Gold Coast Attraction Transfers

Getting to and from Gold Coast attractions and theme parks can be easily overlooked when planning your holiday. Although there are many things to do and see around Surfers Paradise, the popular attractions and theme parks are actually quite a distance from the main tourist areas of Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach.

There are several options for getting to Gold Coast Theme parks and attractions including self-drive with a hire car or your own car, taxi, public transport or using the shuttle bus services which pick you up at your accommodation and drop you at the attraction or theme park.

Whilst public transport can appear to be the cheapest option, you will spend alot more time travelling than if you use one of the other options and it is alot less flexible. I find most visitors either hire a car so they can enjoy the flexibility of driving themselves at the times they want to go, or use the shuttle bus packages.

Theme Park Shuttle Bus Transfers

A fast and efficient way to get to the main theme parks, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary or HarbourTown for discount shopping is to use the theme park shuttles. These buses pick up at major hotels and resorts around Gold Coast and take you directly to the theme parks - door to door.

These are a great option if you don't want to worry about hiring a car, driving and parking - you just hop on the bus and relax.

There are several different ways to take transfers.

• You can just buy one or two transfers as needed
• Package with Gold Coast Airport transfers - best value and popular package
• Package with Brisbane Airport transfers - great value package

Gold Coast Airport & Theme Park Transfers

Gold Coast Airport & Theme Park Transfers are the most popular & best value option for Gold Coast ground transport. These packages suit most travellers who don't want to hire a car and drive themselves. In addition to adult and child (1 to 13 years) pricing there is a very cost effective Family Package (2 Adults + 2 Children).

You can select between 3, 5 or 7 transfers in addition to your return Gold Coast Airport to your Gold Coast hotel transfers.

Additional theme park transfers cover Movie World, Sea World, Wet n Wild, Dreamworld, WhiteWater World, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and Harbour Town Shopping Centre.

I recommend you work out which of the theme park passes you plan to use before organising these transfers, then it is easier to work out whether you will use 3, 5 or 7 transfers.

Before you book you will also need to have your flight arrival details so they know when to pick you up from Gold Coast Airport and where they are taking you. For the other transfers you just reconfirm your transfers by 2pm the day before.

Brisbane Airport & Theme Park Transfers Package

Brisbane Airport & Theme Park Transfers are a great value option for getting from Brisbane Airport to your Gold Coast hotel and getting around Gold Coast to the main theme parks and attractions. These packages suit most travellers who don't want to hire a car and drive themselves. In addition to adult and child (1 to 13 years) pricing there is a very cost effective Family Package (2 Adults + 2 Children).

You can select between 3, 5 or 7 transfers in addition to your return Gold Coast Airport to your Gold Coast hotel transfers.

Additional theme park transfers cover Movie World, Sea World, Wet n Wild, Dreamworld, WhiteWater World, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and Harbour Town Shopping Centre.

It is best to first work out which of the theme park passes you plan to use before organising these transfers, then it is easier to work out whether you will use 3, 5, 7 or more transfers.

Before you book you will also need to have your flight arrival details so they know when to pick you up from Brisbane Airport and where they are taking you. For the other transfers you just reconfirm your transfers by 2pm the day before.

Gold Coast Theme Park & Attraction Transfers

Just need one or two transfers, or want to add on transfers to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary or Harbour Town Shopping Centre to your Theme Park & Transfer Package?

Simply buy transfers for your individual trips.

Buy transfers for Sea World, Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet n Wild, Dreamworld, WhiteWater World, Harbour Town Shopping Centre or Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

Transfers To Australia Zoo

Australia Zoo is on the Sunshine Coast and is approximately 2 hours drive north of Gold Coast. There is an express service that takes you directly from Gold Coast hotels to Australia Zoo daily. Pick up times are around 7am in the morning and you return to your hotel around 6pm.

This is a long day! But you arrive at Australia Zoo in time to catch all the daily shows and you don't leave until after the shows have finished. It is a great option. Australia Zoo Tour Including Entry.

