Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha — Attraction in Brisbane City

We loved Mount Coot-tha Botanic Garden and will be back.

Brisbane has two botanic gardens – The ‘City Botanic Gardens’ (1855), and the ‘Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mount Coot-tha’ (1976)

The Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mount Coot-tha is 7km from the CBD. It’s free and open every day (8am to 5/6pm). There is a reasonable amount of parking, for instance at 2pm in the January school holidays there were several shady spots available. Unfortunately, we didn’t plan our visit well enough and missed the guided tour. The Garden is interesting, so it would be worthwhile.

The Garden covers 56 hectares and contains more than 20,000 plants from around the world. It also contains the largest collection of Australian native rainforest trees.

The Garden is divided into separate areas based on thematic and geographical plant communities. The paths to these areas are colour coded. One small glitch is that the pink path that we were taking had several pink side paths that were confusing, so take a photo of the sign with the map before you head off.

The Garden’s specialty is plants from arid, tropical, and temperate areas – both native and exotic. Our favourite areas were:

• Arid zone and cactus house –amazing, sculptural shapes • Japanese Garden – designed by the late Kenzo Ogata, one of Japan’s leading landscape architects. The Japanese Garden was relocated to this site following its exhibition at the Brisbane World Expo in 1988. • Bonsai house – it’s one of the largest publicly owned bonsai displays in Australia. In 1985 Brisbane City Council and the Kobe City Government (KCG), Japan became sister cities. • Tropical dome – a geodesic (lattice) dome designed by Brisbane City Council architect Jacob de Vries. The design and engineering of the dome is impressively intricate. A circular path winds up and around a water feature that is located under the centre of the dome. At the exit there is a cocoa tree with a vanilla vine growing on it. Both had fruit (see photos).

We recommend visiting this Garden and allowing at least a full morning or afternoon. We ran out of time. We live in Sydney but will come again to see the...

The Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens turned out to be one of the highlights of Brisbane. From the moment we stepped into the tropical dome, it felt like entering another world. Inside the glasshouse, the air was warm and humid, filled with lush greenery, reflective pools, and towering plants reaching for the steel lattice above. It was a striking start, and a perfect preview of the diversity that lay beyond.

Walking the paths, we found trees that looked like living sculptures. The thorn-covered silk floss tree stood out as something unique, while the bottle trees with their swollen trunks were a reminder of how plants adapt to tough environments. Tall conifers stretched their branches in precise, almost architectural shapes, and every corner seemed to bring a new discovery.

Around the lagoon, fountains sparkled under the sun, framed by eucalyptus trees and peaceful lawns. It was the kind of place where you could easily stop for a picnic or simply sit and take in the calm. Families and visitors strolled past, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere, while the occasional wildlife sighting—like a huge spider sitting calmly in its web—reminded us that this is more than just a garden, it’s a living ecosystem.

The themed areas added even more variety: from dry landscapes dotted with succulents and bottle trees, to rainforest walks and the serenity of the Japanese Garden. The balance between natural wilderness and carefully maintained paths made it easy to explore, but also clear that the gardens are well cared for.

You definitely need more than just 2–3 hours here to see it all—closer to 4 hours if you want to take your time. But it’s absolutely worth it. Beautifully kept, incredibly diverse, and a true green escape so close...

Has plenty of parking. We waited around 10 minutes to find a free parking mainly because it is a public holiday and there are lots of people. Parking is free and there is no time restriction. I got the map of the place and then realized how massive the whole place is. The staff are nice and helpful. They answered all of our questions with friendly attitude. The place is clean and you can clearly see each plant. If you know plants and are into plants then I can't recommend this place enough. You will see heaps of plants there from around the world. You could spend the whole day there and not see everything. We were just walking through and only seen half of it in 3 hours. There are places where you can have picnic. Places with great scenery. Very good to relax and unwind. Good for kids too. While I have not seen areas specifically for kids, there were lots of people that came with kids and they were having fun just walking around and looking at things. There is a cafe/restaurant. The line gets big and you can wait a while before you order. That is one down side to it. We had coffee and it tasted great, thanks to the staff. I would recommend coming here to relax and have picnic with family or just couples to spend some quality...