On South Bank, just over Victoria Bridge from the CBD, the Queensland Cultural Centre is the epicentre of Brisbane’s cultural confluence. Surrounded by subtropical gardens, the string of architecturally notable buildings includes the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, the Queensland Museum & Sciencentre, the Queensland Art Gallery, the State Library of Queensland, and the particularly outstanding Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA).
If you have kids in tow, a good place to start is the Queensland Museum & Sciencentre. The museum itself offers an engaging journey through the state's history, its collection includes a skeleton of the state’s own dinosaur, Muttaburrasaurus, and the Avian Cirrus, the tiny plane in which Queensland’s Bert Hinkler made the first England-to-Australia solo flight in 1928. Meanwhile, the site's Sciencentre is an educational fun house with a plethora of interactive exhibits delving into life science and technology. Expect long queues during school holidays.
The Queensland Art Gallery houses a fine permanent collection, mostly of domestic artists, among them Sydney Nolan, Arthur Boyd, Charles Blackman and pioneering Indigenous artist Albert Namatjira.
Occupying an award-winning contemporary building by Sydney firm Architectus, the imposing Gallery of Modern Art delivers world-class exhibitions of both Australian and international art in a variety of media, from painting, sculpture and photography to video, installation and film.