Alternatively, you can drive yourself and buy Australia Zoo Entry Tickets - our tour desk has a great deal as well as some great family pass options including with 2 Adult + 3 Children option!

Self Drive To Gold Coast Attractions

Self-drive to any of the Gold Coast tourist attractions provides a relatively low cost option with lots of flexibility particularly for families.

You can rent cars on the Gold Coast from budget or compact cars right through to people movers. Pick up from Brisbane Airport, Gold Coast Airport or locally near your accommodation.

Parking is FREE at most of major tourist attractions outside Surfers Paradise including the Gold Coast theme parks: Dreamworld, MovieWorld, Sea World, Wet n Wild and WhiteWater World.

Most shopping centres have all or at least part of the parking free - for example you might get 3 hours free, or free parking if you spend over a certain amount.

Whilst there isn't free parking at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, you can find parking close by for a small fee.

Driving gives you flexibility to arrive early, leave when you want and possibly even do more than one attraction in a day.

If you are not used to driving in Australia or just want to relax and enjoy your holiday, you can consider several different door to door transfer services available.

Public Transport To Theme Parks & Attractions

Public transport is quite complicated! There are several options and it is an area I get asked about quite a bit! First things first, I want to say right up front....

Using Public Transport for getting around Gold Coast is a compromise between lower costs and wasting your precious holiday time.

I'm going to cover mostly getting to and from the theme parks, however, you should be able to work out how to get around most other locations when you see how I use the tools.

To get to the theme parks by public transport you are might have to take a tram, a train and/or one or more buses. If you happen to be staying near one of the G:link Gold Coast tram stops then you will most likely be directed to take that up to Helensvale Station and then catch TX7 bus to Movie World, Wet n Wild, Dreamworld and WhiteWater World.

For Sea World, there is a bus that goes from Broadbeach South Bus Interchange through Broadbeach, Surfers Paradise and Main Beach up to Sea World. You could also go on the tram up to Main Beach station and then walk over to the Tedder Avenue stop to catch the bus that goes up to Sea World from there.

If you have to catch a bus to get to the express bus stop, make sure you leave plenty of time, my personal experiences with the Gold Coast buses are NOT great. I have been left waiting for buses that don't run on time or don't even turn up.

If you are staying close to the railway stations at Varsity Lakes, Robina or Nerang or coming from Brisbane - you could take a train to either, as the TX7 Bus goes to the theme parks between these two stations:

• Helensvale Station is closest to Movie World, Wet n Wild, Paradise Country & Australian Outback Spectacular
• Coomera Station is closest Dreamworld & WhiteWater World.

To get to Sea World by public transport you will have to take at least one bus, and there aren't express buses that go to Sea World.

Translink Journey Planner is the best way to work out how to get around Gold Coast using public transport. It's not the easiest to use, so I have written some tips to help make it easier for visitors to understand!

Gold Coast Attraction Transfers Using Taxis

Taxis can be useful for getting around to some of Gold Coast tourist attractions. For example if you are staying in Surfers Paradise or Main Beach and want to go to Sea World, then a taxi could be a very cost effective and flexible option.

If there's a big enough group of you, then paying for a taxi to take you to Dreamworld may be worthwhile for a once off, but you may find that the shuttle passes with Airport and transfers are better value.

Gold Coast Cabs phone number is 131 008, you can book online ahead of time, or your hotel can call a taxi for you. There's an extra charge for booking a taxi. When booking you will need to tell them how many people, if you have more than 4 people you will pay more.

Another option is 13CABS (132 227). There are also Maxi Cabs for larger groups and that can work out less expensive than taking the shuttles - but you will have to work that all out using the taxi fare estimator. Put in the details of where you are going from and to and it will tell you an approximate price. This will change in reality based on traffic conditions when you actually go. If you have more than 4 people then add 50% to the estimate and that should give you a good idea of the cost.

Taxi's tend to be a bit hard to get at peak times, so it is worth booking, especially your return journey, and make sure you give them a name and check when you hop in the taxi you have the right one. They have a change over around 3pm each day, so that can be a particularly hard time to get taxis.