Just a stone’s throw from Sydney, the Blue Mountains town of Leura is especially beautiful in spring, with cherry blossom-lined streets, elegant gardens and charming alfresco eateries. This October long weekend, there’s another reason to plan a trip. The annual Leura Gardens Festival is returning for four colourful days, opening the gates to ten spectacular gardens across Leura and nearby Wentworth Falls. Visitors can wander through carefully tended grounds showcasing cool-climate gardens at the height of their spring display. And if you want to make a full day of it, the famous Everglades House & Gardens will also host its own Spring Fest over the long weekend, with tulips, daffodils, rhododendrons, dogwoods and azaleas adding even more colour to the town. With everything from intimate cottage gardens to grand landscaped spaces on display, there’s plenty of inspiration for green thumbs and casual visitors alike. Here’s everything you need to know about the Leura Gardens Festival.
Leura Gardens Festival returns this October long weekend
The gardens will be packed with plenty of spring colour, with tulips, bluebells and peonies flowering alongside vibrant rhododendrons and azaleas. The display extends well beyond flower beds, with cool-climate trees including maples, dogwoods and ornamental cherries also coming into their own at this time of year. There’s plenty of variety between the properties too, with different garden sizes, layouts and planting styles to explore. For keen gardeners, it’s a chance to pick up ideas and see how different plants thrive in the cooler conditions of the Upper Blue Mountains; for everyone else, the scale and beauty of the spring displays is reason enough to visit.
A hop-on, hop-off bus service will run throughout the festival, connecting the gardens with Leura Station with stops in Wentworth Falls and Katoomba. Services are expected roughly every 20 to 30 minutes, with bus tickets available separately for $10 per day. Money raised by the festival supports the Blue Mountains District ANZAC Memorial Hospital and other local health organisations.
This year’s garden line-up includes The Braes, Honeysett, Quantm, Ewanrigg, Fjell Heim and Westholme in Leura, along with Allawah and Carramar in Wentworth Falls. The gardens range from historic estates and established cool-climate plantings to more contemporary landscapes.
Key details
- What: Leura Gardens Festival
- Dates: Friday, October 2 to Monday, October 5, 2026
- Opening hours: 9.30am–4.30pm daily
- All-gardens ticket: $40
- Three-garden ticket: $20
- Single garden: $10
- Children: Free for ages 16 and under
- Tickets: Available online. Get them here.
- Accessibility: Wheelchair users and their carers receive free entry; accessibility varies between gardens, so visitors should check individual requirements before visiting.
Find more information on Leura Gardens Festival website.
Getting there
Leura is around a 1.5-hour drive from Sydney CBD via the M4 and Great Western Highway. Parking is available around Leura, although the town is likely to be busy over the long weekend. By public transport, Blue Mountains Line trains run from Central to Leura Station, with the journey taking around two hours. Plan your trip on Transport for NSW.
