Travel Cairns

Travel Cairns  

Cairns is the best city to visit in north Queensland. It’s relaxed and tropical, the weather is always warm and it is one of the best places for trips to Great Barrier Reef. In the city there are Cairns Museum, Cairns Night Markets and the lovely Cairns Marina. Just north are Machans Beach, Wangetti Beach and other northern beaches. Townsville may be the biggest city in north Queensland, but travellers tend to spend longer time in Cairns. Here is Cairns travel information, and in the end of the page is a Cairns map.

Listing by Chitika


There is an amazing amount of great things to do north, west and east of Cairns!!!

BUNGY JUMP, JUNGLE SWING, SKY DIVING, TJAPUKAI ABORIGINAL PARK, TROPICAL ZOO AND CROC PARK JUST NORTH OF CAIRNS

TRIPS FROM PALM COVE - ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CAIRNS NORTHERN BEACHES

Travel Cairns: City Center and Esplanade
Cairns city center is next to Trinity Bay between Cairns Esplanade and Sheridan Street. Mulgrave Road that comes from south (Bruce Highway) passes by Earlville shopping centre and Parramatta Park Showgrounds before it turns into Aplin Street that goes right to the Cairns Esplanade.

Great trips from Cairns continued...

TRIPS FROM CAIRNS TO KURANDA

DAINTREE RAINFOREST TOURS FROM CAIRNS

GREAT BARRIER REEF TRIPS AND CRUISES  FROM CAIRNS

HELICOPTER FLIGHTS

WHITE WATER RAFTING

COMBO TICKETS


Travel Cairns: Central City
If you arrive by train, you’ll first come to the Cairns Central. It is the town’s central train station as well as a large shopping centre with lots of clothes’ shops, camera shops, bookshops, all kind of speciality shops and a large eatery. It is also here as you can catch the train to Kuranda.


Travel Cairns.. Cairns Central. ©Gondwananet.com

Travel Cairns: City Place and Cairns Museum
Across the road from the main entrance of the shopping centre is Shield Street which goes right to the Esplanade. On the way to the Esplanade it passes the City Place – a pedestrian shopping mall, where there are lots of souvenir shops, pubs, restaurants, the City Place Amphitheatre, and Cairns Museum. Along the side streets are Rusty’s Bazaar Markets and Orchid Plaza. There are also plenty of hotels and backpackers hostels on these streets.


Travel Cairns.. City Place. ©Gondwananet.com

Cairns Lagoon and Cairns Pier
In the northern end of the Shield Street you’ll come to the Cairns Esplanade, and right to the Cairns Lagoon, always full on backpackers as well as locals having a dip or sunbaking in the adjacent park. East of the Lagoon is the Cairns Pier – another shopping mall with shops, restaurants and bars, and an Aquarium called Undersea World where you can discover the tropical marine life and watch shark feedings.


The Pier. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.

Travel Cairns: Cairns Marina
East of the Cairns Pier is Cairns Marina with lots of yachts and fishing boats, and south of the Marina is the Marlin Jetty; and the Trinity Inlet where you can catch a ferry to Fitzroy Island. Cairns Yacht Club is also here.


Marina. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.

Travel Cairns: Cairns Casino
West of the Trinity Inlet is the Reef Hotel Casino, which is much more than a casino – you can stay here (although it’s not cheap); and on the top of it is the Cairns Rainforest Dome – a wildlife park with tropical rainforest and lots of Australian animals such as kangaroos and koalas, but also crocodiles, snakes, turtles, lizards and many kind of Australian famous birds such as kookaburras.


Travel Cairns.. The Reef Casino. ©Gondwananet.com

Travel Cairns: Cairns Esplanade
Back on the Cairns Esplanade, there is a lovely walking trail with information signs about Aboriginal people and views over the surrounding mountain ranges. There are also barbeques and picnic tables here, and further north there are mudflats that attract many interesting wetland birds such as ibises, pelicans and spoonbills.


The Pier. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.

Travel Cairns: Cairns Night Markets
Also on the Esplanade are the famous Cairns Night Markets, a great place to have a dinner in the food court, and scroll through the market stands - there are clothes as well as a lot of souvenirs.


Travel Cairns.. Night Markets. ©Gondwananet.com

Travel Cairns: North Cairns
If you keep walking north along the Esplanade, you will come to North Cairns, where there are lots of eateries, expensive hotels but also backpacker hostels, the Tobruk Memorial Swimming Pool and the Royal Flying Doctors Service.


North Cairns. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster. 

Travel Cairns: Flecker Botanical Gardens
Here are also the beautiful Flecker Botanical Gardens. It is a very green pace to be – amongst lush tropical plants and some impressive large tropical flowers.


Botanical Gardens. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.

