Noosa has been the craziest, busiest place we’ve stayed in, over our entire Queensland holiday. The shire of Noosa is at the northern end of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and only 130 kilometres from Brisbane, covering an area of 871 square kilometres. 

It has a population of 54,000 and for some perspective; in 2022 the Noosa region attracted 2 million visitors.

Now you’re probably getting the picture on just how busy this region can be, but for those not keen on crowds and the hustle and bustle, there are ways to still enjoy a relaxing holiday here.

Park and Walk

That would be the biggest tip for a stress free stay anywhere around Noosa. Traffic seems to be insanely busy at any time and day so it pays to look at a map of the area you’re planning to visit, pick a street and plan to park and walk.  Interestingly you’ll struggle to find any traffic lights in town, in fact there is only 1 set of lights which we didn’t find in our travels, but they do love roundabouts, so much in fact that there are more than 100 of them.

They can take some getting used to and especially those with double lanes, but after a few days of driving around, you soon get used to what direction you’re heading in and you can pick the right lane.

Noosa Heads has the main shopping strip of Hastings Street and the picturesque Main Beach, but there is also plenty to walk and see in the nearby localities of Noosa Spit, Noosa Junction, Noosa National Park and Noosaville on the river.

It pays to start your day early and have patience. Once you’re lucky enough to score a car park, make the most of the time you have to explore the surroundings.

Noosa Heads

In the heart of Noosa take a stroll along Hastings Street for the shopping, food and people watching, make sure to check out the opulent apartment buildings, and Main Beach, and stop in at the Noosa Surf Lifesaving Club for a drink and a meal with the best views in town.

A scenic walk to take is along the boardwalk on Park Road which takes you up past Noosa Main Beach and to Little Cove Beach, with beautiful views back over Laguna Bay, a distance of around 2 kilometres return. This path continues on to Noosa National Park where you can keep walking out to the headland and all the way to Sunshine Beach.

The sea is just as crowded as the roads with surfers, kayakers, and paddle boarders, all sharing the water with whales and dolphins out deeper. In 2020 Noosa became the 10^th World Surfing Reserve because of its 5 kilometre stretch of waves from the Noosa River mouth to around the Noosa National Park headland.

Noosa Spit

At the opposite end of Hastings Street, take a walk along the pathway that leads through Noosa Woods and past the river all the way out to the river mouth. You can take a picnic to enjoy on the lawns or at picnic tables, and throw in a rod to try fishing in some of the deep holes along the way.

Noosa National Park

The scenic walk in the National Park hugs the coastline and it’s just one of a few walks to take in the park. From the car park area you can walk to a few scenic lookout areas with the total walk being 10.8 kilometres return if you do the entire trail.

A good shorter part of the walk to take is past Tea Tree Bay, a popular surfing and swimming spot and then on to Dolphin Point where you can possibly see pods of dolphins. This is around a 2.5 kilometre return walk with a few moderately steep parts but easy to do in your own time.

Noosa Junction

Over Noosa Hill and away from the hustle and bustle of Hastings Street is the village of Noosa Junction where you’ll find more specialty shops, cafes and restaurants and some fantastic street art in laneways. This is definitely an area to park and wander with many of the artworks tucked away behind buildings, which you won’t find unless you take a nosy around.

Noosa Junction also has a picture theatre, a great place to head too if the weather turns bad. This area seems to have a bit more of a relaxed pace.

Noosaville

Some terrific park areas run the length of the Noosa River, cool and shady spaces to enjoy and watch the myriad of water craft out on the river.  Everything from yachts and houseboats to paddle boats and kayaks can be seen using the river every day.

You can also find places to hire equipment to make your own fun. Equipment available to hire include party boats, various size fishing boats, kayaks and stand up paddle boards which you can hire for an hour or anytime up to a whole day .

There are a few boutique breweries to find in Noosaville too, and it wouldn’t be right to play favourites, so visit them all! Land and Sea Brewery has a big, comfortable venue where you can taste their range of pale ales, lagers and more and enjoy a burger or schnitzel or other perfectly matched food to have with beers.

At Land and Sea Brewery you can also taste the range of gins, vodka and whisky from Noosa Heads Distillery, which also operates from the same building, very convenient and very tasty.

Heads of Noosa Brewing Co. specialise in Lagers and you can find a table to sit at in the taproom with a viewing window into the brewery while you enjoy a brew. There are plenty of spaces inside and out to settle in and enjoy the range, as well as more fine looking food, and there is music provided by local musicians every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Boiling Pot Brewing Co. is a funky venue with seating indoors, upstairs overlooking the venue or outdoors. Enjoy the ambiance here with cool tunes playing and the pizzas on the menu are the perfect fare to have with your choice of beer.  Well behaved pooches on lead are welcome in the venue too.

Noosa Marina

This is a surprisingly bustling area with shops, restaurants and cafes and it’s also where you can hop on and off a commuter ferry which has a number of different landing areas along the river, culminating at Noosa Heads.

You can also take a fabulous sunset cruise from the marina on the MV Noosa Queen, one I’d highly recommend. For only $20 per head you get an hour and a half of cruising with commentary from Captain Dan, and there’s a bar on board where you can buy very reasonably priced drinks.

You pass some stunning river front houses and mangrove areas, seeing various birds and even kangaroos along the way, before you witness the day’s sunset. Cruising back in the evening the lights of houses along the river light up and lead back to the marina area.

Eumundi Markets

If you are crowd averse, then a visit to these original markets will be challenging, but if you arrive before opening time you can score a car park nearby and get a fair bit of the market experience under your belt before it gets too crowded. There is also an area not too much of a walk away, where you can park all day for $9. You will definitely need a few hours just to see all of the market area.

The village of Eumundi is around 15 minutes from Noosa and there are hundreds of stall holders, selling everything handmade, home grown, and home baked that you could possibly want. These markets operate on Wednesdays from 8am to 2pm and Saturdays from 7am to 2pm. The market has a huge array of food options available from food trucks too, so factor that in to your spending, they are too tempting to ignore.

Enjoy Noosa

Before you visit Noosa it pays to know that yes it is crazy, busy, popular and sometimes over the top but, give it a few days and you’ll soon find your favourite parts to visit and relax in. My tips to know before you go are…

• Scooters are everywhere, so get used to sharing the road with them. Thankfully they do have their own parking spaces though, so you don’t have to compete for parking.
• Roundabouts rule, they are everywhere and it takes a while to remember which way to go – google maps will be your best friend.
• Beware on the walking paths, you’ll be overtaken frequently by over enthusiastic joggers.
• Get up very early to enjoy a morning walk along the coast.
• And most of all, breathe, relax and go with the flow and before you know it you’re into the swing of it and will find it hard to leave.
• Buses are free on weekends so make the most of them.

We stayed at the Ingenia Holidays Noosa North caravan park which was a clean, comfortable and quiet place to stay but did mean a lot of driving to get to the various regions of town. As with everything else in Noosa though, it can be hard to get accommodation unless you book well in advance.

Enjoy Noosa,

Glenys