10 beautiful stops on Australia’s East Coast

Australia, Vast land, Aborigines, kangaroos, surfers, and the whitest beaches in the world. Travel time is less than a day, and it is one of the farthest countries. This is one of the reasons why the Red Continent has long retained its great charm and charm for us. The first question you are likely to ask yourself when planning a trip to Australia is whether you want to visit the East Coast or Western Australia. The west coast is much less populated and therefore more pristine, but on the east coast of Australia is Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island, Whitehaven Beach, one of the whitest beaches on the planet and the most. Some of the finest are waiting, including the ancient rainforest.

For all these highlights, our choice has fallen to the east coast of Australia. Here are some of the most beautiful stops along the so-called sunshine route from Brisbane to Cairns and some of the best tips for road trips.

Brisbane: Queensland’s beloved capital 

Many suns, diverse cultural events, beautiful Brisbane River: Australia’s third-largest city has a lot of charm. It is also an ideal base for road trips on the east coast. After a short look at Brisbane, a day or two is enough to recover from a long-haul flight to Australia.

Life in Brisbane often occurs on the Brisbane River, which meanders through the city with a glittering twist. You can walk, kayak, or take a water taxi to cover the distance and enjoy a truly beautiful view of the skyline. The most beautiful view of it is certainly from the impressive Story Bridge. As part of the pier, you can climb the powerful iron girders of the bridge and enjoy views of skyscrapers and rivers. A very nice tour is a sunset tour.

Sunset Adventure Climbing Tour at Story Bridge 

South Bank Parklands is a place to relax and sunbathe. A park landscape with various pools, palm trees, and sandy beaches. I feel it in the middle of the city. There are also numerous restaurants, cafes, and beautifully landscaped walkways here. If you like a little culture, head to the former Brisbane Powerhouse, which regularly hosts exhibitions, concerts, and comedy shows. The Jan Powers Farmers Market is also held here every Saturday from 6 am to 12 pm. A place where you can buy fresh local products.

Brisbane Restaurants and Cafes

Brisbane’s vibrant city centre is full of recommended restaurants and small cafes. Our two favourite places are:

Piggyback Café At

Piggyback Café, unique and incredibly talented baristas, captivate guests. She uses whipped milk to pour colourful latte art into coffee, including swans, flamingos, and other rainbow-coloured motifs. Incredibly beautiful! There are also healthy smoothie bowls, salads, and delicious red velvet pancakes.

Stoke House Q & Stoke Bar

The particularly stylish Stoke Bar gives you the feeling of a real big city after dark! Enjoy an unparalleled view of the Brisbane River and the glittering night skyline of the city, sipping a few tapas with a glass of delicious wine or a great cocktail.

Brisbane Hotels: Comfortable and Sleepy

One of the Meriton Serviced Apartments if you want a modern apartment with ample space and a perfect location at the beginning of your adventure on Australia’s East Coast. Only 100 meters later, you are already along the river, and from here, you can explore Brisbane.

Byron Bay: Alternative hippie and surfing atmosphere

Before you finally head north, you should definitely make a detour to Byron Bay, a wonderfully relaxing town 200km south of Brisbane. When you get there, a very nice beach atmosphere, cool surfers, and another gypsy await you. If you want to wave on the board, this place is perfect. You can also kayak to find wild dolphins and turtles or find majestic humpback whales on your boat. Two cool tours in Byron Bay:

• Small group surf course in Byron Bay
• Kayaking tour with dolphins and turtles

In addition to surfing, stroll through colourful trendy shops or in a cozy cafe, have a coffee, or go to the beach. With good weather forecasts the next day, you won’t miss the sunrise at Cape Byron Light, Australia’s easternmost Byron Bay landmark. If you’re lucky, you can also see dolphins, whales, and sea turtles here!

Byron Bay Cafes and Restaurants

Brisbane, Byron Bay has many delicious restaurants and many nice cafes. Two of our favourite places in the hippie village are:

Beach Byron Bay Cafe and Restaurant

Beautifully designed Beach Byron Bay Cafe and Restaurant wants nothing to do with breathtaking sea views, delicious food, and refreshing drinks. The next kiosk also offers fine beach snacks.

