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Flights to Cooktown

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Cooktown is a small town in Queensland, Australia, and it’s actually the northernmost town on the east coast of the country. It is named for James Cook who brought his ship to the site of what’s now Cooktown to be repaired in 1770, and the town was later established following discovery of gold nearby.

Flights to Cooktown

Cooktown does have a small airport, but there are no flights to Cooktown Airport (airport code: CTN) from London because it only accepts domestic flights. The main airport for Queensland is the Brisbane Airport (code: BNE), and a booking with Skytrans can then be arranged for onwards flights to Cooktown. You can get to Brisbane with just one transfer. Qantas transfers in Sydney and British Airways connects in Melbourne. Or for a stop outside of Australia, fly with Emirates Airlines and travel through Dubai.

Cooktown Tourist Attractions

Cooktown certainly has an interesting history. James Cook brought his ship, the Endeavour, to the mouth of the river (which he named the River Endeavour) in 1770 after the ship had been damaged on the reefs offshore. They stayed here for 7 weeks making repairs and stocking up on supplies and making acquaintances with the local Aboriginal tribe. During this time Cook and his crew became the first Europeans to see kangaroos!

The town wasn’t actually established until 1873 when gold as discovered close by and the government of Queensland funded the setting up of a new town. Cooktown boomed during the gold rush, and had far more residents than the town has today! Today it’s a lovely little town to visit with several attractions in the town itself and many more attractions within the surrounding areas.

The James Cook Museum

If you’re interested in finding out more about James Cook and his voyages the James Cook Museum is the place to come. It’s housed within a former convent school that dates from 1888 and includes a look at the history of Cooktown as well as Cook’s involvement here.

The Story Wall

The Story (or Mbili) Wall tells the story of the first meeting between the native Aboriginal people and Europeans (namely Cook’s crew), from the Aboriginal point of view. It was created right on the spot where the two first met and is a beautiful portrayal through drawings and words of the event, and includes other events right up to the present day.

Cooktown Botanic Garden

The Botanic Garden of Cooktown dates back to 1878 when it was an impressive collection. The gardens had fallen into disrepair but have more recently been brought back to their former glory. The original stone path ways have been restored so visitors can now follow them through the gardens out to the beaches of Finch Bay and Cherry Tree Bay.

The Surrounding Area

Cooktown makes a great base for exploring some of the surrounding area as there’s good access from here to the Great Barrier Reef and also to the Lakefield National Park.

When Should You Visit Cooktown?

Cooktown has a tropical wet climate with the least amount of rain, and lower temperatures, occurring in the winter, from June to September. Temperatures are still warm during the time, with average highs ranging from 26 to 28.7C (80 to 83.7F). Summers are hot and wet with average highs reaching up to 32C (90F).