Townsville to Cairns road trip: Distance, drive time and best stops
The Townsville to Cairns drive is 347km in distance, with a driving time of 4h4m. Turn the drive into a Townsville to Cairns road trip, instead, and you can enjoy the Paluma Range National Park, Mission Beach and Behana Gorge.
A Townsville to Cairns road trip connects northern Queensland’s two largest cities. If you wish to, you can just head up the Bruce Highway as quickly as possible. But if you’re travelling up the coast from Brisbane to Cairns over the course of a few weeks, there are a few excellent places to stop along the way.
Townsville is where you can take the ferry to gorgeous Magnetic Island, enjoy sunset cruises and visit the Museum of Underwater Art. For more Townsville experiences, explore here. To ferret out the best Townsville accommodation deals, look here.
Cairns brings Great Barrier Reef snorkelling cruises, World Heritage-listed rainforest adventures, glass bottom boat tours at Green Island and the Kuranda Scenic Railway into the mountains. 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.
Townsville to Cairns distance and driving time
Going direct, the Townsville to Cairns drive is 347km in distance. This leads to a Townsville to Cairns driving time of around four hours and four minutes.
Good stops on a Townsville to Cairns road trip include Ingham, Cardwell, Mission Beach and Innisfail.
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.
Driving to Cairns from Townsville: Paluma Range National Park
Turn it into a road trip instead, and the first stop should be the Paluma Range National Park. There are several waterfalls to see here, but the highlight is swimming in the rock pools of Crystal Creek.
The first decent-sized town on the Bruce Highway going north is Ingham. This is where you branch off if you want to see Australia’s highest waterfall – Wallaman Falls in the Girringun National Park.
Click through for the next section: Cardwell and Mission Beach.