Townsville Australia
is the largest
city in north Queensland.
The second largest city in Queensland,
Townsville claims to be
the “Capital of North
Queensland”.
With a population more than twice of
that of Cairns,
it has got some excellent
museums, parks and beaches, as well as good dining and nightlife.
Magnetic Island is just off the coast, and the
Great
Barrier Reef a two-hours trip
out to the ocean.
Castle Hill. by
Hot Meteor via Flickr.com
Castle Hill of Townsville Australia
The most obvious feature of Townsville is the Castle Hill right in the
middle of the city centre. You can drive or walk up the hill, there are
some excellent views of the city with Magnetic
Island in the background.
The central city is around the mouth of Ross Creek.
East of it is South Townsville with many of the town's best restaurants
on Palmer Street, a few good pubs, hotels and the Transit Centre - the
place where you arrive if you travel by long-distance buses.
The Brewery.by
John Skewes via Flickr.com
Flinders Street East in Townsville
Australia
West of the Ross Creek (which you either cross by Dean St Bridge or the
pedestrian Victoria Bridge), is the Flinders Street. In the
north-eastern end towards the ocean it is called Flinders
Street East, which is the hub of the town’s nightlife,
with many Townsville pubs and nightclubs, but also some good
restaurants.
Flinders Street East.by
alex1derr via Flickr.com
Flinders Street West and Flinders Street Mall
Towards south, across Dean Street, it turns into a
pedestrian shopping mall, Flinders Street Mall,
with shops, banks, a few eateries, and the central
tourist information centre. On the mall
are also the weekly Cotters Market on
Sunday mornings. South-west of the mall the Flinders Street is known as
Flinders Street West, where there are a few shops, pubs and
restaurants, and the central train station.
Victoria Bridge.by
kool_skatkat via Flickr.com
Reef HQ Aquarium - Townsville Australia
The town’s best museums are the famous Reef HQ Aquarium, Museum of
Tropical Queensland and Townsville Maritime
Museum. The Townsville Maritime Museum is on Palmer Street in
South Townsville, while the other two are on Flinders Street East, on
the bank of Ross Creek. The Reef HQ Aquarium
is a beautiful miniature version of the Great
Barrier Reef with its many
species of coral
reef
animals.
Reef HQ.by betta design via Flickr.com
Museums of Townsville Australia
The Museum of Tropical Queensland has a lot of displays about the
history of north
Queensland, its people
including Aboriginal
people and
early Europeans and also the sinking of HMS Pandora.
Museum of TNQ by scampiferous via Flickr.com
The Townsville
Maritime Museum tells the story of SS Yongala that sank
in
1911 in a
tropical
cyclone. It lies in the
ocean bottom south of Townsville (near Ayr) and is very popular with
divers.
Maritime Museum.by
scampiferous via Flickr.com
The Strand in Townsville Australia
On the northern coast of Townsville, west of the mouth of Ross Creek,
is The Strand – a lively beachfront esplanade, always busy
with walkers, joggers, swimmers and roller skaters. There are barbeques
and picnic tables as well as many
cafes and bars right on the beachfront, with lovely views over Magnetic
Island. The Strand Night Markets
are held here
during the first Friday of every month between May and December.
The Strand. by Dey via
Flickr.com
Parks in Townsville Australia
It’s also nice to have a stroll in Townsville’s many parks. Not far
from The Strand are Queens Gardens
with the town’s original Botanic Gardens from 1878. The new Townsville
Botanic Gardens are in Anderson Park
in Mundingburra; and in The Palmetum near
the James Cook University, which has a lot of native palm
trees.
Moreton Bay fig in a Townsville park. by Orin Zebest via Flickr.com
Pallarenda Beach and Town
Common
Back in the city, north-west of the Strand is Belgian Gardens, Rowes
Bay and the
beautiful Pallarenda
Beach
with beach barbeques and some nice picnic
spots, and a long beach nice for walking. Also here is Town Common
with wetlands famous for magpie geese, jabirus
and other tropical wetlands birds.
Pallarenda Beach.by
Witness King Tides via Flickr.com
Outside Townsville Australia
South of Townsville is Billabong Sanctuary, where you can
get close to all sorts of Australian
animals.
North of Townsville are the Townsville
Northern Beaches,
such as Balgal
Beach, Saunders Beach, Bushland Beach and Rollingstone. And in
different places outside the town are some great four
wheel drive tracks.
Townsville Northern Beaches. by
factoids via
Flickr.com
Tours of Townsville Australia
There are trips you can take to Magnetic Island and the Great
Barrier
Reef - both very popular with backpackers.
Find
Your Backpacker Hostel
You can also vist tropical rainforests - Australian southernmost
ones are just north of Townsville in Paluma
Range National Park.
Paluma Range National Park. by ccdoh1
via Flickr.com
Hotels of Townsville Australia
There is plenty of accommodation available in Townsville for all
budgets. A backpacker optio is Reef Lodge Backpackers
Hostel.
Hotels, resorts and holiday apartments include Flag Plaza Hotel,
Grand Mercure
Apartments, Holiday Inn,
Hotel M, Ibis Hotel, Jupiters Hotel,
Leizure Inn Plaza Hotel,
Mercure Inn,
Oaks Gateway on Palmer
Resort, Palm Waters Holiday
Villas, Park Regis Anchorage
Hotel, Quality Southbank Hotel,
Quest Hotel,
Rydges Southbank Hotel,
Seagulls Resort
and Strand Park Hotel.
Townsville accommodation. by
jemasmith via Flickr.com
Other Accommodation of Townsville Australia
If you’re looking for a motel, there are Banjo Paterson Motor
Inn, Beach House Motel,
Best Western Casino
City Motor Inn, Best Western Castle
Lodge Motel, Best Western Cluden
Park Motor Inn, Central City Motel,
City Oasis Inn,
Comfort Inn,
Coolabah Motel,
Shoredrive Motel,
Summit Motel
and Waters Edge the Strand
Hotel.
Townsville
apartments. by
TimoOK via
Flickr. com
Here's a Townsville map, where I have
tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on
the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the
map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move
around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth,
click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.
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What Other Visitors Have Said
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Townsville Not rated yet I lived in Tvl for three years and it was no too bad, the town has got some fairly good dining and places to go out, some nice beaches to walk, and also …
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