Last Updated on March 22, 2023 by Travels with Kids
If you are looking for the perfect Port Douglas Itinerary for a family or with kids, you have come to the right place. Port Douglas is a beautiful coastal town located in Far North Queensland, Australia, just a 1 hour drive from Cairns. With its stunning beaches, access to the Great Barrier Reef, and proximity to the Daintree Rainforest, it’s no wonder that Port Douglas is a popular destination.
We did this itinerary after spending 7 days in Cairns, starting at the Rydges Esplanade Cairns, going on a day trip to Kuranda and going on the Skyrail Forest Cableway, lots of visits to Muddy’s playground and exploring Cairns Esplanade lagoon pool. We also went to Fitzroy Island and The Great Barrier Reef on a road trip from Cairns to Cape Tribulation.
Cairns is a great addition to this itinerary (the first 7 days of your trip). You can view our full 7 day Cairns itinerary here.
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How Many Days do You Need in Port Douglas?
For family travel, I recommend 7 days minimum to explore the Port Douglas region. Although you could stay much longer as there are so many Things to do in Port Douglas. If you have more time, there are plenty of other activities and attractions to explore, including scenic helicopter flights, wildlife parks, and cultural tours.
This Port Douglas Itinerary allows time to visit the Great Barrier Reef, explore the Daintree Rainforest, and enjoy some of the other attractions, such as Mossman Gorge, Four Mile Beach, and the Sunday Markets. Additionally, having a few days to relax and soak up the tropical ambience of the town is always a good idea.
We like to stay 3-4 days as a minimum in one place to preserve the family’s sanity. Anything less, and there is too much packing, logistics and moving. Our family likes to have a settled feeling. We have also found that going slow makes a lot of sense; having happy, settled kids is better than ticking off all those bucket list items. We did this holiday before we found out one child was neurodivergent; but what we knew back then was that moving fast would activate their nervous system.
How to Get to Port Douglas
There are many ways to get to Port Douglas. These usually involve travelling to Cairns first. Here are your best options:
Flying to Port Douglas
The nearest airport to Port Douglas is Cairns International Airport. From here, you can hire a car (view hire car prices for your dates here), book a Cairns to Port Douglas transfer or catch the bus to Port Douglas. There are also shuttle services available from Cairns to port Douglas. You can view prices for this service here.
View flights for your dates here.
The Train to Port Douglas
If you would like to take the train to Port Douglas, the nearest station is the Cairns Railway station, connecting you to Brisbane and all towns south using Queensland Rail. From here, you can hire a car or book a shuttle service.
7 Day Port Douglas Itinerary for Families
We went pretty slowly for our Port Douglas itinerary and spent lots of time playing in playgrounds. At the time of this trip, the kids were 5 months, 5 years and 8 years old. One child is neurodivergent with a range of special needs, so they dislike a lot of hours of driving or being made to do lots of activities. They love playing, so we need to allow a lot of free play time (up to half a day in any itinerary).
Here is the 7 day Port Douglas itinerary that we did:
Day 1: Travel to Port Douglas
Today, we caught the Fitzroy Island Flyer back to Cairns and picked up our hire car. You can view hire car options for your dates here. Most of the day was spent driving to Port Douglas, with the many stops along the Great Barrier Reef Drive documented in our Cairns to Port Douglas Drive post.
We chose to stay at one of the resorts, Reef Resort Port Douglas, which has large self-contained family-oriented apartments for an affordable price and a range of very beautiful pools. All 3 of the kids adore the swimming pool, which means we will swim 1-2 times a day, and our accommodation must have a pool.
A little more expensive but family oriented and highly recommended is the Oaks Port Douglas Resort, next door to the Reef Resort, where we stayed. We even walked down there for dinner one night. Across the road from where we stayed is the highly recommended Ramada Resort by Wyndham Port Douglas, which is worth checking out.
Day 2: Port Douglas Town and Famous Four Mile Beach
We’ve documented in detail the many things to do in Port Douglas at our Post – Things to do in Port Douglas.
It’s fun to wander down Macrossan Street, stop for some food at the eateries or watch the sunset from Rex Smeales park (which also has a playground). We returned to the Park for a few days during our stay in Port Douglas.
Day 3 – Visiting Wildlife Habitat
On this day of our Port Douglas itinerary, we visited Wildlife Habitat. It is an eco-certified wildlife sanctuary that lets visitors engage with Australian animals in their recreated natural environments of wetlands, rainforest, savannah, nocturnal and woodlands environments. It was literally 5 minutes down the road from our accommodation, and was really interactive for the kids.
In addition, they have daily animal presentations where you can learn more as well as get up close and touch the animals yourself. Keep an eye out for the pythons, koalas and crocodiles! Wildlife Habitat offers photo opportunities (souvenir photos) with a range of their animals – for an extra charge.
