Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The museum is next door to one of the city's most enduring attractions, the Reef
HQ aquarium.
Remnants of bygone times are still apparent in some of the surrounding
towns, particularly
Charters Towers
and
Ravenswood,
where there are splen-
did examples of colonial architecture, historic hotels, museums, and displays of
old gold mining machinery and cottages.
Cruises depart from the harbor for the Great Barrier Reef, about 2
1
⁄
2
hours
away, and just 8km (5 miles) offshore is Magnetic Island—“Maggie” to the
locals—a popular place for watersports, hiking, and spotting koalas in the wild.
Although Townsville can be hot and humid in the summer—and sometimes
in the path of cyclones—it is generally spared the worst of the wet season rains.
ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE
Townsville is on the Bruce Highway, a 3-hour drive
north of Airlie Beach and 4
1
⁄
2
hours south of Cairns. The Bruce Highway breaks
temporarily in the city. From the south, take Bruce Highway Alt. 1 route into
the city. From the north, the highway leads into the city.
Qantas
(
&
13 13 13
in Australia; www.qantas.com) and subsidiary
Sunstate
Airlines
(book through Qantas) have many flights a day from Cairns, and sev-
eral from Brisbane. Sunstate flies from Proserpine and Hamilton Island airports
in the Whitsundays.
Virgin Blue
(
&
13 67 89
in Australia) flies to Townsville
from Brisbane daily, and newcomer
Alliance Airlines
(
&
1300/130 092;
www.
allianceairlines.com.au) also flies between Brisbane and Townsville.
Airport Transfers & Tours
(
&
07/4775 5544
) runs a door-to-door airport
shuttle. It meets only flights from Brisbane, not from Cairns or elsewhere. A trip
into town is A$7 (US$4.55) one-way or A$11 (US$7.15) return. A taxi from
the airport to most central hotels costs about A$12 (US$7.80).
Seven
Queensland Rail
(
&
13 22 32
in Queensland, or 07/3235 1122)
long-distance trains stop at Townsville each week. The 19-hour
Tilt-Train
jour-
ney from Brisbane costs A$244 (US$159). The 24-hour
Sunlander
journey costs
from A$162 (US$105) for an economy seat to A$316 (US$205) for a first-class
sleeper.
Greyhound Pioneer
(
&
13 20 30
in Australia) and McCafferty's (
&
13 14
99
in Australia) coaches stop at Townsville many times a day on their Cairns-
Brisbane-Cairns routes. The fare from Cairns is A$51 (US$33); trip time is
6 hours. The fare from Brisbane is A$166 (US$108); trip time is 22
1
⁄
2
hours.
VISITOR INFORMATION
For an information packet, contact
Townsville
Enterprise Limited,
P.O. Box 1043, Townsville, QLD 4810 (
&
07/4726
2728;
www.townsvilleonline.com.au). It has two Information Centres. One is
in the heart of town on Flinders Mall (
&
1800/801 902
in Australia, or 07/
4721 3660); it's open Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm, and weekends
from 9am to 1pm. The other is on the Bruce Highway 10km (6
1
⁄
4
miles) south
of the city (
&
07/4778 3555
); it's open daily from 9am to 5pm. For informa-
tion on Magnetic Island, also check www.magnetic-island.com.au.
GETTING AROUND
Local
Sunbus
(
&
07/4725 8482
) buses depart
Flinders Street Mall. Car-rental chains include
Avis
(
&
07/4721 2688
),
Bud-
get
(
&
07/4725 2344
),
Hertz
(
&
07/4775 5950
), and
Thrifty
(
&
07/4725
4600
).
Detours Coaches
(
&
07/4721 5977
) runs tours to most attractions in and
around Townsville.
