Every plan starts with the Airtrain, 20 minutes from the airport to Central station in the middle of the city. The city-centre walks and South Bank's gallery are free; the koalas at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary need a long layover and a bus ride.
How much of Brisbane can you see on a layover?
With 5.5 hours, a walk along Queen Street Mall from Central station. From 6 hours, add the free City Hall clock tower tour and the Botanic Gardens, and from 6.5, South Bank's free art gallery and lagoon beach. From 10 hours, take the bus to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, open 9am to 5pm.
Every plan below starts and ends at Brisbane Airport (BNE). The times in town allow about an hour from landing to sitting on the Airtrain, and have you back at the airport 90 minutes before departure, with your onward boarding pass. The walks between sights are our allowances from map distances.
First make sure you can leave the airport: apart from Australians and New Zealanders, everyone needs an ETA, eVisitor or visa before boarding. Then check the day. QAGOMA and the Queensland Museum are closed on Good Friday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day and open late on Anzac Day (25 April), Queen Street Mall’s shops keep short hours on Sundays (10am to 4pm), and Airtrain runs its own timetable on Christmas Day.
5.5 to 6.5 hours: the city centre on foot
You’ll have about an hour in town on a 5.5-hour layover and up to 2 hours on a 6.5-hour one, enough for a walk from Central station.
Queen Street Mall
The quickest way to say you’ve seen Brisbane: a pedestrian street of shops and arcades, a few minutes from the station, with nothing to book.
- Airtrain from the International Terminal to Central, 20 minutes.
- Walk about 8 minutes down Edward Street to Queen Street Mall.
- Wander the mall, then walk a few minutes on to King George Square and City Hall.
- Walk back to Central, leaving town about 2 hours 35 minutes before your flight.
Opening hours. The mall is a street, so it’s always open, but its shops trade from 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and Saturday, to 9pm on Friday, and from 10am to 4pm on Sunday. A late landing on a Sunday finds them shut.
City Hall, the Botanic Gardens and the Mall
A free hour and a half in the centre: up the City Hall clock tower for the view, then down to the river through the City Botanic Gardens. It needs a layover of about 6 hours.
- Airtrain to Central, then walk about 10 minutes to Brisbane City Hall on King George Square.
- Take the clock tower tour from the Museum of Brisbane on Level 3: one of the city’s oldest working cage lifts, the back of the clock faces and an observation platform at the top. The tour lasts 15 minutes and is free.
- Walk about 15 minutes to the City Botanic Gardens, open around the clock beside the river.
- Back through Queen Street Mall to Central, leaving about 2 hours 35 minutes before your flight.
Book the tower. Tours run every 15 minutes from 10:15am to 4:45pm, daily, with only 7 places each, so book online as soon as you know your landing time, and arrive 15 minutes early. For the first tour, land by about 8am; land after about 2:30pm and you’ll miss the last one.
Bags and heat. Backpacks and large bags aren’t allowed in the tower; there are lockers on Level 3 as you enter the museum. The tower isn’t air-conditioned, and tours are cancelled when it’s above 36°C, which can happen on a summer afternoon.
6.5 to 10 hours: South Bank
About 2 to 5.5 hours in town, with the Airtrain running straight to South Brisbane station, two stops past Central.
South Bank: art and the river
Two free galleries under one name, QAGOMA, then the riverside parkland and its lagoon beach. Good for couples, and for a wet day, since most of it is indoors. It needs a layover of about 6.5 hours.
- Airtrain to South Brisbane, about 30 minutes from the International Terminal, on the same A$23.30 ticket.
- Walk 5 minutes to QAGOMA, the Queensland Art Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art. Entry is free, apart from a few special exhibitions, and it’s open from 10am to 5pm. Give it 45 minutes to an hour.
- Walk through South Bank Parklands to Streets Beach, a sandy lagoon by the river, and along the riverside.
- Back to South Brisbane station, leaving about 2 hours 40 minutes before your flight.
