Brisbane is a popular tourist destination. Major landmarks and attractions include South Bank Parklands and the Queensland Cultural Centre, including the Queensland Performing Arts Centre and Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, the City Botanic Gardens, King George Square and City Hall, the Story Bridge, St John's Cathedral, the Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens and Lookout, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Howard Smith Wharves, New Farm Park, D'Aguilar National Park, and Moreton Bay and its islands, such as Moreton and St Helena.
Brisbane is classified as a global city and is an advanced centre of research and innovation in the Asia-Pacific. The city is promoted as Australia's capital of technology, with strengths in mining research and green energy, medicine and biotechnology, cryptocurrency and digital industries, and robotics. A transportation hub, Brisbane is served by a large suburban rail network and popular bus and ferry networks, as well as Australia's largest and busiest airport, and the third largest seaport. The financial district is centered on Eagle Street.
Brisbane's major parklands include the riverside City Botanic Gardens at Gardens Point, Roma Street Parkland, the 27-hectare Victoria Park at Spring Hill and Herston, South Bank Parklands along the river at South Bank, the Brisbane Botanic Gardens at Mount Coot-tha and the riverside New Farm Park at New Farm.
Brisbane Highlights
There are many national parks surrounding the Brisbane metropolitan area. The D'Aguilar National Park is a major national park along the northwest of the metropolitan area in the D'Aguilar Range. The Glass House Mountains National Park is located to the north of the metropolitan area in the Glass House Mountains and provides green space between the Brisbane metropolitan area and the Sunshine Coast. The Tamborine National Park at Tamborine Mountain is located in the Gold Coast hinterland to the south of the metropolitan area.
The eastern metropolitan area is built along the Moreton Bay Marine Park, encompassing Moreton Bay. Significant areas of Moreton, North Stradbroke and Bribie islands also covered by the Moreton Island National Park, Naree Budjong Djara National Park and the Bribie Island National Park respectively. The Boondall Wetlands in the suburb of Boondall include 1,100 hectares of wetlands which are home to mangroves and shorebirds as well as walking tracks.
The Brisbane Festival, which includes one of the nation's largest annual fireworks displays called 'Riverfire', and which is held each September at South Bank Parklands, the CBD and surrounding areas is the second of Brisbane's major annual events, with the 'Riverfire' fireworks displays attended by hundreds of thousands of residents annually.
The Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) is held in July/August each year in a variety of venues around Brisbane. BIFF features new films and retrospectives by domestic and international filmmakers along with seminars and awards.
