Travel Guides

Home > Travel Guides

5 Free and Family-Friendly Cairns, Australia Vacation Activities

Are you in the process of planning a trip to go to the “down under”? If so, and you’re someone who has a love for outdoor activities, make sure that you put Cairns on your itinerary. Aside from being one of the most scenic places in Australia, it has all kinds of family-friendly activities that are fun and (even better) free.

If you’d like to know about some of the things that we enjoy doing that doesn’t require paying a single cent, we have provided you with a list of five of them below:

Go to the beach. If you’re someone who likes the sun, saltwater and sand, then you’re going to be thrilled with Cairns. That’s because one of the things that it’s best known for is all of the beaches that it has including Machan’s Beach, Kewarra Beach and Trinity Beach, which is only a 15-minute drive from the airport and has lots of activities on site.

Check out their rainforest. If you’ve never had the opportunity to personally witness a rainforest before, then don’t let it pass you by while you’re in Cairns. Although there is an official Cairns Rainforest Tour, if you want to save a few dollars, there are some various ways that you can enter inside of it for free. For instance, if you view the Botanical Gardens, they actually have an entryway known as the “Red Arrow”. It’s a nature walk that takes approximately 30 minutes and leads you to the rainforest. If you do want to take the tour instead, you can get more information by visiting Skyrail.com.au.

Enjoy a few festivals. Depending on the time of year that you choose to travel to Cairns, something else that you may be able to partake in, free of charge, are the festivals that they host annually. One of the more popular ones takes place in late August. It’s called the Cairns Festival and it features all kinds of music, art and food. For more information on the Cairns Festival, visit Cairns.qld.gov.au.

Walk through some art galleries. Do you enjoy art? If so, then there are plenty of art galleries for you to enjoy in Cairns. Aside from the amazing paintings and sculptures that are featured, you are able to enjoy them without an admission fee. So, make sure that you put Cairns Regional Gallery, Bundarra Fine Art Gallery and the Crackerbox Palace on the list of things to do (and view).

Go to the Cairns Esplanade Swimming Lagoon. We know that we started out this article talking about some of the beaches in Cairns, but we simply could not finish it without also mentioning the Cairns Esplanade Swimming Lagoon. Aside from the lagoon’s crystal clear waters that you and your kids can swim in for hours on end, the area also has beach volleyball courts, a skate park and fun ship playgrounds for the kids too. It’s one place where you can easily spend a full day in the fun and sun. For more information on the Cairns Esplanade Swimming Lagoon, visit CairnsEsplanade.com.au. For information on other things that Cairns have to offer, visit Cairns Tours.


More to Read: