The Best Gold Coast Day Trips

I love living on the Gold Coast! Want to go to the beach? There are plenty of long sandy beaches to choose from! Shopping? The biggest mall Pacific Fair on the GC is located centrally near Broadbeach. Great food? The Gold Coast is home to some great restaurants and fantastic cafes.

Plus there are plenty of great things to do around the Gold Coast and its hinterland. In this article, I wanted to share some of my favourite local hotspots and the best Gold Coast day trips.

The Best Gold Coast Day Trips

Mount Tamborine & The Gold Coast Hinterland

Lush rainforests, winding mountain roads, hiking trails and charming mountain villages, are the Gold Coast hinterland.

Sure, Mount Tamborine is not a secret hotspot but it's a great and easy destination for a day trip from the Gold Coast. Wander the cute arts, crafts and gift shops along Gallery Walk in the heart of Mount Tamborine.

Visit the internationally awarded Tamborine Mountain Distillery or take a wine tour and visit various cellar doors.

Go on a cheese factory tour, or a hot air balloon ride or tackle your fear of heights at the Tamborine Rainforest Walk.

There is more to do here than you'd think! And the best, it's only 30km from the Gold Coast beaches, making it the perfect spot for a Gold Coast day tour.

Gold Coast Hinterland: Springbrook National Park

Once you're done exploring Mount Tamborine, I highly recommend you head to Springbrook National Park.

You could do both in one day trip from the Gold Coast, but if you want to do some hiking and reconnect with nature, I recommend spending the whole day in Springbrook.

There is an abundance of different walks. I have done the Twin Falls Circuit, a 4km return walk with steep descends and ascents but it was well worth it. Of course, you can dip in the rock pool at the bottom of the waterfalls to cool off also.

Another popular spot is the shorter Natural Bridge walk which leads you to a basalt cave. At night, you can see hundreds of glow words at Natural Bridge.

A stunningly beautiful and easily accessible spot is the Best Of All Lookout, which is really all about what the name already says! A short walk from the car park, no big climbs up and down. Canyon Lookout is also nothing less spectacular as you can see all the way to the skyscrapers of Surfers Paradise from here.

Surely, if you want to see the photogenic suspension bridge, you must choose to walk to Purling Brook Falls, another 4km walk in the national park.

Byron Bay Day Trip & Crystal Castle

An all-time Gold Coast day trip favourite of mine where I take all my national and international visitors? Byron Bay.

Without a doubt, Byron is an amazing little seaside town with a buzzing main street, breathtaking views from the lighthouse (how about dolphin spotting anyone?), some great surf beaches and lots of things to do that will keep you busy for the day.

If you have more time, I would try and stay a night and book into one of the stunning Byron Bay retreats, such as Elements Of Byron. There are plenty of great hotels to stay at.

Here are some spots you cannot miss when visiting Byron Bay:

• Cape Byron Lighthouse
• Main Beach, Wategoes Beach or Tallow Beach
• The Farm
• Bungalow Markets, held every 4th Sunday a short drive away
• Eat at Folk Byron Bay, Twisted Sista or The Roadhouse
• Or how about skydiving over the beach? I did exactly that in 2010!

Another cool spot in the hinterland of Byron Bay is the magical Crystal Castle with its gardens. You can see some of the world's biggest and rare crystals, wander the labyrinth in the garden or sit in an ancient amethyst cave. You can even join one of the daily meditation experiences.

Kingscliff

Driving over the border into NSW, you will soon arrive in the relaxed seaside town of Kingscliff. There are plenty of pretty beaches for swimming, Cudgen Creek for stand-up paddling and a small but buzzing main street with plenty of little cafes to grab a nice lunch. I love Taverna!

If you're up to going off the beaten path a little, stop by at Farm & Co. It's possibly one of the best-kept secrets around Kingscliff but it's getting more popular due to Instagram. Farm & Co is a mix of farm and cafe. Organic fruit, veggies, macadamia trees – and sunflowers as far as the eye can see, are so beautiful!!

For $5 you can enter and roam the fields and take all your Instagram snaps. The current sunflower status and if they are in bloom are visible via their Instagram.

South Stradbroke Island

To get to South Stradbroke Island can only be reached by private boat, water taxi or ferry.

The ferry takes approximately 40 minutes from Hope Island, Sanctuary Cove Marina. There are no cars on the island but a lot of wildlife and natural beauty. Getting around on the island is mainly by foot or bike, which you can hire on the other side.

You can find one resort called Couran Cove, and a couple of campgrounds on the island, in case you want to extend your Gold Coast day trip overnight.

If you're up for an adrenaline adventure, I heard a lot of good things about the jet skiing tour to South Stradbroke Island which was also voted as #1 best jet ski activity on the Gold Coast.