Brisbane's Layers: A Tour of Murals, Bridges and River Views

Brisbane has been shaped by convicts, colonists, and floods – the layers of that history are still visible on every street. On this walking tour, you'll hear the city's story from its origins as a convict settlement to its current state as a sun-soaked modern metropolis. You'll also learn how Brisbane's streets, buildings, and riverside were deliberately planned, built, and rebuilt by the people who called them home.

The tour starts at King George Square, in front of the iconic Brisbane City Hall, a classical sandstone building with the largest copper dome roof in the Southern Hemisphere. From there, you'll wind through Lower Burnett Lane, the first road ever built by convicts and where vivid murals by street artist Drapl now cover the walls. You'll explore the Queen Street Mall, visit the 1929 Regent Theatre, and duck through the heritage-listed Brisbane Arcade before heading towards the river.

The tour continues past ANZAC Square, with its three avenues dedicated to the Air Force, Army and Navy, then up to St John's Cathedral, a Gothic structure that took over a century to complete. You'll walk along the Brisbane River boardwalk, cross the new Kangaroo Point pedestrian bridge opened in December 2024, and pass through the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, home to 150-year-old trees and ornamental ponds. The tour ends at the Brisbane Sign on the South Bank riverbank, the same spot where the city has gathered since the 1988 World Expo transformed an old docklands into public parkland.

On this two-hour tour, you'll have a chance to:

• Step inside the Regent Theatre's ornate 1929 foyer, one of the few surviving examples of its kind in Brisbane
• See Danie Mellor's striking blue glass murals, Supernatural Landscape, inside 480 Queen Street
• Learn why the pedestrian crossing beep inspired Billie Eilish's Grammy-winning Bad Guy
• Spot a tiny secret door at 32 Edward Street, one of 15 hidden across the city
• View the Queensland Parliament building, built from sandstone in 1868 with a distinctive copper dome
• Take in panoramic views from the Sky Deck on the 23rd floor of the Queens Wharf building

Brisbane rewards the curious, and this tour gives you the stories to make sense of what you're seeing.