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The Majestic Northern City of Brisbane

Queensland travel tours

Brisbane is the capital of Queensland in Australia, with lots of suburbs, a central area, and a busy business district. It's the biggest of Australia's six main cities and the third most populated city in the country. With nice temperatures all year long, between 17 and 29 degrees Celsius, there are plenty of lovely beaches for you to explore around the city. You can enjoy water activities like surfing or just relax and sunbathe by the sea.

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With an average of 280 sunny days a year, Brisbane is one of the sunniest cities in the world and it certainly won't disappoint! You can spend your time in beautiful parks with stunning views, as well as at lively local markets and seaside spots. Visiting tourist attractions and cultural institutions like museums, galleries, theatres, and the opera with some handy travel tips will show you the culture of Brisbane in all its forms.

The start of the settlement in the area where Brisbane is now located goes back to the first half of the 19th century. Before that, Aboriginal tribes lived in the region. At first, the city was set up as a penal colony for British convicts sent over from Sydney. Later, in 1838, it opened up for settlement.

In 1859, Brisbane was declared a municipality with a local government. Then, in 1924, South Brisbane was merged into the larger metropolitan area known as Greater Brisbane. The city is named after Major General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, who served as the Executive Governor of New South Wales, the fifth-largest state in Australia, from 1821 to 1825. The City Hall was officially opened by Mayor William Jolly on April 8, 1930, where he presented the first official cheque for payment of a bill.

YHA Brisbane City hostel

Brisbane, along with Hostelling International, provides modern accommodation at the YHA Brisbane City hostel right in the city centre, overlooking the Brisbane River. It's close to Caxton Street in Petrie Terrace and Fortitude Valley, two popular spots for nightlife in the heart of Brisbane. The YHA Brisbane City hostel offers great services both in and around it. On the terrace of the upper floor, you'll find a pool, a lounge with a TV, and a game room, along with an offer to enjoy many activities in Brisbane and the surrounding area. One of the benefits of digital membership with Hostelling International is a 10% discount on HI accommodation bookings. This gives you access to the best hostel services that focus on sustainability, helping to reduce waste and energy consumption. You can experience Brisbane with a sustainable, green approach through Hostelling International.

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Itinerary of activities around Brisbane

We want to present you the nearby spots around Brisbane with this activity itinerary so you can really feel the Australian vibe of Queensland. With a tour to Moreton Island, you can enjoy everything that Tangalooma Resort has to offer, like watching wild dolphins, sand tobogganing, and sipping a relaxing cocktail while watching the sunset. The tour also includes lots of other options. For example, a short tour to the rural area of Redland City in Mount Cotton will take you to the Sirromet winery, where you can sample six different wines and enjoy a three-course lunch at the Tuscan Terrace restaurant. You can relax on the 75-metre wooden deck with a nice view. You can also spend two hours kayaking on the Brisbane River and enjoy a paddle from under the Story Bridge to the South Bank area. This way, you'll get to explore Brisbane from your own perspective, with a great view of the skyline and the central business district along the riverbank.

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The trip with the tours will take you to the next outdoor activity, which is Tangalooma, the shipwrecks on Moreton Island. There, you can explore the shipwrecks with rented diving gear and check out the marine life, including over 130 types of coral and other fascinating sea creatures.

A day tour to North Stradbroke Island, also known as Minjerribah, includes a stop at Cylinder Beach, a walk along North Gorge, and a visit to Myora Springs. All National Park fees are included in the price.

The next tour to Springbrook will take you along the Gold Coast, where you'll explore Numinbah Valley, Springbrook National Park, the Scenic Rim, the glow-worm caves, and the 30-metre-high Tamborine rainforest with a guide. If you want to get a closer look at the glow-worm cave, make sure to book a separate tour.

After a good night's sleep, enjoy an early morning cruise on the Brisbane River with a cup of tea. On a one-and-a-half-hour tour, the crew will share some great info while you enjoy views of Brisbane, like Kangaroo Point Cliffs, the city centre, and Story Bridge.

Finally, head to the Australian Zoo, where you'll have six hours with an experienced guide who will give you an up-close look at the animal world. You'll see some exotic animals and join in on some amazing live shows. A private transport service is arranged to take you to the zoo.

To top it all off, you can take a two-hour climb up the famous Story Bridge for a 360-degree view of Brisbane from both sides of the river. The climb up Story Bridge includes a presentation about the history of the bridge and some interesting historical facts about Brisbane.

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Informative travel literature

When you travel to Australia, Queensland, and our tourist destination of Brisbane, be sure to take some travel literature with you. This will help you get to know the city and navigate the tourist spots that represent Australian culture and heritage. Pocket Brisbane & The Gold Coast is your go-to guide for a travel plan and tips for exploring the city. Its handy pocket size means it has all the information you need for a great trip. The travel publisher Lonely Planet makes your trip to Brisbane easier with a book full of colourful photos and a map that includes ten other maps of nearby neighbourhoods. A good travel book is a great start, but don't forget to also check out our online magazine Globetrotter! It's packed with travel stories and articles, plus a lot of tips for different destinations around the world, all from journalists at Hostelling International Slovenia. Check out the articles in the additional content section for independent travel and read the piece about the travel destination Brisbane.

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Art and culture

Every city is shaped by its people and their history, which leads to a unique culture. This culture helps us understand its characteristics, which have developed from the entity's beginnings to the present day. The art and cultural scene in Brisbane is all tied up in cultural institutions, and we really can't picture a travel experience in other countries without them. To really get to know Brisbane's cultural scene, here are some great places to visit, including cultural institutions, museums, galleries, theatres, and the opera. You'll learn about the nation's history, explore contemporary art, and catch some exciting theatre and opera performances:

  • Museum of Brisbane (MOB) shares the city's history, including stories from its Indigenous communities. It also hosts exhibitions with a mix of historical and contemporary artworks.
  • Queensland Museum Kurilpa is a natural history museum with over a million examples of Australia's natural and cultural heritage that tell the story of Queensland's development.
  • Queensland Cultural Centre (QAGOMA) connects two galleries: the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) and the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). There you can see works by contemporary postmodern artists.
  • Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) has been putting on theatre performances for forty years, hosting around 1,200 shows each year to help build a vibrant, connected, and inclusive community.
  • Opera Queensland (OQ) has been around since 1981 and offers a balanced programme featuring quality musical productions of both classic and contemporary performances.

These five cultural spots give you a glimpse into Brisbane's culture, covering its history, nature, art, and classic performances. They will show you how things have developed from the start and what exciting shows may be coming up soon. Get to know Brisbane through its cultural institutions and connect with the Australian continent by exploring these five institutions.

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Did you know?

  • The best-known shopping mall in Brisbane, Queen Street Mall, which is both the heart and most popular street of the city, unites over five hundred shops on the bustling open-air promenade.
  • According to the Brisbane City Council, the number of all suburbs is 190 districts made up of a metropolitan area.
  • A popular sport in Brisbane that uses an oval-shaped ball is rugby.
  • Brisbane's longest bridge, opened in 2010, spans 2,740 meters and includes both a walking and cycling path.
  • Before changing its name to the present name of Brisbane, the city was called Edenglassie.

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