ctw95

I will be staying in Cairns in April and have only one full day to go on a tour to one or the other. Spending the other 2 days on the Reef with an overnight. This is my first trip to Australia and I'm travelling alone. Have looked at several tours to both and am very torn. Would love any advice as to which to pick. Thank you in advance.

AlanJG

Tell us more about your interest and knowledge levels.

Both are great but the Tablelands, including a nocturnal, would be for the animals but for primitive plants the interpretation is likely to be better on the coast unless you pick a specialist natural history guide for the tablelands.

ShellCat

AlanG-we did make it to your Atherton Tablelands last November, coming from the volcanic region of Oregon, your volcano area was quite different than what we expected. both Cape Trib and AT were great stops, but I have to say, we really loved the dense rainforest of Cape Trib. I guess it would depend where you live and what catches your attention. We did enjoy the gigantic Curtain Fig Tree, searching for the platapus and how friendly everyone was.

CTW-do research on both, and you will not be disappointed with either choice. Both would be an all day adventure, I know this sounds silly, however the a touristy day at Kuranda would be fun. The train up and skyrail down is worth the ticket. No reason to stay in Cairns other than to change locations or board a ship.

I hope to get my trip report posted later this week, thanks again Alan for all your suggestions last summer. Our full day trip up to Cooktown was so amazing.

AlanJG

ShellCat, our volcanoes are not as spectacular as yours and would not have been even when young. Looking forward to your report.

JackDarcy

Australia is beautiful place to spend pleasurable time. I had two trips to Australia and I felt gratification in every second. Traveling services are awesome. I hired chauffeur driven vehicle to guide my trip well. I visited almost all destinations.

sari80

I will agree that if you are interested in wildlife, then go for the tablelands, including a nocturnal. We did both Cape Tribulation and the tablelands when we were in Australia. We enjoyed the rainforest of the Cape, but were thrilled with the wildlife we saw on our 2 days in the tablelands.

Sara