Tropical North Queensland is the only place on earth where two World Heritage sites — the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics rainforest — sit directly next to each other. This is the trip that goes from city to reef to rainforest in seven days, ending where the bitumen ends.
Day 1
Start in Bowen, the small mango-and-tomato town where they filmed Baz Luhrmann's Australia. Horseshoe Bay and Murray Bay are the two pretty beaches just north of town. Push north to Townsville in the afternoon — the largest city in Tropical North Queensland and the cultural anchor before Cairns. The Strand waterfront is where to spend the first night.
Bowen
Townsville City
Day 2
Catch the 25-minute ferry from Townsville to Magnetic Island. "Maggie" is what locals call it, and it's the easy-going, koala-populated antidote to the more polished resort islands further north. The hop-on-hop-off bus runs the spine of the island; Forts Walk for the koala spotting, Florence Bay for snorkeling, Horseshoe Bay for sunset. Last ferry back to Townsville in the evening or stay over.
Magnetic Island
Day 3
Drive north along the Bruce Highway. Turtle Bay sits between Townsville and Mission Beach and is the quieter alternative to the more famous beaches further north. Mission Beach itself is the cassowary capital of Australia and the launching point for Dunk Island day trips. The drive between the spots is part of the experience — sugar cane on one side, the Coral Sea on the other. Stay in Mission Beach tonight.
Turtle Bay
Mission Beach
Day 4
Two small Cassowary Coast detours before Cairns. Cowley Beach is the closest to a hidden beach you'll find on this stretch — long, empty, with stinger nets in the swimming season. Etty Bay is the famous one — small, ringed by rainforest, and the most reliable place in the country to see a wild cassowary on the sand. Drive the rest of the way to Cairns in the afternoon.
Cowley Beach
Etty Bay Beach
Cairns
Day 5
Day trip from Cairns to Green Island. The 45-minute catamaran from the Reef Fleet Terminal lands you on a 6,000-year-old coral cay with a fringing reef accessible from the beach. Snorkel directly from the sand, or take a glass-bottom boat tour around the cay. Bigger boats also visit the outer reef from here. Back to Cairns by 5pm — and there are good chances of seeing turtles even if you only swim from the beach.
Green Island
Day 6
Fitzroy Island is Green Island's better-snorkeling, more-rainforest neighbor. The 45-minute ferry leaves from the same Cairns marina. Nudey Beach has been voted Australia's best beach more than once — coral rubble and turquoise water — and the Lighthouse Walk is a 90-minute round trip to the highest point on the island. Last ferry back to Cairns in the evening, then drive north to Port Douglas for the night.
Fitzroy Island
Port Douglas
Day 7
The Daintree closer. Cross the Daintree River by ferry — there's no bridge, and there never will be — and you're in the world's oldest rainforest. Daintree Beach Resort is the only proper accommodation south of the Daintree River and a good lunch stop on the way north. Push on to Cape Tribulation, where the rainforest literally meets the reef and the road ends. Treetops Adventure runs the rainforest zip-line tour just before the cape. Spend the last night at Cape Trib itself before driving back to Cairns the next morning. The dirt road keeps going north into the Bloomfield Track and Cooktown, but that's another trip.
Daintree Beach Resort — hotel
Treetops Adventure Cape Tribulation
Cape Tribulation