Cairns Tropical Zoo and Mangrove Boardwalk
Further north, on the way to the airport is a mangrove boardwalk, in the extensive mangrove swampland that surrounds the road to the airport. Mangrove habitat is very interesting and the boardwalk is worth checking out if you like nature. About 20km north of town is the Cairns Tropical Zoo where you can see the usual Australian animals like koalas and kangaroos, wombats and crocodiles.


Travel Cairns.. Tropical Zoo and Night Zoo. ©Gondwananet.com

Things to Do in Cairns; Sail and Dive Adventures
There are heaps of things to do in Cairns. The shopping is endless, but if you get enough of it, you can go snorkelling and diving with Down Under Dive, Deep Sea Divers Den or Pro-Dive. Raging Thunder and R’n’R will take you to white water rafting to as far as Tully River – the best place in Australia for the activity. You can also go bungee jumping with AJ Hackett and skydiving with Skydive Cairns.


Coral reef trip. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.

North Queensland Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef Attractions
Cairns is an excellent place to discover the life of coral reef on the Great Barrier Reef. There are many Great Barrier Reef Diving Trips offered by Compass, Noah’s Ark Cruises, Passions of Paradise and Tusa Dive. Uncle Brian’s Tours makes trips to Atherton Tablelands, and if you want to discover the north queensland rainforest in Daintree National Park - Billy Tea Bush Safaris, Cape Trib Connections, Down Under Tours and Jungle Tours can take you there.


Rainforest train trip. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.

Travel Cairns: Bars and Restaurants
There are also lots of nice places to eat and drink in different parts of the town. There is always good dining at the markets; the whole Cairns Esplanade (the street side, not the coastal walk) is lined with eateries and there are also plenty of pubs, bars and good restaurants on the streets around the City Place. Some of the most popular ones are Gilligan’s Bistro on Grafton Street, and Tandoori Oven, Sawaddee and Wool Shed on Shield Street.


Travel Cairns.. Esplanade restaurant. ©Gondwananet.com

Hotels Cairns Australia
There is also plenty of good accommodation in Cairns.

* Hotels include All Seasons Esplanade Hotel, All Seasons Hotel, Barrier Reef Escapes Hotel, Amaroo At Trinity, Aquarius Hotel, Beachfront Hideaway Hotel, Best New Chalon Hotel, Best Western City Sheridan Hotel, Plaza Hotel, Southside International Inn, Coral Tree Inn, Discovery Hotel, Great Northern Hotel, Hides Hotel, Hilton Hotel, Holiday Inn, Mantra Esplanade Hotel, Mercure Hotel Harbourside, Oasis Inn, Out Front Hotel, Pacific International Hotel, Palm Cove Beach Sarayi Hotel, Palm Royale Hotel, Park Regis City Quays Hotel, Pullman Reef Hotel, Quality Hotel Sheridan Plaza, Rydges Plaza Hotel, Rydges Tradewinds Hotel, Shangri La Hotel, Sunland Leisure Park Hotel, Sunshine Tower Hotel, The Hotel Cairns, and The Sebel Hotel.


* Motels include All Round Motel Inn the Pink, Tropical Gardens Motel, Cannon Park Motel, Comfort Inn City Terraces, Heritage Motel, High Chaparral Motel, Rainbow Inn, and Tropicana Lodge Motel.

* Backpacker Hostels, Lodges and Guesthouses include Cairns Beach House, Cairns City Backpackers, Cairns Holiday Lodge, Waterfront Backpackers, Calypso Backpacker Inn, Caravella Backpackers Hostel, Figtree Lodge, Gilligans Backpackers, Global Backpackers, Global Backpackers Waterfront Hostel, Nomads Backpackers, Nomads Esplanade Backpackers, Reef Backpackers Resort.

* Resorts include  All Seasons Gateway Resort, Angsana Resort, Bay Village Tropical Retreat, Blue Lagoon Resort, Bohemia Resort, Breakfree Royal Harbour Resort, Cairns Colonial Club Resort, Comfort Inn Trinity Beach Club, Coral Reef Resort, Coral Sands Beachfront Resort, Golden Sands Beachfront Resort, Grand Mercure Rockford Esplanade, Half Moon Bay Resort, Kewarra Beach Resort, Koala Beach Resort, Mango Lagoon Resort, Mantra Amphora Resort, Mantra Trilogy Resort, Marlin Cove Resort, Melaleuca Resort, Njoy Travellers Resort, Novotel Oasis Resort, Novotel Rockford Resort, Oasis at Palm Cove Resort, Peppers Beach Club & Spa, Q Resorts Cascade Gardens, Rainforest Grove Holiday Resort, Reef House Resort, Rydges Esplanade Resort, Trinity Links Resort. Sea Temple Resort, Skinny Dips Resort & Spa, The Lakes Resort, and Turtle Cove Resort.

