🐚How to get from Brisbane to Caloundra
A getting-there guide from GoThere Brisbane, the free live journey planner for South East Queensland.
Can you get there without a car?
🟢 Yes, all the way
Yes, the whole way on a flat 50c fare. Sunshine Coast line to Landsborough (~1¼ hr), then Connecting bus into Caloundra (~25 min).
The short answer
- 1🚆Sunshine Coast line to Landsborough (~1¼ hr)
- 2🚌Connecting bus into Caloundra (~25 min)
The journey, end to end
- Brisbane
🚆Sunshine Coast line to Landsborough (~1¼ hr)
- Change 1
🚌Connecting bus into Caloundra (~25 min)
- Caloundra
2 legs, 1 change. Dashed lines are the parts that aren't public transport.
Kings Beach and the southern Sunshine Coast, with none of the Noosa prices and a fraction of the crowd.
What is Caloundra?
Caloundra is the southern end of the Sunshine Coast, where Pumicestone Passage separates the mainland from the northern tip of Bribie Island. That passage is why the water here is calm: several of its beaches face into a sheltered channel rather than open surf.
It is an unpretentious, family-shaped town. Bulcock Street is the main strip, and Kings Beach at the end of it is the one with the ocean pool and the patrolled surf.
Why go, and what to see
Kings Beach
Patrolled surf, a free saltwater pool and a shaded playground above it
Bulcock Beach
Calm channel water looking across to Bribie, and the boardwalk along it
Coastal Path
The walk from Bulcock round to Kings and on to Moffat Head
Bulcock Street
Cafes and the Sunday markets, a short walk from the beach
Every way to get there, compared
Including the ones that aren't public transport, because pretending the car doesn't exist helps nobody.
🚆 Public transport, 1 change
Our pick- 🚆Sunshine Coast line to Landsborough (~1¼ hr)
- 🚌Connecting bus into Caloundra (~25 min)
Time
About 1¾ hr from Central
Cost
50c each way
Best for
Cheapest by a distance, and no parking to find
🚗 Drive
- 🚗95 km from the city centre, about 1¼ hr in normal traffic
Time
about 1¼ hr
Cost
Fuel and parking
Best for
Carrying gear, odd hours, or several people splitting the cost
Usually quicker than the train, and that is worth being honest about. What it costs you is parking, tolls and driving home tired.
The connecting service, as it actually runs
Straight from the timetable data, not from a brochure. The days it runs and the last service back are the two things that decide whether a day trip works.
🚌 Route 600, Landsborough to Caloundra
Runs seven daysFirst
~5:05 am
Last
~3:10 am
Weekday trips
65
Midday
~15 min
Planning the day around it
- 🌅 Earliest connection out is around 5:05 am, so an early start is possible.
- 🌙 The last one is around 3:10 am. That, not closing time, is when your day ends.
- ⏳ Which leaves a window of about 22 hours between the first service out and the last one back, before you subtract the travelling at each end.
Work backwards from the last service rather than forwards from breakfast. Missing it here is a taxi fare, not a short wait.
Scheduled times on a typical weekday, counted one way and timed at Maroochydore station, so the gaps are the ones you would actually wait. Check the live board before you go.
When to go
Spring and autumn. The channel beaches stay swimmable in winter when the open surf further north is cold and rough.
Last service home →
Check your cut-off before you go, not after.
Anything disrupted? →
Live delays and closures across the network.
Live departures →
Times from the station you change at.
See it on the map →
The route drawn across South East Queensland.
More trips like this
GoThere route planner
Plan your trip to Caloundra
Put in where you're starting from and we'll work out the connections, with live times on the day.
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Getting to Caloundra: quick answers
How do you get to Caloundra from Brisbane without a car?+
Sunshine Coast line to Landsborough, then a connecting bus to Caloundra. It is roughly two hours from Central for a flat 50 cents. Driving takes about an hour and a quarter, so the bus is the cheap option rather than the fast one.
How do you get from Brisbane to Caloundra without a car?+
Sunshine Coast line to Landsborough (~1¼ hr), then Connecting bus into Caloundra (~25 min). Allow about 1¾ hr from Central station. Every leg on the TransLink network is a flat 50 cent fare.
How long does it take to get to Caloundra from Brisbane?+
About 1¾ hr from Central, door to platform to door, depending on how the connection lands. The planner on this page works it out from where you actually are rather than from the city centre.
How much does it cost to get to Caloundra?+
A flat 50 cents each way on the TransLink network, however far you travel.
What time is the last service back from Caloundra?+
It changes by day and by line, and it is the thing that catches people out on a long day trip. Check the last service home tool before you head out so you know your cut-off rather than guessing at the end of the day.