Port guide: Townsville, Australia

Australia’s largest tropical city is overshadowed by Cairns when it comes to tourism, but you’ll find plenty of ways to spend an enjoyable day in port.

Who goes there

Around 30,000 passengers visited Townsville in the 2024-25 season, but the newly widened shipping canal and upgraded terminal is expected to attract larger ships. When Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth arrived in January 2025 it became the largest ship (2081 passengers) to visit. Coral Expeditions, Holland America, Oceania, Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn and Viking are among lines that call in as they either trek across the Pacific to Asia, or pass along Australia’s east coast.

Townsville from the air.Credit: Tourism and Events Queensland

Sail on in

The arrival won’t wow you, but is an attractive glide through a shipping channel marked by large buoys into a bay created by a cape on the port side and Magnetic Island to starboard. You’ll spot locals on the breakwater admiring your ship. The city is topped by Castle Hill, often a destination on city overview excursions for its terrific outlooks.

Berth rites

Quayside Terminal sits in the industrial port, squints towards Magnetic Island and takes architectural inspiration from palm fronds. It’s an attractive building and extends into a well-organised, undercover meet-and-greet area where tour buses and taxis pull up. You’ll find friendly tourism office reps and stalls selling souvenirs. The terminal is two kilometres from the CBD on pedestrian and cycle paths but, given the tropical heat, you’ll probably want to take the shuttle.

Going ashore

Townsville’s park-draped waterfront.Credit: iStock

Townsville has an attractive park-draped waterfront and heritage town centre. Queens Gardens, established in 1870 to trial potential food crops, has giant shady fig trees and unusual plants. For respite from the humidity head to Queensland Museum Tropics, which covers natural and Indigenous history and has a fascinating exhibit of objects salvaged from HMS Pandora, wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef in 1791. The excellent Great Barrier Reef Aquarium is currently closed for renovations.

Don’t miss

A walk along Flinders Street, especially between Stanley and Wickham streets, where you’ll see many restored, late-19th-century buildings such as the Exchange and former Queen’s and Tattersalls hotels, the stately white Perc Tucker Regional Gallery (formerly a bank) and Townsville Brewing Company (once a post office). Colourful lorikeets squawk in the palm trees.

Get active

The Strand is lined by jogging tracks, cycle paths and parkland. It also has several jellyfish-free swimming enclosures and a great water park for children. Head to Magnetic Island for sea kayaking around coastal bays, where you might encounter dolphins, turtles and dugongs. Townsville is great for serious divers, with day trips out to reefs. Otherwise, take to a charter boat and try your luck at bagging barramundi and giant trevally.

Retail therapy

Gecko Interiors (280 Flinders Street) has reasonably priced curios and souvenirs, as well as jewellery and homewares. Stellar Moda (8 Palmer Street) has a range of Aussie brands such as Talulah, Honey & Beau and Sass. If you’re in port on a Sunday morning, head to Cotters Market, where you’ll find craft and food stalls and live entertainment.

Further afield

An hour north of town, Paluma Range National Park features misty hills, floodplains and Jourama Falls, and is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area which has exceptional biodiversity. For a complete contrast, Charters Towers, 90 minutes inland, gets you into the outback and history of its gold rush, which began in 1871. Some excursions take you to Mungalla Station to learn about cattle raising and Nywaigi Aboriginal culture. The most popular excursions are to Magnetic Island for hiking trails, wildlife spotting and water sports.