Best Things To Do in Brisbane Australia 2026 4K

What's going on everybody this is IslandHopperTV and today we're going to show you the best things to do in Brisbane Australia down here in southern Queensland. I just came from Gold Coast and now we're going out here around this beautiful city. Last time I was here was in 2020 and it's grown so much since then with a metro population of nearly three million people. Let's take a look around. Now I'm here at the Koala Sanctuary. This is the world's first and largest Koala Sanctuary also known as Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary founded in 1927. Admission price to get in here is 59 AUD. That comes out to around 39 to 40 US dollars. You can see they've got plenty of kangaroos here and then in the trees you'll see those kangaroos. So many of them they make a unique noise. They have the Tasmanian devil. They have these like flying foxes that sit upside down. Really cool. Here we are now at Mount Kuta. Mount Kuta is an amazing lookout point. I would say coming up here during the morning might be the best time but people also like to come up during the evening time because the whole city lights up and people like that view. But I was up here in the afternoon. Really a nice place to chill. They also have a botanical garden near here so if you come out here it's outside the city about 20 minutes. There is no train you do need. You need to drive in or take an Uber. There is no entry fee so it's free to walk around here but they do have restaurants and cafes if you want to support those restaurants and have a nice lunch or a coffee. They have that even if you wanted to get a beer. But it's really a calming environment up here so you can even walk around and do a little bit of hiking. They have some local birds that you'll see. I actually saw some cockatoos. That big bird walking there is I believe a turkey. If it's not a turkey maybe it's a pheasant. If you come out here I would say do the Kuala Sanctuary, the botanical garden, and the lookout point in the evening time and that should be a good day. Let's explore around the south end parks. Another good day in Brisbane would be walking around the central area along the riverfront. As you can see here by the South Bank they have a nice vibrant cultural and recreational hub. It was once Brisbane CBD until the floods moved it which is now across the river. So they turn this area into an industrial port and a park lands. And here we are at South Bank Pool and Beach. This is a man-made water play park so don't expect it to be like attached to the river. It's got clean water and everything like that. People come out here and swim. Really a nice spot. You can see it's big, it's expansive, it's beautiful. Fun experience on a hot day to come out here right along the river. And you know the kids love it. This is really why people come out here. And the sand adds a nice touch to the whole lagoon experience. Keep in mind Brisbane's up the river a bit away from the actual ocean. If you wanted beaches you can find them nearby Brisbane. It's just not here in the actual city. Either way add the South Bank Parklands to your list of fun places to hang out. You can actually cross that bridge there. It's the Neville Bonner Bridge and you can get across the river to the downtown area. Some of the other attractions they have down here are going to be like the Wheel of Brisbane. This is a ferris wheel. You get good views looking out towards the CBD and around the South Bank and the lagoon. So that could be a fun thing to do. For about 20 Aussie dollars and it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to do a rotation. Now here we are at Roma Street Parkland. This is another beautiful park. This is on the side where the CBD is. It's a 16 hectare acre urban oasis. It's the world's largest inner city subtropical garden. It's got many waterfalls, playgrounds, free barbecues, walking paths. They got an old railway yards nearby. I actually just rode my bike through here and it was really a nice park. I would highly recommend walking around here or riding your bike. Like I said the train yards are really close to here and they're actually rebuilding that whole area. Nearby here they have a beautiful cathedral. For those of you who want to see some of the old style of Brisbane, come on over and check out the cathedral. It's probably about a 15 minute walk away from Roma. St John's Cathedral or St Stephen's. Here we are the City Gardens. Now we're actually in central Brisbane. The City Gardens are right there at the bend in the river and this area is another great gardens to walk around. It's the last gardens we're going to show you here but as you can see Brisbane is a very eco-friendly nice environment all around. It's kind of like a city built inside of a garden because Queensland's just so lush and tropical and why not? I mean it's a great area but you can also see around here they have the old buildings where old meets new and you can see these scooters here. That's a great way to get around the CBD. Just be careful on those. That's the Central Business District. These are all over Australia. You're going to find them in Sydney, Melbourne and of course here in Brisbane. Kind of a busy one actually and then you can take the ferry up and down the river. So you can go from parklands on the south side. You can go to the CBD area. You can even go to other parts along the up downstream. So these river ferries are very efficient and affordable. It's a fun thing to do. You get great views. At the very least do the ferry that goes from south to the CBD or CBD to the south banks and ride it there. Get some nice pictures especially on a beautiful sunny day. Maybe even in the evening time when the lights are shining. You can easily tap on and tap off with your credit card. Just don't forget to tap off because you don't want to end up you know making the machine think that you were on the ferry for longer than you were. It's not very expensive. It's only like a few Aussie dollars to go one way or another. So just a really cost-efficient way to get around. You'll save money. Here we are at the Brisbane sign. This is totally a tourist thing to do. It's just hey guys look at me. I came to Brisbane. Check out the CBD behind me and take a picture. I mean it's just a tourist spot. Not going to charge you anything so it's free. Here we are now in the Queensland