The Do’s and Don'ts of a Gold Coast Holiday

Explore Australia

Jan 17

Our trip to the Gold Coast was a short-lived, wonderful blast of FUN, FUN, FUN at an iconic Australian Holiday Playground. Crowds, traffic and spending lots of money has never been high on my priority as a family ‘escape’ (and of course the Gold Coast can offer lots of this) yet I found our holiday here still very enjoyable.

Here’s my list of Do’s and Don’ts when embarking on a Gold Coast Holiday. See if you agree…….

DON’T miss out on Brisbane

**The kids & I had a Ball exploring Brisbane**

Queensland’s capital lies only an hour north of the iconic golden stretch of surf beaches thanks to the M1 Pacific Motorway. Despite the lure of the golden sands, wicked surf and countless styles of family entertainment on offer at the Gold Coast you really shouldn’t brush off a visit to Brisbane.

A view of Brisbane City from the rail route

The Big City vibes excited my country kids

We had a ball ‘hanging out’ in inner city Brisbane – for my kids it was a real eye-opener as they really are ‘country’ kids. Just checking out the ‘skyscrapers’ and travelling on the public transport was a buzz for them.Fortunately Brisbane has made it super easy to get around. There’s the Airtrain from Brisbane Airport to the inner city, countless bus routes and train routes around the city and one of the prettiest cycle/walk ways along the Brisbane River (which winds its way through the centre of the city).

DO check out Brisbane’s Southbank and the Brisbane River

**The Wheel of Brisbane gives a great ‘birds eye’ view of the area**

The Queensland Museum was one of the major highlights for my country kids. We really have nothing of this scale up in Cairns. The Dinosaur exhibit of course was a favourite as was the exhibit that focused solely on Queensland's history.

We would have liked to have checked out the Sciencentre (a hot favourite with kids apparently) BUT unfortunately they were in the middle of changing their exhibitions......SO it's still on our TO DO list.

**The Queensland Museum kept us all entertained**

From there it’s only a short hop around the Southbank precinct for a swim in the lagoon, a spin around the Wheel of Brisbane and a visit to GOMA - Gallery of Modern Art (which unfortunately we didn’t do and I regret SO make sure you drag your kids here – they often have a range of interactive exhibitions to keep the young ones entertained).

**We even had a dip at the lagoon at Southbank Parklands**

Hot Tip: The river walk is lovely BUT long – find a way to explore it that’s kid friendly. Either through hiring bikes or hopping onto a City Cat and be ferried somewhere new).

One fun activity we enjoyed was an inner-city steam train ride onboard the Queensland Railway Workshop’s Christmas run. It was fun to sit and explore the old-style carriages and chug around the inner-city tracks of the city seeing Brisbane from new angles.

Hot Tip: Try and book a ‘sleeping’ carriage as they really are the elite way to travel.

It’s hard not to get caught up in the enthusiasm from all the volunteers that don a uniform and help out on these days. They’re more than happy to impart all types of information and enjoy giving you a grand tour of the train and all it’s carriages.

**The sleeping carriages were really ‘First Class’**

DON’T go to the Theme Parks and expect no Queues!

Yes!! You do have to mentally prepare yourself for this one. We thought we’d ticked all the boxes for missing out on the busy season BUT still we found ourselves sitting in queues for more than 45-minutes for what was often a 2-minute ride.

Yes!! It really is as scary as it looks….

Can you spot our carriage ‘dropping’ off the edge??

Queues did seem to be part and parcel of the whole theme park experience but our kids didn’t seem to mind and after all that was what the holiday was about – giving them an experience that they wouldn’t have in their home-town.

**Visiting off-peak is definitely the way to do the Theme Parks!**

We visited Wet'n'Wild, Movie World and Seaworld via the VIP Magic Pass and will do Dreamworld when the kids are a bit bigger.

DO visit Theme Parks during off-peak times.

