Cairns Holidays

Cairns is the gateway to Tropical North Queensland, and one fabulous place to start checking this part of Australia out. The young and young-at-heart flock to Cairns, with its wild backpacker bars (plus other nightlife!), crystal-clear swimming lagoon and adventure activities. Whether you want to feast your eyes on the Great Barrier Reef or wander the Daintree Rainforest, our Cairns hotels will give you a comfy place to recharge your body (and your phone) before another big day of living every lastminute.

Things to See and Do

There’s a good reason it’s famous: you simply can’t miss the Great Barrier Reef’s many eye-popping sights. The largest living thing on earth, it’s chockas with marine life, from sea turtles to dugongs to thousands of colourful fish. If you have a taste for adventure, dive deep into this remarkable reef with a scuba dive or snorkel. You’ll see coral formations you won’t find anywhere else around the globe, schools of fish and heaps of other marine life. Under the sea, under the sea…

The Reef isn’t the only part of the ocean worth checking out here. Lay down your towel on the lovely beaches that surround Cairns. Known as “the Northern Beaches”, they include gems like Palm Cove Beach and Trinity Beach. Lovely long stretches of sand with headlands and palm trees, these beaches have become popular with travellers – and it’s easy to understand why. But the beaches aren’t your only options for swimming in Cairns. The Cairns Esplanade Lagoon is a safe, scenic, four-hectare swimming pool complete with statues of fish spouting water from their tails. It’s a cool place for a swim, a sunbake or a BBQ (yum), so take a walk along the Esplanade and check it out.

Lace up your hiking shoes, because you can find your Zen here in the Daintree Rainforest. A guided tour can make things easy, but you can also explore the Daintree’s forests, rivers and beaches – like calm, clear Cape Tribulation - with a solo trek.

It’s easy to fill up the days in Cairns: Take a trip on the Kuranda Scenic Railway. Visit Cairns Tropical Zoo and the Cairns Regional Art Gallery. Take a trip to Barron Gorge National Park for some snaps of the rainforest, ravines and waterfalls.

Shopping, Dining and Nightlife

You don’t have to hit the clubs to have a great time at night. The Cairns Night Markets are THE place to shop in Cairns, with a bustling food court and heaps of spots to buy a super-unique souvenir. When you head out to dinner the choices are abundant, from seafood to juicy steak to fine dining from around the world.

And when it’s night-time, Cairns has the right club for you whether you’re after a classy, laidback affair or a wild time. There are bars for backpackers, English and Irish taverns, beer gardens and cocktails.

Getting here

Whether it’s wanderlust or a craving for relaxation, Cairns will satisfy. Wrap up your Cairns accommodation and cheap flight to Cairns in the same package with us and start a tropical north Queensland adventure YOUR way.

Hotels in Cairns

With such an awesome range of Cairns hotels available, finding the right one shouldn't be hard. At the mo, there are 115 accommodations waiting on lastminute.com.au.

Who said that service with a smile needs to cost an arm and a leg? You'll have a peaceful night's shut-eye at a nice price at the A1 Inn the City and the Koala Beach Resort. But if you'd rather live like a king or queen while you're here, the Reef Encounter or the Waters Edge Apartments Cairns may be more to your liking. Just sit back, unwind and let the friendly staff do their thing.