Australia Island Travel

The cheapest way is to rent a car and drive. If you don’t want to do that, long distance buses are the next cheapest option. Greyhound is the biggest long distance bus company since McCafferty’s joined in with Greyhound. I just made a search on Airlie Beach – Cairns (see the link below) but it is much more expensive than driving and the trip is looooong since the buses go to Rockhampton or even Brisbane before taking you to Cairns – not very practical. I dont think any trains stop at Airlie Beach, and even if they did, trains are even more expensive than buses. I would rent a car from a company that has an office both in Airlie Beach and Cairns, so that you can just leave the car at their office in Cairns after your trip. Check the websites of biggest companies like Avis, Budget, Delta Europcar, Hertz and Thrifty – they are likely to have an office both in Airlie Beach and Cairns.