Things To See In Kuranda Village: A Rainforest In Queensland

Our List Of Top Things To See In Kuranda Village

When visiting North Queensland, we recommend planning a day to visit Kuranda Village. Known as the village in the rainforest, visiting here will provide a wonderful day of exploration in nature.

We found there were so many attractions in this area but with only one day, we had to make our choices carefully to make the most of our time there. The following list is what we would recommend including on your itinerary.

What Is There To Do In Kuranda Village?

Skyrail Rainforest Cableway

In our experience, taking the Skyrail was a fantastic way to reach Kuranda. The Smithfield Terminal is just 15 minutes from Cairns or 50 minutes from Port Douglas. We booked a tour that included our transfer from Port Douglas.

✅ You can check out the tour that we booked. It was professionally run and provided us with transportation and tickets. And it even offered discounts on the attractions in Kuranda. Highly recommended!

This made things seamless since they dropped us off at the Skyrail and picked us up from the Railway. However, you can also reach there by the Skyrail bus transfer service or drive and park your vehicle in the free parking lot.

The SkyRail soars up into the Rainforest and is 7.5 kms long. When it was originally built in 1995, with 47 gondolas, it was the longest in the world.

We thought the Skyrail had a great set-up. Rather than just a direct line to the village, there were two stops that you could explore along the way.

The first is called Red Peak and provides a wonderful walk through the rainforest area on a looped, raised boardwalk, much like the ones in Mossman Gorge and Scenic World in the Blue Mountains.

There are park rangers available for tours to explain some of the unique flora that grows in this ancient rainforest. Massive Kauri trees reaching 30m high, huge ferns and vegetation cover this entire area.

Once you have walked along the rainforest trail, be sure to check out the large placards inside the station, where you can learn more details about the plants and species that thrive in the forest.

Your ride continues over the canopy, where you catch a glimpse of Barron Falls, but it is best viewed from the lookout points at the next station. Barron Falls is a sacred place for the area’s indigenous people and quite spectacular to see.

Reaching up 125 metres, the falls cascade over large rocks with lush greenery all around. Be sure to stop at this station for a short walk and to take a look.

The final station brings you to Kuranda Village. If you want to enjoy each stop at a leisurely pace, plan for the ride to Kuranda to take approximately 1 1/2 hours.

Kuranda Scenic Railway

Back in the 1890s, when gold was found in the mountains of this region, it was decided that a transport system was needed. The railway was built by 1500 men who set about laying 33 kms of tracks cut into the hills, with 98 curves.

Over five years, they extracted 2.3 million cubic metres of earth, hand-carved 15 tunnels and built 55 bridges. 

It was an engineering feat to create a railway in such a difficult terrain, and unfortunately, many men died during the process. The system is dedicated to those who didn’t live to see the amazing project completed.

The heritage cars have large benches and the windows open so you can see out to the beautiful scenery of the tropical rainforest as you pass through, with some areas up over 325m above sea level.  

Along the way, an audio commentary provides information about the train itself and what is being viewed.

For an extra special trip book the Gold class that has comfortable chairs and bar service.

Along the way is a 10 minute stop with a viewpoint to see Barron Falls, where the train stops and everyone disembarks to see the roaring falls from a different perspective.

The ride through the Barron Gorge is very picturesque, crossing a lot of bridges and entering many tunnels, one of which is 490 metres.

There are some very significant bends as well, including the Horseshoe Bend, where you can get a great shot of the train in front or behind you on the track.

The train is a unique experience and offers a different look at the rainforest areas of this region. You need to plan approximately 1 1/4 hours for the one way journey in either direction from Kuranda to Freshwater Station.

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Kuranda Koala Gardens

This small animal park is a wonderful place to see many types of Australian wildlife. The park has been developed with a natural rainforest feeling with many trees, water features and plants that lead you to the different animal enclosures.

Australia certainly has some unusual creatures and this is a great location to see many of them. There are many types of marsupials including kangaroos, wallabies, wombats and quokkas.

Many of these are located in open areas where you can pat and feed them. For us it was pretty exciting to actually touch and feed a kangaroo!

They also have many reptiles such as crocodiles, lizards, monitors, snakes, frogs and turtles. There is even a dark exhibit that houses nocturnal animals.

But the biggest draw here is the koalas. There are a few different enclosures that house koalas. They are super sweet and we found out that their sleepiness is thought to be a result of only eating leaves that don’t provide a ton of energy.

