Our little village is a hidden gem at the top of the mountains. Start up on the highway with Mount Vic and Me for a range of greeting cards, tea towels and new Blue Mountains Socks made here in Australia. Get your cards read next door at Jennifer Marie’s Psychic Emporium, then head up to Victorious Interiors and The Other Lady where you will find a lovely range of furniture and french interiors.

Curios and collectables abound in the Pop Up Shop, Cobwebbs Collectables and The Gallery. Duck into the Baytree Nursery to see an array of cold climate plants. For history buffs, head to Mount Victoria Museum to see an array of historical pieces including dioramas from The Hydro Majestic and even Ned Kelly’s sister Kate’s bed!

If you are of the adventurous kind you’ll appreciate the bush walks in the area, you can head out to Mount York where Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth famously realised they’d crossed the Blue Mountains. If you walk up to Mount Piddington you’ll pass One Tree Hill – which Mount Victoria was originally named after – and is the highest point in the city of the Blue Mountains.

​​If all you saw of Lawson was the view from the Great Western Highway, you’d be forgiven for cruising right on past its row of anonymous brown brick shops. So it’s a more-than-pleasant surprise to find, tucked away behind the Subways and real estate offices, a veritable village of gourmet delights.
 
Bookended by buzzing Cortado café and a great Thai joint, Maprang, are two bona fide food destinations all the sweeter for feeling like you’ve stumbled on a local secret.
 
Mesa Barrio is the landmark here, with a sophisticated tapas bar vibe and a tight menu of Mediterranean delights including vego-friendly fare such as the signature fried haloumi with oregano, sumac and grilled lemon. Pop in for a quick weekend lunch, or settle in for the evening and work your way through the awesome cocktail menu.
 
A few steps away, Black Cockatoo Bakery is where French baker Alex produces the most fabulously light croissants and pain au chocolat in (possibly) the southern hemisphere, plus the best sourdough west of Alexandria. Lines form before the doors open at 8.30am, and they close when the last loaf sells. Quite literally in this town – you snooze, you lose. 

Smugly tucking your baguette under your arm, bound up the stairs to Rust and Timber Chocolate Bar, where you can warm up over a steaming mug of hot chocolate while pondering which artisan truffle to sample next.

Escarpment Group dining outlets located throughout the Blue Mountains are among Sydney’s finest. With three restaurants shortlisted in the annual Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) awards, besteats.com.au decided to have a closer look at the Escarpment Group’s triumphs on this mecca award night.

Darley’s Restaurant on the Lilianfels Resort & Spa property at Echo Point was this year’s runner-up in the Deluxe Restaurant category to Black by Ezard at The Star. ​​​Finalists for the mid-range category included Escarment Group’s Echoes Restaurant (also situated in Echo Point) and the Wintergarden Restaurant situated in the Hydro Majestic Hotel (Medlow Bath).

The “people categories” form a vital part of the annual awards, which this year saw a record-breaking 320 nominations received from 82 NSW hotels across 34 categories.

Operations Manager for the Escarpment Group Adam Holmes congratulated kitchen and wait staff at all dining venues for delivering consistent food excellence and customer service: “It’s great to see that the Blue Mountains was once again a favoured destination for Regional Deluxe travellers, with our colleagues at Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley taking out top prize for the Regional Deluxe Hotel of the Year and the Fairmont Resort winning Rooms Division Talent of the Year.”

TAA NSW chairman Peter Tudehope said staff were the greatest asset of any hotel, no matter the size or location of the venue: “It is the quality of staff that really make or break a hotel.

“Well-trained, attentive staff are the difference between a routine hotel stay and a unique experience that will be enjoyed, remembered and talked about for years to come. I would like to congratulate all the nominees and all the winners on the work they do each and every day to provide a premium experience to all guests in our hotels – you really do make a difference.”