Date ideas in Brisbane
16 spots, costed and mapped.
A good date here does not have to mean a tasting menu. The list below runs from a free sunset on the cliffs to a double feature at the drive-in and a weekend in the Granite Belt.
We've picked the ones a mate would actually recommend, with what each costs and how to get there. The free nights come first, then dinner and a night out, then the weekends away.
Most of these are an evening and most are reachable without a car. The four weekends away and the drive-in are the ones you will need to drive to.
Quick picks
Nights that cost nothing
FreeKangaroo Point Cliffs at Sunset
Panoramic skyline views as the sun drops behind the city
FreeMowbray Park Fig Tree Lights
Five riverside figs lit up after dark, with the Story Bridge behind them
FreeNew Farm Park + Powerhouse
Jacaranda-lined riverside parkland and a heritage power station turned arts venue
Dinner somewhere good
$$Popolo
Riverside Italian feasting at South Bank's River Quay
$$Mobo Restaurant
Japanese izakaya tucked under the Story Bridge at Kangaroo Point
$$Lefkas Taverna
Family-run Greek mezze and live bouzouki on Hardgrave Road
$Howard Smith Wharves
Riverside drinks and dining tucked under the Story Bridge
Out for the night
Something a bit different
$$Soak Bathhouse — West End
Rooftop bathhouse with seven mineral pools, sauna, and steam room
$Yatala Drive-In Theatre
Brisbane's last original drive-in — three screens, double features, 700 car spaces
$$Prison Island Brisbane
35 themed challenge cells and a 90-minute team scramble in the Valley
Weekends away
$$Maleny and Montville
Artisan villages, waterfalls, and Glass House Mountains views on the Blackall Range
$$O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat + Lamington National Park
Walk the world's first treetop canopy bridge, hand-feed wild birds, and sleep in World Heritage rainforest
$$Noosa
Coastal walks, koalas, Hastings Street dining, and the Noosa Everglades
$$Stanthorpe and the Granite Belt
Queensland's only cool-climate wine region with 50+ cellar doors
Worth knowing
Sunset at Kangaroo Point lands around 6:30pm in summer and 5pm in winter. Walk back across the Story Bridge afterwards and ride the lift down to Howard Smith Wharves for dinner.
Ask for the riverfront terrace at Popolo or the front of the room at Mobo when you book, not when you arrive. That is where the view is at both.
Soak is cheapest on a weekday morning, and the Wednesday 5pm to 8pm session adds a live sound bath at no extra cost.
Questions people ask
What are some free date ideas in Brisbane? +
Sunset from Kangaroo Point Cliffs and the fig tree lights at Mowbray Park are both free, and the CityCat between them is 50c a trip.
What is a good date night in Brisbane? +
Sunset on the cliffs, then across the Story Bridge and down the pedestrian lift to dinner at Howard Smith Wharves. For something quieter, a 90 minute soak at the bathhouse in West End starts at $39.
Where can you take a date without a car? +
Most of this page. The four weekends away and the Yatala drive-in need a car, and everything else carries the PT friendly tag.
Where should you go for a romantic weekend near Brisbane? +
Maleny and Montville for one night in the hinterland, or the Granite Belt around Stanthorpe for cellar doors and a cabin with a fireplace, about three hours west.
Last updated October 2026