As visitors from the UK, we found the variety of plants and the way they were presented amazing, and with good walkways that let you meander through the different areas. Found the rainforest walk particularly interesting. An intriguing couple of hours. Easy to get to from central Cairns by bus or taxi etc.

We walked all the way from our hotel to the gardens. Most of it is greenery and is very nice although there were some nice flowers to see. The butterfly atrium did not have butterflies but the green plants were beautiful to see (and it provided a place to hang out when there was a sudden downpour). There are very nice paths winding around the gardens and we enjoyed visiting.

The Cairns Botanical Gardens are big, but it was stultifyingly hot (at least to me) and a garden isn’t necessarily the best place to be unless you’re in the shade. But this garden has a rainforest boardwalk, which is just what it sounds like - a raised boardwalk through a mini-rainforest. Theoretically, it sounded humid and full bugs to me, but I was here, it was there so off I went. Another scenario where I had it all wrong – the rainforest was shady and the palms reached so high skyward. Sunlight dappled the floor of the rainforest, there were various birds and sounds of big leaves dropping, plus other noises. There were two types of palm groves and a boggy area. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed looking at the bark on the different trees, how the palm leaves/fronds grow, all the dead leaves on the floor and searching out any floral growth on the palms; it was very quiet, velvety air and warm, but I was glowing, not dripping with sweat. Three people passed me who were striding briskly on their way to somewhere – or just getting exercise. Although the Aboriginal Plant Use Garden is small, it was interesting to me, as was the Bamboo Collection (I had no idea there are so many varieties) and the Flecker Gardens.

We could have spent more time there, but access was easy from the street and the walking tracks were well marked. There was some wonderful flora there with many interesting tropical trees and plants. The low-lying areas off of the wooden walking track across the street from the main entrance were full of water. Next time we will explore some more areas that we did not get to this time.

We rode the Beam scooters from Cairns along a safe bicycle path. An easy and fun 20 minute ride. The gardens were beautiful and immersive and perfect for a picnic. A great afternoon.

A lovely cool respite from the FNQ sun. Compact, shady, great variety of Australian and overseas plants. Well signed. Good descriptions of how First Nations people utilised native plants in their everyday lives. A lovely cafe and coffee shop, again lots of shaded seating. And no admission fee, all courtesy of the Cairns City Council.

We have a couple of hours before our flight out of Cairns and decided to visit Botanic Garden. It was just a 5mins Uber drive from the airport. The garden was lush and full of subtropical plants, supposed they get a fair bit of rain lately. A very easy way to walk around.