I recently had the opportunity to spend a week on the beautiful Gold Coast in Australia. Sunny beaches with a view of the iconic city skyline, surfers walking along the coast, ocean water at the perfect temperature and lush waterfalls only an hour away.
To help you plan your trip and show you all of the beauty that the Gold Coast has to offer, I thought I would share the itinerary that I was given from the team at Destination Gold Coast!
Day 1 - Coastal living
A trip to the Gold Coast is not complete without spending some time in the sun, eating and lapping up all of the beautiful beaches.
We picked up a car from the airport, drove straight to Kirra Beach and checked into our STUNNING accommodation at The Villas by Bilinga Beach Abode. This was the perfect base; close to cafes and restaurants and only a minute drive from the beach. Watch my full tour of the airbnb here.
We dropped our bags and hopped in the car to spend our first afternoon exploring 2 of the main beaches that I wanted to visit - Greenmount Beach and Rainbow Bay. In my opinion, these two are the best ones in the Gold Coast! Crystal clear water, calm spots for relaxers and some surf for the more adventurous.
As the sun was getting lower, we freshened up and then headed out to dinner at Kirra Beach House - a newly opened restaurant overlooking the ocean. The food was incredible as was the service. Highly recommend dinner here!
Day 2 - Burleigh Heads
We were up bright and early to spend the morning in Burleigh Heads, about a 15 minute drive from our accommodation. The vibe of Burleigh made it my favourite area; beautiful views of the city skyline, surfers, acai, rainforest tracks and doggies everywhere.
I saw a cafe on tiktok called The Fruit Shop Burleigh which made the most delicious looking açai I have ever seen, so of course that was our first stop.
We began our walk on the rainforest track through the national park to make our way to Tallebudgera creek. The walk took about 30 minutes with lots of stops to take in the views and say hi to the local lizards. Tallebudgera creek is a great spot for a cool off and swim with calm waters and plenty of shade.
We eventually made our way back to our car and had lunch at The Tropic which is a restaurant I highly recommend if you want the iconic view! The food was amazing - I am still dreaming about their hummus dip!
We spent the afternoon driving along the coast and went for another quick dip at Rainbow Bay before heading back to our accommodation for a power nap. Luckily for us, Kirra Beach was only a 1 minute drive away and by chance this is the best spot for sunset in my opinion. Look at the view!
Day 3 - Springbrook National Park
The next morning we made our way to Springbrook National Park which was about an hour drive away. Luckily for us, the clouds took over the sky just in time for our hike, making the heat a bit more bearable!
We are not hikers so believe me when I say that the hike to Purling brook Falls is very doable and relatively flat the whole way. The hike is a 4km circuit; you begin from the car park and shortly after arrive at a stunning viewpoint of the falls. We continued our way down until we eventually got to the bottom and wow - the mist from the waterfall and the height of it was breathtaking.
We refuelled at the Springbrook cafe before making our way back to the coast, freshening up and heading to Miami Marketta for dinner.
Miami Marketta is the place to be on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays! Food trucks, live music and thrift shopping in the most vibrant and colourful space. Everywhere you look has art! I highlyyyy recommend the gozleme.
Day 4 - Into the Hinterland
It was time to leave our coastal abode and make our way to the Hinterland. The change in scenery was crazy - one minute you have views of the ocean and the next it looks like you are driving through the English countryside.
Our first stop was O'Reilly's Canungra Valley Vinyard. Pick up a packed picnic lunch, find a spot by the creek to enjoy it and then wander over to Mount View Alpaca Farm and pick up your Alpaca. I was in heaven!
We continued on our journey to O'Reilly's rainforest retreat. We were quite literally up in the clouds which made for a cozy afternoon relaxing in our villa, outdoor bubble bath overlooking the views, book in one hand and tea in the other.
The main thing I was most excited for this entire trip was Morans Falls. O'Reilly's actually has a direct walking track to the top of the waterfall which only takes about 15 minutes to reach. As it was sprinkling with rain, we made our way there for 'sunset' and had it to ourselves. Unfortunately we didn't get any sun, however this is the most magical spot I have seen! Quite literally on top of a waterfall, valley views and not a soul in sight!
We had a 3 course dinner reservation at O'Reilly's Dining Room Restaurant so we quickly ran back, changed clothes and made our way there with wet hair. The service and food here was 10/10.
Day 5 - Elabana Falls
After a buffet breakfast at O'Reilly's tea room, we purchased some rain ponchos from the gift shop and began the walk to Elabana Falls.
The hike begins conveniently at O'reillys rainforest retreat again so we didn't have to travel far at all. The entire circuit is 17km which we were not prepared to do, so we decided to just walk to Elabana falls and back which took about 2 hours walking time overall.
One thing I will say is beware of leeches! I have never experienced leeches before as I am from the West Coast of Australia, so imagine my horror when I saw them crawling on my shoes. Carter decided to wear crocs (with no socks) for the hike... safe to say the leeches loved him.
We finally made it to Elabana falls but were told to not climb the waterfall as the rain had made the current a bit too strong. Elabana falls is magical! Well worth the walk and I can imagine when it has calmer waters that it would be an amazing spot to set up for a picnic.
After our hike, we hopped in the car and made our way to our last accommodation of the trip which was located in Binna Burra, about a 1.5 hour drive from O'reillys.
Binna Burra is by far my favourite place we visited. We stayed in the Binna Burra tiny wild houses and I cannot express to you how BEAUTIFUL the view was. Above the clouds, endless views and the coziest tiny home.
Binna Burra is in the top 10 eco lodges in the world and I can definitely see why. In 2019 the bush fires wiped out a lot of their lodges so they are in the process of re-building what was lost and will be completed by 2025. Staying here is something everyone needs to experience. My jaw was on the floor the whole time!
Dinner was served in the Tea House on the Binna Burra lodge property and again, 10/10!
Watch my tiktok on Binna Burra here.
Day 6 - home time
After a blissful night in the tiny home, I woke up early to watch the clouds roll over the valleys and listen to the birds. Unfortunately it was time to drive back to the airport, but we made sure to take our time driving through Binna Bura stopping to pat horses and take in the stunning scenery.
I posted my trip and saved it all to my 'Gold Coast' highlights on my instagram. I also posted daily vlogs of each day on my tiktok, which can be found under my Gold Coast playlist here.
I hope this helps you plan your Gold Coast trip, or that I have convinced you to visit!. There is so much more to the Gold Coast than theme parks!