Brisbane
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Explore
Brisbane
You can say whatever you want, but Brisbane is one of the most calm and peaceful city in Australia. The people are so, so nice and everyone is very welcoming and ready to step in to help you. Besides the people the weather is great, the food is amazing and it’s not too big. If you compare it to other cities ;). So let me give you some great tips to experience Brissy at it’s finest.
Since I lived in an apartment, I don’t have any experience with hostels in Brisbane.
1. Sunscreen
It can only get better from here
You may not expect this and you might think this has nothing to do with Brisbane in general, but don’t fool yourself. The climate in Brisbane is different than the climate you may experience in Melbourne or Sydney along the East Coast. The subtropical climate in Brisbane causes you sunburns you’ll experience nowhere else. Okay, maybe you will if you stay in the sun all day long, but I feel like you’d get in sunburn anywhere in that case.
What I’m trying to say is: put on enough sunscreen. And with enough, I don’t mean once a day. Also not twice a day. Make you always have sunscreen near you and make sure you put on sunscreen every hour. And yes, also when you are sitting in the shadow.
2. Coffee
Australian coffee just hits different
Coffee in Australia is BIG. There are so many coffee places in Brisbane, it’s literally insane. Let me give you some of the best coffee places I’ve been to. What I must say is that I usually drank iced latte’s with oat milk. So maybe something to keep in mind. This is in a random order by the way. They’re all worth a visit.
– Nodo
– Denim Co.
– Coffee Botanica
– Jacklyn’s
– Coffee Iconic (walk around the corner, they have a great backyard)
– Mi Casa Cafe (the nicest barista’s ever)
– Vulture st. Espresso
– Espresso Engine
– Jocelyn’s Provisions
3. South Bank
From markets, till cinemas and coffee stroll’s
I may be biased by this side of town since this is where I lived for 5 months, but South Bank has a lot to offer. South Bank is the owner of a very nice park called South Bank Parklands and there is city beach for some cooling down. I may admit this is mostly taken over by children 🙂 so maybe not the best place to relax.
South Bank is home to a lot of restaurants and food spots, but we talk about that later.
You can visit the park and there’s live music every Sunday. It’s kind of crowded, but not too crowded during those events and it has a very cozy vibe.
If you’re more into culture and art these the Queensland Museum right next to the park. It’s free entry (bonus!!!) and you have to pay for certain expositions only.
South Bank is easily accessible by public transport since there’s a pretty good bus- and train connection. You can also walk from South Bank to CBD and vice versa. I can recommend this walk! Did is so many times lol.
Oh! There’s also a market in the park every Friday morning until Sunday afternoon! 🙂
4. Botanical Gardens
A place to find some inner peace
The Brisbane Botanical Gardens are great for some resting and sightseeing. You can choose to walk to the gardens. A fun route is walking from South Bank or CBD into the Botanical Gardens. You can also take the ferry from any dock in the city and make sure to get off at Riverside. Then you have to do a little walk from around 10 minutes along the water to enter the gardens. There are a lot of beautiful trees and wildlife. You can walk around to view all the flora and fauna.
5. Eat Street
I mean, isn’t the name enough to convince you for this activity?!
Eat Street Northshore is a great place to experience all the flavours that the world has to offer. It’s a great evening spot to get some food and listen to live music. It has the BEST burrita and truffle pizza I ever had, so I really recommend you to try that one.
You can find foods from Greece to the US to Thai food. It’s a great mix of niceness.
You can go Eat Street by car or with the ferry. If you go by car: there’s a lot of parking space around the area, so no need to worry about that.
If you go by ferry: make sure to get off at Northshore dock. From there it’s like a 2 minute walk to Eat Street.
6. City Markets
Markets are da bomb
If I must tell you one of my guilty pleasures it’s definitely markets. If you have nothing to do or go to a new area, markets are a great starting point. Let me point out some of my favourite markets for you to explore and in what suburb this market takes place. The markets are in random order again.
– City Markets in CBD every Wednesday
– South Bank Markets in South Bank every Friday until Sunday
– West End Markets in Westend every Saturday and Sunday
– Milton Markets every Saturday and Sunday
– The Market Folk, this market is on different spots every week. Make sure to follow them on your socials to be up to date @themarketfolk
– Nundah Farmers Market in Nundah every Sunday
– Jan Powers Farmers Market in Brisbane Powerhouse every Saturday
7. Food
So so so so so much variety
A little disclaimer: not everything in this list is like a restaurant-restaurant. It’s also fastfood with recommendations. I was a poor student trying to survive on the other side of the world so no fancy dinners for me. But I can tell you what I do know instead 🙂
– Hungry Jacks (I know) has THE BEST and if I tell you, it really is THE BEST, veggie burger I ever tried. So, you know. Try it. It’s $9,10. Location: CBD
– Betty’s Burgers also has amazing burgers. They only have Betty’s in Australia, so make sure to go there at least once. Location: CBD
– Coco Bliss has the best Buddha Bowl I’ve ever eaten. They also have an amazing smoothie with kale, coconut water and mango. It tastes way better than it sounds, trust me. Location: South Bank
– Boost has soooooo many juices and smoothies. It’s located in South Bank and CBD (and maybe somewhere else as well, but I’m not sure)
– Lil de Viet is a Thai restaurant. You should try basically everything there. Thank me later. Location: South Bank
– Ahmet’s Turkish Restaurant is so much fun. It’s an authentic Turkish restaurant and they even have belly dancers going around the restaurant. The options on their menu are gigantic so I’m sure you’ll find a lot of things that you like. Location: South Bank
– Popollo is a beautiful restaurant located on the Brisbane River. Do I need to say more? Location: South Brisbane
– Mr. Percivals // Fellon’s // Ciao Papi are all great restaurants located next to each other on Howard Smith Wharves. Mr. Percivals and Fellows are both great for evening drinks as well! Location: HSW
8. West End
Any vintage-lover would want to live here
If you like vintage shopping: West End will be your favourite suburb! You can find several vintage shops and a lot of good food (go to Italian Street Kitchen). West End also had a fresh food market and it’s open 7 days a week. You can enjoy fresh food and vintage shopping at its finest in this suburb!
Also: if you’re new to the city and want to stay here for a while, try to do bouldering! It’s a fun way to meet people from the same age and be active at the same time :). I did bouldering here:
9. Take the CityCat
Cheesy, but so enjoyable
The CityCat will be one of your best friends in your time Brisbane. It’s cheap and you can sit outside to catch your ultimate tan. The CityCat is a great way to go from point A to B, but it’s a little more time consuming. I took the CityCat mostly when I was done with my internship and was ready to go home. It’s a very relaxing way to end your day.
10. Moonlight Cinema
When you want to be with friends (or just go alone)
Open air movie theater! They provide snacks and different seating arrangements. We once made the mistake not to get beanbag’s and it was not very comfortable. So you yourself a favour and spend those extra $10 or bring something to sit on. You can find the itinerary for the movies on:
https://www.moonlight.com.au/brisbane/program/
Location: Roma Street Parklands
Fleur van der Meer
08-06-2023
SRP
H. Bijvoet