{"id":2922,"date":"2021-03-28T10:35:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-28T10:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/?p=2922"},"modified":"2023-11-29T23:55:01","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T23:55:01","slug":"brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/","title":{"rendered":"Brisbane to Cairns: The perfect getaway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Easter is just around the corner, and if you\u2019ve looked at the calendar and been savvy about requesting days off, you might even have organised for an extra long break. <\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from eating chocolate for breakfast, Easter is a fantastic time to take a road trip while the weather is still warm, but not too hot, either. <\/span><\/p>\n

Our pick for the best road trip to take this Easter break? Brisbane to Cairns<\/a>. <\/span>Brisbane<\/span> to Cairns, distance-wise, is just shy of 1,700 kilometres, so you\u2019ll spend roughly 19 hours making this unforgettable roadie. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here are our top picks for things to see and do on your Brisbane to <\/span>Cairns<\/span> drive! <\/span><\/p>\n

An unforgettable Brisbane to Cairns road trip <\/b><\/h2>\n

Day one: Brisbane to Bundaberg <\/span><\/h3>\n

Kick off from Brisbane<\/a> with an early start to beat the traffic and make your first stop at the glorious Sunshine Coast for a paddle or a refreshing swim. There are plenty of markets in the Sunshine Coast, so pay a visit to stock up on fresh berries and other snacks for your drive. <\/span><\/p>\n

Next stop, Noosa! Visit the Noosa National Park to swim in the enchanting fairy pools, and spend the afternoon relaxing on the sparkling golden white sands of the Main Beach. <\/span><\/p>\n

Finish your day in <\/span>Bundaberg<\/span><\/a>. The town is known for its Bundaberg Rum, and once you\u2019ve parked your rental car for the evening, you can head down for a tasting or two and even a guided tour before the day is out. <\/span><\/p>\n

Day two: Bundaberg to Yeppoon <\/span><\/h3>\n

As soon as you hit the road, make a bee-line from Bundaberg straight to the town of Seventeen Seventy. This historic seaside town is where James Cook landed in 1770 (hence the name), and is perfect for a casual morning stand-up paddleboard session and a quick swim. <\/span><\/p>\n

Once you arrive in Yeppoon, you\u2019ll quickly spot the spectacular scenery in all directions, as this coastal town is known for its tropical climate, beaches, and islands dotting the shoreline. Spend your evening on a sunset cruise to make the most of this landscape. <\/span><\/p>\n

Day three: Yeppoon to Airlie Beach <\/span><\/h3>\n

Load up your favourite road trip playlist and continue up the coast to <\/span>Mackay<\/span><\/a>, affectionately known as Australia\u2019s sugar capital. Here you can dive in at Bluewater Lagoon, which is a free-entry waterpark with pools, slides, a waterfall, and family-friendly picnic areas. Or, take a Willy Wonka tour at the Sarina Sugar Shed to find out why the town is such a sugar mecca, and learn about how the sweet stuff is produced. <\/span><\/p>\n

Follow the Bruce Highway a little farther and make another stop, this time at the Cape Hillsborough Tourist Park. The kangaroos and wallabies here are a little more used to being around people, so it\u2019s the perfect place to catch a glimpse of these Aussie icons. If you have the time, stay the night at Cape Hillsborough and get up early to head down to the beach, where the local kangaroos population visits each morning at sunrise. <\/span><\/p>\n

Airlie Beach almost needs no introduction. Not only are the beaches in this area even better than what you\u2019ll see on postcards, this is one of the easier starting points for cruising to the Whitsunday Islands. Again, if you have the time, spend it here. <\/span><\/p>\n

Day four: Airlie Beach to Cairns <\/span><\/h3>\n

This final day presents a solid drive, so make an early start and stop at some of the gorgeous golden beaches along the way that Queensland is known for, such as those at Bowen and <\/span>Townsville<\/span><\/a>. Make a final stop at Mission Beach for more stunning seaside scenery before cruising into Cairns. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have much time off, this road trip can certainly be completed quickly, and you\u2019ll save yourself plenty of driving time along the Bruce Highway if you book a one-way car rental from Brisbane<\/a> to Cairns, then simply fly back! For those who have managed a solid week off work, you\u2019ll want to spend every minute of it exploring the beaches and sights along this unbelievable stretch of Queensland coastline. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Easter is just around the corner, and if you\u2019ve looked at the calendar and been savvy about requesting days off, you might even have organised for an extra long break. Aside from eating chocolate for breakfast, Easter is a fantastic time to take a road trip while the weather is still warm, but not too…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":2923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,58,9],"tags":[98,94,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-2922","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tips","8":"category-road-trips","9":"category-travel","10":"tag-brisbane","11":"tag-cairns","12":"tag-queensland","13":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nBrisbane to Cairns: The perfect getaway - SIXT Car Rental<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Brisbane to Cairns drive promises everything from endless beaches to relaxed seaside towns and wildlife.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brisbane to Cairns: The perfect getaway - SIXT Car Rental\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Brisbane to Cairns drive promises everything from endless beaches to relaxed seaside towns and wildlife.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SIXT Magazine Australia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-28T10:35:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-29T23:55:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"arvinf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"arvinf\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Brisbane to Cairns: The perfect getaway - SIXT Car Rental","description":"A Brisbane to Cairns drive promises everything from endless beaches to relaxed seaside towns and wildlife.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Brisbane to Cairns: The perfect getaway - SIXT Car Rental","og_description":"A Brisbane to Cairns drive promises everything from endless beaches to relaxed seaside towns and wildlife.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/","og_site_name":"SIXT Magazine Australia","article_published_time":"2021-03-28T10:35:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-29T23:55:01+00:00","author":"arvinf","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"arvinf","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/"},"author":{"name":"arvinf","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/d3073790687d254a0e5854cc89d35b77"},"headline":"Brisbane to Cairns: The perfect getaway","datePublished":"2021-03-28T10:35:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-29T23:55:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/"},"wordCount":687,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","keywords":["Brisbane","Cairns","Queensland"],"articleSection":["Guides & Tips","Road Trips","Travel"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/","name":"Brisbane to Cairns: The perfect getaway - SIXT Car Rental","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2021-03-28T10:35:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-29T23:55:01+00:00","description":"A Brisbane to Cairns drive promises everything from endless beaches to relaxed seaside towns and wildlife.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/road-trips\/brisbane-to-cairns-the-perfect-getaway\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Brisbane to Cairns: The perfect getaway"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/","name":"SIXT Magazine Australia","description":"Travel Tips & News from SIXT Rent a Car","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#organization","name":"SIXT Australia","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2025\/11\/sixt-logo-png_seeklogo-320002.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2025\/11\/sixt-logo-png_seeklogo-320002.png","width":600,"height":600,"caption":"SIXT Australia"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/d3073790687d254a0e5854cc89d35b77","name":"arvinf","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f37a51dc0afb5637d2ac90fef7f89019adeeb1e568d663a64083ad97e578531e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f37a51dc0afb5637d2ac90fef7f89019adeeb1e568d663a64083ad97e578531e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"arvinf"},"url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/author\/arvinf\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}