One of our best day trips from Brisbane is Kingscliff. We Brisbane locals like to keep Kingscliff a secret! It’s a perfect big city escape with a beautiful beach, but no big crowds, traffic, or skyscrapers to contend with and being only a 60 to 90 minutes drive from Brisbane via the M1.

Kingscliff is a quaint seaside village with the main road running parallel to the beach. It has boutiques, surf and sports shops, a small art house theater, and a great range of cafes and restaurants. The shops are a refreshing change from the usual name-brand stores that you see in every town and city and there’s a good selection of local markets on at the weekends.

The local surf club is right on the beachfront and you can sit outside on the deck and watch all the action in the surf while you enjoy a meal and drink., The bowls club is also on the beachfront and has a very popular champagne breakfast on a Sunday morning. The newly renovated 1932 Kingscliff Beach Hotel is a lively place that often has live music.

There are plenty of choices for interesting walks. A very pleasant five-minute walk to Fingal Head lighthouse with great ocean views in both directions, a 40-minute walk from Kingscliff to Salt Beach, plenty of shorter walks through the bush to the surrounding beaches and at the southern end of town is the Cudgen Creek area which is excellent for fishing or paddle boarding and non-surf swimming particularly for families with small children. You may have to share the creek with the local pelicans, though.

Breakfast means a moment of uninterrupted peace and we visited our favourite eating place in Kingscliff Choux Box Café, once again. Very friendly helpful staff always smiling and obviously enjoy working there with great coffee and value for money meals. Situated directly across from the beach in northern NSW, Choux Box has been a Kingscliff staple since the early 90s. This longevity among locals is a pretty good sign that they’re doing something right.

After breakfast we headed down to Ed Parker Rotary Park. The park makes for a beautiful day out or a great stop if passing by. It is home to an array of picnic spots, walking, or cycling opportunities, as well as home to the beautiful sandy river. making it a perfect place to enjoy a swim and cool off during the warmer months. While the surf beach at Kingscliff is beautiful and one of the best places to do early morning or late afternoon walks, Cudgen Creek at Kingscliff is one of our favourite spots. From the creek or the bridge, you'll witness the most amazing sunsets as the sun sinks against the backdrop of Mt Warning, have your camera ready, In fact, just keep your camera at the ready the whole time because this area is a photographer's dream

KIngscliff is a hive of local, independent stores filled with unique finds and before we left for home Kim had to have her shopping fix.