Brisbane was the first stop of my Australia Working Holiday. I’ve been to Sydney & Melbourne some years ago and I thought it was a good idea to start with a new city.
We spent 10 days here before we moved on to Wallaville for farm work. We made good use of the time to explore and stroll around the city. Though it seems to be a rather small place, and many of the backpackers I met afterwards said that it’s boring when compared to the vivid city life in Sydney, I still like the more laid-back style and less crowded environment of Brisbane, which looks less like Hong Kong where I come from. And I love the river, it’s just awesome!
Here are a few things in Brisbane that I think you shouldn’t miss out!
(1) Queen Street Mall & Wednesday Market
We were staying at Upper Roma Street YHA and it took around 20-30min walk to the CBD, where you can find basically everything you need. There are supermarkets, restaurants and shopping malls here.
For low-budgeted backpackers, although I think many things in Coles are already cheap enough, you may still look for a small Korean supermarket around the corner where you can find some cheap, Asian stuff you can’t find in Coles or Woolworths. The Asian Supermarket in China Town is also a choice. But I seldom went there since it’s too far from YHA. I mostly shopped at the Coles just across the road from YHA.
You can find tourist information centre, banks, Optus (where I got my sim card from) and Telstra (where I bought a wifi egg for a friend) stores here too. This should be the first place you head to upon arrival to get every travel essential you need. There are free wifi around this area, and also on South Bank.
Wednesday Market is held here near the library every week, where you can buy cheap food and some other handicrafts, souvenirs, or second-hand goods.
(2) City Hall, Museum & Clock Tower
Located at the King George Square, Brisbane City Hall is built between 1920 and 1930, one of the heritage sites in the city that should not be missed. Here you can visit the Museum of Brisbane and join the Clock Tower tour for free. You can go up to the viewing platform at the top of the tower by the hand-operated tower lift – one of the oldest in the world. Don’t expect to have a grand city view since the tower is only 91m tall, but you still can get a nice street view from above. There are also 45-minute free tours every day which show you around the City Hall and talk about the history.
The Shingle Inn City Hall is a reincarnation of the original Shingle Inn Cafe build in 1936 in Edward Street. You may have a bite or a drink here after touring around the City Hall. But I found it a bit too expensive for backpackers like me that I’d rather starve myself for a while and head back to Queen Street for cheap food.
(3) South Bank
Located on the southern bank of Brisbane River, it’s a good place to chill out and a must-go in the city. Here you can find many recreational and cultural facilities, and of course some nice restaurants, cafés, and also a cinema.
The Wheel of Brisbane is just near the entrance of the Parklands. It’s around 60m tall. I’ve taken a ride there at night and the view wasn’t quite impressive since it’s not high and it’s too dark to see anything by night. I’d suggest you to go up there at day time or during sunset. Ticket price is AUD$17.5 for adult and AUD$15 for children, it’s cheaper if you book online.
The South Bank is the cultural hub of the city. Here you can find the Performing Arts Centre, Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Museum and Science Centre, and The State Library of Queensland – which altogether form The Queensland Cultural Centre. We spent a whole afternoon visiting the Art Gallery and GOMA, where exhibit collections of anicent art, indigenous art to contemporary art. You can also find artworks from famous artists like Pablo Picasso. There is no admission fee except for special exhibitions.
You may have heard of the man-made Streets Beach located here, which was constructed because there are no real beaches in Brisbane. But I have to say it’s a real disappointment for me, comparing to the really nice pictures I saw on the Internet before I really got there and found that it’s rather small and fake.
(4) Brisbane River & Story Bridge
You cannot leave Brisbane without cruising on the Brisbane River. Start from the North Quay wharf at the bottom of the Victoria Bridge on the northern bank of the river. Take any of the ferries – CityCat, CityFerry (the blue ones) or the free CityHopper (the red ones) – that travel along the river and stop by wharves along the river bank. The views are absolutely amazing, especially when the ferry passes the Story Bridge.
The 75-year-old Story Bridge is definitely an iconic landmark of Brisbane. It’s the longest cantilever bridge in Australia, connecting Fortitude Valley to Kangaroo Point. It’s worth taking a stroll along the bridge and enjoy the nice river view up there. But some other eye-catching things on the bridge are all those suicide prevention signs and hotlines phone booths, telling you that the bridge must have been a suicide hotspot. You can also climb the bridge just like the more famous Sydney Harbour Bridge climb.
