Private Tour: Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves Day Trip from Sydney

This was categorically the worst tour I've ever been on. I'm not sure what the other reviewers who wrote glowing reviews experienced, but I'm absolutely positive it was NOT the same tour I was subjected to. 1 There was NO guide for our tour. Let me repeat - there was NO guide! We were greeted by one person in a Toyota Camry and at that point, we thought he was the driver and the guide obviously. But he did NOT talk to us and did NOT explain anything during the entire trip. In fact, as soon as the trip started, the driver just put on his headphones and started listening to music in private. Once we reached the park, I called the tour service provided by Viator to ask where our guide is. They tell me that the driver is the guide. I tell them how he is completely silent and hasn't explained anything, only for them to tell me - and I'm not making this up - that he might just be feeling shy. At the end of the day, I don't blame the driver. His English was limited and it was clear he was not a guide. He even admitted to us that he usually works as a driver for uber. He was a nice guy, but this is NOT what we paid for. You cannot call this a tour if you don't even provide a tour guide! This is just flat out ridiculous! Calling this a taxi service will be more appropriate. 2 We did not visit the mountain villages of Blaxland, Leura and Wentworth mentioned in the trip description. We didn't even know where it was, since the tour guide was non-existent. 3 When we booked the trip, we specifically said the trip was to start at 8.30am and received confirmation that the trip will start at 8.30am. This is even mentioned in our trip voucher. But the incompetent tour company Viator provided us with sent us the driver at 7.30am and then repeatedly called us in the morning. Once we told them it's supposed to be at 8.30am, they proceeded to INSIST that we were in the wrong since they never received any correspondence from us and that it was apparently 7.30am in their system. So what are they even suggesting? That I'm making this up? Is it my fault that this information is not in their system? Just absolutely unprofessional and a joke of a service. Viator also shares some of the blame here because there's clearly been some kind of miscommunication. Honestly, the only thing I liked about this trip were the locations we went to - Featherdale park, the caves, and blue mountains. Beautiful places. Just know that the tour part of this service did not exist. We saw everything for ourselves with the help of a taxi, that's how I see it. Spend your money elsewhere and avoid this tour like the plague - unless of course, you end up getting lucky like the other reviewers on here did, and get a proper tour with a driver AND a guide. But that is an expensive risk you will have to take.

Would have given it a five but just didn't have enough time to explore the blue mtns. The place is beautiful and reminds me of the Grand Canyon. We didn't have time to hike some of the trails. They have a lot of them and they have a tram as well which we did not have time to go on. Jenoian Caves was interesting. Never been in a cave so big and long. The guide was informative and luckily we were only had 4 of us in the group, usually there are 40. The caves are beautiful and they are well lit. Our tour guide and driver provided by Viator were the best. Although the tour was a full day we were never bored. We learned a lot about Australia, their political system, daily lives and how they differ from America. My best to the guide and driver, Mary and John.