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A Guide to Brisbane's Museums

Updated: May 16, 2025

Brisbane and surrounding regions are home to a sizable collection of fascinating museums, from the well-known like Queensland Museum and Museum of Brisbane to medieval, tiny wartime, convict, police and antiquities, as well as maritime, train and tram museums. Here are 20+ that are worth visiting:

Brisbane Motor Museum

A fantastic trip back in time and must-visit for motoring enthusiasts, located in a massive converted warehouse

Queensland Museum Kurilpa

Queensland Museum, founded in 1862, is the keeper of the state's historical collections dating back to colonial times

Museum Of Brisbane

This impressive Brisbane City Council-owned museum offers an insight into the local social history and visual arts scenes

Queensland Maritime Museum

You don’t have to be a ship enthusiast to enjoy this museum, which is well laid-out and staffed by ex-naval and maritime workers

Macarthur Museum

Few who pass the glass doors of MacArthur Chambers Hotel would know that it was from this building that General Douglas MacArthur directed the Allies in holding back the Japanese invasion.

Commissariat Store Museum

Commissariat Stores building in Brisbane.

Tucked away from the city’s thoroughfares, the convict-built Commissariat Stores are one of only two buildings that survived from the penal settlement.

Queensland Police Museum

The Queensland Police Museum is a fascinating secret trove that contains the history of crime, law and order

Brisbane Tramway Museum

This fascinating outdoor museum is where you can ride restored Brisbane trams

SparkLab

Be a scientist at SparkLab, an awesome interactive science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) space

Antiquities Museum

This fascinating little trove of ancient artefacts belonging to UQ and dating back 4000 years is one of the best kept secrets around.

Samford District Historical Museum

Resembling a mini historical village, the Samford Museum holds one of the most extraordinary collections of heirlooms, memorabilia and building styles of late 19th and early 20th century Queensland life to be found

Fort Lytton Military Museum

Housed within the grounds of the 19th century Fort Lytton ruins is the Fort Lytton Military Museum

Tucked away in Clayfield, this interesting little museum houses the largest display of historical telecommunications items in Queensland

Near Brisbane

Pine Rivers Heritage Museum

There’s nothing dusty or musty about this slick little timber building on the edge of the Old Petrie Town car park.

Redlands Coast Museum

Old machines, motorbike and horse carriage inside Redlands Museum in Cleveland.

Behind the plain brick façade of Redlands Coast Museum lies a wonderland of memorabilia from the past

The Workshops Rail Museum

Whether you have the slightest interest in things that run on tracks or not, this national treasure of a museum is must-visit.

Logan Village Museum

Home to thousands of artefacts, the Logan Village Museum is a must-visit destination for all history buffs

Redcliffe Museum

Visitors to this museum will be happily surprised to find a modern well laid out display of the Redcliffe peninsula's 200+ years of European history

Abbey Museum

Abbey Museum of Art & Archaeology provides a unique opportunity to be fully immersed in history for a day

Beenleigh Historical Village

Leave the 21st century behind and time travel back to another century at Beenleigh Historical Village, a well-kept secret that which would have to rate as

Cobb + Co Museum

Cobb + Co Museum, a must visit if in Toowoomba, is home to Australia’s finest collection of horse-drawn vehicles

Image credit: Tele Museum courtesy of Tele Museum Facebook page.

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