For me, I really wanted to find a place that offered a safe koala holding experience where they limit the timeframes and the animals are handled by a professional keeper.

We had patted a koala at Featherdale Wildlife Park outside of Sydney which was great, but it was a dream to be able to actually hold one. Kuranda offers that opportunity so we went here first after arriving and signed up right away.

The experience was amazing. We held Milky, a sweet female koala for a few moments and enjoyed a snuggle while she clung to my shirt. The photographer snapped some photos both on their camera and also on our phone. At a cost of $41 AUD for two of us, we were happy to pay the fee that helps with the cost of conservation at the park.

It is important to know that the times during the day are limited and this activity can only be booked onsite at the park. It was a definite highlight of the day for me!

Australian Butterfly Sanctuary

We loved visiting this sanctuary! It is located inside a large glass building and holds the title of Australia’s largest free flight aviary. When this 3666 cubic metre facility was opened in 1987, it was the largest of its kind.

The inside is beautiful and lush with trees, plants, gardens and water features. At any given time there are more than 1200 butterflies flitting around on the foliage and feeding stations. 

The centre provides a helpful hard copy print out or download of the different species of butterflies so you can identify them as you come across them in the sanctuary. It is also quite educational with signage along the paths that provide interesting facts about butterflies.

Another highlight of the centre is the behind the scenes look at the breeding centre where you can see 1000s of caterpillars in varying stages of development. It is very interesting to see the life cycle of the butterfly and the important work being conducted by the scientists in the lab.

We have visited butterfly gardens in Ecuador, Malaysia and Costa Rica and this one was very impressive. Having the butterflies flying around and sometimes even landing on you, is a fascinating and magical experience.  Be sure to include this on your visit to Kuranda.

Birdworld Kuranda

If butterflies are not of interest to you, then perhaps check out Birdworld Kuranda. We felt we would have been rushed if we added this site, but if you are keen, you could probably fit it in as well.

Here they house 350 birds in the enclosed habitat that fly around freely and sometimes even land on visitors! They have almost 80 different species of Australian and other birds from around the world available to see. And of particular interest is the endangered cassowary bird that we were fortunate enough to see in the wild on our trip to the Daintree. For bird enthusiasts this could be another highlight of your Kuranda experience. 

Shopping and Markets

The laid back vibe of Kuranda even extends to the shopping experience, including a visit to the famous Kuranda Heritage Markets. These small stalls offer a multitude of handicrafts from local artists, jewellery, clothing and even regional produce. The day we were there they were unfortunately mostly closed (only currently open from Wednesday to Sunday) but we could see it was quite extensive and would be a wonderful spot to visit.

There were also numerous shops available around the village that we enjoyed. Everything from art galleries to interesting Australian souvenirs. I purchased a lovely dress from one vendor and we also visited a chocolate shop where we just had to buy some local chocolate products. 

✅ All of the above can be accomplished with the tour that we booked. And there was transportation provided from Port Douglas.

FAQs

Where to Eat And Drink in Kuranda

There are plenty of restaurants and cafes to choose from. We didn’t want to have a sit down meal when while we were there, so we chose one of the takeaway options.

Annabel’s Pie Shop was a very popular location and offered a big selection of pastries for lunch. We had the spinach and ricotta in phyllo pastry and quiche. This is a quick option but there are other sit down restaurants such as Frogs Restaurant, Hayabusa, or the Kuranda Tea Rooms.

How Long Should I Spend In Kuranda?

As mentioned, we spent a full day in Kuranda. Depending on your interests and your pace, one day is plenty of time to explore the majority of sites. The overall village is quite small and everything is located close to each other so it is convenient to reach the tours and attractions.

Is Kuranda Worth Visiting?

We loved the welcoming atmosphere of the little village of Kuranda. You could really get a sense of the people who settled here and feel the hippy vibe of earlier days. It is a charming village with many things to see and do so we definitely think it is worth visiting.

Kuranda Map

Below is a map of the Kuranda Village. It shows all the major locations for easy reference.

Final Word…Things To See In Kuranda

With some fantastic transportation options available to reach the town, impressive wildlife attractions and lots of available shopping and eatery options, this is a wonderful way to enjoy the rainforest of Far North Queensland.  We highly recommend that you plan a day on your itinerary to experience the best of Kuranda.