach like every other on the world.
For getting to Blue Mountains / Katoomba you can get a train, enough trains run, at least every hour.
Trains are easy and cheap in Sydney (
www.transportnsw.info) (unless you get on/off at the airport which costs you a surcharge of $14) you can buy an Opal card (
www.opal.com.au) without any registration and it is able to be topped up online or in ticket machines at the stations.
Avoid driving into Sydney as traffic is a nightmare, like around the larger European cities.
We were there last February and had a rental car, but we parked it on a rail station of a suburb and continued by train when we wanted to see anything around the city itself..