Cominos House
A traditional Queenslander
built in 1877 and one
of the oldest in the
city. 27 Greenslopes
Street, 07 4032 1368.
The Esplanade
The most interesting
street in Cairns is the
Esplanade, with the sea
on one side and a row
of restaurants, hotels
and backpackers lodges
on the other. This area
comes to life in the
evenings, especially
with the Night Market
now held here.
The Esplanade ended with a wall and mud flats below, not quite the romantic image which the city wished to propagate. The solution, it seemed, was evident and simple - construct a beach. What was once a grassy park is now a world class facility, featuring an outdoor amphitheatre, a large sandy swimming lagoon, grassy picnic areas, walking tracks, free public barbeques, children's playground, shops, restaurants, a Great Barrier Reef cruise departure terminal & an environmental interpretation centre, all right in the heart of the city!! The swimming lagoon is capable of accommodation 1,000 swimmers.
Pier Marketplace
Next to the New Esplanade
Project is the Pier Marketplace,
a combination of marina
and shopping areas. It
boasts a diverse range
of shopping,
restaurants, a food court,
tour booking lounge and
much more. It
also includes Undersea
World, a living reef
aquarium and is also
the home of the weekend
Mud Markets.
Shields Street
Shields Street is a
busy and popular place.
The central area is for
pedestrians only, and
this effectively blocks
off the centre of Lake
Street too, so that the
section to the south
is used as the local
bus terminal and that
to the north as a taxi
rank. At night there
are pubs and clubs thriving
here and the area is
lively, attracting crowds
of locals and visitors.
