Wow, what an unexpectedly great city! Brisbane is a clean, green, modern city located on the east coast of Australia on the Brisbane river. Brizzie, as the locals call it, is the capital city of the state of Queensland and Australia’s third largest city. It is one of the sunniest cities in the world with an average of 283 sunny days per year. And with its sub-tropical climate, trees and plants thrive, thoughtfully mixing in with skyscrapers and sidewalks.
Brisbane invites you to explore the city on foot (or on scooters, we saw lots of those), with pedestrian-friendly streets, parks, esplanades and its 15 bridges that crisscross the river. Its transit system of ferries, trains, trams, metros and buses whisks you anywhere else your feet are too tired to go.
How did we end up in Brisbane? Sophie and I wanted to go back to New Zealand this winter, so I was tracking flights that were one hop away from Auckland. Brisbane popped up with some incredibly good priced flights from Minneapolis ($435 one-way via Phoenix, then LA). Brisbane will be hosting the Summer Olympics in 2032 so the city is priming the pump with expanded flights routes.
We enjoyed four fun days in Brisbane. We left our home at noon on a Wednesday and arrived in Brisbane early on a Friday morning – after 20 hours of flights and crossing the international date line. We stayed at the Amora Hotel, which was in a perfect location to walk to everything downtown, and also close to the Central Train Station. The hotel let us use their pool and showers to freshen up while we waited for our room to be ready. It was a very calm, pleasant hotel after a long day of travels – I highly recommend it.
When lunch time arrived, we decided to get some Australian fish and chips at Jimmy’s On the Mall. Located on Queen Street Mall which is a pedestrian street, this restaurant was a great place to do some people watching while eating al fresco. From there we walked to the City Botanic Gardens, where we soaked up the amazing flora and fauna this subtropical climate produces. All the plants seemed oversized, and we were surprised to discover so much wildlife in the park. There were exotic birds (like the large Australian white Ibis), Water Dragons (prehistoric looking lizards), and I even saw a flying fox (an extra-large, furry bat). There were walking and bike paths running everywhere throughout the park, which linked up different parts of the city – including via a brand new pedestrian/bike bridge called Kangaroo Point Bridge that just opened a few months ago.
We spent our second day exploring a precinct called South Bank, which was a 20-minute walk from our hotel across one of the bridges. In the morning we visited the Queensland Art Museum, where there was a very interesting exhibit of Asian Pacific Art. We discovered the works of many artists from different countries like Australia, Cambodia, Tonga and Thailand to name a few. We ate lunch at the museum café, then headed to the GOMA museum of modern art next door for a quick visit.
In the afternoon, we went on a river boat tour that left from a dock just outside the museum. The homes and developments all along the river were very impressive. The city appears to be quite affluent gauging from the homes and neighborhoods we saw. Brisbane was a big port city for wool back in the day. There were many historic brick wool warehouses in one area that have been converted to lofts now. One of the iconic spots of Brisbane is the Story Bridge, a massive cantilever steel bridge built in the 1930s.
After the boat tour, we walked further along the picturesque South Bank area. There were many restaurants, a craft market, multiple swimming areas, even a manmade gold sand beach, and an interesting bougainvillea arbor that made a shaded walking path that went on for half a mile through the middle of it. There were many gardens and picnic areas throughout South Bank and it was as a very lively place since everyone was enjoying the weekend. We ate supper at a Thai restaurant where our table overlooked one of the scenic picnic areas shaded in palm trees and jungly plants. As we left the restaurant, we spotted several flying foxes coming out at dusk. I managed to get a picture of one, which was tricky as they moved very fast. Across the river was a new skyscraper called The One, that featured a casino, a skydeck and an interesting light show. The building was connected to South Bank via a long pedestrian bridge, which we took to cross over the river. The line to get to the skydeck was very long, so we decided to come back another day.
On our third day, we traveled for two hours via train and tram to reach the Gold Coast – an aptly named beach city south of Brisbane. We stopped at the Surfers Paradise beach. The golden sandy beach there was firm enough for easy walking, yet soft when you wanted to sit. The surf was pretty rough, which made it a fun game to wade in and try to not get knocked over by the waves. It was as our first encounter with the Coral Sea, and the water temperature was very nice – 26 degrees Celsius/78 Fahrenheit! We were happy to have brought good hats and UV-protecting clothing as the sun was hot and intense. After we had our fill of beach time, we headed back to Brisbane.
On our final day in the city, we took a bus to the Botanical Gardens at Mount Coot-tha. We love visiting botanical gardens, and Brisbane’s was great. We saw an impressive greenhouse full of amazing ferns and strolled through a Japanese garden donated by Japan after the 1988 World Expo. While admiring the bonsai collection, we found one our age, so we had to take a picture next to it! There were lots of trees and plants from different parts of the world and we enjoyed all the tropical plants and flowers. We wandered through lots of paths around the gardens and appreciated the shade of the large trees since it was quite hot outside. After lunch, we headed back to the city center to go visit the Skydeck. This time, there was no line and the elevator whisked us there in no time. Once we were done enjoying the views, we took a final walk through the city center before recovering our luggage and going to the airport to reach our next destination, New Zealand!
Brisbane was a surprisingly affordable place to visit. Almost all the things we did (museums, parks, beach, buildings) were free to visit. Also, all public transportation (trains, ferries, buses, metro, etc.) cost only 50 cents (32 cents American). Even our train + tram to the Gold Coast was just 50 cents each way. This reduced fare is currently a long-term experiment that has increased public transit ridership more than 20% so far. Another nice thing is that we could just tap our phones (or credit cards) to ride the train – so no need to figure out how to buy tickets, which zones you were going to, etc. – very convenient!
We are so happy we ended up coming to Brisbane. It is going to be a fantastic host for the 2032 Summer Olympics.
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