Things to do in Eastern Heights

Roma Street Parkland occupies a 40-acre (16-hectare) site in Brisbane’s city center. This public park was once the city’s principal train yard. It’s now an oasis-like area with five distinct precincts, an amphitheater, wonderful artworks, lakes and playgrounds. It’s a great place to spot small wildlife. Let the kids go on an artwork hunt, or take them for a ride on the Parkland Explorer “train.”

The Queen Street Mall has been Brisbane’s premier shopping destination for more than three decades and over the years cool little cafés have sprung up down its alleyways and backstreets. There are rows of street-front shops, six large indoor shopping complexes including supermarkets, cheap food courts, classy restaurants and all types of bars. If you don’t need to buy anything, watch artists perform or sit down on a bench or terrace and watch Brisbane go by.

The Brisbane Botanic Gardens occupy 128 acres (52 hectares) at the foot of Mount Coot-tha. The gardens were created when Brisbane’s council decided to complement the original City Botanic Gardens, in downtown, with a larger and more easily expandable site. Both botanic gardens are free to enter, but the Brisbane Botanic Gardens are more extensive.

With its changing kaleidoscopic ceiling, the quirky and modern art of the Museum of Brisbane and evening concerts in the auditorium, Brisbane City Hall is a must-do in Queensland’s capital.

The Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) is the biggest and most prestigious of the state’s arts venues. The enormous complex contains four main halls that have hosted some of the world’s best-known ballet and theater companies, orchestras and opera singers. It’s the permanent home of the state ballet, symphony orchestra, opera and theater companies, all of which regularly perform.