5 Awesome Weekend Trips in Queensland, Australia

Just an hour’s drive down the M1 from Brisbane, the Goldie offers a smorgasbord of things to see and do on a day trip. The 57km (about 35mi) of golden coastline represent the Gold Coast’s most obvious attraction; Rainbow Bay and Currumbin Creek are great places for a dip and surfers will love the world-class breaks at Snapper Rocks and the Superbank. Kids and kids at heart should make a beeline to the Gold Coast’s raft of amusement parks, specifically Dreamworld, Warner Bros Movie World, Sea World and Wet’n’Wild. Head inland for some of Queensland’s most Instagram-worthy terrain, including the lush swimming holes in the Springbrook and Lamington National Parks, the serene Mount Tamborine and the web of walking trails around the Scenic Rim.

‘Straddie’, as the locals call it, is just a ferry trip from Cleveland in the south of Brisbane, but feels like a tropical island that’s a world away from the Queensland capital. This large sand island is famous for its snow-white beaches, which double as some of the best fishing spots in the state, as well as its abundance of native Australian wildlife: you’ll bump into kangaroos on the North Gorge Walk and koalas around Dulwich and Amity Point. Straddie is also dotted with inland freshwater lakes, such as the tea-tree stained Brown Lake, and offers a stack of great nautical activities such as kayaking, snorkelling, scuba diving and surfing.

With Caloundra just an hour and a quarter from the middle of Brisbane and Noosa Heads another half hour up the road, the Sunshine Coast is within easy day trip range of the capital. This pristine stretch of coastline is blessed with warm water and warmer sunshine 12 months a year, inviting visitors to dive into one of the many underwater experiences available. And it’s not just about the beaches: the impressive Glass House Mountains provide a stunning backdrop to the region, not to mention the network of leafy bushwalks to explore – the tracks around the headland in the Noosa National Park are jaw-dropping.

The home of the crocodile hunter is one of the best ecotourism experiences that the Sunshine Coast has to offer. Located only an hour north of Brisbane, Australia Zoo was founded by Steve Irwin’s parents in 1970, and Irwin’s legacy has lived on, thanks to wife Terri and kids Bob and Bindi, since the Croc Hunter’s untimely death in 2006. This zoo has sustainability and conservation at its core, providing a home to a thousand animals on this large site nestled in the scenic Sunshine Coast hinterland. There’s a range of animal encounters and feeding experiences on offer – you can snap a selfie with everything from lemurs and meerkats to cheetahs and giraffes – and don’t miss the legendary crocodile feeding show.

This coastal paradise just north of Straddie is a well-trodden day trip from Brisbane, offering heaps of aquatic adventures. The postcard image of Moreton Island is the Tangalooma Wrecks, a set of 15 ships rusting in crystal-clear water that offers one of the best snorkelling sites in the state. There’s the chance to hand-feed dolphins at the Tangalooma Island Resort, or watch whales crawl their way up the humpback highway during winter. Hop behind the wheel of a four-wheel drive and tackle trails on the beach or through the bush, or get the adrenaline pumping with some sand dune tobogganing. That’s an awful lot to squeeze into a cheeky day trip!

Sofia Vyas contributed additional reporting to this article.