Cairns must-do highlights in three days

Late afternoon and evening
After returning to your hotel to freshen up, it’s time to hit the town! Start with a drink at waterfront venue Salt House, which has live music on weekends and creative cocktails with names like Walkamin Dream (named after a town in the Atherton Tablelands) and Tide’s Out. Then wander along the boardwalk to Prawn Star, where you dine on fresh seafood straight off the trawlers aboard one of four boats permanently moored at Marlin Marina. Afterwards, stroll through Cairns Night Markets, where you can buy everything from Akubra hats and boomerangs to handmade candles and macrame plant hangers. You can even have your feet nibbled at the Fish Foot Spa if you’re so inclined.

DAY TWO

Morning
The Great Barrier Reef isn’t the only UNESCO site at Cairns’ doorstep. It’s also an ideal base from which to explore the Wet Tropics Heritage Area. Start your day gliding above the canopy of the world’s oldest continually surviving tropical rainforest on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, keeping an eye out for tree kangaroos in the foliage below. If you’ve hired a car you can drive to Smithfield, which is around 15 minutes’ north of town, where the 7.5-kilometre journey begins. Bus transfers are also available from certain stops in Cairns. Make the experience even more special by upgrading to the Diamond View gondola, which has a glass floor. Get off along the way to join a free ranger tour along the boardwalks at Red Peak, and see the magnificent gorge and thundering waterfall at Din Din (Barron Falls).

Afternoon
After stepping off beside the heritage-listed Kuranda Railway Station, spend the next two- or three- hours exploring Kuranda Village. Grab lunch at Petit Café, which is known for its savoury crepes, bursting with ingredients liked triple-smoked ham, garlic butter mushrooms and smoked salmon cooked in a wood-fired oven. Follow the Cassowary Art Trail to see colourful sculptures of the endangered birds painted by local artists, stock up on lollies at Kuranda Candy Kitchen and peruse the eclectic Original Rainforest Market and Heritage Markets, which are on from Wednesday to Sunday.

If you’re in the market for Aboriginal artefacts, leather goods, opals, macadamia nuts or mango ice-cream, you’ve come to the right place. You can also see a real life cassowary among the 300-odd species at Birdworld Kuranda and take a behind-the-scenes tour of the breeding laboratory at The Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, which is the largest free-flight butterfly aviary in Australia. Then hop aboard one of the Victorian-era carriages of the Kuranda Scenic Railway, which has been operating since 1891. Aim for the 3.30pm train and upgrade to Gold Class to snack on local cheese and sparkling wine. Disembark at Cairns Central Railway Station or at Freshwater Railway Station to catch the transfer bus back to Skyrail’s Smithfield Terminal to pick up your hire car.

Evening
It’s time to hit the casino! Whether you’re into gambling or not, The Reef Hotel Casino is home to one of the city’s best restaurants, Tamarind. Begin with sunset drinks on the deck before sitting down at the multi-award-winning noshery, which is a true white linen tablecloth affair. The menu changes with the seasons, but can include dishes like Crystal Bay tiger prawns, Daintree barramundi or paperbark smoked salmon fillet, with multicultural influences like Penang duck curry. Top off the evening with a night cap at the casino’s industrial art deco-inspired lobby bar, BAR36.

DAY THREE

Morning
It’s another early start today for a drive to the Daintree. Join the charismatic Kuku Yalanji guide Juan Walker from Walkabout Cultural Adventures for a truly authentic Indigenous experience at Cooya Beach near Port Douglas. Juan basically loves showing visitors what he did as a kid on this hands-on tour. Try your hand at throwing a spear, collecting pipis, clams and periwinkles and catching mud crab in the mangroves, before returning to his mum’s place across the road to cook them up and eat on the veranda while he explains the many types of boomerangs used to catch different animals and shows you how to play the didgeridoo.

Afternoon
If you’re not already full from all the bush tucker, grab a bite from Mayi Café at The Mossman Gorge Cultural Centre, before joining the guided Ngadiki Dreamtime Walk. The experience begins with a traditional smoking ceremony to cleanse and ward off bad spirits, before following the old hunting and gathering trail past mossy red cedar trees, traditional bark shelters and rocky streams while listening to stories of the Kuku Yalanji people. You’ll also learn how to make bush soap and ochre for body paint, before trying damper and bush tea. Check out the onsite gallery before returning to Cairns.

Evening
Continue the Indigenous theme with dinner at Ochre Restaurant. Owner and chef Craig Squire is passionate about using native ingredients and has worked closely with the local Indigenous community over the past two decades. Think wattle seed damper, kangaroo satay sticks and pork chop with a pepperberry Vietnamese-style marinade, followed by a dessert of Davidson plum mousse or lemon myrtle and macadamia tart. Finish the evening with a drink at the city’s highest rooftop bar, Rocco, admiring the glittering lights of the city and the colourful Reef Eye ferris wheel in the distance.