Museums and galleries in Brisbane

86 museums and galleries in Brisbane, from the big collections to small independent spaces.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first. Showing the top 40 of 86.

Photo: Chris Olszewski, CC BY-SA 4.0 (licence)

SeeLibrary
Queensland Museum
A large museum featuring several exhibitions that generally focus on natural history and Queensland history.
9:30AM to 5PMFree, except for some special exhibitions · Free entry · Wi-Fi · Wheelchair accessible
SeeArt gallery
Gallery of Modern Art
Part of the Queensland Art Gallery and a short walk from the Main Gallery. Opened in 2006 the gallery regularly hosts exhibitions featuring internationally famous artists (such as Warhol and Picasso) as well as many local contemporary artists.
Closed · opens 10 am tomorrowFree entry · Wheelchair accessible
SeeMuseum
Commissariat Store Museum
Occupying the oldest habitable building in Queensland, the museum highlights both the building and aspects of Brisbane and Queensland's convict, colonial and more recent history. Run by The Royal Historical Society of Queensland. Audio tour can be downloaded from website in advance.
Tue–Fri 10AM to 4PMAdults $7, concession $5 · Heritage listed · Wheelchair accessible
SeeMaritime museum
Queensland Maritime Museum
Has a range of exhibitions and vessels. Step aboard HMAS Diamantina and experience life as a Navy sailor. Be sure to see Ella's Pink Lady, the yacht Queenslander Jessica Watson sailed solo unassisted during her record-breaking journey to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world.
Daily 9:30AM to 4:30PMAdult $16, concession $14, child $7
SeeMuseum
Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying
Spotlights a historical collection of resources in exhibits relating to surveying techniques and maps.
Closed · opens 9:30 am tomorrow
SeeMuseum
Sciencentre
A hands-on, interactive science facility particularly popular with families and children.
Closed · opens 9:30 am tomorrowAdult $15.50, concession $13.50, child $12.50 · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible
SeeArt gallery
Queensland Art Gallery
Housed in two buildings in the cultural precinct.
10AM to 5PMFree, except for some special exhibitions · Wi-Fi · Wheelchair accessible
SeeMuseum
UQ Anthropology Museum
First opened in 1948, this museum houses a display of ethnographic objects, including modern Indigenous Australian and Pacific Island artwork.
Closed · opens 11 am tomorrowFree entry · Wheelchair accessible
SeeMuseum
Museum of Brisbane
Hosts a permanent display on the history of Brisbane and rotating exhibits by local artists that touch on Brisbane's lifestyle and culture. Daily tours into the clocktower and observation deck, bookings essential.
Daily 10AM to 5PM, Fri till 7PMFree · Free entry
SeeMuseum
MacArthur Museum
This museum occupies what was during the Second World War the Office of General Douglas MacArthur. Travel back in time to the early 1940s in this niche Brisbane museum.
Tue Thu Sun 10AM to 3PMAdults $8, seniors $5, child $4
SeeArt museum
The University of Queensland
One of Australia's oldest and most prestigious institutions, situated on a bend of the Brisbane River. Its majestic sandstone buildings are surrounded by ornamental lakes, jacaranda-lined boulevards and some of the finest architecture. Visitor attractions include the Great Court, the UQ Art Museum at the James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre, the Eleanor Schonell Bridge, and wildlife in the UQ lakes. It can be reached by CityCat, or bus route 66 from the CBD along Busway.
See
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Named as the world's best convention centre, this purpose-built convention centre and event venue plays its host to an average of 1,300 yearly events and contains four exhibition halls.
See
South Bank and Cultural Precinct
South Bank is a relatively recent development across the Brisbane River from the heart of the city on the site of World Expo '88, and features an artificial beach surrounded by extensive parklands. Also in South Bank are the shops, cafés, restaurants and cinemas of the Grey Street precinct. A great place to hang out on a hot day and swim for free. Adjacent to South Bank, the Cultural Precinct includes the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Queensland Museum and Sciencentre, Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) and State Library of Queensland. Griffith University's South Bank Campus incorporating The Queensland Conservatorium and the Queensland College of Art are also located on Grey St.
SeeHistoric site
HMAS Diamantina
HMAS Diamantina, named after the Diamantina River in Queensland, is a River-class frigate that served the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Constructed in the mid-1940s, Diamantina was active from 1945 until 1946, was placed in reserve, then was recommissioned as a survey ship from 1959 until 1980. Following her second decommissioning, the frigate was preserved at the Queensland Maritime Museum as a museum ship.
Built 1944
SeeHistoric building
Newstead House
Newstead House is Brisbane's oldest surviving residence and is located on the Breakfast Creek bank of the Brisbane River, in the northern Brisbane suburb of Newstead, in Queensland, Australia. Built as a small cottage in the Colonial-Georgian style in 1846, the cottage was extended and today is painted and furnished in a late Victorian style. Newstead House is the oldest surviving home in Brisbane, but not the oldest surviving building, built in 1846, for Patrick Leslie and his wife Catherine (née McArthur).
SeeMuseum
Boggo Road Gaol
H.M. Prison Brisbane, commonly known as Boggo Road Gaol, was Queensland's main prison from the 1880s to the 1980s. By the time it closed, it had become notorious for poor conditions and rioting. Located on Annerley Road in Dutton Park, an inner southern suburb of Brisbane, it is the only surviving intact jail in Queensland that reflects penological principles of the 19th century.
SeeArchaeological museum
RD Milns Antiquities Museum
The University of Queensland, Level 2, Building 9
Closed · opens 9:30 am tomorrowFree entry · Wheelchair accessible
SeeArt gallery
Woolloongabba Art Gallery
613 Stanley Street, Woolloongabba
Closed · opens 10 am tomorrowWi-Fi
SeeMuseum
Geology Museum
The UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND, Steele Building
Closed · opens 9 am tomorrowFree entry
SeeMuseum
Physics Museum
The University of Queensland, Parnell Building
Closed · opens 9:45 am tomorrowFree entry
SeeArt gallery
Robyn Bauer Art Gallery
54 Latrobe Terrace, Paddington
Closed · opens 9:30 am SaturdayFree entry
SeeArt gallery
ArtWorld Studio Gallery
28 Bodalla St
Closed · opens 10 am Thursday
SeeArt gallery
QUT Art Museum
2 George Street
Free entry
DoArts centre
Flowstate
The Arbour, Tribune Street
SeeArt gallery
Lethbridge Gallery
136 Latrobe Ter
SeeArt gallery
Metro Arts
97 Boundary St
SeeArt gallery
Milani Gallery
270 Montague Rd
SeeArt gallery
Philip Bacon Galleries
2 Arthur Street
SeeArt gallery
Institute of Modern Art
Judith Wright Arts Centre, Ground Floor/420 Brunswick St
SeePublic art
Tiny Door
45a Burnett Ln
SeeArt gallery
Graydon Gallery
29 Merthyr Rd
SeeAttraction
Whale Mall
Wheelchair accessible
SeeArt gallery
Aspire Gallery
53 Kennedy Ter
SeeArt gallery
Cork & Chroma
44 Montague Rd
SeeArt gallery
Edwina Corlette
629 Brunswick St
SeeArt gallery
Fireworks Gallery
Unit 9/31 Thompson St
SeeArt museum
Griffith University Art Museum
226 Grey St
SeeArt gallery
Jan Murphy Gallery
486 Brunswick St
SeeArt museum
McArthur Community Care
Level 15, 127 Creek Street
SeeHistory museum
Miegunyah House Museum
35 Jordan Terrace

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Brisbane (CC BY-SA 4.0). Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Place data from Overture Maps. Some descriptions from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).