Queensland travel guide

Queensland may be most famous for the Great Barrier Reef lying off its white sand-lined shores, but this ginormous tropical state is also home to the world’s oldest rainforest, out-of-this world surfing and cities that are cultural powerhouses. Our Queensland travel guide reveals our favourite places, introduces you to Aboriginal spirituality and shares our advice for more responsible travels Down Under.

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Queensland travel guide

From the chilled-out surfing vibes of the Gold Coast to the steamy outposts of the tropical north, fringed with reef and white sand, nowhere in Australia does an approximation of paradise quite so well as Queensland.

This is a state of superlatives, home to the oldest rainforest, the largest living structure on earth, the most dangerous bird – and if you’re into your waves - arguably the best surfing break in the world.

This is also the only place in the world where two UNESCO heritage sites – the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef – meet, in a glorious union of natural beauty. But Queensland goes beyond coral reefs and surfing sand banks. This land is imbued with a deep Aboriginal significance, where custodians of the world’s oldest surviving culture believe their ancestors have lived since the beginning of time. And through its corals, islands, forests and mountain plateaus are weaved tales of the Dreamtime – the creation stories of the ancestor spirits which shaped the land as we see it now.

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Queensland is...

steamy, tropical Australia, packed with corals, cassowaries, crocs and tree kangaroos.

Queensland isn’t...

just rainforest and reef; this is the only place Australia’s two indigenous cultures – Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginals – converge, with its land holding deep spiritual significance for both.

Things to do...

...Explore by boat. And a small boat at that. Small ship cruises ply the various islands of the northern Great Barrier Reef for up to a week – and are excellent for accessing remote reefs away from the tourist hordes as well as tiny coral cays home to thousands of breeding seabirds. ...Head inland. Queensland’s big names cluster along its coastline but don’t miss its underrated tropical interior. Hike to glorious canopy lookouts in Lamington National Park, search for tree kangaroos in the Atherton Tablelands, kayak down freshwater jungle creeks in the company of an Aboriginal guide or dodge cassowaries in the Daintree Rainforest. ...Dive in. Arguably Queensland’s most beautiful – and certainly it’s most colourful – jungle is found underwater. Excellent diving abounds, but if you’d prefer something less adventurous there’s plenty of opportunity for snorkelling on calm, shallow reefs. Alternatively, for non-swimmers, glass-bottom boats can provide a no-less magical window on the underwater world. ...Take the wildlife seriously. Aussies may joke that everything in their country wants to kill you, but jellyfish warnings and advice on what to do should you encounter cassowaries or crocodiles are not idle threats. Take heed – and don’t feed. Dingoes on Fraser Island, for example, have become more aggressive with increased interaction with people – and their food.

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Call us for a chat about our holidays. We are happy to discuss your holiday and help in any way we can. No bots, queues or awful hold music.

01273 823 700 01273 823 700

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Things not to do...

...Touch the reef. It’s colourful, oh-so-inviting and looks wonderfully tactile, but corals are fragile organisms that are oh-so-easily damaged. So stay hands-off when snorkelling, be careful of fins and other dive equipment hitting the reef by accident. Use a responsible tour operator, wear coral-friendly suncream, and don’t buy any coral souvenirs.

...Think nothing beats Queensland’s natural beauty. Aboriginal culture connects humans to this landscape; a spirituality that has been woven deep into the land since the beginning of time. Aboriginal-led tours share a deeply-ingrained knowledge of the wildlife and land with you – and bring the rainforest and reef, quite literally, to life.

...Use the term Aborigines. Although only slightly removed from the acceptable ‘Aboriginal’, it is generally perceived as insensitive, with racist connotations that stem from Australia’s colonial past. If you’re collectively talking about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples you’re better off using the term ‘indigenous Australians’.

...Fill up on McDonald’s. Queensland is overflowing with local produce that’s tastier than a tonne of French fries. Freshly-caught seafood is exquisite, including tiger prawns, mud crabs and Moreton Bay bugs (ignore the off-putting name – these are lobsters not creepy-crawlies), while its tropical climate offers up juicy pineapples, mangoes and pawpaws. The native macadamia nuts are pretty good too.