Pick your day. QAGOMA is closed on Good Friday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day; on those days take the city-centre walk instead. It opens at 10am (noon on Anzac Day, 25 April), so the earliest useful landing is about 8am. On 28 and 29 November 2026 track work stops trains at South Brisbane, so choose a plan from Central.
More time? The Queensland Museum is next door, open daily from 9:30am to 5pm. The Wheel of Brisbane turns from 10am to 10pm, to 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. The State Library of Queensland, beside the Gallery of Modern Art, opens 9am to 8pm Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm on Friday and 10am to 5pm at weekends, and closes on the same three holidays as QAGOMA.
10 hours or more: koalas at Lone Pine
About 5.5 hours or more in town: enough for the bus out to Lone Pine and an unhurried visit.
Koalas and kangaroos at Lone Pine
The plan for families, and for anyone who wants to see Australian animals up close. Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, open since 1927 and 12 km from the city centre, has koalas in their trees and a reserve where kangaroos roam free and you can feed them. It needs a layover of about 10 hours.
- Airtrain to Central, 20 minutes.
- Walk about 10 minutes to King George Square and take bus 430 (every day) or bus 445 (Monday to Saturday) from stop 11 on Ann Street. Between them they leave about every 30 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays; on Sundays only the 430 runs, at about 24 minutes past each hour. The ride takes 35 to 45 minutes and costs 50 cents with a contactless card.
- Spend about 2.5 hours at Lone Pine: kangaroo feeding all day, the lorikeets at 9:45am and 3:45pm, a koala talk at 11:30am, and a bird-of-prey show and a sheepdog show twice a day. You can’t hold a koala here.
- Bus back to Adelaide Street in the city, 45 minutes to an hour, then walk about 10 minutes to Central. Leave Lone Pine on a bus at or before the time your plan gives: the 430 leaves at about 56 minutes past on weekdays and 22 past at weekends, and the 445 at 39 past on weekdays and 54 past on Saturdays.
When to land. Lone Pine opens from 9am to 5pm every day, with last entry at 4pm. You reach it about 3 hours 15 minutes after landing, so for a full visit land between about 6am and 11:15am. On Anzac Day, 25 April, it opens at 1:30pm, so land no earlier than about 10:15am. The last buses back leave at 5:56pm on weekdays and 5:22pm at weekends, after closing time.
Tickets. A day pass costs A$63 for adults, A$45 for children aged 3 to 13 and A$50 for students aged 14 to 17. A family pass for 2 adults and up to 3 children is A$193, and one adult with up to 3 children pays A$133. You can buy at the gate or online, from Lone Pine itself or as a GetYourGuide day pass (opens in a new tab).
By river instead. Koala & River Cruises sails from the Cultural Centre Pontoon at South Bank at 9am, reaching Lone Pine at 10:15am, and leaves again at 1:30pm, back at 2:45pm. To make the 9am boat, land by about 6:30am, and book a flight after about 5:30pm. Check the fare when you book.
Tours from the airport
A guided trip into Brisbane from the airport means a private tour, booked ahead.
| Tour | Length | Layover you need | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private city tour with a driver-guide, on Viator | 6 hours | About 8.5 hours | From about US$1,118 (seen November 2026) |
| Lone Pine day pass on your own, by Airtrain and bus | 2.5 hours at the sanctuary | About 10 hours | Live price on GetYourGuide |
- What’s on offer. Viator lists one private Brisbane layover tour (opens in a new tab), 6 hours of the city’s sights with a driver-guide. Check that it collects you at the airport and whether the price is for the whole group. GetYourGuide’s Brisbane page (opens in a new tab) lists city tours that start in town.
- How long a layover. Take the tour’s own length and add roughly 2.5 hours: the border takes about an hour on the way in, and you want 90 minutes at the airport on the way out.
- Ask the operator what the price covers, how cancellation works, and what they do if your plane is late.
Overnight: rest at the airport, then the city at opening
Rest at the airport, then the City Botanic Gardens
Landing late and leaving in the morning? Rest at the airport, then catch the first train into town. Brisbane doesn’t let transit passengers stay airside overnight, so you need an ETA, eVisitor or visa to use the couches in arrivals or an airport hotel.
