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High Tea at Ardour Lilianfels Blue Mountains
Ardour Hotels & Estates
Blue Mountains, NSW
High Tea Blue Mountains
High Tea in the Blue Mountains
The two rooms suit different afternoons. The Wintergarden is the grander setting, built for celebrations and larger groups, with a menu that runs from a traditional high tea to an eastern one. The Lounge is smaller and slower, better suited to a quiet table for two or an afternoon with family.
Lilianfels offers high tea surrounded by soft furnishings, warm textures and garden outlooks. The Lounge feels intimate and inviting, shaped by subtle colour, gentle ambience and the charm of a heritage estate. Guests enjoy pastries, savouries and scones prepared with attention to flavour and tradition. The setting encourages quiet conversation and unhurried moments.
Discover moreThe Wintergarden presents high tea within a grand Belle Époque space overlooking the Megalong Valley. Crisp linens, tall windows, ornate details and steady natural light create an atmosphere suited to leisurely afternoons. Tiered stands arrive with delicate creations, allowing guests to enjoy the theatre of the room and the vast horizon beyond.
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Our collection of Blue Mountains High Tea experiences
High Tea at The Hydro Majestic
Independent Retreat Hotels
Blue Mountains, NSW
What does high tea in the Blue Mountains involve?
A traditional high tea runs across three tiers on a silver stand. Warm scones with jam and clotted cream, then finger sandwiches and savouries, then a course of sweet treats and petite pastries. The food is elegant and designed for a long, slow afternoon at the table.
Tea is the centre of it. Pots are poured and refreshed through the afternoon, with blends from Earl Grey and English breakfast to orange pekoe and Darjeeling, and blossom teas that open in the pot. Coffee is served alongside for anyone who prefers it, so the table is never short of something to pour. Sandwiches are neatly filled, and the balance of sweet and savoury keeps the menu generous without becoming heavy.
Many guests add a glass of Australian sparkling wine or French Champagne to mark the occasion. Dietary needs are straightforward to cover, with gluten-free and vegetarian versions available on request at both venues.
The mountain climate suits the ritual. Afternoons are cool and unhurried, the light is long across the valley, and the tables are set to make the most of the view.
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The Wintergarden at The Hydro Majestic
The Wintergarden is the dining room at the heart of The Hydro Majestic, a hotel that has stood on the escarpment at Medlow Bath since the early 1900s. High tea is served beneath floor-to-ceiling windows, with the Megalong Valley filling the view, a fireplace for the colder months and a grand piano at the far end of the room.
The Hydro Majestic opened on 4 July 1904 as the work of retail magnate Mark Foy, built as one of Australia's first grand hydropathic retreats, with construction underway from 1901 on the site of the Belgravia Hotel of 1891. Foy's resort ran on its own steam-driven power, lit four days before the city of Sydney. Its domed casino, shipped in pieces from Chicago, and its art deco detailing earned a heritage listing in 1984, and they still frame the room where high tea is served. The gold and white décor completes a setting that carries a sense of a bygone era, and the panoramic views over the valley do the rest.
High tea here comes in more than one form. The traditional Wintergarden high tea keeps to neatly filled finger sandwiches, petite pastries and scones across the three tiers. There is a gluten-free version, a children's serving and an eastern high tea for anyone after something different. Tiered stands arrive from the hotel kitchen, and a growing share of the produce is grown at the group's own gardens at nearby Blackheath. It is the grander of the two settings, and it takes larger groups and celebrations comfortably.
Menus, sittings and current pricing are listed on the venue's page.
Book high tea at The Hydro Majestic
The eastern high tea
The eastern high tea is the Wintergarden's alternative to the English tradition. In place of scones and sandwiches, it runs to steamed dumplings, twice-cooked pork belly, barbecue duck and rice paper rolls, finished with a selection of eastern desserts and served with the same blossom and specialty teas.
It suits a table that has done the traditional version before, or a group that wants to split the two across the table and share.
The Lounge at Ardour Lilianfels Blue Mountains
The Lounge at Ardour Lilianfels takes a quieter approach. High tea is served among soft furnishings and garden outlooks, with an open fire to one side, in a heritage estate above Echo Point at Katoomba. The room is intimate, and the pace is slow, which suits smaller gatherings and afternoons with family.
Lilianfels was built in 1889 as the summer residence of Sir Frederick Darley, Chief Justice of New South Wales, and named for his daughter Lilian. Darley's Restaurant still occupies the original homestead, and the estate keeps the feel of a bygone era, now part of Ardour Lilianfels Blue Mountains. Scones, savouries and sweets come from the Lilianfels kitchen and are served with a full tea selection.
With the day spa on the same grounds, the afternoon pairs easily with a treatment or a walk out to the Three Sisters lookouts nearby. Read more and book high tea at Ardour Lilianfels Blue Mountains.
High tea for children and families
Both venues welcome families, and the Hydro Majestic runs a children's high tea for ages three to twelve, a smaller serving of sweet treats and savouries pitched to younger guests. Through the cooler months, this runs as the seasonal May Gibbs high tea, themed around the gumnut characters. It makes high tea an easy afternoon for a family occasion, a grandparent's birthday or a school-holiday treat, with the children catered to at their own place at the table.
When to visit
High tea is served every day throughout the afternoon, with weekend sittings starting earlier than on weekdays. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are the busiest, so those are the sittings worth booking ahead. The season changes the room. In winter, the Wintergarden's fireplace and the Yulefest tradition give the afternoon a cold-weather warmth. In the warmer months, the valley view and the long light are the draw.
Planning your high tea
Bookings are essential at both venues, and strongly recommended on weekends and public holidays. Both rooms take group bookings for birthdays, celebrations and family occasions, and both can cater gluten-free and vegetarian options on request when you book. Reservations can be made online or by phone through each venue's page, where you will also find seating times and per-person pricing. If you are making a full afternoon of it, the Hydro Majestic day spa and the escarpment walking tracks are close by, so the high tea can sit inside a longer, relaxed day rather than a single course. On-site parking is available at both properties, and each venue's page has the address and directions to complete your planning.
Getting to the Blue Mountains
The two venues sit close together in the upper mountains. The Hydro Majestic is at Medlow Bath, on the Great Western Highway, and Ardour Lilianfels is a short drive on at Katoomba, above Echo Point. Both are around ninety minutes from Sydney by car, and the mountains line is a straightforward train run if you would rather not drive. That proximity makes it possible to pass one on the way to the other, though each high tea is an afternoon in its own right.
