For many, Cairns is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and Queensland’s tropical north. Explore our favorite 4 day Cairns itinerary to guide you through this amazing area. Plan on spending at least two days on the Great Barrier Reef. However, Cairns is a bustling yet laid back town that has so much more to offer a visitor including a World Heritage rainforest, the world’s largest reef and Aboriginal communities.
Best Time to Visit Cairns
Cairns has something to offer year round but depending on what you’re most looking forward to there may be a prime time. December-May is considered the wet season. The wet season means you will see regular showers. However, this is also the hottest part of the year. We visited in January, during the wet season, and found that the rain helped us to cool off. June-November is the dry season with lower temperature and more reliable weather. I would recommend visiting in the Spring or Fall as you will get warmer temps without all the extra rain.
Top Things To Do
Day 1 – Cairns and Kuranda
Morning in Kuranda
On your first day in Cairns visit the town of Kuranda. Take the cable car to the top of the mountain and the train back down. This gives you the opportunity to see the rainforest from two different perspectives. When we were there, we were unable to take the train down due to the large amount of rain. We headed up the mountain in the cable car and the views were absolutely amazing, particularly in the fog that came with the storm. If you have the chance to take this trip on a rainy day, don’t think the weather will ruin the experience. As the cable car got above the cloud level, views of the mountain were amazing (did I say that already).
There are several stops that the cable car makes on the way up or down the mountain. We recommend hitting up all the stops the cable car offers. They are included in the price of the ticket and include some great views and a guided rainforest walk.
Once you get to the top, hit the streets of Kuranda. This town is very touristy. This was probably the cheapest place in all of Australia that we visited for souvenirs, so if you are interested, stock up here. Enjoy wandering the streets and exploring all the tourist shops, nature centers and artist galleries.
Lunch
We ate at Frogs Kuranda. They had a sampler platter of Kangaroo, Crocodile and Emu. As we are adventurous eaters, we were excited to try this and this Cairns itinerary is filled with “bush tucker”, or native Australian food.
While in Kuranda explore the parks and shows centering mainly around native species and native people. Head back down the mountain and enjoy the different perspective.
Evening in Cairns
In the evening, head back to Cairns and hit up the Esplanade Boardwalk and all the sights of town, including the nesting flying foxes (fruit bats). No Cairns itinerary is complete without a sighting of these amazing animals. They look prehistoric in the night sky.
Dinner
We walked our way to Prawn Stars on a previous recommendation for dinner. What is Prawn Stars you may ask? Prawn Stars is a docked boat turned restaurant where you eat freshly caught shellfish. This has been one of my all time favorite dining experiences. Get there early as space on the boats is limited and be prepared to sit with strangers if you want a table. Also, know that shellfish is likely the only thing on the menu. Then be prepared to have the best seafood of your life. We happened to be eating at dusk which is the time of night when the flying foxes take off from their roosts in town to go look for food. It was an absolutely awe-inspiring sight to see so many creatures filling the sky.
Day 2&3 – THE Reef
On day two of the Cairns itinerary, head to the pier to catch your ride out to sea for a two day diving trip. We booked ours through Reef Encounters. We would recommend booking this ahead of time as space is limited, especially if traveling during peak seasons.
As a note, we had originally intended to spend one day diving on the reef since I get wildly seasick. However, when we were getting scuba certified in the states, we happened to go on a dive with a former scuba instructor who worked on the reef. He said a multi-day dive trip is the only way to see the reef. We agree. If you’re planning to dive the reef, get certified before you come. Many companies offer certification on the reef but then you spend more time learning skills than enjoying the dive. Also, the overnight allowed us to dive a total of 7 dives rather than the 1-2 dives a day trip would have given us. The overnight also allowed us our two most amazing dives, the night dive and the sunrise dive. So if you are planning to visit the great barrier reef and want to make this bucket list adventure bucket worthy, do a liveaboard and carve out several days in your Cairns itinerary for diving.
Day 4 – Daintree Rainforest
On day four of our Cairns itinerary, wake up early and prepare to go Cassowary spotting in the Daintree Rainforest. We had booked this optional day trip to the Daintree Rainforest through Reef Encounters when we booked our reef trip. There are several tour companies that offer similar options and hotels can even help you book them. There are many different options for a Daintree Rainforest drive but here is what we enjoyed.
Morning
Head north to Port Douglas for a quick stop and drive around town.
Next, head take in the local animals with a Daintree river tour. We went with Bruce Belcher’s Daintree River Cruises and we very happy with our guide. We spotted several crocs on the river along with snakes, frogs, bats and birds.
Head north to Cape Tribulation beach to sightsee. Our guide was great at pointing out plants and wildlife that we otherwise wouldn’t have noted.
Lunch
We stopped at lunch near Cape Tribulation. If you’re driving yourself, there aren’t many large towns where food is easy to find so make sure you have a plan for lunch before heading out. If you’re with a group tour, most include lunch in the price.
Afternoon
After lunch, head back to Cairns and make stops along the way. We stopped for ice cream, Daintree tea and at several lookouts.
Don’t forget a stop at Mossman Gorge. This was a great walk along the river through the rainforest.
Continue back to Cairns and stop at more lookouts. Right before getting back to Cairns, our guide sidetracked to a field and stopped so we could take pictures of a large group of kangaroos and wallabies that were in the field.
Dinner
Once back in Cairns, head to Dundee’s for dinner to sample more Australian seafood and cuisine.
Want to adjust the itinerary?
If you have more time, I would recommend spending extra time either on the reef, on the beach or in town. We were absolutely exhausted after our two days of diving but if we would have been more experienced divers, extra time on the reef would have been amazing and presumably less exhausting. It also would have been nice to spend a day on a beach on one of the secluded reef islands like Green Island. Also, we wish we would have spent more time exploring the city of Cairns itself as the only time we were really in town was when we were looking for food. If you have less time in Cairns, I would recommend cutting out a visit to Kuranda as the activities there were pricy and pretty touristy.
Where to Stay in Cairns?
We rarely stay in hotels. However, I would recommend a downtown hotel for your stay in Cairns. Most hotels in Cairns allow early luggage drop off and luggage storage to accommodate the several reef tour companies that operate overnight trips out of the pier. This was essential for us as we were operating without a car and planning several days on a boat with limited luggage allowances.
How to Get Around Cairns?
Cairns is a very walkable town so it is easy to get around without a rental carl. We were able to take a cab to and from our hotel and rely on our booked tours and feet for the rest of our transportation. If you wanted to spend more time outside of town or are staying for a longer trip I would recommend a rental car as it can help you lower costs. We normally love the freedom a rental car and self-drive tours give us. However, for our limited stay in Cairns, the expense wasn’t worth it, especially with our 2-day liveaboard. If you are planning on renting a car, be aware that some roads we traveled in the Daintree rainforest were challenging, especially in the rainy season.
What to Pack for Cairns?
Cairns is a tropical paradise. And as such, there are a lot of tropical items you’ll need to pack. The most important is reef-safe sunscreen. You’ll also want some bug spray as the bugs can be aggressive. If you’re flying, make sure to but the pump version of your favorite bug spray. As several of the best things to do in Cairns involve swimming, you’ll want to make sure to pack your swimsuit and a quick dry towel so you can always be ready to take a dip.
For clothing, make sure to pack cool, breathable clothing as Cairns is generally hot and humid.
We hope this 4 day Cairns itinerary has help you to plan your own amazing trip. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section below and we’ll be happy to help you.
