Best Things to Do in Toowoomba, Australia: Top Attractions & Activities

Toowoomba is located 130 kilometres west of Brisbane in Queensland on the main ridge of the Great Diving Range. Toowoomba is called the garden city for apt reasons. Hence, it always has mild year-round weather and rich volcanic soils make a spectacle of colour and scent every season. Additionally, there is a ten-day Carnival of Flowers that blends horticulture, music and excellent food and drink. Toowoomba provides a high dose of chlorophyll in any season. It has a collection of neatly managed parks developing native and exotic deciduous trees that do fit in the city’s special conditions. There are amazing lookout points and stunning scenery in every direction as it is located in the Great Diving Range. Find out the best things to do in Toowoomba, Australia below.

6 Best Things to Do In Toowoomba, Australia

1. Japanese Garden

Japanese Garden: Best Things to Do In Toowoomba, Australia — Credits: Pixabay

The Japanese garden is located on the north front of the University of Southern Queensland campus in the 1980s. It is on the top of the Toowoomba’s horticultural gems and is one of the best things to do in Toowoomba, Australia. The Japanese name is Ju Raku En, which interpreted about means “to enjoy peace and longevity in a public place.” It was all created according to old Japanese principles by Professor Kinsaku Nakane of Kyoto. Hence, it represents a Buddhist paradise. In other words, it is said to be home to the immortals with a celestial sea bathing the banks of three islands. There are more than 230 varieties of Australian and Japanese trees growing here and three kilometres of tracks to stroll around. Additionally, These will also send you through a mountain stream and waterfall, a dry garden and an elegant azalea hill.

2. Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain : Best Things to Do In Toowoomba, Australia — Credits: Google Images

It’s not difficult to get the appeal of this ancient volcanic cone. It has vertiginous slopes rising to only below 600 metres over sea level (158m prominence). The lower slopes are in eucalypt forest, but the summit is bare, carpeted in native grasses like kangaroo grass.

You can see many views from the top. Such as, the Main Range to the south, the Lockyer Valley to the east and Prince Henry Heights growing to the north. Table Top Mountain is on the Aboriginal Register. So, if you’d rather appreciate the view from distant, there’s a mixture of viewpoints with super vistas in the region. For instance, the Katoomba Point Lookout (Prince Henry Drive) and the Bob Dodds Lookout (Tobruk Memorial Drive). Additionally, you can also take hikes in the area. Hence, this is one of the best things to do in Toowoomba, Australia.

3. Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers

People from all around Australia fly down to Toowoomba to mark the return of spring at this ten-day event each September. It is one of the best things to do in Toowoomba, Australia. The Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers is not only an explosion of spring glow, adding great food and shows by world-famous music artists into the mix over more than 60 events and happenings. Most of the city’s parks get in on the business, but Queens Park and Laurel Bank Park, in special, are the life of the party. If you have to pick one scene to describe the whole carnival it’s the Grand Central Floral Parade. Because, in which beautiful flower-embroidered exhibits move within the CBD to Queens Park, followed by street entertainers and carnival personalities. After that, these platforms go on display at the Godsall St Oval, and you can buy the blooms that adorned them.

4. Laurel Bank Park

This beautiful 4.5-hectare park was decorated in the 1930s. It is located on the west facet of Toowoomba’s CBD. This space is a treat all year round. It has a mixture of exotic trees, picnic space, park, topiaries, gazebo, Scented Garden and complete croquet lawns. But Laurel Bank Park really gets into its own in spring while the cherry trees break into flower and there’s an explosion of colour and fragrances in the fabulous formal flowerbeds. This all tops with Toowoomba’s Carnival of Flowers in September. As for the Scented Garden, that is a “garden within a garden” and is created with plants, herbs and flowers in elevated beds using designs offered by the Downs Association of the Blind.

5. Queens Park and Botanic Gardens

Starting life in the 1870s, the legendary Queens Park and its Botanic Gardens were more than an era in the making, and have held onto plenty of characteristics and sowings from the late-1800s. Many of specimen trees remain from this time. For instance, an English oak, swamp cypress, Bunya pines, Himalayan pine and Chinese elm to identify a small few. The genteel camphor laurel avenue that intersects the park from north to south is also well-known.

While Queens Park has a free, free-shifting form, the Botanic Gardens are elegant and formal, with definite flowerbeds, avenues and hedges. Naturally, Queens Park and Botanic Gardens are one of the principal anchors for the Carnival of Flowers, and through this time frame of the three-day Heritage Bank Festival of Food & Wine.

6. Highfields Pioneer Village

Minutes away in Highfields there’s an open-air museum with more than 60 well-known structures. These have been rescued from demolition, passed to this site and returned. The homes, shops and multiuse constructions are an intriguing document of the Australian story. Hence, mostly from the Darling Downs region and packed with historic instruments, devices and appliances.

In the Pioneer Village, you can hit sub-attractions. Such as the Ambulance Museum, Fire Brigade Museum and Queensland Energy Museum, all with equipment, outfits and memorabilia recording back well over a century. Younger kids will be excited with Myrtle May, the 10¼-in gauge miniature railroad, and Henry the Model T Ford bus, both of which operate on the last Sundays of every month.

In conclusion, the list covers all the best things to do in Toowoomba which should surely on your bucket list. Nature lovers brace yourself! Australia is calling. You can also create your own itinerary with us, go on to Pickyourtrail International tour packages and reach out to us if you have any doubts. You can even drop us a text on WhatsApp to help you pick out the best suited Australia holiday package!