Byron Bay Brewery and Buddha Bar

At Byron Bay Brewery and Buddha Bar, right next to the Arts Factory Lodge, you can fill your hunger with delicious pubs such as hamburgers, curries, and light meals and drink a cold beer. Live concerts by local bands are frequent, which also guarantees a good atmosphere. Like the ’80s when fans cheered on rock stars here!

East Coast of Australia: Sleep Comfortably in Byron Bay

Australian accommodations are sometimes quite expensive, so you sometimes have to go to a hostel on a small budget. Arts Factory Lodge is ideal for beginners, with double rooms, pools, and hammocks in an idyllic location in the middle of a subtropical forest.

Noosa: After the Surf Festival, Coastal Track and Company

Byron Bay, we finally headed north. The next destination is Noosa. Noosa is a beautiful beach town made up of several suburbs where beautiful and affluent people enjoy their lives. Noosa Heads Street Hastings is the heart of the region with its lovely shops, surf shops, and restaurants. The Noosa Surfing Festival is held every year in mid-March, and not only the best surfers in the world but also dogs can enjoy surfing. Prices for the  

 Noosa and its surroundings are generally a bit high. Fortunately, the best activities, such as hiking in Noosa National Park, are still free. For example, a coastal track with a length of 10.8 kilometres is an experience. It leads you through the woods to a beautiful, secluded beach. And maybe you will find either a wild koala or a rare black parrot.

Cafe & Restaurant

Noosa has two great places to enjoy a meal and a good cup of coffee.

The Bee Espresso Bar

The Bee Espresso Bar is not only offering one of Noosa’s creamiest cappuccinos but is also worth a visit. Saturday morning or Wednesday night: These days, 94-year-old Val will accompany you while you have a coffee on the piano!

GoVegan Deli

Even if you’re not vegan, you’ll love delicious salads, wraps, and breakfast ideas like coconut yogurt with fruits. There is also an assortment of sweet sins for those with sweet teeth, such as raw raspberry cheesecake. It’s just God!

Australia East Coast: Sleep Comfortably in Noosa

Noosa Flashpackers doesn’t look like a hostel due to its small, quiet, nice, and modern rooms. The communal kitchen is clean and uncrowded, and you can relax and cool off in the pool.

Fraser Island: The Largest Sand Island in the World

Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, directly in front of the Hervey Bay village on the east coast of Australia. One of the coolest things about Fraser Island is taking a jeep tour. We spend three days and two adventurous nights in a simple camp in the middle of Fraser Island’s nature. No electricity. The means to move in the sand at a depth of 30 cm is a 4×4 jeep, which will not get caught only once.

You need to actually arrange such a jeep tour a few weeks before arriving at Fraser Island. These are because they are booked quickly, especially during the high season. For example, how about this day tour?

Fraser Island Tour to distant pristine locations

Such a tour will drive you through the dense rainforest and along the ocean to the island’s various attractions. The first is Lake Villabean, which has surreal turquoise water and white silicone sand that can be used to brush your teeth, wash your hair, and exfoliate your skin. Your next destination is Lake Wabby, an oasis in the middle of the orange dunes.

There is also a champagne pool, a rock pool filled with water spewed by the waves, a Maheno shipwreck that is completely lost to the sand in about five years, and Erik Creek, a stream of hundreds of ice. Go back a few meters and get hooked on the program. On the final day, the beautiful Lake Mckenzie is waiting for you. You can also wash it yourself there. A snack after washing the cat for 2 days at the camp!

You spend the night in a simple camp without tents, electricity, running water and toilets. Every tent has a dingo stick for wild dogs living on the island if you need to go out in the dark. Our absolute highlight was not on the island but on the sky. Millions of stars, the Milky Way, and some shooting stars have taken our breath away!

Great Keppel: Long Beach and Monkey Beach

We had a break before our trip to the Whitsunday Islands, so we voluntarily decided to travel to Great Keppel, the largest of the 18 islands in the Keppel Islands. I did. Along the way, we stayed overnight in Agnes Water, a quiet beach town perfect for surfing. For a peaceful night, we recommend the Mango Tree Motel.

The ferry to Great Keppel Island departs from Roslin, and the intersection takes about 2 hours. The stunningly beautiful island is already on the Great Barrier Reef and is visited primarily by locals as a day trip. That’s why it’s still so original; you almost have a more remote part to yourself. After a brief 40-minute hike, you’ll arrive at Long Beach, the island’s most beautiful beach. A few kilometres long, the finest sand, turquoise water, not the soul. If you have your own snorkel and mask, you can snorkel at the neighbouring Monkey Beach.

