Location: Cairns Region
Top Things to do in Cairns Region
What to do and see in Cairns Region, Queensland: The Best Things to do Good for Kids
The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional centre of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shire of Douglas.
Restaurants in Cairns Region
1. Skyrail Rainforest Cableway
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 3,810 reviews
Embark on a fascinating journey of discovery over and through the oldest continually surviving tropical rainforest on earth. Enjoy a truly unique perspective of Australia's World Heritage listed Tropical Rainforest as you glide just metres above the pristine rainforest canopy before descending to explore the forest floor at Red Peak and Barron Falls to learn about one of the most botanically fascinating and diverse areas in the world. Enhance your experience by unlocking the secrets of the ancient rainforest at the Rainforest Discovery Zone at Red Peak, put the story of the rainforest in your hands with the Skyrail Interpretive App & Audio Guide and experience the beautiful Barron Falls and Gorge like never before from The Edge Lookout. Explore Kuranda village known for its markets, cafes, art galleries and wildlife parks and return via the historic Kuranda Scenic Railway to complete your day. Discover, encounter and immerse yourself in this unforgettable experience of a lifetime.
Reviewed By Storybridge
We took the Skyrail cart up in the morning then back down to Cairns Central Station via the Scenic Railway Train in the afternoon. In this way, we maximized the time to visit Kuranda Village. We had the Diamond View Skyrail cart - looking down to see the treetop, looking around into the deep rainforest, looking far far away to the Great Barrier Reef, the experience was amazing, like the 3D movie Avatar.
2. Palm Cove Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,154 reviews
Reviewed By 71lynw
Nice clean beach on one side with Beach patrolled flagged area and the fishing jetty at the end great spot Amazing sunrises from the beachfront
3. Kuranda Scenic Railway
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 4,667 reviews
Kuranda Scenic Railway is the original scenic rail journey to Kuranda. This spectacular experience travels over bridges and through tunnels hand-made by North Queensland's pioneers over 100 years ago. Traversing the World Heritage listed rainforest of the Barron Gorge National Park, this is one of the world's great railway journeys.
4. Barron Gorge National Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 55 reviews
Reviewed By WorldTravla7 - Cairns, Australia
Lake Placid is an easily accessible tourist/recreation area in Barron Gorge National Park just a few minutes drive from Smithfield. It’s not actually a lake, but part of the Barron River - the river bulges out on either side to form a large lake like body of water (Lake Placid) before thinning again heading up into Barron Gorge towards Kuranda. For this reason crocs have been known to make their way upstream and therefore swimming is not recommended as the signs point out (there was a Croc attack on a stupid local swimmer in January 2021). There is a nice & easy short walk that takes you a few hundred metres along the lake through rainforest but it doesn’t continue to the end. Adjacent to Lake Placid is an excellent pizza restaurant called Alessandro’s which offers fantastic ambience and traditional pizza & there is a convenience store selling groceries and takeaway nearby. Also nearby is the drive up to Barron Gorge where you can check out some amazing views and cross the bridge over to Barron Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station. Well worth a visit.
5. Cairns Esplanade Lagoon
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 3,647 reviews
Escape the heat at one of Cairns' best known landmarks, the Esplanade Lagoon. Set on the Cairns foreshore overlooking Trinity Inlet, the 4800 sq metre saltwater swimming lagoon offers locals and tourists a year round safe swimming location. Saltwater is pumped from the inlet and filtered through a state of the art filtration and chlorination system, to meet Australian Standards. The kids can enjoy the sandy edges, build sand castles and play in shallow water. On the other side of the Lagoon, visitors can lounge on the timber decks in moderate shade. Shady trees, landscaped gardens and open spaces all contribute to the leisurely atmosphere on the Esplanade The Lagoon is open 6am-6pm Thursday - Tuesday, Midday-6pm Wednesday all year round.
Reviewed By nikkichutney - Melbourne, Australia
Absolutely fabulous definitely recommend if you are holidaying in Cairns and near the Esplanade you’ve got to swim in the lagoon at least once a day to cool off. The people of Cairns are very lucky to have this lagoon here.
6. Cairns Botanical Gardens
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 146 reviews
Tropical Gardens
Reviewed By KathyM134
Wonderful gardens with a great display of orchids and butterflies in the Conservatory. We attended the free botanical talk - on every day at 10 am - which was really interesting and informative.
7. Atherton Tablelands
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 654 reviews
Reviewed By D6035PRkathyd
This was a really enjoyable area to explore by car at a leisurely pace. We did not get as far as we hoped, but thoroghly enjoyed Crater Lakes National Park (including the tea house on Lake Barrine), Yungaburra's walk along Peterson Train in search of a platypus sighting, Emerald Creek Ice Cream and the Cathedral Fig Tree.
8. Rusty's Market
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 402 reviews
Reviewed By mazzaintazza - London, United Kingdom
Colourful, buzzing, great range of fruit and veg, plus the odd live singer, cafe with awesome breads and cakes, and a few jewellery/craft stalls. A must do, even just to take photos. Four avocados for $2! Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday only.
9. Michaelmas Cay
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 639 reviews
Reviewed By UrsulaHans - St. Gallen, Switzerland
A great sandy island - inhabited by thousands of bird... A good spot to go snorkeling - even though the water is very shallow. One can still see a few fish, some corals, turtles - but it is not the reef of 30 years ago...
10. Muddy's Playground
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,419 reviews
Muddy's playground is open every day of the year between 9am and 7pm (including public holidays and weekends). Sections of Muddy's are closed for maintenance on Tuesday and Thursday mornings until noon. Even when maintenance works are being carried out, Council aims to have at least half the playground available for use. Muddy's is a modern, fun, safe, splash playground and parkland. It incorporates active, passive, interactive and educational facilities with a combination of play equipment. Muddy's playground is themed "Life in Trinity Bay" and the playground includes water play areas plus a flying fox, sound chimes, track ride, rope bridge, slides, play houses, story telling areas, see-saw, trick track and puzzle games. Please note that the disabled-use Liberty Swing uses the MLAK national keying system. For access please ask at Muddy's cafe. Muddy's has two toilet facilities one at the north end of Muddy's near the cafe and one at the southern end of Muddy's. Muddy's has barbecues, picnic tables and an on-site cafe.
Reviewed By KittyO25
This place is just fantastic. Well maintained and just great for kids of all ages. Would most definitely recommend to all families
