Palm Cove is a super relaxed resort town that’s closer to Cairns and smaller than nearby Port Douglas, making it the perfect place for a longer break or a short weekend away when you don’t have much time.

Popular Things to do in and near Palm Cove

This is just the tip of the iceberg of Popular things to do and places to visit around Palm Cove and Tropical North Queensland:

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Tours open on Viator Website (owned by Tripadvisor)

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Accommodation Guides & Notes that include Palm Cove

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Places to Eat & Drink in Palm Cove

Because Palm Cove is such a popular tourist destination it has a wide range of restaurants to choose from and honestly nearly all of them have great ratings from visitors so it really just comes down to what you feel like eating that day because it will take you weeks to eat your way through all the options!

Nu Nu – Gourmet

An extremely popular and well-reviewed (4.5 starts out of 1868 google reviews) restaurant, Nu Nu has absolute beachfront dining and gorgeous views over the Palm Cove Palms. This much loved restaurant serves unique gourmet meals, many inspired by local ingredients, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Chill at Portofino – Casual

A good choice for casual dining, Portofino is great for those looking for traditional breakfast, lunch and dinner favourites without being in a pub and it has great views over the iconic stand of Palm Cove palms.

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National Parks, Bushwalks & Wildlife near Palm Cove

Palm Cove is in a convenient location for exploring the nearby rainforest and Atherton Tablelands. Here are a few parks however there are many many more accessible in the region.

Barron Gorge National Park

Home to the popular Barron Falls, a waterfall famous for becoming a pounding torrent of water post rain in the wet season.

The falls are viewed at a lookout on a 1.2km return walk graded easy by Queensland Parks (see on the parks website) and there are also many other short and long walks to explore the mountains and rainforest in the park.

Daintree National Park

The Ferry to cross the river to the Daintree National Park on the north side of the river is an hour and 5 minutes from Palm Cove. It’s a big day trip, but worth the effort if you choose not to stay nearby as part of your itinerary.

This section of the park from the river to the Cape Tribulation is generally what people are referring to when ‘visiting the Daintree’ though there is much more to see.

This area has a great selection of short walks, longer walking options, the Daintree Discovery Centre (a tree top walk where you can learn more about the plants and animals before exploring the rest of the region) and some fun stops in the section outside the park like the Daintree Icecream Co serving Fruit Gelato and Sorbet with locally grown fruit and produce.

Of course, if time permits, you may want to fit a night or two in this region into your itinerary before or after palm cove so you have less driving and more exploring time.

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All Guides, Blog Posts & Notes about things to do and places to stay around Palm Cove