- Rest on the free couches on Levels 2 and 4 of the International Terminal, or book an airport hotel.
- Take the first Airtrain at 5:08am on weekdays or 6:08am at weekends, reaching Central 20 minutes later.
- Walk about 15 minutes to the City Botanic Gardens, open around the clock, for a quiet walk by the river.
- Back to Central and the airport. With the first weekday train, a flight from about 9am works.
Later flight? Stay for what opens next: Queen Street Mall’s shops at 9am (10am on Sundays), the Queensland Museum at 9:30am, QAGOMA at 10am and the clock tower tours from 10:15am. A morning at QAGOMA suits a flight from about 2pm.
24 hours
With a whole day, stay in a hotel in town and see Brisbane at your own pace. An ETA or eVisitor covers visits of up to 3 months. If your passport can’t use either, the free Transit visa allows up to 72 hours in Australia.
- Go out to Lone Pine in the morning, when the sanctuary opens at 9am.
- Spend the afternoon at South Bank: QAGOMA, the Queensland Museum and Streets Beach.
- Ride the Wheel of Brisbane after dark: it turns until 10pm, and until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays (on Christmas Eve it closes at 6pm).
- Walk the City Botanic Gardens and Queen Street Mall on your way back to Central.
The last Airtrain to the airport leaves Central at 9:31pm, so if your flight is the next morning, sleep in town or near the airport and take the first train.
Rest at the airport
Only the sun lounges and the two pay-per-use lounges are airside, past security. Everything else is landside, so you need entry permission and must pass the border to use it. At the airport covers the prices, showers and lockers.
Stay airside: the sun lounges and a pay-per-use lounge
On Level 3 of the International Terminal, past security, free sun lounges and couches sit near Gates 82 to 87, and there are free showers on the same level. Plaza Premium, near Gate 77, charges A$60 for two hours or A$70 for five; Escape, on the mezzanine near Gate 82, costs from A$55 booked online or A$80 at the door (seen November 2026). You can wait here without a visa only on a same-day connection of under 8 hours on a listed passport, and International security closes from 1:30am to 4:45am, so you can’t come back through it at night.
After the border: couches and showers
Once you’ve cleared the border, there are free couches on Levels 2 and 4 of the International Terminal and free showers in the Level 2 arrivals hall. Bring your own towel and toiletries. The Domestic Terminal has no area for sleeping; from there, take the free Terminal Transfer Bus to the International Terminal (4am to 1:30am).
A night at an airport hotel
Three hotels stand outside the terminals: the ibis Brisbane Airport, a 5 to 7-minute walk from the Domestic Terminal; the Pullman Brisbane Airport, a 5-minute walk; and the Novotel Brisbane Airport, a 5-minute drive away near the Skygate shops. All three sell a day stay from 9am to 5pm. A hotel shuttle links them with both terminals from 4am to 9am, for A$8 a person; at other times, take the free Terminal Transfer Bus to the Domestic Terminal and walk, or a taxi to the Novotel.
Tips that make a Brisbane layover easier
- Tap, don’t queue. A contactless Visa or Mastercard, or a phone or watch, pays for the Airtrain at the gates. Tap off with the same card at the other end.
- Two fares, not one. Buses, city trains and Brisbane’s ferries cost a flat 50 cents, but the Airtrain doesn’t: it’s A$23.30 each way, and an Airtrain ticket isn’t valid on buses or ferries.
- Children ride free on the Airtrain with an adult, aged 14 and under, but only on an Airtrain ticket bought online or at the station, not with a card.
- Online discount. In November 2026 Airtrain’s website offered 15% off tickets bought online, and A$17 each for two or more adults travelling together.
- Leave the trolley. Airport trolleys can’t go on the trains; there’s room for cases on board.
- Clocks. Queensland doesn’t use daylight saving. Until 4 April 2027, Sydney and Melbourne are an hour ahead of Brisbane.