Townsville Transportation
Townsville is on 346 kilometers (215 miles) south of Cairns and 1371 km (850 miles) north of Brisbane.
By Air
Qantas has direct flights from Brisbane and QantasLink flies from Sydney, Cairns, Hamilton Island and Mackay. Virgin Blue has daily flights to the city of Townsville from Brisbane and Sydney, and charter airline Alliance Airlines also has scheduled flights between Brisbane and Townsville twice weekly.
Abacus Charters & Tours provides a door-to-door airport shuttle, meeting all flights from Brisbane, and Cairns or elsewhere if booked in advance.
By Car
Townsville is situated on the Bruce Highway, about three hour drive north of Airlie Beach and four and a half hours south of Cairns. From the south, one should take Bruce Highway Alt. 1 route into the town, and from the north, the highway leads directly into the city. The drive from Cairns to Townsville city, through the sugar-cane fields, cloud-topped hills, and lush bush land is a very picturesque and pretty one.
By Train
Seven Queensland Rail long-distance trains stop at Townsville once a week and the nineteen-hour Tilt Train journey from Brisbane costs A$256 (US$205). The one day (24hrs.) Sunlander journey costs A$171 (US$137) for an economy seat, A$398 (US$318) for a first-class sleeper.
By Coach
Greyhound Australia coaches stop at Townsville several times a day on their Cairns-Brisbane-Cairns routes. The fare from Cairns is A$53 (US$42) and trip take six hours; the fare from Brisbane is A$172 (US$138) and trip takes about 23 hours.
Getting Around
Local Sunbus buses depart from Flinders Mall. Car-rental chains include Avis, Budget, Hertz, and Thrifty. Detours Coaches run tours to most popular attractions in and around the city of Townsville.
Please for Flights, Car-rental and other transportation bookings refer to the general Australia Transportation Reservations page.
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