Brisbane on a Budget | Kid-Friendly Family Holiday

Brisbane is a fantastic destination for families to visit and somewhere that can be enjoyed no matter your budget!

Review by Angelica-Hazel Toutounji

Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, is a destination that offers so much for all kinds of travellers. When thinking about a Queensland getaway with kids, the Gold Coast is often what comes to mind first. However, Brisbane has a lot to offer and with Bluey’s World currently open, it makes this city even more appealing for families with young children.

Getting to & Around Brisbane

Travelling to Brisbane is quite easy from Adelaide as Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin all offer direct flights. If Brisbane is your ultimate destination it makes sense to fly direct to this airport. However, if the flights are too pricey on your specific dates or you are considering splitting your time between Brisbane and another destination it can be beneficial to shop around. Some options nearby include flying into Coolangatta (Gold Coast Airport) which is an hour and a half from Brisbane CBD or the Sunshine Coast airport which is just over an hour away depending on traffic.

If dividing your time between two destinations or flying into an alternative airport, car hire is the most convenient option for getting around. To save yourself some money most airlines will allow you to take one or two children’s items with you free of charge such as a car seat, stroller or pram.

If you fly direct into Brisbane and are staying in the city, there is a low cost shuttle from the airport and an air train. Both of these options are quite easy, low cost and it pays to book in advanced to save time and stress at the airport.

Public Transport

Public transport fares are a 50 cent flat rate, across all zones and modes on the Translink network across Queensland.  This includes all regional urban buses, and bus, train (excluding Airtrain), ferry, tram and on demand services in South East Queensland.

Where to Stay

The choice of where to base yourself really depends on what activities you are seeking out. If you aren’t hiring a car the most convenient location is the CBD as you will be smack bang in the middle of the action. This means you can walk around to interesting spots, utilise the free Brisbane city hopper and also don’t have to worry about car parking fees. If you are travelling with small children Southbank is a great city area as you have easy access to Streets Beach, Southbank markets, the Wheel of Brisbane and QAGOMA. There are lots of hotels, apartments and Airbnb options in this area so it pays to shop around, read reviews and compare. If you have a large family, it can be more economical to opt for an apartment with kitchen facilities and base yourself within close range of a supermarket so you aren’t eating out for every single meal.

If you have a car and don’t mind being further from the city you could look at staying at a caravan park. Our family of two adults and two children recently stayed at the Brisbane Holiday Village in Betsy, their vintage air steam for two nights. We loved staying in the airstream as it was unique, retro and comfortable for our family. Our children loved sleeping somewhere a little different, splashing in the pool and enjoying the onsite mini golf. If you do look at this option, its important to know that the playground is quite rundown and it was quite a drive to visit Bluey’s World in traffic. However, the onsite pool and being so close to a Westfield shopping centre made it a fun and convenient stay for our family.

We combined our stay with two nights in the city at Novotel Southbank to try to get the hotel and holiday park experience and both options had their pluses and minuses. We loved being able to access so many free activities by foot from the Novotel. We loved the kitchen facilities and free onsite parking at the holiday park. At the end of the day it’s important to weigh up all options and choose the option that will suit your family best and give you the holiday experience you are seeking.

Activities & Experiences

If you are visiting Brisbane when Bluey’s World is open and you have young Bluey lovers with you, this is a must visit experience in our opinion. You can read a review of our time there to know how how much we loved it.

The other experience that we absolutely loved and highly recommend is Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This is the world’s oldest and largest koala sanctuary and absolutely worth a visit. It isn’t cheap to visit this sanctuary but it is a whole day affair and a great business to support as they are dedicated to koala research, sustainable practices and animal care. Parking is free on site or you could combine your visit with a cruise along the Brisbane River.

Back to Southbank and the Brisbane CBD some free and low cost places to check out include Streets Beach, a free man- made lagoon that is patrolled by a lifeguard, Southbank Market, Epicurious garden and Riverside Green playground. The Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) is an incredible attraction for young and old and a free experience. At the time of our visit we got to check out Wonderstruck, a large scale interactive experience for families however they are constantly working on cool things and offerings so there is no bad time to visit.  We spent nearly half a day at QAGOMA and could have stayed even longer. Not only are the exhibits fantastic, they also have a good onsite café with reasonably priced kid’s meals and nice views of the parklands.

Other notable activities close by include the Maritime Museum, the Wheel of Brisbane (great at sunset to see the sparkly lights and to get a bird’s eye view of the city), the State library of Queensland and the Queensland Museum.

If you visit during the school holidays a much loved activity for Brisbane kids is jumping on the Xpress fun train (a trackless tourist train) that runs from Southbank parklands to the Roma Street Parkland. Roma Street Parkland is an oasis in the middle of the city with a rainforest walk, a spectacle garden, two giant playgrounds, a café and so much space for picnics.

This is just a small sample of what you can do in Brisbane and most of the attractions mentioned are free!

Cheap Eats

There are so many incredible places to eat in Brisbane and Southbank it can be hard to choose. If you are trying to keep things low cost like we were, I recommend choosing one or two standout places to treat yourself and then opting for cheap eats for the remaining meals. Whilst staying in Southbank we had breakfast included and then found cheap dining spots at Grill’d, Guzman Y Gomez and the QAG café. We also had an amazing meal at Spice Central Kitchen, which certainly wasn’t cheap but it was conveniently located at the hotel we stayed at which made the outing with kids easier.

Staying at the Brisbane Holiday Village we visited the supermarket, made our own meals, and grabbed a bite to eat at the Westfield Mount Gravatt food court. Other tips and tricks include purchasing a cask of water and refilling your water bottles, buying a takeaway pack of ice cream as opposed to single cones and taking snacks with you on day trips.

We also stopped for coffee at Golden Times, a great little coffee shop near Coolangatta airport.

When to Visit

Weather wise the best time to visit Brisbane is between March to May or September to November. This being said we travelled in August and it was perfect, warm enough to swim but not sweltering and a great break from the cool Adelaide climate.

We also travelled mid week to save money as flights and accommodation are often more economical during the week than on weekends. Travelling outside of school holidays and public holidays also helps minimise the cost.

Final Thoughts

Overall we absolutely loved our Brisbane holiday and would love to return. We were enticed to visit to see Bluey’s World but ended up falling in love with the city and all it had to offer our family. 

For more information and all enquiries please check out the Visit Brisbane website.

At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.

As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently. All photos are by Play & Go.

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