Brisbane is a capital city of Queensland situated on the curves of Brisbane River, around 15 km far from the coast on the west.
Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia (after Sydney and Melbourne) with population over 2 million people in the main metropolitan area and it’s also one of the oldest Australian cities.
Brisbane belongs to important business hubs in Australia with its CBD centred on one of the Brisbane River’s curves.
Another important part of its economy is played by tourism and technology & science industry.
Queensland capital is also home to some top ranked Australian third education institutions such as University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University.
Brisbane’s signature Story Bridge or City Botanic Gardens are favourite among tourists.
Some of the most visited sites are also the artificially created lagoon and riverside gardens on the South Bank, where also many restaurants and galleries are located. One of the most recent highlights is the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (since 2006).
Some of the other cultural institutions are for instance Queensland Art Gallery, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane Powerhouse theatre or State Library of Queensland.
Brisbane has hosted multiple national and international sporting events. With many stadium facilities, the city is home to many sports teams competing on the national level for example in Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer or Cricket.
Brisbane: Landmarks
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary: With more than 130 koalas, Lone PIne Koala Sanctuary is the largest koala sanctuary in the world and also belongs among the top 10 Zoos worldwide.
The sanctuary was established in 1927 in Brisbane Fig Tree Pocket suburb and today occupies a parkland area of 18 ha.
The sanctuary has several animal presentations scheduled throughout the day and visitors can even bring home a picture of them hugging a koala.
Apart from koalas, the zoo is also home to other typical Australian animals such as kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, echidnas, wombats, various reptiles and birds and since 2010 also platypus.
Mount Coot-tha and look out: This vast bush reserve approximately 6 km from Brisbane’s CBD offers spectacular panoramic views of Brisbane City and even to the Moreton Bay during clear days.
The peak of Mount Coot-tha is 287 m high.
The summit offers restaurant and a cafe and the hillsides are home to Brisbane Botanic Gardens or the Sir Thomas Planetarium. Visitors can enjoy the bushland area packed with walking and bike trails and parks providing with calm atmosphere and beautiful nature also including a waterfall.
Roma Street Parkland:The parkland covering 16 ha of a lush area is bordering with Brisbane CBD. It is the largest subtropical garden located in the city centre in the world.
The park is opened since 2001 and offers range of themed gardens and is interlaced with many pathways.
The Queensland Gallery of Modern Art:The art museum located on Brisbane’s South Bank was opened in 2006 and is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre.
The gallery focuses on modern and contemporary Australian art and the pavilion comprises of educational facilities, two cinemas, exhibition space and a restaurant . Visitors can enjoy a collection of more than 16 000 artworks.
The South Bank Parklands: Brisbane South Bank is a place with lush green parklands covering more than 17 ha which were opened in 1992. The parklands offer many performance spaces, bars, cafes, barbecue areas and world class eateries topped with beautiful view over the city centre across the Brisbane River.
The riverfront promenade, rainforests, fountains and grassed areas are accompanied with attractions such as the remarkable Wheel of Brisbane and the Nepal Peace Pagoda. One of the biggest highlights is the man-made Streets Beach with a lagoon area with sand coming from the Moreton Bay.
Sea World: Since the Gold Coast is famous for themed parks, The Sea World belongs to one of top ones.
This maritime animal park and oceanarium was opened in 1971 and today includes attractions such as animal exhibits & shows (Dolphin Nursery Pool, Penguin Encounter, Polar Bear Shores), rides (Jet Rescue, Castaway Bay, Beach Break Bay and many others) and educational presentations.
The Museum of Brisbane: The Museum of Brisbane located in the Brisbane City Hall within the CBD area is focused on portraying the history of Queensland’s capital city.
The exhibits show the city’s evolution throughout individual stories and the main mission is to raise the museum to the national significance and show Brisbane in its full beauty to the world.
The venue was opened in 2003 and thus replaced the initial Brisbane City Gallery.
The Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium: The newly renovated Planetarium is located on the hillsides of the Mount Coot-tha, right next to the entrance to the Brisbane Botanic Gardens.
It is the largest planetarium in Australia opened in 1978. The observatory features number of various telescopes and different entertaining shows about the outer space for both children and adults.
The Old Windmill: The Old Windmill is proud to be the oldest building in Queensland built back in 1828 and surviving till today.
