Planning a trip to Brisbane can be daunting especially if it is your first time visiting
so in this video I'm going to be sharing with you all of our must
know tips including and the very best things to see do and eat. Now you guys
this video is extra special because Matt and I we are from Brisbane so everything
you're gonna find out in this video are genuine locals tips
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A welcoming city located along the twists and turns of the Brisbane River
Queensland's capital is a hub of great food, cultural experiences and entertainment
Hey you guys it's Phoebe here from Little Grey Box with Matt
behind the camera and on this channel we share with you all of our experiences
and tips to help you travel well now if you didn't catch them already make sure
you go back and watch both of our Brisbane travel guides so you are all caught up
and if you don't already be sure to subscribe and say hello in the comments below
Brisbane is located in southeast Queensland
surprisingly close to the New South Wales border
The capital of Queensland it's home to around two and a half million people and it's about an
hour's drive each from the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coasts
You may be required to get a visa before entering Australia, so make sure you check the visa
requirements before you depart your home country Australia has really strict
quarantine and biosecurity laws they are no joke and as you're coming in to land
at Brisbane International Airport you'll be shown a video all about it it is
really really important that you are honest on your card
if in doubt make sure you ask the amazing staff at the airport and they
will help you figure out what to do if you're in doubt throw it out or declare it
but whatever you do don't lie on your form because if you get found out there
are really big fines that apply the local currency in Australia is of course
the Australian dollar and you need to know, my North American friends, that we
do not have a tipping culture here the local language in Australia is of course
English now if English isn't your first language I would definitely recommend
that you have Google Translate or something similar downloaded to your
phone with that said you are definitely going to need to brush up on your Aussie
slang if you're going to make it in Brisbane so let's dive into a few of my
personal favorites now a really big one especially in Queensland is the word
togs which is... I mean it means swimmers but I don't know why
no dramas, no worries no wuckers or one of my personal favourites
no wucking furries. Arvo, afternoon servo, service station or gas station
Bottle-o, your bottle shop or liquor store Devo, devastated that one's a real
favorite of mine. Thongs, does not make mean the underwear it means the footwear like a
flip-flop you may also hear them referred to as pluggers and there are
single pluggers and double pluggers Snag is a sausage
Esky is a cooler or a chilly bin Choc-a-block means full
crack the shits
means get angry throw a tantrum get up and leave
Maccas is of course McDonalds
Chuck a uey means do a u-turn
Barbie, barbecue
Bloody, I know that's a bit of a funny one in North America but here it's
a very common term. How was your day? Bloody great!
Cactus, means like... dead or tired
Oh how are you feeling? Oh mate I'm cactus! and one you'll hear all the time but I
was surprised to hear that overseas people kind of struggle with was
How's it going? or How's it garn?
One other word of warning though we love to mess with overseas visitors
I don't know it's just really fun and it's kind of done in
an endearing way because we like you and we want to have a laugh with you
It's almost a rite of passage to have some locals tell you some really scary
stories and play on your preconceived ideas about murderous wildlife so my
advice to you is when you hear something that sounds terrifying or a little bit
like it's too scary to be true question-it google it and keep your wits
about you because we are definitely trying to trick you
If you're coming from overseas you're going to most likely fly into the Brisbane
International Airport some flights though, may stop in Sydney or Melbourne
first which means you'll arrive at the Brisbane domestic terminal instead
but don't worry, both are really friendly, welcoming and
easy to navigate and there are loads of staff on hand to help you with
any questions that you have and if anybody's mean to you you just let me
know and I'll take care of it for you
when it comes time to get from the
airport to your hotel you have a few different options brisbin's air train
runs direct from the airport to Brisbane CBD and it runs about every 15 minutes
during peak times of course you can go with a taxi or ride share app like uber
or you can hire a car Brisbane is hotter than a magic mic so and the weather up
here gets pretty steamy owing to our humid subtropical climate do not
underestimate that heat you can get heatstroke you can get sunburned and
both of those things I'm not a nice time it won't be a regular sunburn it'll be a
really really bad one drink plenty of water avoid going out during those
really hot parts of the day usually it's from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. planned
that as your rest time and do most of your activities either side of that you
should also be covered I've made sure you are wearing you know protective
clothing to stop you getting burned have sunscreen on hat sunglasses all of that
kind of stuff it's gonna make a huge difference and whatever you do please do
not go to the beach right at midday on a hot summer's day in January you go burn
you will get sunstroke and it won't be a good impression now what I love about
Brisbane is we generally get these beautiful blue skies sunny days all year
round typically our warmest months are going to run from October through to
around the end of April and from May until around September it's going to be
a little bit colder now there's hotter months that I
mentioned they can get very very hot especially if we're talking about kind
of end of November December January and February
one other thing to be aware of is that we do have our storm season running from
their member to March now that doesn't mean that you have to avoid visiting
during that time not at all storm season is really really beautiful in the
afternoon you hear these big thunderstorms rolling through the sky
turns crazy colors and it's kind of a real
cool Queensland experience for some reason you can catch taxis of course use
a ride share app like uber or you can hire a car if you feel comfortable we do
have a public transport system by you guys it's kind of better suited to
locals because unlike places like Singapore or London that isn't that
regular schedule where a train or a bus comes every two minutes so if you miss
one you could be waiting sometimes 45 minutes or an hour for the next one
besides if you're staying in Brisbane CBD you could probably get away with
