• Join a small group tour to taste the exotic produce of Far North Queensland with departures from Port Douglas or Cairns.
• Personal tour guide, lunch, wine, cheese, coffee, chocolate "Tasting" included. Bring extra money to buy farm gate produce. 

Discover the flavours of Tropical North Queensland on this small-group Cairns and Port Douglas food tour, offering a relaxed, crowd-free journey through local gourmet producers and authentic regional tastes.

What to Expect

Escape the usual tourist circuit and explore the culinary heart of Tropical North Queensland on this full-day Cairns and Port Douglas gourmet food tasting tour. Perfect for adults seeking something beyond beaches and barbecues, this small group experience offers a comfortable and curated journey through the Atherton Tablelands, known for its rich volcanic soils and premium local produce.

Starting at 8:00 am and returning around 5:30 pm, this tour is designed for food lovers who want to sample award-winning wines, handcrafted spirits, fresh dairy, artisan chocolates, and tropical fruits — all sourced locally. Travel in air-conditioned comfort with a knowledgeable guide and discover the flavours, stories, and people behind the region’s best gourmet offerings.

Features and Highlights

Tropical North Queensland Gourmet Food Tour – Cairns & Port Douglas Departures

• Convenient Pick-Up and Drop-Off: Collection available from Port Douglas and Cairns accommodation (adults only, over 18 years).
• Small Group Experience: Travel in a group of no more than 13 guests for a more personalised and relaxed day.
• Locally Sourced Tastings: Sample a variety of premium local produce including:
  • Artisan cheeses and yoghurts
  • Locally roasted coffee
  • Tropical fruits and jams
  • Boutique wines, spirits, and liqueurs
  • Handmade chocolates and sweet treats

Scenic Outback Drive – Atherton Tablelands

• Comfortable Travel: Enjoy air-conditioned transport as you take in views of rolling hills, farmlands, and tropical rainforest.
• Knowledgeable Local Guide: Learn about the history, agriculture, and stories behind each producer and destination.
• Unique Regional Stops: Visit family-run farms, cellar doors, and distilleries that are often missed by mainstream tours.
• Adults-Only Tour: This experience is crafted exclusively for guests aged 18 and over to fully enjoy the wine and spirit tastings.

Tour Days & Timing

• Operates Wednesday to Saturday
• Tour Duration: Approx. 9.5 hours (8:00 am – 5:30 pm)
• Meals Included: Includes lunch and multiple tastings throughout the day

This Cairns and Port Douglas food tasting tour is the ideal choice for travellers looking to explore the region’s culinary scene in comfort — away from crowds, with flavour, quality, and authenticity as the focus.

Southern Tablelands Itinerary - May be used from Port Douglas

Lake Barrine National Park and Heritage Tea House - Full Breakfast

A mere 1 hour drive from Cairns via the scenic Gillies Highway brings you to the cool atmosphere of the Atherton Tablelands, where you will come across a beautiful, enchanting natural lake hidden in World Heritage Rainforest. Lake Barrine is something special as it is actually a water filled crater left by a volcanic eruption approximately 10,000 years ago. Here we enjoy a delicious breakfast of local produce and enjoy a special 'Lake Barrine' coffee or local tea at the charming 80 year old lakeside teahouse amongst beautiful terraced gardens overlooking the Lake.

The timber teahouse was originally built in the 1930s as a dance hall and has since had many uses, including an aquatic centre, guest house, school; and during World War II, it was a convalescent home. The 3rd generation of the Curry family still own, and the 4th generation manages the teahouse and boat cruises. Their commitment to preserving the natural heritage of the lake has remained unchanged for the past 90 years.

Winter & Mann Private Property

Here, we sample a selection of locally made and sourced produce at their charming Queenslander home. Your host, Anna, will guide you through the origins of each item, sharing insights about where everything is grown or crafted.

Australian Platypus Park - Gourmet Lunch

The Australian Platypus Park is home to a thriving platypus population. These wonderful creatures can be found in a spring fed pond surrounded by lush tropical vegetation.

In order to create a natural environment for the development of the platypus, plants are naturally grown in accordance with the habitat of the platypus.

We take a wander down to see them in this magnificent setting then sit down to enjoy flavoured handcrafted smoked products, combined with a unique blend of local Australian native herbs and spices.

These tasty treats are all produced in-house using only the freshest quality ingredients and include Crocodile, Red Claw (Yabby) and Kangaroo with fresh local salads topped off with a ‘Tarzali Lakes’ boutique beer, Dragon Fruit cider, Lemon Myrtle tea. (Menu EXCLUSIVE to our tour.) Time to purchase some of the smoked products and sauces.

