Loz Dee: Day trip to Camden

Today I decided to take a day trip to Camden as I have not been there for a while. Although I ended up near the vacinity on Thursday, I had missed the bus to go there and did not want to wait for the next one so I decided to go home instead. I didn't want to be hanging around the bus stop forever. However, I was more organised today and remembered the bus schedules so that was good.

Before going on any further, I will tell you a little bit about the place. Camden is located approximately 65km South West of Sydney and is located in the Macarthur region. It is the birthplace of wheat, wool and wine industries in Australia. Actually I noticed that on the sign that said "Welcome to Camden",lol.

When I arrived at Camden after a 20 minute bus ride, I decided to walk around the town centre for a bit. I had noticed that comparing to where I live, there are still a lot of old buildings there. Some of the buildings are used for restaurants and dentists. The scenery was nice and green but the majority of the Macarthur region has nice scenery.

I also had a look around the shops and the customer service here is great as I was outside one of the shops and the shopkeeper there automatically greeted me and told me about the specials that they were having. I do not experience too much great customer service these days so this was a change. They had some nice cardigans but not in my size. As it was getting cooler, I decided to grab a coffee as it warms me up.

I walked around the town centre for another hour or so before leaving to go back home. If it was a bit warmer, I would of have loved to have gone out of the town centre but it was sooooo cold for that today. Brrrrr!!!!!

Me waiting in the cold for the bus:

How to get there:

If you are taking public transport, take the Airport and East Hills Line or the South Line and get off at either Campbelltown or Macarthur stations and catch either the 890 or 895 bus which takes you to Camden. You could also get off at Picton if you are coming from the Southern Highlands but the bus there does not come that often and it is also a 15-20 minute walk from Picton station to the town centre.

If you are driving there, it depends where you are coming from. From the city take the M5 & Hume Highway and get off at the Appin Road exit and drive through Narellan Road until you see the Camden bypass, Turn left when you see the Camden bypass and that should get you to Camden. However, if you are coming from other parts of Western Sydney such as Penrith or Richmond, take the Northern Road until you approach the Camden bypass. As for those coming from Liverpool and surrounding areas, take the Camden Valley Way and then the Camden bypass.

What to see:

The historic properties in Camden are worthwhile seeing. Unfortunately I didn't get this opportunity today but from the historic buildings I have seen, it is definately worth it.

The town centre would be the first place that you will see for many of you. There are many shops there such as craft shops and a few clothes shops but for the fashionistas out there, it does not have a wide array of fashion shops that you would find in other places. Also there are a lot of cafes there as well. There are also a suitable range of food choices for everyone such as pub style, Chinese, Indian and Thai.

Although this is not directly in Camden but in Mount Annan, the botanic gardens are worth seeing if you are into gardens.

Conclusively, Camden is a place that is worth seeing as it has many historic houses as well as beautiful scenery. Also as far as I know, not as many tourists visit there as the Blue Mountains so you will be seeing something unique and the best part of it is that it is still in Sydney but you do not feel like you are in Sydney.