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Getting around Cairns

Public transport: 

The only public transport available in Cairns is the public bus service, run by Sunbus (tel: (07) 4057 7411; www.sunbus.com.au). Buy tickets on buses or at the Cairns City Place Transit Mall on Lake Street between Shield and Spence Streets. All buses can either be caught at bus stops or hailed at any point along the route. Discounted daily, weekly and monthly passes are available, and a return is usually transformed into a daily ticket.

Buses ply most of Cairns, and head all the way to Palm Cove (1n, 1x and 2a). Bus 7 heads to Flecker Botanic Gardens. Popular beaches, including Holloways Beach and Yorkeys Knob, can also be reached by bus (1c, 1d and 1h) via Smithfield. Numerous services run out to the western and southern suburbs hourly, including buses 8, 5, 5A, 6 and 6A, which run west to the Raintrees Shopping Centre, and buses 1, 1A, 11, 12 and 13, which all run south to Edmonton.

Taxis: 

The sole provider of taxis in Cairns is Black and White Taxis (tel: (07) 4048 8350 or 131 008).

Car hire: 

Most of the car hire companies in Cairns are located on Lake Street, between Florence and Aplin Streets, or at the airport. These include Avis (tel: (07) 4051 5911; www.avis.com.au), Budget (tel: (07) 4051 9222; www.budget.com.au), East Coast Car Rentals (tel: (07) 5592 0444; www.eastcoastcarrentals.com.au) and Hertz (tel: (07) 4051 6399; www.hertz.com.au). It is advisable to book in advance, particularly for 4-wheel vehicles.

Bicycle hire: 

Bicycle hire is daily or weekly, though sometimes it's only slightly more expensive to hire a bike for a month than it is for a week. Bike Man, 99 Sheridan Street (tel: (07) 4041 5566; www.bikeman.com.au) and Cairns Scooter and Bicycle Hire, 47 Shields Street (tel: (07) 4031 3444; www.cairnsbicyclehire.com.au) both rent out bikes.

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