Cairns Explorer

Cairns Explorer takes you to the top attractions in Cairns. A continuous loop every hour allows you to hop on, hop off at your leisure. Departs daily from Cairns Central Shopping Centre from 9 am to 3 pm.
Where else can you mix 'n match your day tour for $20! *

A ticket you can use all day! *

The Cairns hop on hop off bus.

Cairns Botanical Gardens

The Jack Barnes Bicentennial Mangrove Boardwalk

Royal Flying Doctor Visitor Centre

Cairns City Esplanade

Cairns Central Shopping Centre

Blue Sky Brewery

The Cairns Wildlife Dome above the Casino

Here’s a few suggestions on how you can see Cairns “on a shoestring”.

Board the Cairns Explorer bus at Cairns Central Shopping Centre near the railway station, travel to the city centre, then along the Esplanade.
You might like to hop off along the Esplanade and go for a swim in the lagoon, take the kids to the playground or take a walk on the boardwalk and watch the pelicans.

Then you hop on the next bus and may decide to take the walk through Centennial Lakes or stay on the bus and visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service Visitor Centre at Edge Hill. You may spend an hour there learning about the daily activities of this Australian outback medical service and check out the interesting museum.

Hop on the next bus and hop off again at the Botanic Gardens where you can stroll through tropical rainforest and see the exotic Orchid House and the Fernery.

Board the next Cairns Explorer bus and head out to the Mangrove Boardwalk near the airport. There are two easy boardwalks there that you can complete in under one hour. Plenty of mangroves to see - 11 species with their alien-like root system - and you might even see an ibis or a honeyeater.

Its back on the bus again into the city for the opportunity to visit the Wildlife Dome above the Casino. Immerse yourself in a replicated rainforest environment while birds fly around you. Wallabies roam free, but you can't touch the crocodile!

The next bus will take you to back to Cairns Central, the largest shopping centre in North Queensland, where you can browse the shops.

Just remember - every time you hop off the bus you can catch the next one in an hour's time. But don't forget that the last bus leaves Cairns Central at 3pm.

There are plenty of places where you can have morning and afternoon tea and lunch.
The Botanic Gardens have a licensed restaurant; there’s Pacific Flavours at The Reef Hotel Casino; Cairns Central offers restaurants, cafes and a large food court with a selection of your favourite fast foods; Cafe Lumiere along the boardwalk at Harbour Lights overlooking Trinity Bay, and finally, a multitude of sidewalk cafes and restaurants along the Esplanade.

Bus Time Table

* Entry fees to all attractions (if any) are NOT included in bus ticket price and are at passenger's own expense.
Valid day of purchase only. Children 4 - 14 years half price