Brisbane Things to Do Tips by SWFC_Fan

Brisbane's Roma Street Parkland is the home of "the world's largest subtropical garden in a city centre".

This tranquil parkland area is located just a 5-10 minute walk from the heart of Brisbane city centre and is a great place to escape from the noisy street traffic and crowds. You can enter the parkland from Albert Street or Roma Street.

Attractions include:

"The Lookout" - a wooden platform where you can walk above and amongst the lush vegetation and admire the views over the lake;

"The Forest" - a small Australian rainforest featuring plantlife from such areas;

"Fern Gully" - a small area of fern trees with a path leading through them;

"Lake Precinct" - a lake surrounded by trees and flowers, seating areas and abundant bird life;

"Spectacle Garden" - a selection of very colourful tropical plants and flowers and water features.

There is plenty of natural wildlife within the gardens - you can see orb spiders weaving their webs between the trees, small lizards running around underfoot, colourful butterflies flitting around the flowers and lots of bird life around the lake and on the lawns.

Entrance to the parkland is absolutely free.

There are plenty of benches to sit on and grassy areas on which to enjoy a picnic. There is also a children's play area within the boundaries of the park.

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Phone: 3006 4545
Address: Albert Street and Roma Street
Directions: Located 5-10 minutes walk north west of the city centre.

Victoria Park is a large area of parkland located to the north west of Brisbane city centre. It is located about 15-20 minutes walk from the city centre, just off Gregory Terrace.

I ended up here quite by accident. I thought that I recalled reading in my guidebook that this was the world's largest urban sub-tropical gardens, so I walked up here one morning during my visit to Brisbane in April 2006. In fact, it is the nearby Roma Street Parkland (see other tip) that holds this accolade and not Victoria Park.

Having arrived there with false hopes, I was somewhat disappointed to see that the park was dissected by a motorway (which can be crossed by a footbridge) and that the northern section of the park was completely dominated by a golf course and the various buildings and gardens of the Royal Brisbane Hospital.

South of the motorway, the smaller section of the park consists of grassy hills, lots of trees, a small pond, a 500m jogging track, various apparatus for exercising (eg blocks for doing step-ups) and winding footpaths.

This is a nice enough place to sit and relax, but it is not worth making a special effort to find. I write this tip no so much as a recommendation, but as more of a warning: Victoria Park looks like a vast parkland on the map and you may be tempted to head there. However, after accounting for the golf course and hospital grounds, the park isn't too big at all and much of it is just grassy slopes. If you're wanting to kick a football around or have a picnic, there are better options such as the City Botanical Gardens or the aforementioned Roma Street Parkland.

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Directions: Just north of Gregory Terrace, to the north west of the city centre.

Brisbane's City Botanical Gardens are located in a bend in the city's river, next to the Queensland University of Technology and just a short walk south of the CBD.

If you cross over Goodwill Bridge from Southbank Parklands, this will bring you to the south-west entrance to the gardens. From here, there is a main path that leads through the centre of the gardens to Albert Street at the northern end of the gardens. Smaller paths branch off in all directions from this main walkway.

During my trip to Australia in April 2006, I had already visited the Botanical Gardens in both Sydney and Melbourne and I must say that Brisbane's equivalent is not nearly as impressive as those of its counterparts. However, it is a nice place to escape the busy city streets and high rise buildings of the CBD and to relax in tranquil surroundings.

The paths are popular with walkers, joggers and skaters, while the large grassy lawns attract sunbathers, picnickers and families playing ball games. The gardens contain many tall palm trees, a lily pond, shaded pagodas and benches, tropical plants and flowers and a couple of trees with bright orange flowers that glowed spectacularly in the afternoon sunshine.

The gardens are open 24 hours a day and there is no admission charge.

There is a cafe with outdoor tables located at the southern end of the gardens.

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Phone: 3403 0666
Address: Albert Street
Directions: Located next to Queensland University of Technology, south of the CBD and north of the river.

The Museum of Brisbane is located on the ground floor and basement of the City Hall.

It is open daily from 9am to 5pm and entrance is free.

The museum is split into two halves on the ground floor. I believe that the exhibitions are frequently changed, but at the time of my visit in April 2006 they were as follows:

To the left of the entrance, a large room was devoted to an exhibition called: "Taking to the Streets: 2 decades that changed Brisbane (1965-1985)". This consisted of a series of posters, fliers, t-shirts, photographs, flags and texts relating to various issues that the people of Brisbane protested about during that period (eg. nuclear testing in the South Pacific, war in Vietnam, equal rights for women, the environmental effects of economic development...).

The exhibition took the form of a timeline and for each year there was a text box detailing the major issues of that year in "Brisbane", "Australia" and "The World". There was a large chalkboard on one wall where visitors could write their own messages of peace or protest (I resisted the urge to write a pro-SWFC message!) and a small studio where visitors could record their own message for others to listen to.

