Trinity Bay from Rex Lookout

Port Douglas

Great Barrier Reef

Mossman Gorge

Barron falls near Kuranda

Kuranda railway

Daintree rainforest

Cape Tribulation

South Mission Beach

Crocodile at the Hartley's Creek Crocodile Farm

Green Island, Great Barrier Reef

Townsville and Magnetic Island

After Uluru and the City of Sydney, Far North Queensland is Australia's most well known tourist destination among overseas visitors. The major drawcard is the Great Barrier Reef, but this region has plenty more to offer, both on the coast and inland.

Cairns

The city of Cairns, on Trinity Bay, is the tourist capital of Far North Queensland. The city is very visitor friendly - when walking on the Esplanade by the swimming lagoon on the ocean side, or the many cafes, restaurants and shops on the city side, one feels safe and comfortable, even late at night when all these visitor facilities are still open. Cairns' main appeal to visitors is its tropical climate and proximity to many attractions, which visitors tend to visit while using Cairns as a base. The Great Barrier Reef can be reached in less than an hour by boat. Daintree National Park and Cape Tribulation, about 130 km north of Cairns, are popular areas for experiencing a tropical rainforest. It is also a starting point for people wanting to explore Cooktown, Cape York Peninsula, and the Atherton Tableland.

Port Douglas

Port Douglas has boomed as a tourist destination in recent years, not just because of its beautiful beaches, many restaurants, golf courses, and five star resorts, but because of its location, being adjacent to two World Heritage areas, the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. Not far offshore is the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef where visitors flock in their thousands to dive on it during the winter months. Numerous companies run daily trips from the marina to the outer reef and the Low Isles for scuba diving and snorkelling.

Mossman

Inland from Port Douglas is the old sugar town of Mossman, the gateway to Mossman Gorge and the World Heritage listed Wet Tropics area. 75 km north of Cairns, Mossman is on the southern boundary of Daintree National Park, and set in the midst of sugar cane fields.

Cape Tribulation

A place of breathtaking beauty with rugged mountain ranges rising sharply behind the narrow coastal strip, dense rainforest tumbling down the mountains to the beaches, and a bewilderingly rich variety of flora. Cape Tribulation National Park is about 130 km north of Cairns and 75 km south of Cooktown. It was named by Lt. James Cook on 10th June 1770 after his ship ran aground on a reef here, and "here began all our Troubles".

Cooktown

The most northerly major town in Australia, it is the stepping off point for 4-wheel drivers heading north through Cape York Peninsula. The coastal track in these parts, which is a quagmire in the wet season and full of bulldust and giant potholes in the dry, is one of the worst roads in Australia and explains why most of the vehicles here are 4-wheel drives. Cooktown lays claim to being the site of Australia's first European settlement, even though it was only a temporary one. Cooktown is 326 km (by the inland road) and 235 km (by the coast road) north of Cairns and 2,034 km north of Brisbane.

Ingham

A service town for a large sugar growing and processing region, with beef cattle and tropical fruits as secondary industries. Ingham is also the administrative capital of the Hinchinbrook Shire. Ingham's Victoria Mill is reputed to be the largest sugar mill in the Southern Hemisphere. Lee's Hotel was drunk dry by American servicemen celebrating the Coral Sea victory during World War II. This incident was the original inspiration for the famous song 'The Pub with No Beer'.
Places of interest include Wallaman Falls; Jourama Falls; Paluma Gulbaru National Park (Mt. Spec); Hinchinbrook Island; Pelorus Island; Orpheus Island; Great Palm Island; Halifax Bay; Palm Islands; Upolu Cay Reef; Low Isles; Michaelmas Cay; Cardwell Range; Herbert River Gorge; Insulator Creek Environmental Park; Mount Fox crater, Girringun National Park.

Tully

A sugar town which receives the highest rainfall of any town in Australia (it has an annual average rainfall of 4.27 metres and holds the record for the highest annual rainfall in a populated area of Australia, with 7.9 metres in 1950). Tully is situated at the foot of Mt. Tyson.
Places of interest include the Golden Gumboot; Tully Sugar Mill; Tully Falls; Kareeya Gorge; Murray Falls; Tully Gorge Alock State Forest; Hull River Wetlands Orchid Forest.

Babinda

A small town in the heart of North Queensland's sugar cane area, Babinda is 57 km south of Cairns. Places of interest include Babinda Boulders and Gorge (not to be missed); Josephine Falls; Eubenangee National Park; Bramston Beach; Mt. Bartle Frere (Queensland's highest peak, 1657 m); Goldsborough Valley; Bellenden Ker; Frankland Islands Group National Park.

Atherton Tableland

Inland from Cairns in Queensland's far north, the Atherton Tableland is a blend of the best attractions of the wet tropics and the dry outback charm; a combination of nature and lifestyle at its finest. Among the World Heritage listed rainforests, national parks, mountains, rivers, lakes and waterfalls of the Tableland are some of Australia's richest agricultural lands, cattle country and charming small townships.

Mission Beach

If you are looking for a picture-perfect tropical paradise on the Australian mainland, the hideaway township of Mission Beach fits the bill perfectly. Mission Beach could well appear on any postcard requiring a long sandy beach lined with palm trees. The impressive Dunk and Bedarra Islands sit off the coast just to make the picture even more perfect. Mission Beach is situated midway between Cairns and Townsville.

Townsville

A coastal city which bears the title of 'Tropical Capital of North Queensland'. Though it adequately caters for the stream of tourists who pass through it each year, Townsville is very much a commercial centre. Places of interest around Townsville include the Great Barrier Reef (Townsville contains the only living coral reef in captivity); Magnetic Island; Townsville Common Environmental Park; Botanical Garden; Cape Cleveland National Park; Bowling Green Bay; Maritime Museum; RAAF Museum; The Forts, Magnetic Island; Cape Cleveland Lightstation (1879).

Great Green Way

The Great Green Way is the name of the tourist drive between Townsville and Cairns. Many visitors to the region go only to one destination - this tourist drive encourages visitors to hire a car and visit the lesser known but equally interesting places found between the two regional centres. More ...

Climate; when to go there: Cairns experiences a warm Tropical monsoon climate. A wet season with tropical monsoons runs from December to April, with a relatively dry season from May to November, though showers are frequent for most of this period. Mean rainfall of Cairns is 1,992.8 millimetres (78.5 in). The township of Babinda at the southern end of the city is one of Australia's wettest towns, recording an annual rainfall of over 4,200 millimetres. It has hot, humid summers and milder temperatures in winter. Mean temperatures vary from 25.7 °C in July to 31.4 °C in January. Monsoonal activity during the wet season occasionally causes major flooding of the Barron and Mulgrave Rivers, cutting off road and rail access to the city.
The dry season is by far the most popular time to visit Cairns, with the peak during the July school holidays each year. The wet season's climate deters many for visiting the region during these months, however it is then that the tropical rainforests are at their greenest and the wildlife at its most active. The rivers are also fast flowing and full, meaning the waterfalls of the of Atherton Tableland are at their most spectacular.