Townsville
Nº 52 · 19.3°S 146.8°E · Brisbane 1100 km
Search across Townsville
Townsville's listings sit in two clear bands. Around the city centre, South Townsville, Garbutt and Wulguru, a cluster of breweries and distilleries has taken over former industrial and commercial buildings, while Townsville proper carries the bulk of museums, galleries and gardens, from colonial-era collections to contemporary arts spaces. Magnetic Island contributes reef-focused tours and a small glamping stay, and further inland Charters Towers and Ravenswood preserve goldfields-era heritage precincts and centres. Smaller outlying towns — Brandon, Picnic Bay, Douglas, Thuringowa Central — each register a single entry, suggesting a region whose cultural and drinking life concentrates in the capital while its gold-rush history holds firm out west.
Best time to visit
Townsville's tropical climate favours the drier months from May to October, when reef tours, walking tracks and outdoor brewery seating are most comfortable; the wet season from November to April brings heat and humidity that push activity indoors toward museums, galleries and tasting rooms in the city and Garbutt.
What sets it apart
What distinguishes Townsville is the density of small-batch drinks producers relative to everything else in the data — eight breweries and distilleries against a single dedicated dining listing — spread from the city centre to Garbutt, Wulguru, South Townsville and Picnic Bay. That sits alongside a comparatively large cultural collection, fourteen museums and galleries, concentrated in Townsville itself but reaching to Charters Towers, Ravenswood and Thuringowa Central. Few regions in the data pair that scale of heritage collecting with such a compact drinking scene, spread across so many small former industrial and commercial buildings.
Where to start
Generated from 32 verified listings · Last updated 6 July 2026
Towns & localities
Guides to Townsville
Highlights
A selection of standout places across Townsville
Bluewater Palms
North of Townsville, where the tropical air suits them, the palms at Bluewater…
NatureWallaman Falls
The tallest permanent single-drop waterfall in Australia: 268 metres straight…
Food & diningImperial Hotel
One of only a handful of buildings left standing from Ravenswood's gold-boom…
Museums & galleriesTownsville Palmetum Botanic Garden
Townsville Palmetum Botanic Garden is a long-established botanical garden in…
Wine & spiritsTownsville Brewing Co
The building at 252 Flinders Street opened on 2 December 1889 as the Townsville…
Places to stayMagnetic Glamping
A small eco-glamping retreat in Nelly Bay on Magnetic Island, off Townsville —…
Wine & spirits
Iron Works Brewery
Brandon, QLD
A brewery on Spiller Street in Brandon, near Townsville, Queensland.
Maggie Island Brewery
Picnic Bay, QLD
Mick Grimshaw and James Permezel — a beef farmer and a sailor — converted a run-down Picnic Bay…
On Country Craft Distillery
Wulguru, QLD
Australia's only distillery wholly owned and run by First Nations women — including the distiller…
Restaurant 1889 at The Brewery
Townsville City, QLD
The building went up in 1889 as a colonial post and telegraph office — columns, high ceilings,…
Selwyn Nicholas Brewing Co.
Garbutt, QLD
A converted gym on Woolcock Street — the barbells gone, schooners in their place. Townsville's…
Tan Lines Distilling
Townsville City, QLD
A Townsville distillery working from the Rockpool Pavilion on the Strand, with views across to…
Tiny Mountain Brewery
South Townsville, QLD
Castle Hill looms over this North Queensland brewpub, where the logic is straightforward: 322 days…
Townsville Brewing Co
Townsville City, QLD
The building at 252 Flinders Street opened on 2 December 1889 as the Townsville General Post…
Museums & galleries
Army Museum of North Queensland
Townsville, QLD
Housed in a refurbished building at the centre of Jezzine Barracks, home to Australian military…
Burdekin Machinery Preservationists
Brandon, QLD
A volunteer collection of tractors, steam engines and machinery kept by the Burdekin Machinery…
Charters Towers Heritage Precinct
Charters Towers, QLD
Charters Towers Heritage Precinct preserves the magnificent Victorian commercial streetscape of a…
Ingham Tyto Wetlands Information Centre
Ingham, QLD
Ingham Tyto Wetlands Information Centre is a heritage-listed museum in Ingham, QLD. The museum…
Maritime Museum of Townsville
South Townsville, QLD
Explore maritime heritage and naval history at this museum dedicated to Townsville's connection to…
Museum of Tropical Queensland
Townsville, QLD
Focused on the natural and cultural heritage of tropical Queensland, this museum is famous for its…
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery
Townsville, QLD
