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The Brisbane Riverwalk

A boardwalk that floats on the Brisbane River itself, linking New Farm to the CBD. Free, flat, lit after dark, and the replacement for the original walkway that broke free in the 2011 floods.

✍️ By Frank Adam Burns 📅 Updated 2026 📍 Brisbane, QLD

The Riverwalk is the best free thing to do in Brisbane that most visitors never hear about. It is a boardwalk floating on pontoons on the Brisbane River itself, running between New Farm and the CBD, and it puts you out over the water rather than alongside it.

The 2011 Flood, and Why This One Floats Better

There has been a river walkway here since the 2000s. In the January 2011 floods a 300-metre section broke free of its moorings and was swept downstream — one of the defining images of that flood in Brisbane.

The replacement opened in 2014 and was engineered specifically for the river's behaviour: a floating structure designed to rise with flood levels and withstand debris, on a stronger mooring system. Understanding that history explains why the structure looks as substantial as it does.

Walking It

The full run between New Farm and the CBD takes about forty minutes at a comfortable pace. It is flat, sealed and wide, with no steps anywhere, which makes it one of the most accessible walks in the city for wheelchairs and prams.

Because it floats, it moves very slightly underfoot — noticeable at first and forgotten within a minute. The views run the length of it: the Story Bridge, the Kangaroo Point cliffs opposite, the CBD ahead and the New Farm reach behind.

It is a shared path, so cyclists use it too. Keeping left and being aware at blind corners is the whole etiquette.

When to Walk It

Early morning is the best of it — flat light on the water, joggers rather than crowds, and the city waking up across the river.

Evening is the other good window. The walkway is lit, the CBD is illuminated, and the Story Bridge carries its LED display. It is well used after dark and feels comfortable rather than isolated.

The middle of a summer day is the one to avoid: there is no shade at all out on the water.

What It Connects

The Riverwalk is a connector rather than a destination, and that is the point. At the New Farm end it delivers you to New Farm Park and the Brisbane Powerhouse. At the city end it runs into Howard Smith Wharves beneath the Story Bridge, and from there into the CBD and the Eagle Street precinct.

The obvious loop is CityCat out to New Farm, walk back along the Riverwalk, and finish at Howard Smith Wharves — about an hour with stops, costing fifty cents.

Getting There

Both ends are easy. New Farm Park and Sydney Street CityCat terminals serve the eastern end; the CBD end connects at Howard Smith Wharves and the Riverside terminals. Every journey costs 50 cents under Queensland's flat fare.

There is no parking on the walkway itself — it is reached on foot from either end.

Questions About the Riverwalk

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