All in-house smoked meats are locally sourced from around the tablelands. All food scraps from the cafe feed the animals.

Gallo Dairyland - Cheese Platter & Chocolate Tasting

We now head towards the historic village of Atherton. Driving through this thriving hub, a patchwork of amazing farmland and rolling green hills appear before us. We are on our way to a fully operational dairy farm spread across 1000 acres of rich red volcanic soil with delicious handcrafted chocolates and a gourmet cheese factory.

Here we will have a selection of their delicious cheeses and irresistible Swiss style filled chocolates that are a work of art whilst gazing out over the picturesque landscape. Meet some friendly animals before heading back to Mareeba through a variety of diverse crops.

Gallo milk 350 cows twice a day, which equates to 20 L of milk per cow per day. Some of their sustainable practices include scraping the animal food lot into the manure pit to use as fertilizer and using rainwater to clean the factory.

 

‘The Humpy' Nut World - Tropical Fruits & Nuts Tasting

We now head through a patchwork of amazing farmland, diverse crops and rolling green hills for a tasting and shopping treat.

We stop at ‘The Humpy’, the best place to go to for freshly harvested Atherton Tablelands produce straight from the growers. From vegetables to tropical fruits and hundreds of different varieties of nuts, dried fruits locally produced jams and sauces.

Here we get to taste some seasonal fruits and many different flavours of hot local peanuts and macadamia nuts. We leave you time to browse this amazing and quirky grocery store so you can purchase goodies for the rest of your stay.

Mount Uncle Distillery - Liqueurs & Spirit Tasting

Then just down the road we arrive at Australian Distiller of the year 2017, Mount Uncle Distillery, North Queensland’s first and only distillery. Here we taste some of their Award winning liqueurs and spirits.

Then take a wander round this stunning property nestled in coffee and banana plantations, with beautiful gardens and friendly animals.

Increased interest in and understanding of Australia’s Indigenous heritage has, in part, been driven by education and the accessibility of native foods and ingredients, nowhere more so than in the development of the Australian gin industry while supporting ethical and sustainable practices.

Founded in 2002, Mount Uncle Distillery was one of the first distilleries to embrace native botanicals in its gin recipe. Founder Mark Watkins discovered an early gin recipe used by local settlers and set himself the challenge of replacing the traditional ingredients with native.

Emerald Creek Ice Creamery

Our next destination is Emerald Creek Ice Creamery, a family-owned establishment located on 2.15 hectares along the Kennedy Highway between Mareeba and Kuranda. Here, ice cream is crafted on-site using pure cream and full cream milk, while their dairy-free sorbets are made with local Tablelands fruit. Relax on the balcony or in the gardens as you savor a tasting of their unique and tropical ice creams and sorbets.

 

Cairns Food & Wine Tour

This amazing Adults Only food tour is now available departing Cairns - the perfect way for Cairns visitors to get a taste of fresh local produce, gourmet food and wines plus see the diverse scenery across the Atherton Tablelands.

Keeping much of the same winning formula as the Port Douglas tour, the Cairns tour differs only slightly in the itinerary. This is due to the direction heading across the Tableleands.  See below to find out what amazing places you will visit on the Cairns Food Tasting Tour.  

Rainforestation Nature Park - Full Breakfast

Our journey begins at the Rainforestation Nature Park, nestled within the Kuranda rainforest. This family-owned gem offers us a special breakfast experience on the balcony of their Tree House restaurant. We savor a delightful meal featuring seasonal tropical fruits, Wattle seed damper, a variety of tropical jams, and local tea and coffee.

Following breakfast, we have the chance to sample some distinctive liqueurs crafted on-site at their Mountain Groves Distillery. Choices include Mango and Chilli, Pineapple and Cinnamon, Lemon Myrtle Cello, and Passionfruit and Pepperberry.

Emerald Creek Ice Creamery - Ice Cream Tasting Bowls

Our next stop is Emerald Creek Ice creamery a family-owned business Positioned on 2.15ha on the Kennedy Highway between Mareeba and Kuranda. Their Ice-cream is made on-site in their factory using pure cream and full cream milk. Sorbets (dairy free, full fruit) also made on-site using local Tablelands fruit. Sit on the balcony or gardens
and enjoy a tasting of their ice creams and sorbet that is unique and tropical.

