Things to Do in Brisbane

Editor's picks

A local's shortlist — the places worth your time first, each with a tip.

South Bank Parklands

Nature · South Brisbane

A former World Expo site turned riverside park, with a free lagoon beach, a rainforest walk and the state's cultural institutions along one edge.

Local tip: Streets Beach is free, chlorinated, patrolled and open year-round. Go before 9am on a weekend — by 11 in summer it is a wall of people and there is no shade left.

Kangaroo Point Cliffs & the Story Bridge

Landmark · Kangaroo Point

Volcanic cliffs above the river with abseiling, climbing routes and the best skyline view in the city, now linked by a green bridge to the CBD.

Local tip: Walk up at dusk on a weeknight rather than sunset on a Saturday. The cliffs face the CBD, so the light hits the buildings, not you, and the riverside path back is lit the whole way.

West End

Neighborhood · Inner south

Boundary Street's Greek, Vietnamese and Middle Eastern strip, a Saturday farmers' market, and Brisbane's most stubbornly independent shopping.

Local tip: The Davies Park market on Saturday morning under the fig trees is the real one — cheaper and better than anything in the CBD. Come by CityCat to West End terminal and walk up.

Mount Coot-tha & the Botanic Gardens

Nature · Toowong

The forested ridge west of the city with the lookout everyone photographs, plus a large subtropical botanic garden and planetarium at its base.

Local tip: Skip the lookout car park and walk the Simpson Falls or Kokoda track from the gardens instead. Same ridge, no tour buses, and you finish at a café rather than a souvenir shop.

Fortitude Valley & Bowen Hills

Nightlife · Inner north

Brisbane's designated entertainment precinct — live music rooms, Chinatown, and the small-bar laneways around Winn Lane and Bakery Lane.

Local tip: The Brunswick Street mall end is the tourist strip. The good live venues sit along Ann Street and in the laneways off Wickham — The Zoo, The Triffid and the Fortitude Music Hall are the rooms locals actually book.

Rocklea & Salisbury

Hidden gem

Food · Southern suburbs

Where Brisbane's produce actually arrives — the Brisbane Markets, the Sunday farmers' market, and a strip of unglamorous but excellent South Asian and Pacific grocers.

Local tip: The Sunday Brisbane Markets farmers' market is the cheapest fresh produce in the city by a wide margin, and almost no visitor ever goes. Bring cash and a cooler bag, and get there before 8am.

Explore 81 places across Brisbane

Museums, landmarks, monuments, heritage sites and parks — mapped, with photos. The most notable spots first.

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Museum · 13Landmark · 7Monument · 7Religious · 26Archaeological · 4Park · 21Attraction · 3Open in OpenStreetMap

Museums & galleries

(13)

Photograph unavailable Gallery of Modern Art

Museum

Gallery of Modern Art

Art museum in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Editor's picks

South Bank Parklands

Kangaroo Point Cliffs & the Story Bridge

West End

Mount Coot-tha & the Botanic Gardens

Fortitude Valley & Bowen Hills

Rocklea & Salisbury

Explore 81 places across Brisbane

Museums & galleries

Gallery of Modern Art

Queensland Museum

Queensland Art Gallery

Museum of Brisbane

Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying

University of Queensland Art Museum

University of Queensland Anthropology Museum

QAGOMA

Commissariat Store, Brisbane

Sir Harry Gibbs Legal Heritage Centre

Richard Randall Art Studio

Hologram Zoo

Woolloongabba Art Gallery

Landmarks & architecture

King George Square

ANZAC Square

Victoria Bridge, Brisbane

The Skyneedle

Post Office Square, Brisbane

Victoria Bridge Abutment

De Paris Eiffel Tower

Monuments & memorials

Shrine of Remembrance, Brisbane

Temple of Peace

Sir William Glasgow Memorial

Anzac Memorial

Walter Hill Fountain

Bulimba Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Park

John French Estate and Memorial Park

Places of worship

Cathedral of St Stephen, Brisbane

Holy Name Cathedral, Brisbane

St. Andrew's Uniting Church, Brisbane

Mowbraytown Presbyterian Church

Albert Street Uniting Church

St Mary's Anglican Church, Kangaroo Point

Ann Street Presbyterian Church

Holy Trinity Anglican Church

Albert Hall, Brisbane

Ashgrove Methodist Church

Wavell Heights Presbyterian Church

St Brigid's Church, Red Hill

St Luke's Church of England, Brisbane

Holy Trinity Parish Hall, Fortitude Valley

Christ Church, Milton

St Andrews Anglican Church, South Brisbane

St Matthews Anglican Church

Corpus Christi Church

St Lucia Presbyterian Church

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Brisbane

All Saints Anglican Church, Brisbane

Ann Street Church of Christ

Ithaca Presbyterian Church

Wharf Street Congregational Church, Brisbane

City Congregational Church, Brisbane

Tufnell Home Orphanage Chapel

Heritage & archaeology

Alison Engine Testing Beds Heritage Site

Samford Railway Station

Camp Mountain Railway Station

Cranbrook House

Parks & nature

City Botanic Gardens

Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha

South Bank Parklands

Victoria Park, Brisbane

New Farm Park

Roma Street Parkland

Kalinga Park

Musgrave Park, Brisbane