Brisbane to Cairns drive

The Bruce Highway is 1,671.3 km from Pine River to Cairns. Pine River is on the north side of Brisbane, so add a little for a start in the city or at the airport. Queensland's touring route breaks the coast into legs of 208 km, 110 km, 330 km, 504 km, 509 km and 139 km from Mooloolaba to Cairns, which is a fair guide to how far a day can go.

At the 100 km/h limit that applies on rural highways unless signed otherwise, there is little room to make time up, and the state's own advice is a break of at least 15 minutes every two hours. Five days is a sensible minimum, with two or three of them being hard driving days, and longer if you want the reef or the islands.

• Plan tolls near the Brisbane pickup
• Plan Brisbane to Cairns hire
• Plan Cairns to Brisbane hire

For Brisbane to Cairns, select Brisbane Airport or a city depot as pickup and Cairns Airport as return. For Cairns to Brisbane, start at Cairns Airport and set Brisbane Airport or an eligible city depot as the return. The search below starts with Brisbane Airport to Cairns Airport; change the pickup and return fields to price the reverse trip.

Hertz is one example: it decides at reservation whether a different return location is allowed and whether a One Way Fee applies. Compare the complete quote in both directions, including rental days, vehicle class, one-way fee, airport charges, fuel policy and any excess reduction. A quote for one direction does not establish the price or availability of the other.

The main route follows the Bruce Highway, so the agreement questions are mostly about side trips. A Hertz vehicle needs prior permission for certain ferries, so check before taking the Magnetic Island car ferry from Townsville. Hertz also treats beaches and most unsealed roads as prohibited uses and bars its vehicles from K'gari (Fraser Island), Moreton Island and South Stradbroke Island. Do not assume a Hervey Bay island side trip is allowed in the hire car.

A prohibited use that causes damage can void Hertz protection and remove the liability limit. Check the excess and prohibited road list in your own agreement, and see the guide on excess insurance for how the products differ.

If you do not have time for the whole run, the two halves work on their own. Mooloolaba to Airlie Beach is 1,152 km over four legs, so it is a multi-day drive. Airlie Beach to Cairns is 648 km over two legs, 509 km to Mission Beach and 139 km on to Cairns, which is a long single day or an easy two days.

You can also skip the middle by flying into Proserpine (Whitsunday Coast), Mackay or Townsville and hiring there, so you drive only the stretch you want rather than the 504 km Yeppoon to Airlie Beach and 509 km Airlie Beach to Mission Beach legs.