It’s always a good sign when a hotel lobby is filled with locals. They come to this 175-room hot spot for the concrete and travertine building that architects, Richards and Spence, describe as having a “quietly brutal aesthetic,” along with the buzzy lobby bar and the second-floor poolside restaurant, Hellenika. Each guest room, meanwhile, is a luxuriously appointed oasis.

Agnes Bakery was opened by Ben Williamson, one of Brisbane’s most buzzed-about chefs. Try one of his ever-changing selections of kouign-amann or a glistening apple Danish at this inviting bakery.

This park is one of the city’s oldest and largest green spaces. Bright and early, Brisbaners are up and about. Some do yoga. Others wander among the rose garden. Still, others sit along the river’s edge, watching ferries come and go.

This Museum’s 20,000-work collection, specializing in Australian, Indigenous, and Asian Pacific art, is world-class. Take in the Embodied Knowledge exhibition, a survey of works by contemporary Queensland artists, including a bizarro fish tank sculpture by Erika Scott and Obery Sambo’s otherworldly modern masks.

Troy Casey and Amanda Hayman, the Indigenous couple who opened the gallery, say this is “a safe place where we can share living culture, including our art and stories.” Housed in an old bank building in South Brisbane, the space is bright and full of color. Stirring paintings by Sam Harrison, wooden egrets sculpted by Bob Ali, and woven baskets and vibrant patterned dresses from Magpie Goose are carrying the mantle of other local Indigenous artists.

What was once a major shipping port—and was then abandoned for many years—has been reborn as a public space full of restaurants, cafés, and communal areas. Leisure seekers run to and fro, tossing Frisbees, and stretching themselves on blankets in the sunshine.

You may need to take some time wandering around the alleyways to find the unmarked door of Before + After off George Street. This bar stocks an impressive quantity of rare and vintage amari. Settle onto a couch near the gramophone and order a Negroni, made with beeswax-washed gin, Campari, and vermouth, finished with a local lavender flower.

Outwardly, this is a charming zoo that houses koalas, lorikeets, echidnas, red pandas, and more. Peer inside at a pair of koalas clinging to a tree trunk as they peer back at you. Inside, the sanctuary runs one of the country’s elite animal hospitals, as well as 15 other conservation initiatives, including a koala vaccine program.

This relaxed yet ambitious fine-dining restaurant features a four-course prix fixe menu. The room is warm. The bread comes from the baker next door and is accompanied by caramelized butter. Everything is local and expertly prepared, from the sweet lobster tail with leek, roasted pumpkin, and harissa to a fennel ice cream topped with wild berries and raspberry sauce.

Twenty-three million years ago, the Scenic Rim was formed when a series of volcanic eruptions caused the Tweed Volcano to rise. It is a region of interlocking mountains, plateaus, and valleys dotted with wineries, lodges, and national parks. This vista encompasses the placid Lake Wyaralong, with mountains blanketed in eucalyptus forests. The Scenic Rim boasts six national parks.

This winery makes some of the most unique wines in the region. The owners, Jon and Kim Heslop, are among the few here experimenting with natural yeasts and minimal intervention — what the Italian anarchist wine critic, Luigi Veronelli, called a "vino vero." Gaze out at the gardens and sip a 2021 Wild Ferment Aglianico.