Welcome to Brisbane, the sun-soaked capital of Queensland, Australia!
Nestled along the meandering Brisbane river, from the iconic Story Bridge to the lush South Bank Parklands, Brisbane beckons with a diverse tapestry of experiences.
I have put together a detailed 1 PERFECT Brisbane day travel guide with all of our tips and tricks to experiencing the best sights, savoring the diverse flavors of Brisbane’s buzzing cafes and riverside eateries, and exploring the riverfront promenades.
When I am researching activities and things to see in a new city, I wish I found more itineraries that ranked the list of activities they recommend. Everyone’s time is different in a new city and it’s important to be able to prioritize activities that are a MUST versus activities that are nice, but could possibly be skipped. I like to schedule my days and build an itinerary with one MUST item, one TRY TO DO item, and one SKIP item a day in case something happens or we are too tired, we can always hit the MUST item and SKIP the item that’s not as important.
★★★ MUST SEE
★★ TRY TO DO
★ SKIP (BUT WORTH IF YOU HAVE TIME)
★★★ Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
★★ City Botanic Gardens
★★ Kangaroo Point
★ Goodwill Bridge
When: August 2023
Who: My husband and I for our honeymoon (2 adults)
Where we stayed: Orchard area
Day 1 Information ~
Hyatt Regency Brisbane ~ reserve your hotel room ahead of time
Arrival: We arrived in Brisbane at 10:10PM. We stood in the taxi line and set a rate with our taxi driver before we left the airport. This was one of our most expensive taxi rides; the ride was ~$65 one way. Our hotel was in the middle of downtown Brisbane so the drive was 10 miles or ~25 minutes.
Check into Hotel: We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Brisbane. We used our Hyatt Points that we earned by applying to the Chase Sapphire Reserve and hitting the sign up bonus. You can read more about our credit card tips and tricks HERE. The nightly points rate was 12,000 points. We loved this Hyatt as it was in the middle of downtown Brisbane and super close walking distance to everything.
Day 2 Information ~
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary ~ can buy tickets online ahead of time, but also can buy them upon arrival
Breakfast/Coffee: To start off our one day in Brisbane, we walked to a coffee shop to get something to eat as our Hyatt Regency doesn’t have free breakfast. We walked to a coffee shop called Charlee Anne’s to get some lattes and breakfast sandwiches.
★★City Botanic Gardens: I love that downtown Brisbane is so walkable. After coffee, we walked to the City Botanic Gardens. The walk to the edge of the gardens was about 8 minutes (0.4 miles). From there we walked through the gardens to the highlights such as the Formal Flower Garden, Bamboo Grove, and the Palm Groove. The gardens are free to visit and very lovely. I definitely recommend walking through the gardens to get to the riverside.
★Goodwill Bridge: At the edge of the gardens near the riverside is a pedestrian only bridge to get from one side of Brisbane to the other. On the other side they have beautiful green spaces like the South Bank Parklands and amazing view points like Kangaroo Point. We loved walking across the bridge to get to Kangaroo Point.
★★Kangaroo Point: Arguably the most beautiful viewpoint of the city! It is a hike and a climb to get here though, but worth it! Once we were on the correct side of the city, we found some electric scooters to rent. We rode them down the riverside and I loved the view. Eventually we had to put them away and climb the stairs up the side of the hill to get to the viewpoint. There’s not much to the viewpoint, but it would be a nice place to picnic and hang out if I lived here. There is a cafe and restrooms so I would advise if you have to go to the bathroom, do it now.
★★★Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary: After the viewpoint, we called an Uber to take us to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. The ride was ~$35 with tip and a ~25 min ride. The sanctuary is kind of far southwest from Brisbane. The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is a renowned wildlife sanctuary that is recognized as the world’s oldest and largest koala sanctuary, providing a unique opportunity for visitors to interact with and learn about Australia’s iconic wildlife. One of the things I wanted to do in Australia was hang out with kangaroos and here this was possible! Tickets are kind of steep at $50 Australian Dollars, but super worth it! We arrived here around 1PM and stayed almost until closing at 5PM. There was so much to do and see here!
First we went to see the 1PM Free Flight Raptor Show. The description says “Experience the amazing power and agility of Australia’s raptors, as our eagles, owls, kites and falcons soar right over your head.” This was one of the coolest experiences we saw at the sanctuary as the birds were flying right over our heads.
Right after this was over, we went to the 1:30PM Free Sheep Dog Show. The description says “Be amazed by the natural ability of our working dogs, and learn about Australia’s sheep farming history.” This show was nice too, but not as impressive as the birds.
After the two shows, we had some time so we were able to walk around to the different exhibits and check out the animals. We spent a lot of time in the kangaroo sanctuary since it is a free range sanctuary so you can walk right up and hang out with the roos. We figured out we needed to go to the store though to buy some kangaroo food so we left and got food. It was such a fun experience and I would have stayed there all day if I could!
At 2:45PM they had another show: Dingo Talk. The description says “Home to three beautiful dingoes, Join our daily dingo keeper talk and learn more about Australia’s apex land predator and how they differ from our domestic pets.” This was a nice, but pretty short show.
After the show, we went to hang out with the koalas; to get a picture holding a koala you have to prebook online ahead of time. We didn’t do that as it was pretty expensive so we took pictures just next to a koala which I found to be good enough.
Around closing time, we called an Uber to take us back to the hotel. There was a considerable amount of rush hour traffic so it took closer to 45 minutes to get back to downtown Brisbane.
Dinner: For dinner we walked to a Thai restaurant that had good reviews called Doodeeboran. We went right at opening and was able to secure a table immediately, but shortly after being seated, there was a long wait list. The food was really good! We got green curry and a chicken rice bowl.
Departure: Our flight to Cairns (to see the Great Barrier Reef) was at 10:40AM so we were able to get a quick breakfast before heading to the airport. We ordered an Uber to get back to the airport and it was much more affordable. We used Virgin Australia airlines which I would give ⅘ stars of our 2.5 hour flight. Thanks for having us Brisbane!