just getting around on foot anyway and there is of course the free city hop a
ferry service which operates along the Brisbane River in my opinion and based
on my experiences Brisbane is really safe I have never had a situation where
I have felt unsafe in Brisbane I've never had to worry about pickpockets or
anything like that now with that said you should always follow those basic
safety principles that you follow anywhere that you travel one thing you
really need to be wary of is to look out for things like face snakes drop bears
or Ibis attacks Brisbane is the perfect spot to visit as part of a broader
Queensland itinerary I mean it's the capital city so you'll have no trouble
getting a flight here then you could spend around three or four days
exploring Brisbane before branching out and seeing some other parts of our
gorgeous state this could be as simple as a road trip down to the Gold Coast or
heading up to the Sunshine Coast you could head out west explore Toowoomba
the high country Hamlet's the Bunya mountains and of course you can catch a
flight further up north where you can explore the Great Barrier Reef southern
Great Barrier Reef is beautiful spots like Underberg blanston and agnes water
and then right up in tropical North Queensland you've got gorgeous spots
like Cannes for those visiting from overseas you want to make sure you base
yourself somewhere central great spots to stay include Brisbane CBD south bank
new farm Fortitude Valley and Spring Hill we're gonna have some links below
for you to all of the hotels we've stayed at and we'd recommend
and it caused some links to some reviews that you might find useful as well
there's no shortage of wonderful and fun things to do in Brisbane a few of our
favorites and highlights include going kayaking or stand-up paddleboarding
along the Brisbane River you can get up close and personal with our local
wildlife at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary into the gallery of modern uh or catches
show @qp one really lovely thing to do is ride bikes around South Bank or if
it's super hot you can cool down at the gorgeous State Library of Queensland be
sure to check out a few of the amazing markets around Brisbane you should also
catch the sunset at man CUDA or the Kangaroo Point cliffs head to the
gorgeous streets Beach which is a beach right in the city we did a scenic
helicopter flight above the city recently and absolutely loved it and
some really iconic kind of Brisbane things to do would be to go for it
shopping or try your hand at barefoot bowls there's also an abundance of great
dining experiences in Brisbane we have a fantastic food scene a few of our
favorites include a fork or Steiger station and Bacchus restaurant heading
down to Chinatown in Fortitude Valley for some authentic Asian cuisine the
laneways of Fortitude Valley are abundant with some great cafes and
awesome breakfast and brunch spots head to 8th Street at North Shore to take
yourself on a little eating tour or visit my favorite cake shop Jocelyn's
provisions one of Matt's favorites is gnocchi brothers which serves up
delicious plates full of gnocchi and it's really well priced and of course
for the very best views you want to find yourself a really great rooftop bar
Australia isn't known for being a budget-friendly destination and I'm
really sorry I don't have better news but I have to agree with that you can
use the free city hopper to get around Brisbane CBD or just wander around on
foot instead of dining at a restaurant for every single meal why don't you head
to a local market or supermarket or even just Aldi that's where I buy my food
from and put together a picnic and enjoy that beautiful Brisbane weather
by setting yourself up a delicious meal under the shade of a gorgeous tree and
there are some beautiful spots at Southbank to do just that you can also
take advantage of some awesome free activities around the city and if you do
a simple google search you'll find loads but by far the best one and one you
should definitely do is to join a free two up with the Brisbane greeters I did
one recently and it was amazing I thought I already knew everything about
Brisbane but the guides are so knowledgeable and friendly and a
completely free tour you can't go wrong do you ride kangaroos no because the
only kangaroo big enough to ride is also big enough to beat your ass
do you have snakes and spiders everywhere aren't you terrified they're
in my house they're in the garden what am I gonna do I can't live in fear
how'd you scared of sharks they're not really interested in me
Magpies sweeping season is a real thing they come out of nowhere it's all the
things clicking then the next thing you're bleeding it's absolutely
terrifying I don't know what to say other than look out for them and if one
comes to get you swing your arm or your handbag or something around your head
get low and go go go yes those things are in our country the chances of you
seeing them in Brisbane CBD are very very slim but you should definitely just
keep an eye on especially if you're doing things like going push walking
through some beautiful national forests just keep your eyes diving down and back
up down the back up just to keep an eye out for any spiders over the path or
more importantly snakes in your way we are really protective of our wildlife we
treasure them we love them so much so if you are coming please be a good visitor
don't try and touch anything that shouldn't be touched just observe from
afar let the animals be and let them live their peaceful little animal lives
if you are visiting in those summer months it's going to be pretty easy
you'll need your talks remember that one you're swimming you'll need all of your
summer gear like that you know you want to be covered up so some things you can
pull on over the top of your togs for swimmers easily hats sunglasses
sunscreen mosquito repellent if you're planning on being outdoors a lot you're
going to want to pack things like shorts and breathable shirts
skirts and breathable shirts or some addresses of course and if you are
planning on having a few nice nights and bring a couple of nice outfits as well
if you're visiting Brisbane in the winter you might find that jeans and you
know maybe your boots and a puffy jacket and a couple of layers might be enough
for me I get really cold in Princeton in the winter because I'm just not used to
it so I have the jeans the boots that thermal sucks you know I've got the
scarves the beanies the puppets the coats I've got everything on all right
you guys and with that that brings this video to a close I hope you enjoyed all
of the tips that we've shared with you and they're useful and help you plan an
amazing time in Brisbane and if you do visit please leave a comment below and
let me know how your trip was and like I said if anyone was mean to you you just
tell me and I will sort it out because it's not acceptable we love you now if
you don't already be sure to subscribe and say g'day in the comments below have
a great weekend and I will see you with a brand new episode next week love you