Cairns Experience

you Cairn do it

Advantages: gateway to areas of stunning, natural beauty
Disadvantages: lack of history, no real beaches

Cairns is a strange place in that you do not really go to Cairns to experience Cairns. It is more of a focal point for exploring other areas around it. That is to say that Cairns has not got lots of attractions in it's own right because it has but the vast majority of visitors will use it as a stopping off place to see both Cairns and other attractions. After our trip to Ayers Rock, Cairns was totally different but equally appealing. ***History*** ...
...in "them thar hills" put Cairns firmly on the map in 1876 as a frontier town. When this began to die out Cairns began to thrive as a fishing and pearling area and the lush land was ideal for sugar cane plantations which are still abundant today. It is difficult to believe that little over twenty years ago, Cairns was still a sleepy town but with the building of an International airport tourism exploded and Cairns is an extremely popular holiday ...

TheWizardsSleeve 21.02.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: exceptional
Review of Cairns (Australia)

I Cairn Help But Recommend

Advantages: Cheap base for the area
Disadvantages: Not that much in the town itself

...me not to go to Cairns as it's 'dirty', 'ugly' and 'boring'. Never one to listen to comments like that, I still decided to stay there for a week, shunning Port Douglas and Palm Cover in favour of accommodation in Cairns itself, and was determined to enjoy myself, or at least experience enough to write a scathing review if need be. Happily this wasn't the case and I spent my week in Cairns wondering what it was that others didn't like. Cairns is a ...
...The one negative feature of Cairns is its apparent lack of history: similar to lots of other places in Australia there are few beautiful buildings or places of historical significance, and no galleries or museums worth mentioning (other than to say the ones I came across were not worth a visit). However, apart from this, Cairns has lots to offer, both immediately within the town and just outside. ~~~ Within Cairns ~~~ You can't swim in the sea ...

zoe_page 16.01.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Cairns (Australia)

A few days in the tropics ...

Advantages: Just a short plane ride from New Zealand
Disadvantages: Summer weather

...was my first time to Cairns so we rented a car and went off exploring far and wide. We were only going to be in the area for 41/2 days so we wanted to see as much as we could of the region while we were there. We visited in mid-August and the weather was great. Warm and tropical but not too hot or humid. It was prone to showers (downpours) but these were never enough to be a hinderance. Just added to the tropical feel of the place. My impression ...
...groups. As the waters around Cairns are tidal mudflats, not to mention full of undesirables such as Box Jellyfish and crocodiles, people prefer to swim in the large pool. We decided to stay in Cairns itself rather than head north to the beach areas of Port Douglas and The Norhtern beaches. We found great accommodation at The Rainforest Grove, we had a self-contained unit overlooking the rainforest. it was quiet, comfortable and reasonably priced ...

casnz 09.10.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Cairns (Australia)

Good for getting to other places!

Advantages: Gateway to reef, rainforest and tropics!
Disadvantages: Toursity, pubs, travel agents, no beach!

...a couple of days in Cairns in North Queensland in the far north east of Australia and to be honest I was not very impressed with the actual town itself! I went in August so the back end of their winter so the weather was good considering this is in the tropics so they only have a wet and dry season and not the usual summer, autumn, winter and spring. But I found Cairns itself to be full of travel agents (selling backpacker tours), pubs and not much ...
...in Cairns for a couple of months and worked there and based themselves there during their travels in Australia but these seemed to be people who liked to go out drinking A LOT and do nothing during the day or work to keep their travel funds going - so if this sounds like you then you will probably really like it and Cairns would be a good base for you to meet other like-minded people. Personally I preferred to go and see as much as I could and experience ...

Allyalcock 28.09.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Cairns (Australia)

Cairns a great Tropical Base.

Advantages: easy base location
Disadvantages: be prepaired to meet many of your fellow travellers there.

Cairns is one of the easyiest towns to use as a base for the "beginner" backpacker or traveler. The sheer number of travelers to Cairns have encouraged businesses that are offering tempting holiday services to the visitors of the area have been forced to compete for services (like pick ups from accomodations) and it is easy to find something to do for the next day while taking as stroll along the internationally well trodden path known as the esplanade. ...
...interesting places to visit in Cairns like the Botanical gardens. If you are interested in the vast array of tropical foilage you will be wowed as the abundance of exotic blooms that are on display in the park. There is a lovely little cafe there to take care of your thirst and appetite as well. Accorss the street from the Botanical gardens are the Centenary gardens where two other very different habitats await visitors. There is an interesting raised ...

kgb66 25.10.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Cairns (Australia)