Brisbane
Brisbane is the Australian city travellers skip, and the fare is fifty cents. That buys a river ferry to a free art gallery, an artificial beach downtown, and koalas upstream.
Brisbane in a nutshell
Brisbane: what to expect
The numbers below come from 366,000+ planned stops in Australia on Stippl, and the rest from the guides we cross-check.
Brisbane is a river city rather than a coastal one, and the river is the best thing in it. The CityCat is ordinary public transport that happens to run past the whole skyline, and New Farm, Bulimba and Teneriffe are the stops worth getting off at. Streets Beach at South Bank is an artificial lagoon in the middle of a city, free and next to the cultural precinct. GOMA opens the largest modern-art collection in Australia at no charge, and the Kangaroo Point cliffs are floodlit after dark.
Brisbane is passed through rather than chosen. More than one Brisbane stop in eight carries no night at all, the highest share of any large Australian destination, and the city turns up on trips at close to the rate its size alone predicts. Its strongest neighbour is not Sydney but Byron Bay, a hundred and sixty-five kilometres south, which tells you where the gravity actually is.
Use Brisbane as the hinge between two coasts, and 2 nights is enough for it. The Gold Coast is an hour south and the Sunshine Coast ninety minutes north, and every east-coast bus route passes through, which is why it is the standard place to pick up a vehicle. Whales pass between June and November. Skip Brisbane if you want a beach or a compact walkable core, because it has neither.
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Families
Streets Beach, South Bank Parklands, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and the museums are clustered together and mostly free.
Budget travellers
An unusual share of the headline sights cost nothing, and any public transport trip is 50 cents.
Anyone who found Sydney intense
Brisbane is the calmer alternative, and most people give it 2 nights on the way up or down the coast.
Road-trippers
The standard place to buy or hire a vehicle and stock up before a Queensland run, and every east-coast bus route passes through.
Foodies
Eat Street Northshore, James Street and the West End markets carry more of the food story than the centre does.
Maybe not for you: travellers who came for beaches, since they are an hour away; and anyone expecting a compact walkable core, because Brisbane is spread along a winding river.
The best time to visit Brisbane
Summer
December to February
Hot, humid and the wettest stretch of the year, with afternoon storms and the river city at its stickiest. The school holidays put families on the coast either side rather than in the city.
Autumn
March to May
The humidity drops through March and by April the days are warm and dry. The river walks and the outdoor tables come back into their own.
Winter
June to September
The good season here: dry, mild and sunny, with whales off Moreton Bay from June and the Brisbane Festival and Riverfire in September. September is also the driest month of the year.
Spring
October and November
Warm, the jacarandas out in October and the storms starting to build again by November. A good month to pair the city with the Sunshine Coast.
- January is the month most travellers plan Australia for on Stippl, and Brisbane is planned about 99 days ahead. Only 10.4% of Brisbane plans are made inside a fortnight, and for a city with spare hotel stock most of the year that is more caution than it needs.
- Brisbane is subtropical, so its winter is the season to come. The pattern is the reverse of Sydney and Melbourne; a trip that does the southern cities in their summer arrives here in the wet.
- The Brisbane Festival and Riverfire fill September. Riverfire's fireworks over the river draw the whole city to the banks on one Saturday night; book the room for that weekend and stand on Kangaroo Point early.
- Whale season runs June to October, with August the migration peak. The tours leave from the city, Moreton Island and North Stradbroke, and a winter day trip to Stradbroke sees them from the headland for free.
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Things to do in Brisbane
The CityCat
Ride the river ferry as ordinary public transport, about €0.30 a trip, the city's best feature seen from the water. Get off at New Farm, Bulimba or Teneriffe and walk back along the river.
South Bank and Streets Beach
Swim in the artificial lagoon beach in the middle of the city, free, beside the parklands and the cultural precinct. Weekday mornings have the sand to yourself.
GOMA
Spend two hours at Australia's largest modern-art gallery, Asia-Pacific focused, with the permanent collection free and the Queensland Art Gallery next door. Closed Christmas Day only.
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Take the river cruise or the bus to the standard koala experience, about €30, where the kangaroos are hand-fed and the koalas held for a photograph. Mornings, when the animals are awake.
Kangaroo Point cliffs
Climb the cliffs with a guide, about €60, or walk them at sunset, when the city lights come on across the river; floodlit after dark and free to walk. The kayak below is the other angle.
Mount Coot-tha
Take the bus to the lookout for the city panorama, free, and walk down through the botanic gardens at the foot. Sunset, and the café at the top is the table.
The neighbourhoods of Brisbane
CBD
River frontage, the mall, towers
Queen Street Mall, the river frontage and the Queen's Wharf precinct, with hotels of every grade and every train and ferry. For first visits and short stays that want the transport at the door.
Everything on foot and every ferry, and a city centre's quiet weekends.
South Bank
Parklands, the lagoon, museums
The parklands across the river: Streets Beach, the free artificial lagoon, and the cultural precinct of the gallery, the museum and the library. For families and culture on foot.
The lagoon and the museums at the door, and a walk across the bridge for the city.
Fortitude Valley
Nightlife, live music, Chinatown
The Valley: nightlife, live music, the historic Chinatown and the James Street shops, with hotels above the bars. For going out and for nights that run late.
The best nights in the city, and the noise under the window.
New Farm
Leafy, riverside, the Powerhouse
Leafy riverside streets where locals live, with the Powerhouse arts venue, the Saturday markets and a CityCat stop. For a local base and for couples who want the river.
The river and a neighbourhood, and a ferry to the centre.
West End
Students, murals, cheap eating
Students and artists, murals, vintage shops, markets and the most varied cheap eating in Queensland, with hostels and apartments. For independent eating and budget stays.
