Travelling from Tropical North Queensland to the capital of New South Wales, the bus trip from Cairns to Sydney will give you a chance to see a huge cross-section of Australia, from beaches and rainforests to bushlands and urban jungles.

Your adventure will start in Cairns, the gateway to the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef; the ancient Daintree Rainforest; and the golden sands of Port Douglas. As you head south, you’ll stop in towns like Innisfail – located close by the utterly unique Paronella Park, where the ruins of a Spanish castle are surrounded by lush rainforest – and Tully, home to The Big Gumboot, before you arrive in Townsville, a bustling city surrounded by rainforests, beaches and islands.

In Airlie Beach, you can arrange to sail the Whitsunday Islands and explore the breathtakingly beautiful Whitehaven Beach, while in Mackay, you can swim at Harbour Beach and see an abundance of Australian wildlife at Eungella National Park and Cape Hillsborough National Park. As you leave the tropics, you’ll pass through Rockhampton, where you can snap a selfie with the Big Bull and explore the Capricorn Caves.

You’ll stop in Bundaberg, where tours of the Bundaberg Rum distillery and the Mon Repos turtle rookery are popular with visitors. Hervey Bay, a popular destination for whale-watching, is worth a longer look – especially because it’s also the gateway to the lush rainforests, sandy beaches and unique ecosystem of the World Heritage-listed K'gari (Fraser Island). Then it’s on to Maryborough (the birthplace of Mary Poppins creator PL Travers) and Gympie, famed for its goldfield.

You’ll change buses in Brisbane, a vibrant riverside hub of arts, culture and dining, where you can take a stroll through the City Botanic Gardens and Roma Street Parkland; laze by the man-made lagoon at South Bank Parklands; or cruise the Brisbane River on a CityCat. When you hit the road again, you’ll drive through the Gold Coast, one of the most popular destinations for tourists in Australia, with stops in sunny Southport, Surfers Paradise and Southport.

Crossing the border into New South Wales, you’ll stop at Byron Bay, where you can learn to surf or take a day trip to quirky Nimbin, the ‘alternative’ capital of Australia. You’ll pass through popular seaside destinations like Ballina, Yamba, Coffs Harbour (home of The Big Banana) and Port Macquarie, before arriving in Newcastle (the gateway to the Hunter Valley wine region), and, finally, Sydney.

The bus will drop you off in the heart of the Sydney CBD, and from there, it’s a short trip to Circular Quay, where you can see two of Australia's most iconic landmarks – the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House – and grab a ferry to Luna Park, Taronga Zoo or Manly Beach. Make sure you go for a swim or a surf at the world-renowned Bondi Beach, and leave time for a day trip to the Blue Mountains!

On your bus from Cairns to Sydney, you can relax and recharge in your reclining leather seat with free WiFi connectivity, an in-seat USB charger and panoramic windows!

You can select your preferred window or aisle seat when you book your trip from Cairns to Sydney, and you can stay up-to-date with any service delays that might affect your arrival time with our real-time coach tracker. And if you want to bring your surfboard, we’ve got plenty of room in our oversized luggage bins.

A Greyhound bus is the ultimate way to travel from Cairns to Sydney. Book your travel pass now!

Cairns to Airlie Beach

Cairns to Brisbane

Cairns to Innisfail

Cairns to Mackay

Cairns to Melbourne

Cairns to Mission Beach

Cairns to Sydney

Cairns to Townsville

Cairns to Tully

Cairns to Rockhampton

Sydney to Albury

Sydney to Ballina

Sydney to Brisbane

Sydney to Byron Bay

Sydney to Cairns

Sydney to Canberra

Sydney to Coffs Harbour

Sydney to Gold Coast

Sydney to Melbourne

Sydney to Newcastle

Sydney to Port Macquarie

Sydney to Taree