‘The Humpy' Nut World - Tropical Fruits & Nuts Tasting

We now head through a patchwork of amazing farmland, diverse crops and rolling green hills for a tasting and shopping treat. We stop at ‘The Humpy’, the best place to go to for freshly harvested Atherton Tablelands produce straight from the growers. From vegetables to tropical fruits and hundreds of different varieties of nuts, dried fruits locally produced jams and sauces.

Here we get to taste some seasonal fruits and many different flavours of hot local peanuts and macadamia nuts. We leave you time to browse this amazing and quirky grocery store so you can purchase goodies for the rest of your stay.

Australian Platypus Park – Gourmet Lunch

The Australian Platypus Park is home to a thriving platypus population. These wonderful creatures can be found in a spring fed pond surrounded by lush tropical vegetation.

In order to create a natural environment for the development of the platypus, plants are naturally grown in accordance with the habitat of the platypus.

We take a wonder down to see them in this magnificent setting then sit down to enjoy flavoured handcrafted smoked products, combined with a unique blend of local Australian native herbs and spices.

These tasty treats are all produced in-house using only the freshest quality ingredients and include Crocodile, Red Claw (Yabby) and Kangaroo with fresh local salads topped off with a ‘Tarzali Lakes’ boutique beer, Dragon Fruit cider, Lemon Myrtle tea and some tastings of the Murdering Point Winery range. (Menu (EXCLUSIVE to our tour.) Time to purchase some of the smoked products and sauces.

All in-house smoked meats are locally sourced from around the tablelands. All food scraps from the cafe feed the animals.

Gallo Dairyland - Cheese Platter & Chocolate Tasting

We now head towards the historic village of Atherton. Driving through this thriving hub, a patchwork of amazing farmland and rolling green hills appear before us. We are on our way to a fully operational dairy farm spread across 1000 acres of rich red volcanic soil with delicious handcrafted chocolates and a gourmet cheese factory.
Here we will have a selection of their delicious cheeses and irresistible Swiss style filled chocolates that are a work of art whilst gazing out over the picturesque landscape. Meet some friendly animals before heading back to Mareeba through a variety of diverse crops.
Gallo milk 350 cows twice a day, which equates to 20 L of milk per cow per day. Some of their sustainable practices include scraping the animal food lot into the manure pit to use as fertilizer and using rainwater to clean the factory.

Mount Uncle Distillery - Liqueurs & Spirit Tasting

Then just down the road we arrive at Australian Distiller of the year 2017, Mount Uncle Distillery, North Queensland’s first and only distillery. Here we taste some of their Award winning liqueurs and spirits.

Then take a wander round this stunning property nestled in coffee and banana plantations, with beautiful gardens and friendly animals.

Increased interest in and understanding of Australia’s Indigenous heritage has, in part, been driven by education and the accessibility of native foods and ingredients, nowhere more so than in the development of the Australian gin industry while supporting ethical and sustainable practices.

Founded in 2002, Mount Uncle Distillery was one of the first distilleries to embrace native botanicals in its gin recipe. Founder Mark Watkins discovered an early gin recipe used by local settlers and set himself the challenge of replacing the traditional ingredients with native.

Platypus Hut - Queensland Wines & Beers

As if that weren't enough, we venture across the savannah ‘Outback,’ passing by towering termite mounds and the iconic red dirt to explore a unique 160-acre private property. Here, you'll immerse yourself in the breathtaking rainforest and pristine surroundings, a haven for diverse bird and animal species. Keep an eye out for roaming kangaroos and make your way to ‘The Platypus Hut.’ In this serene spot, you can relax as the sun sets, observing diving Kingfishers and the elusive Platypus, or simply dip your toes into the tranquil waters.

 

 

 

 

Tour Languages Offered

• English

Departs From

Port Douglas

Departure Time

• Port Douglas 8:00am (approx) - Returning 5.30pm (approx)
• Cairns & Cairns Beaches 8:00am (approx) - Returning 5:30pm (approx)

Pickup Locations

• Cairns
• Cairns Northern Beaches
• Palm Cove
• Port Douglas

Destinations

Atherton Tablelands

Months of Operation

January - December

Days of Operation

Wednesday - Saturday

Duration

9.5 hours (approx)

Available for Purchase / Hire

Souvenirs, wine, chocolate, coffee and other produces you wish to take home

Fitness Level Required

Low

Additional Information

• Please advise of food allergies at time of booking.
• Gluten free lunch options are available on request.

• Money for souvenirs, wine, chocolate or anything else you wish to purchase and take home with you
• Your camera to capture the elusive platypus
• Walking shoes are recommended
• In the cooler months it is a good idea to bring something warm to wear if needed
• Your sense of humour

Please note, this is an adult only tour