Cairns Markets, the Tablelands and Port Douglas

Cairns does its market shopping early and all year round. Rusty's opens at 5am, three days a week. The Esplanade market runs all Saturday beside a free saltwater lagoon, and the night markets open every night of the year. Then there are the Tablelands, an hour up the range, where a different town holds its market on each Saturday of the month.

Two things make Cairns different from markets further south. The fruit is fruit most Australians have never bought, and the calendar runs on the wet season, not on winter.

Rusty's, for the fruit

Rusty's Markets began in 1975 with half a dozen stalls and now has 180, filling the block between Grafton and Sheridan Streets. It trades Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 5am, until 4pm on Friday and Saturday and 3pm on Sunday.

Come for the produce. Rambutan, mangosteen, lychee, longan, jackfruit, star fruit and durian sit beside pawpaw, pineapple and local mango and banana varieties no supermarket carries. Sugar cane juice and Vietnamese coffee are the regular recommendations. It is a local shop as much as a tourist stop, and early is better, before the heat builds and the best fruit has gone.

The Esplanade and the night markets

Cairns Esplanade Markets runs every Saturday from 8am to 4pm under the council's own tents on the promenade beside the Lagoon. Only locally made arts, crafts and clothing are allowed, so you are mostly buying from the person who made it. The trading day is long, and the Lagoon is free, so bring swimmers and arrive after a swim.

Cairns Night Markets on Abbott Street opens every night of the year, Christmas Day included. It is a two-floor, air-conditioned building with about 70 shops: souvenirs, pearls, tropical art, a food court and a row of massage operators for people coming off the reef boats. It is the market to keep in reserve for a wet evening.

A country market every Saturday

Between the Tablelands and the sugar towns just outside Cairns, one of these is on every Saturday of the month. Up the range the country is cooler, wetter and greener than the coast, so pack a jumper.

• First Saturday: Koah Monthly Markets at the hall between Kuranda and Mareeba, 9am to 1pm, with organic produce, bread and live music. It closes in December and January. Gordonvale Cottage Markets is the same morning south of Cairns: more than 120 stalls in Norman Park from 7am, run by the Scouts, with no market in January.

• Second and fifth Saturdays: Mareeba Markets at Centenary Park, with Tablelands produce, good coffee and a CWA stall of scones and jam. The Lions Club took it over in June 2024 and moved it back into town, so ignore older listings that send you elsewhere.

• Third Saturday: Malanda Markets at the showgrounds, 7:30am to 12:30pm, run by the Lions in an old dairy town 732 metres up. In Mareeba, 100 Park Markets is the curated one, with local designers, makers and producers raising money for the heritage museum.

• Fourth Saturday: Yungaburra Markets, the big one. It started as a school fundraiser in 1977 and now has up to 260 stalls in a heritage village near Lake Eacham and Lake Barrine, 7:30am to 12:30pm. Parking is tight, so arrive early. There is no market in December.

Pick the week, then add the crater lakes, Malanda Falls or a dairy on the way back.

Kuranda, any day

Kuranda Original Rainforest Markets opens every day from 10am to 3pm. It was founded in 1978 by local artists and craftspeople, on stalls built from used materials, and it still trades under the rainforest canopy with cafes among the stalls. Some stalls have closed in recent years, but the setting is the reason to go, and it makes an easy day trip up the range from Cairns.

North to Port Douglas and Mossman

Port Douglas Markets runs every Sunday morning until 1:30pm, with more than 100 stalls near the beachfront. Since 1998 it has been a strict "Cotters" market: everything must be made or grown by the seller or their family, so the produce, furniture, art and jewellery are all local. It is snacks rather than lunch, so eat in town afterwards.

Marina Markets is the Wednesday one, 11am to 5pm on the wharf at the marina, with crafts and clothing aimed at visitors coming off the reef boats. It runs weekly from April to October and over the Christmas school holidays, and not at all in November, February or March.

Further north, Mossman Saturday Market runs every Saturday from 7am to 1pm under big old raintrees beside St David's Church, with produce sold by the people who grow it. The ground is uneven grass, so wear flat shoes.

Palm Cove Markets is closer to the city, about 25 minutes north. Around 130 stalls line Williams Esplanade under centuries-old paperbarks, 8am to 2pm on a Sunday, mostly the first Sunday from March to December. Rotary runs it and publishes a date list without a fixed pattern, so check before you drive.

Planning around the wet

The city markets trade all year. The ones to watch are the monthly and seasonal markets from November to March, when several stop: Koah in December and January, Yungaburra in December, Gordonvale and Palm Cove in January, and the Marina market in November, February and March. The Christmas and New Year markets guide has the full list for the holiday fortnight.

Every market here is in the Cairns markets directory with its next trading date, and markets this weekend shows what is on now. What's in season shows which fruit is at its best in Queensland in any month.