Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha
Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
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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 rainforest area.
JennyJenny
00
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 time together.
B StrikaB Strika
00
You will find this place a total escape, where you can immerse yourself in beautiful surroundings. Getting close to nature is great for the mind, body and spirit. I think anyone would feel better after a visit here. There is so much to see, with the Japanese garden a highlight, the fernery and the bonsai house. There is plenty of shade and places to sit for a break or to take in the serenity. I found out they have free guided tours, which are fantastic if you'd like to hear some of the history of the gardens and how some of the plants and trees function - there are some fascinating insights. The tours go for an hour, but you stay for as long as you have time. There's no way to cover the whole gardens in a one hour tour, so they will take you to various parts and you can wander around the rest yourself, or on another visit, because you'll want to return. The guides are volunteers and we had Denis, who is in his 80s and has been a guide for 20 years - he was amazing! He's very knowledgeable and he made it informative and entertaining. The hour went quickly! I had planned to leave earlier, but it was so enjoyable I stayed for the hour. The cafe was good too, reasonably priced and good variety.
WendyWendy
20
Tickets are only required for the planetarium showings, otherwise the gardens are free. There is so much free to see. My only disappointment today was that the Bonsai display house was closed due to upgrade works, I peaked through the doors, it looks spectacular. I visited the Japanese Gardens which, a lovely tranquil setting (lots of dragon flies today) and walked around many other garden sections of plant species and continental plantings/groupings. There are many beautiful and interesting sculptures dotted about too. Also lots of places to sit and relax, have a picnic and slow down enough the see the wild life. Lots of water spouts incase you forget to bring a drink. There is a cafe onsite which smelt of delicious fish and chips as i passed it. Visit for a nature fix, spend 15 minutes or all day, it’s worth the effort!
Kevin CostelloKevin Costello
10
A beautiful place to spend the day exploring & enjoying a picnic in serenity. Recommend picking up a map from the Visitor Centre. We explored all sections by foot but there are car parks throughout if you’d like to get to a specific part. There is a lot to see! Wheelchair friendly concrete paths but also sloping in some sections can be difficult if you have a manual wheelchair. A very photogenic place. We enjoyed seeing wildlife plus art pieces & signage throughout. The cafe serves great coffee! 🚗 Main Carpark plus several around the outer garden sections ℹ️ Visitor information centre (grab a map) 🍽️ Cafe/Restaurant 🚻 Toilets available ♿️ Wheelchair accessible. 🛝 Playground 🦆Lakes for wildlife 🧺 Picnic tables (sheltered), drinking fountains, BBQs & bins available.
AshAsh
20
Loved strolling through the gardens from the get go, where we were warmly greeted by staff and set off on a recommended route. The gardens have a series of marked pathways, each of varying length, of which the visitor centre staff will happily recommend to suit your needs or time constraints if you have any. We picked path 1, which they claim is the best bang for your buck (it's all free anyway), and found ourselves meandering off the walks anyway. Such was the way, turning every corner and seeing something else which peaked our curiosity. From the fern house, to Japanese gardens, all the way to the denser exotic rainforests, the Botanic gardens were a great tranquil place to wander and discover something new.
David FungDavid Fung
00
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Learn more insights from Wanderboat AIBasic Info
Address
152 Mount Coot-Tha Rd, Mount Coot-Tha QLD 4066, Australia
Map
Phone
+61 7 3403 8888
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Website
brisbane.qld.gov.au
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Reviews
Overview
4.7
(3.1K reviews)
Ratings & Description
attractions: Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium, Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens Lookout, Tropical Display Dome, Brisbane Botanic Gardens Lagoon, Richard Randall Art Studio, restaurants: Botanic Gardens Cafe, The Kingfisher Seafood Cafe, Nowhere Espresso
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