A former bank building on the corner of Denham and Flinders Streets, Perc Tucker holds over 4,000…
Pinnacles Gallery
Thuringowa Central, QLD
Pinnacles Gallery is Townsville City Council's second public gallery space, presenting a diverse…
Pinnacles Gallery Thuringowa
Thuringowa, QLD
Pinnacles Gallery Thuringowa is a gallery in Townsville, QLD. The gallery's collection and…
Reef HQ Great Barrier Reef Aquarium
Townsville, QLD
Scheduled to open in 2029 Reef HQ Great Barrier Reef Aquarium explores themes of natural history,…
Townsville Museum
Currajong, QLD
Townsville Museum & Local History Collection traces the history of North Queensland's capital city…
Townsville Palmetum
Townsville, QLD
The Townsville Palmetum is Australia's largest specialist palm garden, featuring over 400 species…
Nature
Alligator Creek
Alligator Creek, QLD
In the Mount Elliot section of Bowling Green Bay National Park, about 25 kilometres south of…
Big Crystal Creek
Mutarnee, QLD
In the Paluma Range National Park north-west of Townsville, Big Crystal Creek tumbles over granite…
Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park
Pallarenda, QLD
On the headland 10 kilometres north-east of Townsville, where the Gurambilbarra Wulgurukaba People…
Castle Hill Lookout
Townsville, QLD
Rising 286 metres above Townsville, Castle Hill is a prominent granite monolith offering panoramic…
Forts Walk
Horseshoe Bay, QLD
Magnetic Island's most popular walking track climbs through eucalypt and acacia woodland to the…
Wallaman Falls
Trebonne, QLD
The tallest permanent single-drop waterfall in Australia: 268 metres straight off the escarpment…
Shops
Bluewater Palms
Bluewater, QLD
North of Townsville, where the tropical air suits them, the palms at Bluewater Palms have all been…
Lower Burdekin Landcare Nursery
Ayr, QLD
A community landcare nursery on International Drive at Ayr, propagating native and local species…
Rock Ape Records
Townsville, QLD
Rock Ape Records keeps what it bills as North Queensland's largest range of new and rare vinyl, on…
Food & dining
Baker D North
Garbutt, QLD
Dimitri Pittion-Rossillon trained in Paris before fifteen-plus years baking around Australia, then…
Bridgewater Restaurant + Botaniq Bar
South Townsville, QLD
Chef-owners Matt Merrin and Ty Samuel, the pair behind JAM, bought a two-storey building on the…
Grandma's
North Ward, QLD
A homestyle Townsville cafe and bakehouse cooking from well-loved family recipes gathered from…
Granite Magnetic Island
Nelly Bay, QLD
An easygoing Nelly Bay spot on Magnetic Island where stone-baked pizzas meet house-made tapas and…
Heritage Tearooms
Herveys Range, QLD
Charles Rowe held the licence of the Eureka Hotel at the top of Thorntons Gap in 1865, a year after…
Imperial Hotel
Ravenswood, QLD
One of only a handful of buildings left standing from Ravenswood's gold-boom years, this two-storey…
Julie's Pasta Shop
Ingham, QLD
Fresh pasta made to a family recipe and sold frozen for the drive home: ravioli, gnocchi, lasagne…
Juliette's Gelateria
Townsville City, QLD
Lou's Food Emporium
Ingham, QLD
Italian cane-cutting families settled the lower Herbert River sugar country from the early…
Shop Six Pasta Bar
North Ward, QLD
The kitchen makes its own pasta and the gnocchi changes, which is the reason regulars turn up…
Shorehouse
North Ward, QLD
A waterfront restaurant and beach-house bar on The Strand in Townsville, working a modern blend of…
Tide
North Ward, QLD
A North Ward mainstay in Townsville since 2014, opening at 5.30am with Campos coffee and a menu…
Also in Townsville
Tours & walks
Based in Townsville
Adrenalin Snorkel and Dive
The only snorkel and dive operator running directly from Townsville and Magnetic Island…
Based hereAquascene Magnetic Island
Adam and Steph Hinks have snorkelled Magnetic Island's bays since their teens — three…
Departs Magnetic IslandBig Mama Sailing
Lisa and Stu live aboard Big Mama, an 18-metre ketch built up the coast at Bloomfield,…
Departs Horseshoe BayMagnetic Island Sea Kayaks
Billed as the island's only accredited eco sea-kayak tour, this is a guided paddle led by…
Departs Forest BeachMungalla Aboriginal Tours
Run by the Mungalla Aboriginal Corporation on an 880-hectare property twelve kilometres…
Departs ArcadiaPleasure Divers Magnetic Island
An SSI Official Partner dive centre on Magnetic Island, run out of a shop with guided…
Departs Nelly BayPro Dive Magnetic Island
A locally owned dive shop on Magnetic Island running guided dive and snorkel trips aboard…
Departs TownsvilleTownsville Helicopters
Dick Arnold founded Townsville Helicopters in 2008 after eleven years mustering cattle in…
Departs Alva BeachYongala Dive
Established in 2003 and built entirely around one wreck, this is the Yongala specialist,…
Nearby regions
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