Cairns to Uluru road trip: Best stops, distance & drive time
The best stops on a Cairns to Uluru road trip include the Undara Lava Tubes, Normanton and Alice Springs. By car, the distance from Cairns to Uluru is 2,677km, with a driving time of around 29 hours.
A Cairns to Uluru road trip is a serious undertaking, albeit one that’s perfectly possible along sealed roads. For most visitors considering the journey, Cairns and Uluru are two points on the classic Australian itinerary – Sydney being the other – but the distance is too far to consider driving.
This once-in-a-lifetime dune-top dinner experience, with special stargazing session included, is our top Uluru recommendation.
The vast majority of people, therefore will take a flight instead.
Cairns in Queensland brings holding koalas at the Cairns Zoom and Wildlife Dome, snorkelling tours to Green Island and rainforest bungy jumps.
If you have three days in Cairns, do a Great Barrier Reef trip, a Kuranda scenic train and cable car combo and a Mossman Gorge plus Cape Tribulation World Heritage rainforest day tour. With more time, consider mesmerising scenic flights over the Reef, dinner cruises and waterfall-packed Atherton Tableland tours.
To choose from a wide range of memorable Cairns tours and experiences, look here. To pick the Cairns accommodation best suited to you, book here.
Trip-booster! 8 great day trips from Cairns to power-up your holiday
- Kuranda combo package – take the Kuranda Scenic Railway up and the Skyrail cable car down.
- Green Island tours with beach time, glass bottom boat and snorkelling. (Or pick a Fitzroy Island trip instead).
- Moore Reef day tour – with underwater observatory, snorkelling gear, glass bottom boat & semi-submersible cruises.
- Great Barrier Reef snorkelling cruise – with snorkelling stops at two excellent spots on the Reef.
- Cape Tribulation rainforest day tour – with Mossman Gorge Aboriginal cultural experience and Daintree River crocodile-watching cruise.
- Atherton Tableland waterfalls and rainforest tour – including wildlife-spotting and a swim in a volcanic lake.
- Outback 4WD tour – visiting Chillagoe Caves, Aboriginal rock art and Granite Gorge.
Uluru experiences include a lavish dune-top desert dinner with stargazing, a guided walk around the perimeter full of Aboriginal cultural stories and a sunrise tour to the perfect photo stop. To browse a wide array of memorable Uluru experiences, head here. For the best Uluru accommodation deals, search here.
While there are long stretches of nothing between them, there are fair few attractions worth breaking the journey for. Use this guide to help you plan your perfect Cairns to Uluru road trip itinerary.
Cairns to Uluru distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Cairns to Uluru is 2,677km. That makes for a driving time of around 29 hours.
Save time queuing – Book these Cairns attractions in advance
- From the air: Outer Reef helicopter flight | Sunrise hot air balloon ride | Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.
- At night: Sunset dinner cruise | Pub and club tour | Aquarium by Twilight experience.
- For wildlife: Birdworld Kuranda | Kuranda Koala Gardens | Cairns Zoom and Wildlife Dome | Cairns Aquarium | Rainforestation Nature Park
- For culture: Cairns Museum tickets | Street art walking tour | City and surrounds highlights bus tour.
- For thrills: AJ Hackett giant jungle swing | High speed jet boat tour | Barron Gorge white water rafting | Mulgrave River tubing.
The first section of this drive, through the Atherton Tableland, is arguably the most fun.
The quickest route leaves Cairns to the south, passing near Isabella Falls, and branching off the Bruce Highway at Gordonvale, just before reaching Walshs Pyramid and Behana Gorge.
Cairns to Uluru drive: Gordonvale to Malanda
The climb into the Tableland is along the often-winding Gillies Range Road. This passes through Little Mulgrave National Park, with several decent lookouts – such as Robson’s Lookout and Frog Rock – along the way.
The road later passes Lake Barrine and Lake Eacham – the volcanically-formed lakes in Crater Lakes National Park. Both have walking trails worth investigating.
The Gillies Range Road continues to Yungaburra, home of the Yungaburra Markets, platypus-viewing platform and enormous Curtain Fig Tree.
You’ll need to head down Lake Barrine Road towards Malanda, however. Here you can go for a crocodile-free swim in the pool below Malanda Falls.
Road trip essentials that many travellers forget
Search on the web, and you’ll find ludicrously long lists of equipment to take on a road trip. Australia Travel Questions isn’t going to do that to you. But it is worth buying the following road trip items before setting off. Click through for a good range of options.
- Charging cables – yes, you’ll probably need a spare at some point.
- Car charger adaptor – in case your rental car has the old-fashioned cigarette lighter rather than a USB.
- Multi USB charger – for those hotel rooms that don’t have enough power sockets.
- Fold-up chairs – to make anywhere a picnic spot.
- A really good water bottle – go for a bigger one than usual to last the longer drives.
- Packing cubes – save space but, more importantly, avoid unpacking everything every night.
Click through for the next section: Malanda to Ravenshoe.