City Botanic Gardens, Brisbane, Guia do visitante e o que fazer por perto

The City Botanic Gardens is a riverside public park in the centre of Brisbane, Queensland, set on a bend of the Brisbane River at Gardens Point. It is the city's oldest botanic garden, and its old fig trees and bunya pines make it a shaded green pocket right beside the business district.

The story behind it

Before it was a place for strolling, part of this land was farmed to grow food for the convicts of the Moreton Bay penal settlement. In 1855 the site was declared a botanic reserve, and Walter Hill was appointed its first curator. Hill shaped the early gardens and planted many of the trees that give the park its character, including bunya pines and figs that still stand today.

Over the decades the gardens became a public promenade for the growing colonial town. They now sit beside Parliament House and the old Government House precinct, so a short walk here links the settlement's farming past with its later life as a seat of government.

What to look for

• Look up at the mature fig trees, whose broad canopies and thick trunks are far older than the towers around them.
• Find the bunya pines, which Walter Hill's early planting helped establish, and notice how tall and heavily textured they are.
• Walk toward the river edge and watch how the city skyline opens up behind the trees.
• Notice how the park's quiet paths sit directly against the government buildings of Alice Street, a reminder of how close power and parkland have always been here.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 45 minutes to an hour for an easy wander, or longer if you want to sit by the river.
• Early morning and late afternoon are the most comfortable times, when the light is soft and the paths are cooler.
• The gardens are an open public park, so you can walk in freely. Check current opening hours and any path closures before you go.
• Parliament House, the old Government House grounds and the riverside walks are all close by, so it pairs well with a longer stroll through the city centre.

See it on a quest

Ghost Hunt in Brisbane is a ghost-themed route that passes the City Botanic Gardens. You reach the gardens on foot as one stop of a longer walk through the surrounding streets, the app tells you about the place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle right there in front of you. One ticket covers the whole group, and you can start whenever suits you, with no guide and no set time.