Museum. Now on a hot day or in some cases in the winter time a cold day and if you wanted to get outside the elements go inside the Queensland Museum. Learn about Queensland. Learn about the crocodiles in the north and you know all of the creatures that are lurking in those waters and this is a really awesome museum if you wanted to learn about probably one of the best states in all of Australia which is Queensland. New South Wales is amazing. So is Western Australia, the Northern Territory but I enjoyed this free Queensland Museum. Now let's go explore the Gallery of Modern Art. Another free museum thanks to Aussie taxpayers but the Museum of Art is another nice museum. If you're into art you can check out some of the indigenous art that they have here as well as some of the other art that comes from around the world but this museum is for those of you who are looking to escape the heat. Get out there and see what kind of art is around the Queensland area and it's free and culturally enriching. It's right next to the Queensland Museum and the South Bank Parkland so you can see lots to do around that area. Here we are now at the Skydeck. This is actually a newer attraction. It opened in August of 2024. It's free to go up here and get the views so that's great. I mean it's like a rooftop and they have restaurants up here. It's actually in a building that's known as the Skydeck at Queen's Wharf Brisbane or the Star Brisbane and you can see right here they have the glass floor and then they also have the glass lookout windows but you do a whole half a moon kind of crescent moon lap around the actual sky deck and like I said I mean you get great views. This could be one of the top attractions in all of Brisbane. It just hasn't gotten so famous yet because it's so new and by the way if you guys are trying to plan your trip down to Australia you should check our other videos. We did best places to visit in Australia. We did best things to do in Sydney, Gold Coast, Melbourne. We even went out to Perth. We're doing Cairns next so if you're coming out to Australia we made so many videos you can check in the description and you can also check the comments. I highly recommend going around Australia and seeing more than just Brisbane. In fact when I went to Brisbane I also did Gold Coast and Byron Bay. Those are three areas nearby and then they have the Sunshine Coast so there's lots to do in this area of southern Queensland and for those of you looking to do some research about Queensland aside from the museum you could also check out the library and ride a bike. Yeah so this was one of my favorite things to do. What I did was I actually used the Uber app and I rented one of these Lime bikes. Not very expensive. They're e-bikes. Just make sure you wear a helmet and pay attention to all the signs and be safe but this was one of my favorite things to do. I basically rode from the CBD all the way until the actual boardwalk and paths ended and I saw so much of the riverside this way. It was really an amazing experience. A good way to get some cardio and just some exercise. Beautiful weather at this time of day in the late afternoon so I would highly recommend riding the bike along the riverfront at least one of the days. This was definitely one of my favorite activities. They've done a great job of building out the path in the areas where they couldn't put in a path. They just simply did an extension out over the water. One of the unique things that I saw down here was these warning signs about swooping birds. It says protect your head and face. Walk, don't run or ride your bike but I was riding my bike here even though they had these warning signs about the swooping birds. I never saw one. Now let's talk about sports here in Brisbane. They have a rugby club. They have Aussie rules football but a lot of people do not know this yet but 2032 Summer Olympics will actually be here in Brisbane and right along the riverfront here they actually have the Story Bridge where they also have a Story Bridge climb. You can actually go up onto the bridge. Yeah so the Howard Smith's Wharves is right underneath the Story Bridge. They've got restaurants. They've got just awesome vibes. It seems like there's like cliffs here and you have to like take an elevator to get up on some of those cliffs. They have roads down here as well but this seems like one of the most popular areas for fine dining and a nice ambiance because you're right under the bridge. You're right along the riverfront and they've got breweries and restaurants and cafes. You got the sun setting in the distance. Just a really nice ambiance and of course if you're riding your bike you will you know go under the bridge and you'll go right through the Howard Smith's Wharves and see this whole area. They also have an area called the Brisbane Powerhouse for those of you looking to take in a theater or a show. The Brisbane Powerhouse is just down the way a bit from the Wharves. If you are looking for some beaches around Brisbane you could go out to Australia's third largest sand island. This here is Morriton Island. It's basically a big mountain of sand with beautiful beaches and they also have some sunken ships off the coast that have turned into a tourist attraction. Then if you go inland a bit you have the Glasshouse Mountains. As you can see it's beautiful large rock formations that rise out of the rainforest as you want to call it that in the subtropical climate. But the Glasshouse Mountains I would say if you're looking for something to do out in the hills head out to the Glasshouse. And depending on how you want to get out here it's about an hour to an hour and a half. You could take a bus or a train but I would say if you take the car you get more opportunity to explore around this beautiful countryside and you can see Queensland is very green. They did have some bushfires down in New South Wales. I didn't see any when I was up here in Queensland but they do happen so pay attention to that. Also I went out to the Gold Coast. Like I said this is a whole experience all in of itself. It's like the Orlando of Australia. They got so many different theme parks down here and this is about an hour and 30 minutes away from Brisbane. But like I said they got so many theme parks over here. You should watch our other video about Gold Coast if you wanted to learn more about this place. Click the video right here.