(5) Rock-climbing at Kangaroo Point
If you’re into some outdoor adventures in the city, you may try climbing the Kangaroo Point cliffs and have a nice view of the river (if you make it to the top). If climbing is a bit too much for you, you may consider abseiling. There are also other activities like kayaking, stand up paddle, cycling, segway tour, etc.
There are various companies running guided abseiling and rock climbing sessions. I compared a few and the prices were more or less the same. For climbing, the prices range from AUD$55 to $65. Abseiling is around AUD$45. You have to book online in advance.
I did the rock-climbing. Their websites wrote that the sessions are guided by experienced instructors and you don’t need to have any experience. You’re provided with safety equipment which include a helmet, a harness and ropes, and that’s it!
My advice is, make sure you have the right outfits and shoes, expecially if you’re not experienced. Wear long pants to protect your legs from cuts and scratches, and a pair of comfortable sport shoes with good soles to avoid slipping when you’re climbing. There are no climbing shoes for hire (I used to hire those when I did it in Hong Kong) but I didn’t have sport shoes with me at that time. I’ve climbed artificial rock walls before but climbing a real cliff here was something else. My instructor didn’t really give any instruction even when I was stuck between two huge rocks.
I made it to the top anyway, with the great help from my belayer who pulled me up whenever I was blocked by huge rocks. The view from above was amazing. But my legs and hands were so painful that I really regretted a bit for doing that. But maybe it’s what hurt you that would make you remember. 🙂
(6) Mt Coot-tha
Want a day out of the hustle and bustle of the city? Mt Coot-tha is absolutely the best and most convenient choice. It’s only 20-30min away from CBD by bus, but it gives you a totally different view and experience of Brisbane. Take bus 471 from Adelaide Street, just opposite King George Square. The bus will take you to the top of Mt Coot-tha (287m) where you can have a stunning panoramic view of the city at the lookout. It also stops at the botanic gardens and planetarium en route.
There are City Sights buses running from CBD to Mt Coot-tha, which stop at major landmarks en route. It’s not free but it’s an alternative (I always mixed it up with the free City Loop buses that go around CBD area).
You can also do a bit of hiking there (I read it on some travel guide websites), which I wanted to do too but couldn’t find the trail.. There was a sign pointing us to one direction but then we couldn’t find any more signs, nor anything that looked like the entrance of a trail. Try your luck.
(7) Moreton Island
Another option for a getaway from city life, Moreton Island is certainly my favourite part of Brisbane – for a person who loves islands so much, I basically planned of going to every single island in Australia (still on my bucket list)!
Moreton Island is the third largest sand island in the world, while Fraser Island is the largest. It’s located at the northeast of Brisbane, around 75-minute ferry ride from the city. We booked a one day tour at the tourist information centre. There are many different tours at different prices, differences are the number of days (1 to 3 days), and what kind of activities you want to be included (whale-watching, dolphin-feeding, 4WD, etc). And there are some other activities that you can decide to join when you’re on the island, like sand tobogganing, diving or snorkelling, skydiving, etc.
My tour included whale-watching and dolphin feeding, and it started from 5:30am (when the coach came pick us up at YHA) and returned at around 7:30pm because dolphin feeding happens after 6pm when it gets dark. Dolphin feeding is highly recommended! You can see them up-close. Those are wild dolphins but they are kind of trained or tamed, because they have got used to the daily feeding routine.
I don’t suggest whale-watching though. We had to take another ferry from the island at around noon time and went out so much further into the ocean to where we could possibly see some whales. It’s extremely wavy out there and all the passengers were seasick! We didn’t see any whale until we’re on our way back, when there was a mother whale swimming with her baby at a really long distance from our ferry. But at that time at least 2/3 of the passengers were too sick to even stand up to look. Most of the tours guarantee a refund if you don’t see whales, but I think mostly you would see, just not really up-close. You may only see the fins or something like a dark shadow that appears for a second, but then you can’t ask for a refund.
I think if you’re interested, you may join whale-watching tour at the Gold Coast, Fraser Island or Hervey Bay. You may only need a short ride from these places to the whale-watching spots, and with a higher possibility to see a whale up-close. (I stayed in Hervey Bay for 3 weeks later on, and it’s really famous for its whale-watching tour and people usually can see whale up-close.)
Keep Walking On 
Thank you for the post. I’m traveling there probably next month so this is really helpful.
Check out my latest post here http://www.vingnguyen.com/reasons-travel-egypt-2015/
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Thanks Vinh! Hope you will be having good time in Brisbane. And nice blog about Egypt, hopefully I will get there one day 🙂
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