Holidaying on the edge of the school holidays, before every school had officially closed for the Christmas break definitely helped. Weekdays also appeared a little quieter too.But our biggest WIN by far was to visit the theme park after 3pm (it was also raining and a little cold by Gold Coast standards). We did more rides in the last 2 hours than we had for a whole morning spent at the same theme park the day before.

**About to get drenched on the Wild West Falls at Movie World**

DON’T feel you have to spend $$$ to Enjoy yourself on the Gold Coast

Some of our highlights of our stay on the Gold Coast were the activities that cost nothing at all.

**The different faces of the Gold Coast – there’s lots to explore**

Walks along the coastline, watching the electrical storms roll in over the coast. Sitting and checking out the surf action, getting up early to watch a sunrise or even getting in a dip before the crowds arrive mid-morning.

**Watching this storm roll in and the lightning that followed was AWESOME!!**

DO go and check out the Gold Coast Hinterland

We took a drive inland to Springbook National Park to visit the well known Natural Bridge which was lovely and just the break we needed in the middle of all our theme park action.

**Chill out time at Springbrook National Park (Note – it’s not recommended you get THIS close to the Natural Arch)**

At one point we pulled up at a picnic spot along the river for lunch and found ourselves surrounded by hundred’s of turtles and 1 hummungous eel (who managed to nibble on Josh’s toe)!! It was one of those classic family ‘moment’s that the kids keep reminding us of.

**You get epic views of the coast from the Gold Coast Hinterlands**

Another good call was to head up into the hinterland where we enjoyed epic views of the Gold Coast and enjoyed the cooler climate of the hills, the rainforest environment and all the different bird calls.

DON'T miss out on the super Accommodation deals the Gold Coast offers

One thing you notice about the Gold Coast is that all those high rises aren’t made up solely of ‘office’ buildings as you would find in your average city. The strip is truly dedicated to holiday-makers and there is a whole lot of accommodation available to suit all styles of needs.

Hot Tip: Google Maps was the biggest stress buster when it came to finding the best route from A to B. We gave the kids turns at being in ‘control’ over our navigation it helped calm them whilst driving around in the car.

Make sure you take some time to research the area and find a deal that suits your family. If you want a good round-up of Gold Coast Hotels with the best swimming pools (cause that's the reason you're at this spot right....lotsa water fun) Check out this article --> 20 Gold Coast Hotels with Incredible Pools.

DO choose Accommodation that suits your kid’s ages and needs

We stayed at the Paradise Resort, an iconic kid friendly resort designed so the ‘whole’ family can have fun. This resort probably would have best suited us when the kids were a little younger - when we really did need a break from the constant need to watch over them 24/7.

Now our kids are a little older and a little more independent we really didn’t need to use all the ‘structured’ activities to keep them entertained, or the child care system to watch over them (free to families that stay overnight).

I can see however how Paradise Resort would be attractive for parents of younger children who can really do with some ‘adult’ time. Check it out HERE if you think that sounds like you.

**There was lots of moments like this on the Gold Coast**

FINALLY, DO expect to have LOTS of FUN

The Gold Coast has predominately been built on it’s golden attractions – it’s beaches, it’s surf and it’s climate. More attractions have evolved over time and as a place to go with the family it definitely ticks a lot of boxes.What worked best for us was to listen to the tips shared by our friends, family and (surprise surprise) Social Media to find the things that most suited us. And the best moments for us weren’t always the paid variety – which is often what you find out anyway when your travelling ;)

**One of our favourite Theme Parks was Sea World**

Good Things to Know:

Don’t forget Schoolies – if you’re planning a family holiday you probably want to miss those few weeks of mega-partying that occurs at the end-of-year by school leaving teens.
If you’re looking for accommodation bargains then travel outside the peak holiday season – school holidays and the Winter season (July – October) – they are often the busiest times for the state of Queensland.
Most of the Theme parks have super saver deals. We bought the VIP Magic Pass which gives you access to 3 Theme Parks for 6 months from first day of use. It was an absolute bargain and allowed us to visit the parks when it suited us best AND allowed for return visits.

Have you visited the Gold Coast? What are your favourite things to do around this region? Any Gold Coast activities you'd like to recommend?