Townsville Travel and Tourism Guide

The city has a large and diverse range of restaurants representing many different cuisines of the world. The Palmer Street restaurant strip in South Townsville is home to many of these, and is the scene for an annual Jazz Festival, bringing together food, wine and music from all parts of the world. A cosmopolitan atmosphere has been developed around many of these restaurants and cafes, with sidewalk dining taking advantage of the suitable climate for outdoor living.

The city also has a vibrant pub and night-club scene, many of them located in Flinders Street East. Local and national music groups can often be found performing live in these venues. The streetscape was renewed in 2003 with mixed reviews, and now caters for sidewalk dining at many new cafes located in the street.

Castle Hill is a giant monolithic rock formation in the middle of this generally low-land town which was used as a lookout during WWII to watch for a Japanese invasion force. Townsville is also known for its port facilities which are a convenient stepping-off point to Magnetic Island and John Brewer Reef as part of the Great Barrier Reef system of live coral. Townsville also boasts a small artificial waterfall along The Strand on the beach and several modern gambling casinos.