Keep in mind that this is quite a big park, especially if you are with little kids. Definitely plan on taking the pram! While many parts of Wildlife Habitat are covered by trees or shade cloth, this is the tropics, so you can get very hot quickly. When traveling with small kids, we prefer to go slow, and on arrival, we discovered that admission tickets are valid for 4 consecutive days after visiting. A timetable of animal talks and presentations is provided to you when you purchase entry. Seeing this, we decided to do half of the Wildlife Habitat and return in a few days to see more.
The second time, we attended specifically to attend a Cassowary feeding talk (my kids have a fascination with the weird and wonderful). For more info, check out our Cassowary Facts for Kids.
If you think that your family would be into crocodiles then, Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures is a 10-hectare wildlife sanctuary and ecotourism park located between Cairns and Port Douglas at Wangetti Beach. Like Wildlife Habitat, admission tickets are valid for three consecutive days from the date of entry. I suspect that if we had known this, we might have dropped in when driving from Cairns to Port Douglas on the first day.
Day 4 Mossman Gorge and the Daintree Rainforest
Most days, we started the day with a walk along Four Mile Beach in the Daintree region in the morning – or finished the day with a relaxing sunset walk there. Daintree National Park is an ancient rainforest that’s perfect for a visit with kids.
Mossman Gorge National Park is the closest, and one of the most accessible, places to experience the natural wonders of the Daintree Rainforest close to Port Douglas. In fact, it’s only a 20-minute drive from the main resort strip of Port Douglas for everything you need to know about a visit to Mossman Gorge cultural centre. You can read more about Mossman Gorge Walks and swimming here.
We were so inspired by the majesty and ancient feeling of the Daintree we created these Daintree Rainforest Facts for Kids.
Day 5 Balley Hooley Train & Another Visit to Wildlife Habitat
Now closed down (as of Sep 2021), the Balley Hooley Train was a cute train trip on a restored cane train locomotive. We caught from the St. Crispins Station into Port Douglas Marina and back again. It was a real winner with the kids and a slow way to travel through the countryside. It’s a shame it has closed down.
In the afternoon, we returned to Wildlife Habitat to see the areas we had missed and some of the talks we wanted to learn from. Watching my kids full of life and enthusiastic for a second visit totally reinforced my decision to go to the park for over two days. So often, you spend a day at a zoo, and the kids are dragging their feet for the second half. This was totally avoided with the option to go for multiple days.
Late afternoon, we went for a play at Rex Smeales park and walk along Macrossan street. If you have 5 days in Port Douglas, you could use this part of the itinerary as a 5 day Port Douglas itinerary.
Day 6 – Enjoying the pools of Port Douglas
My original plan was to drive up to the Daintree River, do a Daintree River Cruise, and visit the Daintree Discovery Centre, which is highly recommended and just past the Daintree Ferry crossing.
In fact, I desperately wanted to make this trip and had planned it extensively, documented in our post about our Cairns to Cape Tribulation Road Trip. However, as the Port Douglas itinerary evolved, I could see that this trip – about 1 hour driving there and back was going to be wayyyy too much for my kids. This may be ok for many families, but at the age and stage we were at, it was too much.
I knew that with our flight home the next day, there would be many time where we could provide few options for them. I figured it would be better for them to have lots of choices and flexibility during day of the itinerary. So, we would have liked to drive up to the Daintree but spent the day around the pool (and went over and swum in the pools at the nearby Oaks Resort too)! We rounded out the day with a long walk along the iconic Four-mile beach.
Day 7 – Goodbye Port Douglas and Tropical North Queensland
As our flight was in the mid-afternoon, we started the day with a final swim in the pool before heading south back to Cairns. Our plans were to explore the white sand beaches and stop at some playgrounds but this was totally dashed by some really bad weather. We did stop at Wangetti Beach, though, in our plastic ponchos.
Our final visit was to the Centenary Lakes Nature Playground, which several families highly recommended. It was recently built and is just a few minutes to the south of the Cairns Botanic Garden. The kids definitely had a chance for a good run before we dropped the car off and checked in for our flight!
Additions to Your 7 Day Port Douglas Itinerary
Whether you want to extend your Port Douglas itinerary or substitute one of the days with one of these amazing activities, here are some more things to do in Port Douglas with kids nearby trips.
The Great Barrier Reef: A UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most famous places in Australia, if not the world. If you haven’t been to Cairns before the start of your Port Douglas Itinerary (like we did), a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef is a must-do.
If your kids are old enough, a snorkeling tour is one of the best things to do. For younger kids, I recommend going on the semi-submarine, where you can still get views of the reef. There are many full-day and half-day tours of The Great Barrier Reef from Port Douglas. Or, you could create your own more flexible itinerary.
Check out these Great Barrier Reef tours we recommend below:
Cape Tribulation
Cape Tribulation is located 2 hours from Port Douglas. If you think you can handle the travel time with kids, it’s an amazing place to visit. You could also stop overnight if you have smaller kids. At Cape Tribulation, you can spend the day at the expansive beach or even book a horse riding adventure. Cape Tribulation is the perfect destination to combine with Daintree National Park.
