Willerby_brisbane

We are going to Cairns area in May and will be looking to go to Kuranda one of the days. We will go on both the skyrail and the railway as well to get there and back. What is the best place to book these or best package etc. We will have a hire car when there so can drive to a station if required.

I have looked on the Kuranda web site which has the links to the individual web sites for the skyrail and the train but i just wanted to know which is the best way to book.

And on a side, what are the good hotels to stay at nr Cairns? Ther will be 8 of us going 4 adults 4 kids (15, 13, 10, 8)

Petals

We looked on the web for deals and got an apartment and Kuranda and a few other tours were booked by the place we stayed at and included in the price. So have a look on the web.

The closer in the better as then you can walk to the night markets etc and restaurants easily.

Bix

Take the train on the upward journey as on the downward it can be noisy (brakes) and jolts a lot.

The train starts at Cairns Central and picks up at Freshwater but the Skyrail is at Smithfield so whichever way you go you need transport to get from one to the other. I think most of the packages can include a transfer by shuttle bus.

Bobbyftm just stayed at the Rydges Tradewinds which is at the North end of the Esplanade and found it okay.

Southern Cross apartments are very conveniently placed very close to train station, Cairns Central shopping mall and 10 minutes walk to the Esplanade.

There are hundreds of places to stay. Have a look on these to get an idea of what's available and what to do.
http://www.cairnsholiday.com/
http://cityofcairns.com/cairnsaccommodation/
http://www.cairnsconnect.com/
http://www.cairnsattractions.com/index.php
http://www.cairns-australia.com/
http://www.cairnsweb.com.au/

wardy2

if you do end up considering appartments we stayed at the
http://www.citysider.com.au/

Well recommended on http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ueensland.html

we found it great and the appartments had 2 bedrooms with double and twin rooms, the couple who run it can also book all trips from there also.

have a fab trip

IndieG

We stayed at the Lakes Resorts - booked a townhouse and it was excellent. They have 2-3 and I think 4 bed townhouses - very spacious. We got a very good deal and had done our reservations through travelmall.com.au. It is right next to a park (handy with kids!). Let me see if I can find pics of the resort and post them!

I recall it was a short taxi ride from the Lakes to the skyrail station.

NickyC

And if you want to visit the Kuranda Markets make sure you go on a day that the proper markets are operating. Someone local could tell you which days these are.

From memory, the fares up on the train are cheaper on non-market days.

Wouldn't want you to get there and be looking forward to checking out the stalls etc only to find it's as dead as a doornail (which happened to us once ).

krazys back

Got to support Bix on this one from experience - coming down was not as good an experience as going up!

Enjoy!

Bix

Lakes Resort is good


Also highly recommended is this one.
A little farther out of town; about 15 minutes.
Lot's for kids to do.
http://www.coconut.com.au/

Willerby_brisbane

Thanks for all the replies so far. Still trying to work out how we plan the journey. . At least i now know its train first then Kuranda then sky rail. So thats a start anyway. Just have to work out the travel from the various stations etc.