Central Queensland is the coastal area north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia.

Cities

Listed north to south:

• 1 Townsville – unofficial capital of North Queensland with about 160,000 people (including Thuringowa)
• 2 Ayr
• 3 Bowen
• 4 Charters Towers - this town on the frontier between coast and country has a colourful history in gold mining and agriculture.
• 5 Airlie Beach
• 6 Proserpine
• 7 Mackay – the 'sugar capital' is full of Australian history and boasts a beautiful tropical botanic gardens.
• 8 Marlborough
• 9 Yeppoon – Rockhampton's coastal companion town.
• 10 Rockhampton - the commercial centre of the region, promoting itself as the "beef capital of Australia"
• 11 Gladstone - this port town allows visitors to experience hundreds of years of industrial history through museums and tours.
• 12 Town of 1770 (Seventeen Seventy) - this town on the frontier between coast and country has a colourful history in gold mining and agriculture. The nearby resort of Agnes Water contains the most northerly surfing beach on Australia's east coast.
• 13 Bundaberg – sugarcane, rum and ginger beer
• 14 Gin Gin – the longest unsupported tunnel in the Southern Hemisphere
• 15 Childers – many historic colonial buildings
• 16 Hervey Bay – whale and dolphin watching and the gateway to K'gari
• 17 Maryborough
• 18 Rainbow Beach – picturesque coastal town hosting some of Queensland's best activities
• 19 Kilkivan
• 20 Kingaroy – Australia's "Peanut Capital"

Other destinations

• 1 Paluma - southern rainforest town near Townsville
• 2 Magnetic Island
• 3 Whitsunday Islands - 74 perfect islands off the coast of tourist haven Airlie Beach, with white-sand beaches and clear turquoise water all around
• 4 Eungella National Park
• 5 Heron Island - in the Southern Reef Islands
• 6 Lady Elliot Island - a coral cay with a diversity of bird and marine life, and resort facilities, in the Southern Reef Islands
• 7 K'gari - the world's largest sand island
• 8 Carnarvon National Park
• 9 Cooloola Recreation Area, Great Sandy National Park – contains one of only two everglades systems in the world

Understand

Central Queensland is sometimes known as Capricornia and a divided region centred around the east coast of the Tropic of Capricornia. It is full of protected areas, vast tracts of bush, coastal landscapes, remote communities and the most part very hard to get to. The city of Rockhampton makes a good base to explore due to a lot of tourist infrastructure.

Because of its mining industry, Central Queensland is also one of the world-leading exports of black coal.

Get in

Central Queensland is served with flights from most major centres in Australia through its coastal airports. Cairns and Gold Coast airports also serve some international destinations.

Highway 1 enters Central Queensland from Brisbane to the south and continues north to Cairns.

Get around

A drive from top to bottom of this region will take 13 hours from Townsville to Rainbow Beach. There isn't much of a passenger train network, and without a car you be reliant on buses and planes.

See

• Whales, at Hervey Bay, the local centre for watching these majestic creatures.
• The 'singing ship' memorial to Captain James Cook at Yeppoon.

Do

• Fossick for gems near the appropriately-named towns of Emerald, Rubyvale and Sapphire.
• Explore the trails of the pristine Carnarvon National Park.
• Take a railway tour at the former gold-mining town of Mount Morgan.
• Prospect for gold at the Prophet Gold Mine in Kilkivan.

Eat

• Amazing pies at Joccheim's Bakery in Bowen, in the footsteps of Australia actors Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman.

Drink

• Bundaberg rum in Bundaberg.
• Whatever the locals are drinking at the pub in Gin Gin, 45 minutes out of Bundaberg.

Stay safe

• Watch out for snakes when venturing into Central Queensland's pristine nature.

Go next

To the North:

• Cairns

To the South:

• The cities of Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and Gold Coast
• Amazing views and ancient bunya pines at Bunya Mountains National Park.