Toowoomba

Crisp winter air, knee-deep autumn leaves, clear summer days and a riot of colour in spring; nowhere else in Queensland will you experience all four seasons as distinctively as right here. Just 90 minutes from Brisbane, Toowoomba crowns the edge of the Great Dividing Range 700 metres above sea level, overlooking the Lockyer Valley.

Known as Queensland’s Garden City... so pack a picnic and relax in one of our 150-plus parks and gardens. Join the locals and taste the colours of spring at their Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers! Enjoy their ten-day festival of nonstop fun and laughter, fireworks, parades, the coolest music and entertainment as well as the sensational wines and tantalising tastes of the region.

From March to May mellow tints of red and gold mark the autumn showing. In the winter months, enjoy rugging up and winding down. Locally made wine and delicious food will tantalise the tastebuds and warm the soul.

Toowoomba’s colonial history traces back to the early 1840s with the establishment of the first store on the Downs at “The Springs”, soon thereafter renamed Drayton. The National Trust-owned Royal Bull’s Head Inn dates from that period and you can still see it on Brisbane Street today. A drought in 1850 saw many re-settle a few kilometres to the northeast at what is now Toowoomba. After rapid expansion a new municipality was proclaimed in 1860, a township in 1892 and a city in 1904.

Toowoomba and its surrounds are strongly linked by an interconnected history that you can discover is alive and well in interactive museums, historical attractions and in streetscapes dotted with stately architecture.

Make your first stop on the history trail the Cobb+Co Museum. You’ll find an outstanding collection of horse-drawn vehicles and the story of the natural and cultural history of Toowoomba and the Darling Downs. You can trace Cobb+Co's role in the expansion of the Southern Queensland Country region, beginning as a small mail run in 1866 transporting mail and passengers to Brisbane and beyond.