A staycation in Brisbane, Australia

So I can’t write an A-Z of travel posts and not have B for Brisbane. The beautiful city where I live, love, work and play.

Earlier in the year The Accountant and I were moaning that we hadn’t had a holiday together in a while (yes, this was before I went overseas). For a whole lot of reasons we couldn’t get away for more than a night or two, so we decided to have a bit of a staycation in Brisbane, spending a night in a city hotel and exploring for a couple of days.

We decided to leave the car at home and caught the City Cat into town early one morning (not too early – after the commuter rush!). We are both water babies and absolutely love spending time on and near the river. It truly is one of the most peaceful and beautiful ways of getting around Brisbane. And let’s face it, who wants to pay for parking in one of the most expensive-to-park cities in the world?

We dropped our bag at our hotel and set off to explore. Neither of us work in the city and we rarely visit for social reasons, so we were keen to have a wander around and see what was new. So much development!

Gloria the ewe is one of my favourite characters along the Brisbane River – she lives out the front of the Wool Stores on the boardwalk at Teneriffe

Highlights of our two days included:

• a visit to the Museum of Brisbane in the newly refurbished City Hall. We chose not to have a tour of City Hall or wait for a hour for a clock tower tour, instead wandering around the wonderful exhibition showcasing the Brisbane River
• walking over the Victoria Bridge to South Bank
• lunch at a newly opened eatery at South Bank that we were keen to try. Certainly no shortage of places to eat at in South Bank!
• strolling around Queen Street Mall and all the shops – yes, there may have been a purchase or two
• a couple of hours spent at the truly wonderful Gallery of Modern Art with my cousin visiting from Sydney. No visit to GOMA is complete without stopping for a drink and a nibble at the cafe and browse through the wonderful gallery shop
• dinner at a well known celebrity chef restaurant in Brisbane and bumping into a girlfriend I hadn’t seen in AGES!
• walking along the river soaking up the atmosphere – we didn’t get as far around as Gloria the ewe this time, but she is worth a visit!

There is certainly plenty to do in Brisbane, and if you pick your time well, you can pick up some great deals for accommodation in the city.

After a very relaxing couple of days, The Accountant and I agreed that a staycation in Brisbane needs to become an annual event.

Have you had a staycation in your city? Have you visited Brisbane? What was the highlight of your visit?

 

Note: This post is part of Tiffin Bite Sized Food Adventures’ A – Z Guidebook Travel Link Up, a monthly get together where bloggers get to navigate the alphabet, talking about the one special place and photo that best represents the nominated letter of the month. This month is B.