Budget · 3-hour walk · Cairns
The Esplanade in three hours
The waterfront walk, the free swimming lagoon, the museum, the night markets and the reef fleet.
Cairns is where you sleep between days on the reef and in the rainforest, but its waterfront is worth a morning of its own. The sea here is mudflat and mangrove, so the city built a lagoon to swim in, and the walk along the shore is one of the best places in Australia to watch wading birds.
The route, stop by stop
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Cairns Esplanade
Start at the north end and walk south along the mudflats, where pelicans and migrating waders feed at low tide.
25 min here Walk here → -
Esplanade Lagoon
A free saltwater swimming lagoon on the waterfront, with lifeguards, lawns and barbecues. There is no beach in central Cairns; this is it.
40 min here Walk here → -
Cairns Museum
The town's history, from the Aboriginal peoples of the area to the gold rush and the cane fields, in the School of Arts building of 1907.
25 min here Walk here → -
Cairns Night Markets
Souvenirs, massages and a food court, open every evening.
25 min here Walk here → -
Reef Fleet Terminal
Where the boats leave for the Great Barrier Reef each morning and come back in the late afternoon.
15 min here Walk here →
More walks in Cairns
More in Cairns
Every walking route in Cairns, the full Cairns guide for where to stay and what a day costs, or walks in other cities.