Welcome to the Australia’s third largest town featuring the South-East Queensland’s subtropical wonders! If you land here, remember you are in the capital of this state where confidence as well as positive vibes will feel your vacation with matchless experience. If you are planning for a trip here, be ready for dual benefits of the Brisbane attractions: first, they offer varied experiences and second; they can be easily accessed on foot or bicycle. Yes, getting around this city is so easy that with your own foot, you can discover the major areas here for which this city is known as the ‘Pedestrian City’. Cycling is done only with a helmet and is a good option for hilly regions, steep slopes, as well as winding roads and that rentals are available in the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens.
Climate here is actually not that big obstacle in discovering the Brisbane attractions. During the wet days, hot summer days that witness quickly evading thunderstorms in the afternoon are encountered, while winter drastically brings low temperatures near 20 degree Celsius as well as dry climate. Just be careful in summer as it can become extremely hot with 40°C and avoid these days if you cannot bear the heat and sweat.
Starting from the site as the attractions from where you can get rental bicycles, the Brisbane Botanic Gardens are worth a visit, which are at the famous Mt Coot-tha accessible by driving for 7 km from downtown. It houses the famous subtropical gardens full of ferns, bonsais, cacti, native plants, herbs, aromatic plants, rainforest plants, bamboo grove, walking trails, and a lagoon along with the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium with café and parking.
You might not be aware, but it is true that by visiting this park, you are actually on the tallest mountain of this city – the snowy Mt Coot-tha – really not a mountain, but an artificial one with expensive café, restaurant, and cool views featuring scenic sides as well as TV and radio antennas. Most of the tourists love to go for a picturesque drive via the thick reserve up to the summit for 360° vistas of city as well as the surrounds. And yes, there are several pedaling tracks here. Do spot its only one Eucalypt tree on the top due to which it is also called as the One Tree Hill. Drive just before sunset for some great views as well as picnic dinner atop.
You can also enjoy the vistas of the city while being in the city via the Story Bridge Adventure Climb. Scale this iconic bridge and enjoy the panoramic views of the mountain ranges, city, as well as the Moreton Bay Islands at any point of time. If it is your first visit, you certainly cannot go back without a trip to one of the globally popular Brisbane attractions – South Bank Parkland – the venue of WorldExpo’88. Here, you can easily spend half a day exploring riverside walks, shops, markets of crafts, restaurants, and an artificial lagoon. Further, this is also the venue of many festival celebrations as well as fireworks taking place throughout the year. And yes, there are some great galleries here – the Queensland Art Gallery, the Queensland Museum showcasing animal exhibits, the Gallery of Modern Art, the Queensland Performing Arts Center offering live music as well as theatre, and the Queensland Maritime Museum.
St John’s Cathedral, the grand neo-gothic Anglican feat, is must a see because of its marveling characteristics in form of organ screen, carved possums, towering stone-vaulted ceiling as the only kind in the southern hemisphere, as well as manually made 400 cushions that took 10 years for getting ready.
If you love koalas, the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary will be your choice for sure. In this world’s largest koala sanctuary, there are over 100 adult koalas as well as baby koalas, snakes, roos, wombats, dingoes, two daily keeper shows, and more. A similar attraction of wild, but an award winning one is the Australian Woolshed that is a cozy sheep station. This is where you get a chance to milk a cow, feed a lamb, and spot some exotic native wilds.
Do not leave without a tour of the Brisbane River whose banks houses leisure boardwalks, play zones, parks, walking and bike trails, picnic spots, play areas, markets, cafes, and restaurants. I would recommend catching hold of a CityCat ferry for a quick tour or got for a Mirimar Wildlife Cruise so that you can excitingly access the Koala Sanctuary.
Budget stays are good at Central Brunswick Hotel and Raceways Motel.
