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Queensland
Getting There
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Queensland Getting There

Getting There by Air

There are several major air carriers serving Brisbane and Queensland, including Air New Zealand, British Airways, Qantas, United Airlines and Singapore Airlines. For more flight details, see Getting There in the general Australia section. Domestic carriers include Qantas (website: www.qantas.com.au), Jetstar (website: www.jetstar.com.au), Tiger Airways (website: www.tigerairways.com.au) and Virgin Blue (website: www.virginblue.com.au). Airlines such as MacAir Airlines (website: www.macair.com.au) offer charter flights and feeder services to Queensland's main towns and Barrier Reef island resorts. QantasLink also provides services from Brisbane to assorted towns throughout Queensland.

The extensive internal airline system means that Queensland is connected with nearly all major Australian gateways.

Approximate Flight Times

From London to Brisbane is 23 hours 30 minutes.

Main Airports

Brisbane International (BNE) (website: www.bne.com.au) is 13km (8 miles) northeast of the city centre (journey time - 25 minutes).  To/from the airport: The Airtrain takes 15 minutes to Roma Street Transit Centre. Otherwise buses and taxis operate services to the city. Facilities: Left luggage, first aid, banks, bureaux de change, bars, car hire, duty-free shops, restaurants and tourist information.

Cairns (CNS) (website: www.cairnsairport.com) is 8km (5 miles) from the city. To/from the airport: Airport shuttle buses (journey time - 30 minutes) and taxis operate services to the city.
Departure Tax
None.

Getting There by Rail

Queensland has its own railway system, run by QR (tel: (07) 3235 1133; website: www.qr.com.au), the main routes being the Sunlander and the Tilt Train which connect coastal towns from Brisbane to Cairns. In addition, other services, such as the Inlander, Westlander and Spirit of the Outback (from Brisbane to Longreach) open up the Outback to travellers. The main tourist services are the famous Kuranda Scenic Rail and the Gulflander. The main train stations are Central and Roma Street in Brisbane.
Rail Passes
Sunshine Railpass: allows unlimited travel on Queensland's rail routes. Passes are valid for 14, 21 and 30 days in first- or economy-class, offering excellent travel facilities for those intending extensive travel throughout the state.

Wanderer Railpass: travel north of Brisbane or south of Cairns stopping where and when you like as long as you travel in one continuous direction. For more information about rail travel and passes, visit QR online.

Getting There by Road

There is a high standard of highways and road networks offering easy connections between towns and cities. The Bruce Highway runs down the whole east coast from Cairns to Brisbane and continues into New South Wales.

An extensive coach network offers an easy and cheap way of getting around.

The inland areas can be explored with 4-wheel drive vehicles, many of the interior roads being unsealed. The other main highways running into the interior are the Capricorn Highway (Rockhampton-Winton), the Flinders Highway (Townsville-Mount Isa, connecting with the network in the Northern Territory) and the Warrego Highway (Brisbane-Charleville).

The Mitchell and Landsborough Highways, which in places have unsealed road surfaces, run roughly north-south, connecting the main east-west highways and terminating at Sydney. The Newell Highway runs inland between Brisbane and Melbourne. For more information about driving in Queensland, visit Queensland Transport (website: www.queenslandholidays.com.au/transport/motor.cfm).

In Brisbane there are cross-river ferries, suburban trains and a comprehensive bus network with zonal fares and 10-journey pre-purchase fares obtainable through newsagents. Day and other period tickets are also available. In Cairns, bus services operate from early morning to late evening and there is a touring bus that follows a circular route, Cairns Red Explorer.
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