Exploring Brisbane, Australia: Discover Culture, Nature, and Vibrant City Life Brisbane Australia

Really enjoyed this place!! I am not a big city fan. I much prefer small remote places than a big city but being completely honest, this was my best big city experience, even more than my home city, Atlanta. Why? Read more to find out the details but in short, Brisbane was clean, full of entertainment, and friendly. It is very pedestrian friendly and has so much to do. We stayed here for only a day or so two times while visiting Australia but it was a lovely change of scenery. 
Below I'll explain how I filled my time in Brisbane as well as other possible things to do and some more kid friendly options. There will be a separate post for the hotel we stayed in and I will link that in the button below. 

The W Hotel

Walking

I strategically picked the W hotel so that everything is in walking distance. The mall, the wheel of brisbane, everything we were attracted to was walkable. It's one of the reasons I recommend that hotel, but this is about the city, not the hotel, so let's dive right in. 

The Wheel of Brisbane 

Just across the bridge is the wheel of Brisbane. This big ferris wheel provides an excellent view of Brisbane and the river as well as giving you plenty of facts about it while riding. It was not busy when we rode which was in the morning and it was cheap. They take your picture that you can buy, but I was not looking so good so I passed on that. 

The Ice Cream Trucks

In America it's better to get your ice cream from the store. In Australia, though, they have these super cute food and ice cream trucks all over. They are absolutely adorable and tasty. They actually can drive but usually are stationed. I got ice cream from the pink truck, but the blue one was a good photo opportunity!

The Peace Pagoda

While walking on my way to South Bank around by the Wheel of Brisbane you might stumble upon this Peace Pagoda that was originally built by Indians and I thought it was super cool and different culturally!! I really felt more like I was visiting Asia than Australia for a moment. 

South Bank

I loved South Bank!! What an amazing place.
First, there is a giant pool (not pictured, sorry!) for kids to swim. There is a baby section that is super shallow and a separate fountain section for infants or even toddlers. There is a deep section for bigger kids and even a beach section for those who want to lay in the sand. Many people make use of this FREE pool on hot days. Yes, FREE. I am still so surprised something so nice is just open to the general public. People even just dropped their 10 year olds off here and left. How crazy is that? I mean something crazy to me might not be so crazy to someone else. If someone just leaving their 10 year old at a public pool doesn't scream that Australia is safe then nothing does.
Anyway... There were also places to eat, so many places to eat. And shop. They had a store and I bought a swimsuit and so many shirts and stickers and a jacket. There was also a large bathroom with lockers and showers that were all free.
After all that, I kept walking through and saw a chocolate bar. I retained myself and didn't eat anything here (I had just eaten) but it looked very good. 

So how do you get here?
From the W hotel, walk over the Brisbane bridge and to the left along the river until you see the massive pool. Walk into the pool area and by the restaurants where you will find a path to keep going into a square with stores and good eats. 

Chocolate bar!

This is a WALKWAY in the Brisbane South Bank Area and HOLY MOLY it is GORGEOUS

The Mall

The first time I went to the mall was to get some shoes because I broke my flip flops. Read the whole story on the blog post linked below!

What happened to my flip flop?

Anyway, I ended up at target underground and that was crazy. Even more crazy? Trying to find your way out of the underground mall that went on forever. If I could do it over again I would have explored more of the underground part of the mall. I feel like I missed so much even though I spent basically all my time at the mall. The mall has enough of everything for you to come down under with an empty suitcase, buy it for any occasion, and like it enough to take it back home. Literally crazy. Don't worry about bringing anything because the mall and the surf shops have you absolutely covered. 
How the mall is laid out is along a street (no cars though just walking) there are stores and this stretches on forever. These are smaller stores until you get down by the surf shops. These small stores are your ground level stores. Along the way, the bigger stores have signs marked for escalators that go underground. Even though the signs only mark the big stores, there are still places to eat and smaller stores underground. 
If you have a boring target near you, DO NOT rule out this target! It had so many cuter clothes than my target and so many more shoes. Crazy how the same store looks in a different location. I got my new flip flops here and they do not disappoint. I still wear them all the time. 
Some stores I recommend at the mall:
- Target
- Cotton On
- Why not try out a touristy shop?
- Any surf shops
Those stores really suited my style. They may not be for everyone but I really liked them. Cotton on was a blast and I spent way too much time in there for sure. 

Surf Shops

These are in the same area as the mall but have such a different vibe that I thought I would put them separately. 
The bikinis that come from the surf shops are immaculate. I bought some for my friend as well and she absolutely adores them. They are so well made and they have so many colors and styles and each store has floors and floors of walls filled with swimsuits it is so hard to pick and budget for this.  

Food

No doubt the food here is good. They're beef is exceptional. if I had it my way more, I would not eat at the hotel. There are plenty of restaurants and I made the mistake of going for room service. Oops, I guess I spent too much time shopping and forgot to eat.

Extras

There are plenty of great places to run or walk in Brisbane and other restaurants you can get to be uber. Do not take a cab, get an uber. It is so much cheaper! (get the app and set it up before your trip) There is also a theatre for plays and ballets (I think very nearby the bridge).

What happens if this doesn't appeal to you?

If none of this sounds fun, please don't rule out Brisbane. The clean environment is great for people of all ages, large groups of people, families, or even if you just want to fly solo. A simple google can get you access to so many fun activities within a walk or a short car ride away!!