Looking for somewhere to go for a girl’s weekend in north Queensland? Port Douglas has everything you could possibly want for some chill out time with your besties.
Every year I look forward to having a girls weekend away and over the years, after trying lots of different places, we’ve come to settle on Port Douglas as the best destination. It always seems to meet all of our criteria:
- Reasonably close to the airport for those flying in
- A good choice of beautiful resorts (with pools, sunloungers and bar service)
- A good choice of great restaurants
- A good choice of spas
- Options for day trips if we’re feeling active
Of course, your idea of what makes a good girl’s weekend might be different but for us it’s about relaxing and having nice places to hang out together and chat. And Port Douglas meets the brief every time.
Here are a few tips we’ve discovered along the way:
sleeping
There is a lot of good resort accommodation in Port Douglas.
You are truly spoiled for choice so to break it down and make your decision easier, we recommend focusing on location.
We like to stay somewhere that’s walking distance to Macrossan Street (where all the action is) but not actually on it.
Many of the resorts are lined along Four Mile Beach, which for a lot of places means you need to drive every time you want to go and eat out or browse around the shops.
Some hotels that are close to Macrossan are: Peppers, PortSea Mantra and Shantara.
eating
There are also lots of really great restaurants in Port Douglas.
Zinc, Salsa Bar & Grill and On the Inlet are always good. Watergate is also excellent. As always its probably best to check TripAdvisor to see recent reviews.
If you’re there at the weekend and planning to eat at one of the more popular restaurants like these, you will definitely need to book a table in advance.
pampering
It wouldn’t be a girls weekend without at least one pampering session.
While there are a few good spas in Port Douglas our favourite for a girl’s weekend is the spa at Niramaya Resort.
They do a massage/lunch package, which is great value and highly recommended.
We like it because:
- They have enough rooms/staff for us to have our massages at the same time so we don’t have to hang around waiting for the other.
- The lunch by the pool is fantastic. And while you’re there you may as well treat yourselves to a cocktail.
If you’re a larger group you could stay at one of the villas at Niramaya but they’re expensive and quite a way out from town. But, if you go to the spa you can enjoy the pool area for the afternoon.
travel nq fast facts:
- Port Douglas is approximately 50 minutes drive from Cairns Airport
- Find out more here about things to do in Port Douglas.
- Check out Deep Yoga Studio if you want to turn your weekend into a ‘wellbeing retreat’. They can create a package including yoga, massage, sauna and even food.