The best cheap food and the character, and a bus or a walk to the centre.
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Where to stay in Brisbane
Stay in the CBD or South Bank for a first visit, on the transit spine with the river ferries and every train; the hostels cluster around Roma Street and Fortitude Valley. Most people give Brisbane 2 nights on Stippl. Check for air conditioning in summer, and book ahead if you arrive late, because the options thin out at night.
CBD
Hotels of every grade, €120 to €300, and the big pod hostels near Roma Street from €30 a bed.
South Bank
Comfortable mid-range and apartment hotels, €150 to €280, short on hostels and priced for it.
Fortitude Valley
Hostels above the bars from €28 a bed and boutique hotels, €130 to €250, loud until late.
New Farm
Apartments and a few boutique guesthouses on leafy streets, €140 to €260, with a ferry stop.
West End
Hostels and cheap apartments among the students, €25 to €40 a bed and €110 to €200 a flat.
What to eat in Brisbane
a shipping-container food market, our sources' most-repeated food recommendation
historic Chinatown dining inside the nightlife precinct
eating with a view, under the Story Bridge
the cheapest and most ethnically varied eating in Queensland
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Brisbane customs and what not to do
Jagera and Turrbal country
Brisbane stands on it and the city is starting to say so: the acknowledgement opens public events, and Meanjin is the name you will see on signs and hear at the Ekka.
The Ekka is a public holiday
The Royal Queensland Show in August closes the city for its own annual ritual; the strawberry sundae and the show bags are the point, and the holiday is Wednesday.
Riverfire is the year's biggest
It closes the Brisbane Festival in September and the whole city lines the river; South Bank fills by afternoon, and the fireworks are from the bridges.
Bike helmets are compulsory
The fine is real and the police issue it; the hire bikes come with one, and the riverside paths are where it gets checked.
Do
- Take the ferry rather than the bus wherever both work
- Do the riverside walks early in summer; the heat is the real constraint
- Check tide times before the King Island sandbank walk
- Wear the helmet on a hire bike
Don't
- Swim in the Brisbane River
- Expect a beach city
- Drink alcohol in public places; it is illegal in Queensland outside licensed venues
- Plan around the Ekka week without a room booked
What a Brisbane trip costs
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Fun facts about Brisbane
Streets Beach is the only inner-city artificial beach in Australia. The lagoon at South Bank was built for the 1988 World Expo site, and it is still the city's only beach.
Brisbane will be the third Australian city to host the Olympics, in 2032. It is already the only one to have hosted both a Commonwealth Games, in 1982, and a World Expo, in 1988.
Brisbane was founded as a penal settlement for repeat offenders. It was the place the Sydney colony sent its secondary offenders in 1824, and free settlers were banned from the area for its first decade.
Jacaranda trees turn the city purple through October. New Farm Park especially, and students say the flowers falling mean it is too late to start studying for exams.
The Kangaroo Point cliffs are floodlit for night climbing. The old quarry face across the river from the city centre is climbed after dark under the lights, with the skyline behind.
Brisbane is a river city, not a coastal one. It was founded on the Brisbane River and the coast is an hour away in either direction, which is why the CityCat ferries are the sightseeing.
Local tips for Brisbane
Every fare is fifty cents
Trains, buses, ferries and the airport line all run on a flat fare of about €0.30, tapped with a bank card; anything quoting zone fares or a €17 airport train is out of date.
The CityCat is the transport
The river ferry is public transport at the same flat fare and the best way across the city. Get off at New Farm, Bulimba or Teneriffe.
The east-coast buses meet here
Greyhound and Premier both serve Brisbane, and it is where the Cairns and Sydney routes meet. The Roma Street terminal is in the centre.
How long to stay
Most people give Brisbane 2 nights on Stippl, and a quarter stay one on the way to the coast. Two gets South Bank, Lone Pine and a Stradbroke day.
Do not swim in the river
It holds a resident population of bull sharks, it runs fast and it is brown after rain; the artificial lagoon at South Bank exists because of it. The bay beaches are the swim.
Summer storms flood the city
Frequent afternoon thunderstorms and flash flooding, worst in February, and the river has flooded the centre twice this century. Keep a storm afternoon flexible.
Brisbane questions, answered
As a base for the coasts on either side of it. Trips that include Brisbane run 40 days on Stippl, and the Gold Coast is an hour south while the Sunshine Coast is ninety minutes north. Put two nights into Stippl and a day trip out of one of them.
Two or three for the city, four or five to know it. Across the Brisbane stops planned on Stippl the usual is 2 nights. South Bank, the ferry down the river, an evening in Fortitude Valley and a morning at Mount Coot-tha is about the shape of it.
It is the city travellers skip, and 13.1% of Brisbane stops planned on Stippl carry no night at all, more than Sydney. Everyone who writes about it makes the same argument, which is that it deserves better than that. Two nights is a low price to find out.
No, and nobody does. What the city has instead is Streets Beach at South Bank, a man-made lagoon with real sand and lifeguards in the middle of the city, free to use. It is the best thing about a hot afternoon here and it is five minutes from the museums.
Very little, because the state capped public transport at a flat fare per trip across the whole network, buses, trains and ferries alike. Any figure you read from before that change is wrong by a wide margin. The CityCat ferry counts, which makes the best sightseeing in the city nearly free.
Not in the city itself: the river runs through it and the bay is shallow and muddy. The Gold Coast is an hour south by train, the Sunshine Coast about ninety minutes north, and the bay islands, Moreton and North Stradbroke, are a ferry ride away and genuinely good.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
Plan Brisbane in Stippl
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