You must return to the ferry terminal at least 2 hours before departure. We got lost in the rainforest bushes and were lucky enough to find a way to the past!

Eat well and sleep well at Yepun.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many special restaurants on the corner of Yepun, but you’ll only spend one night here after a trip to Great Keppel. Thai Tanny Restaurant is a delicious dish, even if it doesn’t look very good from the outside! For example, you can take it to your accommodation or sit on a bench whenever you want.

A drive to Airlie Beach or the Whitsunday Islands takes 5 hours, so you’ll need to stay overnight in Yepun. L’Amor Holiday Apartments offers fine accommodation with views of Rammamua Beach opposite.

Whitsunday Islands: The Whitest Beaches on Earth

These absolutely dreamy islands are inadequate for all the finest in the world and are in front of Airlie Beach. There are two options to marvel at them. One offers sightseeing flights, and the other is boats of various sizes driving through the Labyrinth of the Whitsunday Islands. But there is one thing for sure. It’s a wordless thing. The sight of the islands is very beautiful.

1-hour scenic flight around the Whitsunday Islands

Cruise Katamaran from the island world to Whitehaven Beach 

Choose a bird’s-eye view, and you’ll have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a heart-shaped heart. Plus, you’ll get even more spectacular views of the Whitsunday Islands and Whitehaven Beach, one of the whitest beaches in the world.

One of the many sailing tours offered always goes to the White Haven Viewpoint, the so-called Hill Inlet. This fully reveals the uniqueness of the Whitsunday Islands. The white sandbar winds through the turquoise waters and runs around the lush green islands. We may have been standing here for hours!

But other stations are also breathtaking. The sand on Whitehaven Beach is as fine as flour and makes a squeaking noise at your feet. The next morning, after berthing directly on the beach and spending the night there, I was also allowed to go to two different snorkelling spots. The wind was perfect, so I could even lift the sail and return to Airlie Beach at the end. An unforgettable excursion at sea!

Whitsunday: 7 Great Ideas in Queensland, Australia Did you know that you can camp on Whitehaven Beach? In the above post, I explained in detail how to wake up on this dream beach with a few others.

Airlie Beach Cafes and Restaurants

We were both delighted with Airlie Beach. A colourful and relaxing surfing atmosphere is also here. You can stroll along the busy main street for hours, shop at cute cafes and restaurants, or hang out. Our favourite places on Airlie Beach are:

Fat Frog Beach Cafe

Get a healthy start to your day at Airlie Beach’s “Where to Go”! On the promenade menu with sea views, poached eggs, avocados, feta cheeses, oven-baked scones and cream cheeses, museum or French toast.

Fish D’vine & Rum Bar

For everyone who loves fresh fish, here are the ultimate restaurant tips. When ordering mixed seafood at FishD’vine, you’ll find grilled shrimp, squid rings, salmon rolls, crabs, and more. It will be a three-story stand for your table. Everything is caught fresh and incredibly delicious! At the included Rambha, you can try over 50 different rums!

Australia East Coast: Sleep Comfortably at Airlie Beach

Whitsunday on the Beach is a lovely motel in the heart of the Airlie Beach Lagoon. All shops, restaurants, and cafes are within walking distance. There is also free parking space for cars, which is securely locked at the gate. Fully recommended!

Cairns: The tropical gateway to the Great Barrier Reef

Cairns wasn’t as exciting as the city, so I only stayed here for a day. Esplanade is great for walking and exercising, but there is no real beach for swimming. Also, jellyfish and crocodiles are often wandering around this area of ​​the ocean. Instead, there is a free outdoor swimming pool by the sea. This is not comparable to the beaches of Paradisia near Cairns. In the evening, enjoy a relaxing barbecue on the free gas grill. But keep in mind that alcohol is banned in public!

Why you need to plan around Cairns as a stopover for a road trip along Australia’s east coast: Cairns is an ideal starting point for snorkelling and diving trips to the nearby Great Barrier Reef. Countless boats with more snorkelers and diving enthusiasts leave the harbour daily towards the reefs.