By air: if you are flying to the Gold Coast you will land at either Brisbane Airport or Coolangatta Airport. It is about 20kms from Coolangatta Airport to Surfers Paradise and there are frequent domestic services from Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart, as well as international services from New Zealand, Japan and Asia.

Flight time from Sydney is around 90 minutes and approximately 2 hours, 30 minutes from Melbourne. Brisbane International Airport provides links with the United States and Europe. The drive from the airport to the Gold Coast takes about one hour.

The Great Southern Pacific Express is the epitome of luxury and travelling on it is an experience by itself. The more affordable train services include Queensland Rail's Sunlander or Queenslander services. The nearest train stations to Gold Coast are Helensvale, Nerang and Robina with trains from Brisbane stopping at these stations.

Passengers have to use the shuttle bus services to get to Surfers Paradise or other Gold Coast tourist hubs. Trains from New South Wales and Sydney dock at Muwillumbah, which is about 30 minutes from Coolangatta. Long distance train services arrive at Brisbane Transit Centre. From here, you will find shuttle buses to Coolangatta and Surfers Paradise.

Sydney is about 950kms from the Gold Coast and the average driving time is approximately 12 hours; Canberra is even further, about 1300kms away with a driving time of about 15 hours; Melbourne is about 1900kms from the Gold Coast and it takes almost one entire day to travel.

By bus: there are a number of bus services that connect to the Surfer's Paradise Bus Transit Centre. The bus station handles the arrival and departure of about 200 coaches each day from destinations around the country.