Day trips and scenic drives in Queensland
Queensland has many great scenic drives. They can be good to do as a day trip or to include in your driving holiday.
Whichever way you choose to enjoy Queensland’s scenic drives, make sure you plan your trip and drive safely.
Day trips
To get ideas for your day trip and where to go, there are many Queensland tourist guides you can buy or websites you can visit like Tourism and events Queensland.
Tourist drives
Many scenic drives in Queensland are called tourist drives. They are marked on the road by tourist drive signs that are brown with white writing or symbols.
Tourist drive signs may have:
- a route number
- the name of the tourist drive or tourist destination
- a symbol representing a tourist destination.
These signs let you know when you can take a scenic drive or when a tourist attraction is coming up on or near the road you are on.
Types of tourist attractions that might be along a tourist drive are:
- scenic lookouts and drives
- walking tracks and viewing platforms
- historical towns, sites, buildings and monuments
- waterfalls, rock formations, caves, rivers, dams, lakes, mountains or beaches
- museums, galleries and art and craft outlets
- wineries and wine regions
- recreation areas
- parks and forests
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage sites
- industry attractions (for example, farms or factories)
- zoos and wildlife parks
- theme parks
- tourist towns or areas
- iconic state attractions.
Tourist drive route marker signs are brown with white writing and have a pentagon shape. They are placed at points along the tourist drive to let you know you are still on the tourist drive. They may also be placed at the end of the tourist drive to let you know you have finished it.
Visitor information centres and bays
There are many visitor information centres in Queensland. They’re marked by signs that are blue with a yellow lower case ‘i’ in italic writing. Information centres can be useful to stop at when travelling to find out about:
- local tourist drives
- things to do in the area
- other useful or interesting local information.
When you see a blue sign with a white lower case ‘i’, this is to show where there is an information bay. Information bays can have similar information available as visitor information centres, but it may not be as detailed. Information bays don’t provide the services you will find at a visitor information centre that has staff, for example, tickets and permits.
Driver reviver rest stops
If you’re driving a long distance or for a day trip, we encourage you to take a break every 2 hours. You can stop at rest areas or driver reviver sites (when set up) throughout Queensland to rest and revive yourself and continue safely on your trip.
Find out about rest areas and driver reviver sites and where you can find them.
Planning your trip
To help have a fun and safe trip, it is important you plan and prepare before you leave.
One of the main things you need to have and check is a map or GPS to plan your trip. Read more about using maps and GPS to plan your trip.
Make sure that you and your vehicle are ready for your trip.
Find out what to do if your vehicle fails during your journey.