Toowoomba Audio Tours

Toowoomba sits at 700 meters on the rim of the Great Dividing Range, which means that arriving from the coastal lowlands involves a dramatic ascent called the Range. The road from Ipswich climbs through Cunningham's Gap or via the Warrego Highway up the Toowoomba Range, and the city appears suddenly above you: established streets, parks, and Victorian-era buildings arranged on the plateau as though placed by someone who wanted to demonstrate that a proper city could exist this far inland. Founded in the 1850s on the Darling Downs, one of Australia's most fertile farming regions, it was always a market town of regional importance.

The 'Garden City' designation is taken seriously.

Laurel Bank Park and Queens Park contain formal gardens that have been maintained since the nineteenth century, and the Japanese maple collections in particular turn the city's autumn (April to May) into something genuinely worth visiting for. The Carnival of Flowers, held every September since 1950, brings the city to full bloom for a week with floral displays, garden competitions, and street parties. The Queens Park rose garden and the Botanic Gardens at the edge of the range both justify a morning.