* Apartments and holiday suits and units include 181 The Esplanade Apartments, 201 Lake Street Apartments, Agincourt Beachfront Apartments, Alassio on the Beach Apartments, Arcadia Gardens Apartments, All Seasons Sunshine Tower, Beachfront Apartments on Trinity Beach, Bellevue at Trinity Beach Apartments, Best Western Central Plaza Apartments, Cairns Beach Resort, Cairns Central Plaza Apartments, Cairns City Apartments, Cairns Luxury Apartments, Queenslander Apartments, Castaways Trinity Beach Apartments, City Plaza Apartments, Citysider Cairns Holiday Apartments, Clifton Palms Holiday Units, Clifton Sands Holiday Apartments, Coral Coast Palm Cove Apartments, Coral Horizons Palm Cove Apartments, Coral Towers Holiday Suites, Costa Royale Beachfront Apartments Trinity Beach, Edge Apartments, Elysium Apartments, Focus on Spence Apartments, Getaway on Grafton Apartments, Grosvenor Apartments, Harbour Lights Apartments, Il Centro Apartments, Il Palazzo Botique Apartments, Inn Cairns Botique Apartments, Island Views Apartments, Jack & Newell Luxury Apartments, Koala Court Holiday Apartments, Lahania By The Sea Apartments, Marlin Getaway Holiday Apartments, Marlin Waters Beachfront Apartments, Mediterranian Beachfront Apartments, Meridien at Trinity Apartments, Mid City Luxury Suites, North Cove Waterfront Suites, On Palm Cove Beachfront Apartments, On the Beach Holiday Apartments, Pacific Sands Holiday Apartments, Palm Cove Tropic Apartments, Palms at Trinity Holiday Apartments, Paradise on the Beach Apartments, Paradise Palms Resort, Park Regis Piermonde Apartments, Prime Trinity Beach Pacific Apartments, Reef Gateway Apartments, Reef Palms Apartments, Roydon Beachfront Apartments, Rydges Esplanade Holiday Apartments, Sanctuary Apartments, Sea Change Beachfront Apartments, Sea Point on Trinity Beach Apartments, Seaforth Apartments Trinity Beach, Southern Cross Atrium Apartments, The Beach Place Apartments, The Botique Collection at the Beach Club Luxury Private Apartments, The North Star Palm Cove Apartments, The York Beachfront Holiday Apartments, Tradewinds McLeod Apartments, Tranquility Palm Cove Apartments, Trinity Waters Holiday Apartments, Tropic Towers Apartments, Villa Paradiso Beachfront Apartments, Villa Vaucluse Apartments, Vision Apartments, Vue Apartments, Waterfront Terraces Apartments, Waters Edge Apartments,  

* Other types of accommodation include Cairns Villa and Leisure Park, Floriana Villas, Jungara Bed and Breakfast, Rainforest Family Retreat, Royal Palm Villas, Queens Court Accommodation, Ningana Bed and Breakfast, The Reef Retreat, The Villas Palm Cove, The Retreat at Holloways Beach, Trinity on the Esplanade Villas, Tropical Queenslander Holiday Studio Family Rooms, White Rock Leisure Park Villas, and Zanzoo Retreat.


Travel Cairns.. Esplanade hotel. ©Gondwananet.com

Machans Beach, Wangetti Beach and other Northern Beaches
North of the town are the Cairns northern beaches: Machans Beach, Holloways Beach, Yorkeys Knob, Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Ellis Beach and Wangetti Beach. Most are quiet small communities with a nice beach, but Yorkeys Knob gets lively around the sailing club; and Palm Cove is more like a heavily developed tourist town – not my cup of tea but if you like a lot of concrete buildings which house expensive hotels and posh restaurants, head there – the beach is beautiful.

Cairns Northern Beaches are close enough to the city that you can stay there and still enjoy Cairns. Southernmost beaches are 5-10min drive away, while the northernmost ones are 20-30min. And there are regular bus services between the city and the beaches. In the accommodation section above, the accommodation on Northern Beaches is mixed in with the accommodation in the city. If you want to see them separately, please see the separate page about Cairns Accommodation.


Northern beaches. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster. 

Travel Cairns: Islands Near Cairns
The two islands closest to Cairns, perfect for a day trip or a longer stay, are Fitzroy and Green Island. They are not real coral cays, but they are still Great Barrier Reef islands, and you can see coral reef if you go snorkelling, diving, or take a glass bottom boat tour. Fitzroy is ceaper and more laid-back, and the place to stay is the Fitzroy Island Resort. Green Island is a bit more upmarket, and the place to stay is the
Green Island Resort.


Fitzroy Island. Poster by AllPosters, all rights reserved. Buy the poster.

Here's a Cairns 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.



 
View Larger Map


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