Rex Smeal Park
Rex Smeal Park is the perfect destination in Port Douglas for kids to play. Bring a blanket or chair along during the summer and have a picnic. Also, Rex Smeales Park is also an amazing place to watch the sunset, and get the vibe in.
Port Douglas Sunday Markets
Every Sunday from 8:00 am until 1:30 pm are the amazing Sunday markets. They are located in a lovely park overlooking the sea. You can buy lots of local food or explore the stalls filled with jewelry, books and more. Kids will love trying the local cuisine and meeting the locals.
A Scenic Helicopter Flight
What better way to see Port Douglas than from above! A helicopter tour is an exciting and memorable experience for the whole family. Flying over the Great Barrier Reef, Daintree Rainforest, and other beautiful landscapes in the region provides a unique perspective that can’t be experienced any other way. Kids will love the thrill of taking off, landing in a helicopter, and seeing the stunning sights from a bird’s-eye view.
Tours are available from 30 minutes to 1 hour. You can also create a custom helicopter charter to suit your family. View more info here.
When to Visit Port Douglas?
The best time to visit Port Douglas is similar to the best time to visit Cairns. The best time to visit Port Douglas with the kids is between May and September. If you want to do activities like paddling at Mossman Gorge or spending time sitting on the 4-mile beach, summertime between December and March is better.
Summer in Port Douglas: December to February
Summer in Port Douglas is hot and humid, with temperatures ranging from 25°C to 32°C. It is also the wet season, with frequent tropical storms and heavy rainfall.
While the rain can make the rainforest and waterfalls even more beautiful, it can also make outdoor activities and beach days more challenging. However, the water temperature is warm and pleasant, and there are fewer crowds than in the peak season. If you’re willing to brave the heat and rain, summer can be a great time to visit Port Douglas with kids. However, you should be aware that box jellyfish start to become more present in the water from November onwards and that stinger season means no ocean swimming.
Autumn in Port Douglas: March to May
Autumn in Port Douglas is generally warm and dry, with temperatures ranging from 24°C to 31°C. It is still a good time to visit the reef and the rainforest, as the water is warm and the rain has tapered off.
The crowds have also thinned out, making it a good time to visit if you’re looking for a quieter experience. However, if you’re looking to swim, be aware that box jellyfish may be present in the water from around March to June.
Winter in Port Douglas: June to August
Winter in Port Douglas is mild and dry, with temperatures ranging from 17°C to 26°C. It is peak tourist season, so expect larger crowds and higher prices. However, this is also the best time for swimming and snorkeling. The water is crystal clear and the marine life is abundant. If you’re planning to visit during the winter months, book your accommodation well in advance to avoid disappointment.
Spring in Port Douglas: September to November
Spring in Port Douglas is warm and dry, with temperatures ranging from 21°C to 26°C. The ocean is still warm enough for swimming, and the weather is pleasant for outdoor activities. However, keep in mind that the weather can be unpredictable, with occasional tropical storms and heavy rainfall. It is a great time to visit if you’re looking for a balance between good weather and fewer crowds.
Port Douglas FAQs
Is it better to stay in Port Douglas or Cairns?
I highly recommend both Port Douglas and Cairns. If you’re doing this Port Douglas itinerary, it’s MUCH better to stay in Port Douglas. You can always combine this itinerary with our 7 day Cairns itinerary and stay in both.
What to do in Port Douglas for 3 days?
For 3 days in Port Douglas, you can mix and match aspects of this 7 day Port Douglas itinerary depending on whether you have kids and the age of your kids. The Wildlife habitat and Daintree forest were some of our favourite activities.
Is Port Douglas worth seeing?
Yes! Port Douglas is a beautiful place with so many things to see and do. From local food markets to spectacular UNESCO world heritage sites and national parks, you can’t miss Port Douglas.
Is it cheaper to stay in Cairns or Port Douglas?
This really depends on the standard of accommodation you choose. Overall, Cairns is considered a more budget-friendly destination than Port Douglas and has cheaper options. However, you can also find cheaper options in Port Douglas. In addition to this, food and activities in Port Douglas can be more expensive than in Cairns. We always like to stay somewhere with a pool, so keep this in mind too when choosing your accommodation.
Is Port Douglas in Cairns?
No, port Douglas is not in Cairns. It is a separate place and not a suburb of Cairns. However, Port Douglas is just a 1-hour drive from Cairns. Both destinations are located in tropical North Queensland.
The Verdict – Your Family-Friendly 7 Day Port Douglas Itinerary
As you can see from our 7 Day Port Douglas itinerary there is so much to see and do in this wonderful far North Queensland town. Whether you are making a visit to the Great Barrier Reef, The Daintree Rainforest, or just having a relaxing vacation with your family there is much to see and do.
Have you visited Port Douglas? Let us know what your ideal Port Douglas itinerary is in the comments below.
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