Our Christian Tour Leaders, Greg & Daylle Mallin, are looking forward to sharing this very special holiday with you. It will be a relaxing break filled with fun, fellowship and Christmas spirit. Our destination is the beautiful Blue Mountains, a World Heritage-listed National Park which has been beloved by visitors for over 100 years. Our CFT Founder, John Cronshaw, established our family business here in 1974 and we love welcoming people to our “backyard”.

Named “the city within a National Park” the population of the Blue Mountains is actually spread across a string of small towns and villages, each with its own local walks and attractions. We stop in charming Leura Village for the famous Devonshire Tea at Bygone Beautys, home of the Treasured Teapot Museum. Enjoy some time at leisure to browse the shops and boutiques or enjoy a visit to the famed Josophan’s Chocolates. A scenic drive takes us through to Katoomba’s iconic Echo Point where we stop to say hello to the Blue Mountains’ most famous residents, the Three Sisters.

Our home for the next 4 nights is Medlow Bath’s glorious Art Deco Hydro Majestic which overlooks Megalong Valley. Learn all about this iconic hotel on a history tour, hear about Mark Foy’s grand vision to the Hydro’s many distinguished guests and its famed parties. We then come together for pre-dinner fellowship and enjoy our first Group Dinner, a time to catch up with old friends and make new connections.

The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area covers 10,000 sq km and today is a chance to experience some of its natural beauty and to wonder at God’s creation.

We travel to the historic Zig Zag Railway to soak up the scenery and the the sights, smells and sounds of Australia’s rail heritage. Enjoy a 90-minute ride on a steam locomotive as it hauls up over the Great Lithgow Zig Zag (built in 1869).

Return to the Hydro for a chance to refresh before a Christmas Eve service at Holy Trinity Church in Wentworth Falls. Enjoy dinner within an historic church, now the Bowery restaurant, before we go in search of festive Christmas Lights.

Only one more sleep!

Christmas Morning and a time to rejoice in Christ’s Birth; this morning we will visit Blackheath Baptist Church to enjoy a Christmas Day Service together.

After worship we return to the Hydro for presents – don’t worry about buying anything, you will find gifts under the tree. Enjoy being part of the CFT Family celebrating this blessed time together as we share a delicious Christmas Day lunch.

After lunch you may want to relax and spend time in fellowship with new friends. For those of you who are feeling more energetic you can take the train one stop to Katoomba and ride the Blue Mountains Explorer Bus; we have included this Hop on and Hop off service so you can follow your own interests and visit attractions at your leisure from Katoomba to Leura including Echo Point and the Three Sisters, waterfalls, cascades, lookouts and bushwalks.

After our big Christmas Lunch, we will enjoy a light dinner together – fellowship, friendship and fun is what a CFT Family Christmas is all about.

It’s Boxing Day and we still have lots of delightful experiences to unpack.

Feel like a kid again when we visit Scenic World; this beloved local attraction is home to the world’s steepest Railway, a Skyway (with partial glass floor) and Cableway, as well as a boardwalk to explore the valley’s temperate rainforest.

We travel to Blackheath for lunch and take a trip down memory lane as we visit Victory Theatre Antique Centre; browse the 50 stalls offering jewellery, books, vintage clothing, paintings, dolls, furniture and bric-a-brac – who knows what treasures you will unearth (“Didn’t Grandma have one of those?”).

Take time to admire the view from Govett’s Leap Lookout across the beautiful Grose Valley and learn more about the region’s ecology at the Blue Mountains Heritage Centre run by NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service.

Enjoy a final Group Dinner in the Grand Dining Room at the historic Carrington Hotel, sharing fellowship and our favourite moments of this Christmas tour.

Enjoy a final breakfast looking out over the Megalong Valley before we join a local congregation for Sunday worship. We are heading back to Sydney via the scenic Bell’s Line of Road. At Mount Tomah we visit Australia’s highest cool-climate botanic garden; nestled among alpine rainforest it features thousands of plants from the southern hemisphere and around the world and boasts stunning panoramic views.

We travel through Bilpin – “Land of the Mountain Apple” – as we drive back towards Sydney. We say farewell to our friends and return home blessed with many wonderful memories of this very special Christmas celebration.