Cairns Travel Forum

hello,

we are (my husband, 4 year old child & myself) travelling to australia on 23rd of may 2008 from India & our journy begains from Crain. i have some questions , please help me

1) which cuuise is better one : sunlover's cruise or Big cat great barrier reef cruise ?
2) Hot Air ballooning is better in Cairn or at Gold Cost ?
3) city sight tour is needed in cairn ?
4) we will be in cairn for 3 days , what are the best things to do ?

thanks
travller

Trave

I think go for the big cat one if it is the quicksilver one. the quicksilver trips are really good. I say hire a car and drive up to port douglas and the daintree. port douglas is beautiful and my favourite place in the world.

You will definitely not need a guided tour of Cairns. It is not a big place and you will be able to explore it on your own.

Yes, a day trip to the Daintree Rainforest would be fabulous, either on your own or a guided tour with a small group.

Another thing to do is the railway trip to Kuranda.

Hello,
I would suggest that the Quicksilver Outer Reef cruise/day trip is great, especially for a 4 year old. It is perfect for young children. This leaves from Port Douglas, they have large comfortable buses that pick you up in Cairns in the morning and srive you up to Port. Then home again. You leave Cairns around 8am and return around 6pm. Lunch and all the gear you need is supplied on the boat trip.
That is one day full.
The second day you could do the Train/skyrail trip. This is to Kuranda, small village with markets and other things to see, one is the Butterfly Display, this would suit a 4 year old. I have been there and if you wear a white hat, the butterflies will land on it, great fun for kids.
You catch the train UP and the skyrail down, as the skyrail goies all day, so you can come down at any time. I am sure your 4 year old would love it.
There also is the Zoo, this is a little out of the city of Cairns, you can catch a bus to this.
BUT the one thing that you should try to do is a trip to Cape Tribulation. This wonderful and it is a great drive, I would suggest that you hire a car. If you don't feel comfortable driving , book a tour when you arrive. The reef and the rainforet are two things you should see when here.
I would so the hot air ballooning in Gold Coast as you won't have time here if you do the two main things, Reef and Rainforest trips.
They do Hotair Ballooning here also, but I think, am pretty sure that you have to be a certain height to do this, I have a feeling a 4 year old may be too young.
If you do the trip to Kuranda, come back early afternoon and you could then spend time around the city of Cairns. Here we have a wonderful play ground for children, this is on the Esplanade, this is very easy to find. Cairns isn't a huge city centre.
You could do an easy walk along the Esplanade, and the Marina area, then shops.
A tour won't be necessary.
If you don't hire a car, you can use buses and also there are plenty of Taxi's, they are reasonable prices.
The skyrail and reef tour can be booked when you arrive, Your accommodation could do this for you, or you can do it at one of the many Info centres in Cairns.
Are you staying close to the city?

Have a wonderful trip.