The heritage-listed landmark can be found in Brisbane’s Wickham Park in Spring Hill. Interesting fact is, that the Windmill has never really served its purpose because its sails were constructed to heavy for the wind to turn and the building was long abandoned.
It used to be treadmill powered by convicts. The Windmill also served as a museum and a signal tower.
Parliament House in Brisbane: The first Queensland’s public building is now home to the Legislative Assembly.
The French Renaissance building was constructed within 1865-68 at Gardens Point nearby Brisbane’s CBD, right next to the City Botanic Gardens. The Parliament House offers short free public tours during all week days and tourists can enjoy visitors’ gallery with collection of antiques or a gift shop with souvenirs.
The Queensland Cultural Centre: Brisbane’s cultural hub is located on the South Bank next to the Victoria Bridge, enabling extraordinary view over the city.
This multi-venue compound consists of the Queensland Museum, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, the State Library of Queensland, the Queensland Art Gallery and the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art.
Mentioning that, it is a massive convention and conference centre originally opened in 1985. Surrounding the Centre there are accessible sub-tropical gardens with several restaurants and various public facilities.
Customs House: The heritage-listed building of the Brisbane Customs House is located on the riverside at Queen Street and
was built in 1889.
Initially, it was used as a custom duty collection place and today it serves for various purposes such as a front function and conference centre with unique facilities, an art collection and also a venue for concerts mostly performed by the University of Queensland School of Music.
The Queensland Maritime Museum: The Maritime Museum established in 1971 is located south of the South Bank Parklands.
The Museum building offers visitors number of maritime displays including the historic Diamantina warship, the South Brisbane Dry Dock or the steam tug Forceful. Available is also a wide collection of exhibits as well as the library with stock documents and artefacts related to maritime history.
The Cathedral of St Stephen: The Cathedral of St Stephen in Brisbane is a Roman Catholic cathedral church built between 1864 – 1922 with James Quinn as its first bishop who also laid the foundation stone.
The building was extended in 1989 and is today listed as Australian heritage site. The Cathedral plays an important role especially for all Brisbane’s Catholic families.
Brisbane City Hall: The seat of Brisbane City Council is a heritage-listed Italian Renaissance building built between 1920-30. It is considered one of Brisbane’s top architectural attractions with its iconic 70 m tall clock tower and stunning auditorium and can be accessible from the King George Square.
The Brisbane City Hall serve as a venue to many cultural and social events such as royal receptions, flower shows or political meeting and school graduations.
It is also home to the Museum of Brisbane which has been relocated to the rooftop part.
Brisbane Tramway Museum: Brisbane Tramway Museum belongs to the city’s must see places. The transport museum preserving both trams and trolleybuses which operated in Brisbane throughout the past has also a wide collection of vehicles and other artefacts from the era when tramways were a vital form of Brisbane’s public transportation.
The restored trams collection is displayed in a static bushland settings and the Museum also offers tram rides on short length tracks.
Portside Wharf: Portside Wharf in Brisbane stands for the international cruise terminal as well as residential and retail spaces located at Hamilton.
The precinct offers number of restaurants, shops, cafes and also a cinema complex. Thanks to its strategical riverside location, the place serves as a popular hub not only to a tourists on cruising ships but also locals. Portside Wharf is also a luxury residence area with connection to many attractive locations around the world.
Rocks Riverside Park: The huge park area of the Rocks Riverside Park is located, as the name prompts, by the Brisbane River in the south of the city.
The Park is divided into three zones; the bushland ridge, the major green link and the river flat.
The large riverfront Park covers an area of 26 ha and was opened in 2003. Some of the main features include the water play area, bushland, gardens with barbecue spots or various playgrounds and bikeways.
The Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts: The renovated arts venue is located in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley. The name of the Centre comes from the famous Queensland poet once considered for the Nobel Prize for Literature – Judith Wright.
The venue serves mostly for music and theatre performances and it is a home to many Queensland’s front cultural and arts organisations.
Suncorp Stadium: The Suncorp Stadium is Brisbane’s top sport facility since its opening in 1914 located in the Milton suburb. The Stadium with rectangular shape has the respectable capacity of 52 500 people and is mostly used for the matches in the rugby league, but also for rugby union and soccer.
It hosted the Rugby League World Cup final in 2008 and the Rugby World Cup in 2003. Apart from sporting events, the Suncorp Stadium is oftentimes used as a venue for some world class concerts.