Port Douglas Travel Guide - Your destination overview of Port Douglas, Australia

From its days as a humble fishing village in the 1800s, Port Douglas has become a much sought-after holiday destination, yet retains a village atmosphere. Sugarcane, timber, tin and silver were the original industries before tourism took a hold in the early 1900s, and today the city is especially popular with high fliers looking to escape the limelight.

Port Douglas is only a mile across and four miles long, as depicted by its famous Four Mile Long Beach, so getting about is easy enough. It is like a finger pointing up, with the downtown area the fingernail and the beach running down one side and parklands on the other side.

There are just a few main streets in town where the best shopping and dining can be had and where the best hotels reside. It doesn't matter where you stay, however, as nothing is too far away and there is an efficient public bus service on hand, to boot.

Downtown Port Douglas

Downtown Port Douglas occupies the northern portion of the Port Douglas peninsula and is where most of the shops and restaurants are. Macrossan Street, Wharf Street and Davidson Street are the main thoroughfares. Marina Mirage is just southwest of downtown, while Four Mile Beach is southeast.

Four Mile Beach

As its namesake, the four-mile long Four Mile Beach is the main attraction of Port Douglas. It is a long, wide, clean beach with stunning golden sands backed by a long line of trees. The northern part of the beach stretches toward downtown, with the southern section ending at the Alexandra fringe reef.