🏖 Parklands & Culture
South Bank
South Bank is the single most useful square kilometre in Brisbane for a visitor: a free swimming beach, four major cultural institutions and a riverside parkland, all together.
Free
Streets Beach, patrolled
4
Free institutions in a row
~10 min
From the CBD
Arbour
Shaded walkway
South Bank occupies the southern riverbank directly opposite the CBD, on the site of Brisbane's 1988 World Expo. When the Expo closed, the site became public parkland rather than being sold off — which is why a capital city has seventeen hectares of riverfront given over to lawns and a swimming lagoon.
Streets Beach
A purpose-built swimming lagoon with a graduated sandy entry, lifeguard-patrolled, free, heated and open year-round including in rain. It is the practical answer to swimming in Brisbane, since the river is not an option and the surf is an hour away.
Aquativity alongside is a separate water-play area built for younger children.
The Cultural Centre
Four major institutions sit in one row at the northern end, all with free general entry.
The Gallery of Modern Art is the largest modern art gallery in Australia, with a children's art centre that commissions artists to make work for children to use. The Queensland Art Gallery holds the historical collections. The Queensland Museum has Muttaburrasaurus and the whale gallery, with the ticketed Sciencentre attached. The State Library completes the row and has the best free quiet seating in the city.
QPAC, the performing arts centre, is here too and handles the touring musicals and the orchestra.
The Parklands
The Arbour is the signature — a kilometre of curling steel walkway covered in bougainvillea, which provides genuine shade along the length of the parklands. That matters more than it sounds in a Queensland summer.
There are lawns, free electric barbecues, playgrounds, the Wheel of Brisbane at the northern end, and the Nepal Peace Pagoda left over from Expo 88.
The Collective Markets run across the weekend and into Friday evening with design, art and handmade goods.
Eating
Little Stanley Street and Grey Street carry the restaurants and bars, mostly casual and mostly with outdoor seating. It is busy every weekend and books out around QPAC performances.
The free barbecues are the cheapest option and are used constantly by locals.
Staying Here
Good for: families, culture, green space, and anyone who wants the river without the office towers. Walkable to the CBD.
Less good for: quiet — the parklands are busy every weekend and through school holidays.
Getting There
South Bank and South Brisbane train stations, the Cultural Centre busway station, and the CityCat and CityHopper ferry terminals all serve it, each at fifty cents.
On foot from the CBD it is about ten minutes over Victoria Bridge, the Goodwill Bridge or the Kurilpa Bridge.
Common Questions
Yes — free, heated, lifeguard-patrolled and open year-round including in rain. There is a separate water-play area for younger children.
GOMA, the Queensland Art Gallery, the Queensland Museum and the State Library, all with free general entry, plus QPAC for performances.
The site of Brisbane's 1988 World Expo. When it closed the site became public parkland rather than being sold off.
Yes — the Arbour is a kilometre of curling steel walkway covered in bougainvillea, which provides real shade along the parklands.
Yes, free electric barbecues are available. Bring your own food; only the hotplate is provided.
About ten minutes on foot over Victoria Bridge, the Goodwill Bridge or the Kurilpa Bridge, or 50 cents by train, busway or ferry.
It is the best area in Brisbane for it — the swimming lagoon, water play, playgrounds and the free galleries are all within a few minutes.
Keep Planning
Gallery of Modern ArtFree, and the best wet-weather answerQueensland MuseumDinosaurs and the whale galleryBrisbane With KidsThe family hubAll NeighbourhoodsThe full area guideWhere to StayAreas, hotels and ratesGetting AroundThe 50c fare explained
Cooee Tours acknowledges the Turrbal and Yuggera (Jagera) peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which Brisbane stands. We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
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