The easternmost major metropolis in Australia comes with bags of attitude and energy. Skyscrapers shoot up from the heart of its business district; a testimony to its Global City aspirations. Shopping centres and malls cluster beneath the shiny edifices, throbbing with life and action. At the burgeoning South Bank, cafes, riverside gardens and pools help cool off between visits to the curious modern art exhibits at GoMA and the Expo center. Meanwhile, the Chinatown streets of Fortitude Valley thump to the sound of super clubs and Hemingway impersonators sip coffees in the boho joints of the West End. This veritable patchwork of different characters and neighbourhoods is precisely what makes Brisbane the enthralling east coast city it is. But a sleepless metropolitan energy is by no means its only pull either. No sir, Brisbane tour guides also point to the city’s year-round summer climate, the nearby strips of the Gold Coast, spectacular views from Mount Coot-tha, and the outdoorsy pursuits on offer at Kangaroo Point and Moreton Bay to name just some of the alternative items on the menu!