Cairns Hotel Reviews
Cairns is an excellent venue for those wishing to explore the 'big outdoors', either at a sedate pase or for 'extreme fun'. This was my 4th visit and I am a long way from being bored with the place! You have a huge range of bars and restaurants to try and the choice of fish food is great.
We did a reef tour with Sunlovers Cruises...pretty expensive ($140 Aust.), but fun, with a great lunch and great snorkelling. Too many people on the tour--this was nice, but I'd go with a smaller group next time. Kuranda Skyway/Train tour--Kuranda is WAY too touristy, but in a pretty location. We didn't enjoy this as much as we thought we would...but the weather was rainy and that may have influenced our feelings on the day. Do this type of thing before a reef tour/cruise; everything else pales in comparison! Cairns is very touristy, but has some fun spots. We really liked being out in Yorkey's Knob...close enough to go to town by local bus (easy and cheap), but far enough away to feel rural and charming. Several good restaurants--Gob on the Knob in town, and the Yacht Club were good. The beach was nice and pretty much deserted, but the water is somewhat murky and brown. I loved it here--good for bird (and bat!) watching, and the frog chorus outside the window at night was great!
Australia is the most interesting country I have ever visited. Well worth the long flight!
Centrally located with all shops and restaurants below.
Very limited choices of in-house dining.
Went on Kuranda Railway and Skyrail absolutely beautiful. Great Barrier Reef cruise- snorkeling was fun. Not enough time on Fitzyroy Island. Took a car up to Cape Tribulation-nice beach. Harley's Crocodile farm was interesting and Animal World was fun. Kuranda is a great place with the butterfly aviarium, quaint shops and friendly people.
Cairns is an excellent centre for any holiday in North Queensland. Cairns is however quite a busy "resort" and for many of the trips to the outer reef and the Daintree Rainforest, Port Douglas is more convenient.
We didn't stay in the city centre much, visited Daintree NP and Atherton Tableland plus Undara instead. Not too far from Cairns city, yet very different and worth visiting, especially for those who love nature. Driving around was easy there, even for people from right lane/left-handed coutries I guess (we are from "same side" country though), with not much traffic.<br><br> Even though it is in the "tropical area", winter there may be cooler than you think from time to time, so better be ready for chilly mornings/evenings.
I would not use Coral Coaches again. We had a bad experience and the company did not care enough to apologize or explain the reason for their behavior.
Hotel tour desk/bellhop very helpful. We booked tours ourselves from a variety of sources. Rainforest tour through "Peaches" was most educational and helped us understand the area. Aborigional culture center a must. Kuranda rail/skylift nice; Kuranda center and Butterfly aviary worth the day trip.