12-08-2025
Byron Solar Train driver shares top tips for visiting Byron Bay
Byron Solar train driver, Mick Johnson, reveals everything you should see and do in Byron Bay.
My favourite destination is…
Byron Bay because I came up here in 2018 after retiring in Sydney. The main thing I like about Byron is Cape Byron Lighthouse. It's the most easterly point of Australia and you get a great view up there. Sunrise and sunset are the best times.
Mick moved to Byron after retiring in Sydney
The best thing about Byron Bay is…
It's a happy place. Everyone's there on holidays and this is the thing I like about driving the Byron Solar Train. Everyone is happy to be there, they're there to enjoy themselves, and it's a good atmosphere.
One of the best places to eat is…
North Byron Hotel. You can catch the train over from Byron right to the front door of the hotel, almost. They have a lunch deal; you pay $35 and get a return (adult) trip on the train and lunch. A lot of people come over from Byron centre.
Cape Byron Lighthouse is the most easterly point of Australia
A great resort to stay at is…
Elements of Byron. It's a lovely place to eat, and a great place to stay for families. It's also down the road from Byron Solar Train, which started operating in 2017.
Many solar train passengers I speak to…
Are coming from Elements because a lot of them go into town for dinner on the train, and get a taxi or an Uber back. We also get commuters who regularly travel back and forth on the train but it's mostly made up of tourists. A plus of taking the train is that you can park at North Beach Train Station for free, catch the train across to town and stay there all day for the price of a train fare ($12 return adults; $8 return kids), rather than pay for car parking everywhere in town.
Poolside at Elements of Byron
Families love the train because…
A lot of kids haven't actually ridden on a train. You watch the kids sit in the driver's seat and get their photo taken, and as far as they're concerned they're driving a train. They love it. We also get a lot of overseas tourists. I've had a Canadian pilot and his wife, and number one on their bucket list was to ride on that little train because they're just train buffs. I've had the CEO of the London transport museum; there are a lot of train-mad people and they'll go anywhere for a ride on a train.
There are a lot of train-mad people and they'll go anywhere for a ride on a train
What I enjoy about driving the train is…
The interaction with people from all around the world. I would say that would be my number-one thing. I've made some great friends with people from overseas who I still correspond with. Overseas tourists love the place. Most of them are from Europe – Switzerland, Italy, a lot from the UK, Germany.
The most unique thing…
About the Byron Solar Train is it's the first solar-powered passenger train in the world and it's the first time the curved, flexible solar panels were used in the southern hemisphere. Also, the train line is 132 km long, but only 3 km is used by the solar train. It's the old Casino to Murwillumbah line if you were going to the Gold Coast, and has been there since the late 1800s. The line was originally built to service the Northern Rivers. The lead car that goes from North Byron to Byron was built in 1949 in an old aircraft factory after the war, so that's why there's a lot of wood and aluminium in the train because that's what they made planes out of. The trailing car was built in the '60s and passengers all want to know how old it is and how the solar works.
Byron Solar Train is the first solar-powered passenger train in the world
Keep an eye out for…
The 'little green frog'. It's a little locomotive that's like an oversized tractor but it runs on rails. It's the train that used to haul whales up from the jetty in Byron during the whaling days of the 1950s. After the whaling finished, it was used for the abattoir. It's now been restored and is in a glass case on the old Byron Bay Station, which is across the road from where the solar train pulls up at Byron Bay.
Originally published as Byron Solar Train driver shares his top tips for visiting Byron bay