This exhibition continued down to the basement, where there were more protest posters, slogans and tales.

To the right of the entrance was an art gallery called "Double Take". This large room contained maybe 20 or 30 paintings and photographs by local artists. Some of them showed local scenes from Brisbane and Queensland, some were portraits and others were "modern art".

A small room next to the art gallery was showing a slideshow of photographs from Brisbane in the 19th century and early 20th century.

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Address: City Hall, King George Square
Directions: Located on the ground floor of the City Hall.

Brisbane's Chinatown is located in the Fortitude Valley area of the city, about 1km north east of the CBD and city centre.

In truth, Brisbane's Chinatown consists mainly of one street, Duncan Street, and is tiny compared to some of the sprawling Chinatown's I have visited in cities such as Sydney, Toronto and Singapore.

Large ornate Chinese gates and stone lions guard the entrances at each end of Duncan Street, and there are a handful of pagodas and small water features along the street.

Duncan Street is dominated by Asian restaurants (not just Chinese, but also Vietnamese, Thai, Singaporean etc), but there are also Chinese grocery stores, herbalists and accupuncturists.

There is a large Chinese Cyber City complex (containing an Internet cafe, pool tables and a restaurant), which seemed to attract a largely Chinese/Asian clientele and acted as a focal point for the local community to meet.

As with any Chinatown, the main appeal to me is the wonderful food. Brisbane's Chinatown is no exception in this respect. There are plenty of restaurants in which to enjoy good value Chinese fare and many restaurants offer special value lunchtime menus.

As well as Duncan Street, there are a few other Asian restaurants on parallel Brunswick Street and nearby Wickham Street.

Don't expect to see rickshaws here, and there aren't many red lanterns either, but be sure to visit and try the good quality food!

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Address: Duncan Street, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane
Directions: Brisbane's Chinatown is located in the Fortitude Valley area of the city.

As its name suggests, Brisbane's South Bank Parklands is located on the south bank of the city's river.

This scenic area of parkland, riverside walks, artificial beaches, cafes, restaurants and shops occupies the whole of the riverfront between Victoria bridge and Goodwill Bridge.

One of the highlights of the South Bank Parklands is Streets Beach - a sandy beach and shallow lagoon right in the centre of the city! I first visited Streets Beach on ANZAC Day and, with most locals off work for the day and the hot sun shining, the crowds were out in force. Every inch of sand and grass was occupied by people sunbathing, picnicking or playing ball games. It was far too busy to enjoy a relaxing sunbathe or swim - this is the problem with having a beach in the city centre! The following day, with many people back at work, the beach looked far more relaxing and inviting.

Another highlight of the parklands is Stanley Street Plaza, a walkway lined with cafes, shops and restaurants. The eating establishments are strung out along the plaza, in three distinct areas: "Stanley Street Plaza", "Central Cafes" and "Arbour View Cafes". Many of these have outdoor seating areas with views of either the park, the river or Streets Beach. Choose from a selection of Mediterranean restaurants, pizzerias, ice cream parlours, juice bars, a branch of Subway, a fish and chips shop, a kebab kiosk and many more. The food is a little more expensive than average in some cases, but the atmosphere is excellent.

The paths through the park are often flower lined and there are small ponds with water birds flocking around them. There is lots of open grassland and plenty of childrens play areas.

It is possible to catch a ferry to various points along the river. There are three ferry piers along the South Bank Parklands stretch of riverfront.

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Directions: On the south bank of the river, between Goodwill Bridge and Victoria Bridge.

Brisbane's City Hall is a large sandstone building in the centre of the city. It is located on King George Square, just a few metres from the central train station.

The clocktower stands 95m tall and it is possible to take a lift up to the top to take in the panoramic views. The lift is free of charge and a guide tells you a few facts about the building on the way up and down. From the top, there are excellent views over King George Square and across the skyline of the CBD. However, the tall buildings of the CBD restrict any long distance views. The clocktower only opens from 9am - 3pm, and I caught the final lift to the top at 2:55pm, so my stay at the top was rather rushed - but I was up there as the 3pm bells deafeningly rang out!!

The ground floor of the City Hall houses the Museum of Brisbane and the Brisbane City Gallery (see separate tip), both of which are free to enter.

The staff on the information desk are very friendly and helpful and they can provide you with brochures, fliers and city maps and answer any questions you might have. There is also a gift shop in the City Hall.

King George Square, located in front of the City Hall, is a spacious square with a few patches of grass amongst the concrete. It is a popular place for the workers from the nearby CBD to sit and enjoy their lunches, while groups of teenagers sunbathe on the grass. A few statues are dotted around the square, including one outside the City Hall featuring two kangaroos in what appears to be some form of city or state emblem.

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Address: King George Square, Brisbane
Directions: In the heart of Brisbane city centre, just south of Central Station.