Experience the Real Australia. As a proud part of Sydney’s largest selection of signature private tours, this 12-hour journey takes you through time, geology, and wildlife.

Escape the city and discover the heart of regional New South Wales. This luxury private tour takes you to the magnificent marble caves of Wombeyan and Australia's first inland city, Goulburn. It is a genuine connection with the Australian bush away from the tourist crowds.

🚧 Jenolan Caves are closed — so Wombeyan is your only cave option near Sydney. With the famous Jenolan Caves shut for major flood-repair works (closed since April 2024, with a reopening only planned for the second half of 2026 and not yet confirmed), Wombeyan is currently the only show-cave system open within reach of Sydney — and with its rare marble caverns, many travellers find it the more beautiful of the two.

Tour Highlights:

  • Rare Marble Caves: One of only a handful of marble cave systems on Earth — and the only show cave open near Sydney while Jenolan is closed.
  • Guided Cave Tour: A 1.5-hour guided tour through one of the four spectacular marble show caves.
  • Historic Berrima: Australia's best-preserved Georgian village — courthouse, gaol, antique shops & cafes.
  • Wild Kangaroos & Wallabies: Guaranteed sightings in their natural habitat, plus wombats at dusk.
  • The Big Merino: A classic Australian "Big Thing" photo opportunity in Goulburn.
  • Historic Goulburn: Australia's first inland city and its rich colonial heritage.
Marble Wonder: Wombeyan Caves are unique because they are formed in marble (metamorphosed limestone), giving the rock formations a distinct white and crystalline appearance found nowhere else in the region.
Wildlife Haven: The Wombeyan Caves reserve is a sanctuary for wildlife. You will almost certainly see mobs of Eastern Grey Kangaroos and plenty of wallabies grazing peacefully on the lawns, and wombats waddling around at dusk.

Your Full Day Itinerary:

07:30Pickup from your Sydney hotel. Drive south-west to the Southern Highlands.
09:00Berrima: Explore Australia's best-preserved Georgian village — historic courthouse, gaol & antique shops — with a stop for coffee or breakfast at one of Berrima's charming heritage cafes.
11:00Wombeyan Caves: Arrive at the reserve. Wildlife spotting (kangaroos, wallabies, wombats) & picnic.
13:00Guided Cave Tour: A 1.5-hour guided tour through one of the four spectacular marble show caves. (Cave entry ticket ~A$33 per person, paid on the day.)
14:30Drive to Goulburn through the rolling Southern Highlands countryside.
16:00The Big Merino & late lunch in historic Goulburn, Australia's first inland city.
17:30Return drive to Sydney via the Hume Highway.
19:30Arrive back at your hotel.

Duration: 12 hours. 🕒 A$125 per each additional hour (1-7 guests) / +A$225 (8-19 guests).

The Story of Wombeyan Caves

A rare marble cave. Most of the world's caves are dissolved out of ordinary limestone — but Wombeyan is different. Here the rock was recrystallised by immense heat and pressure into solid marble, making this one of only a handful of true marble cave systems on the entire planet. The smooth, shimmering walls are streaked with rich oranges, pinks and reds where iron oxides have seeped through over the ages. The marble foundation is staggeringly ancient — over 400 million years old — yet the hollow caverns themselves are "brand new" by comparison, carved out by water only within the last few million years.

What "Wombeyan" means. The name comes from the language of the Gundungurra (Gandangara) people, the Traditional Owners of this country, and is usually translated as "home of the wombat" — fitting, as the very wombats that named the valley still waddle across the reserve at dusk. (Other translations render it as a "grassy valley between the mountains," or simply a "tunnel.")

A Dreamtime creation. In Gundungurra Dreaming, the caves of Wombeyan and nearby Jenolan were torn open during an epic chase. Gurangatch, a giant eel-like being and an incarnation of the Rainbow Serpent, was pursued across the land by Mirragang, a fierce native quoll. To escape, Gurangatch burrowed deep beneath the mountain ranges — gouging out the vast tunnels, caverns and underground rivers we explore today.

European history. Settlers searching for grazing land stumbled upon the great marble openings in 1828. In 1865, Charles Chalker became the first official caretaker and guide, going on to discover the Wollondilly, Kooringa and Mulwaree caves. For over fifty years visitors explored the chambers by flickering candlelight and magnesium flares; a small hotel opened in 1900, and electric lighting finally arrived in 1928. Today the whole area is protected as the Wombeyan Karst Conservation Reserve.

Related Tours You May Like: