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Encapsulated in passages of poetry by greats like Bruce Dawe: ‘Climbing the range your ears pop like champagne and your heart distends with something other than relief...’ and George Essex Evans: ‘Dark purple, chased with sudden gloom and glory, like waves in wild unrest...’ are just some attempts to describe Toowoomba’s beauty and attraction.

Located a short distance west, inland from the Queensland state capital Brisbane, Toowoomba is the gate keeper of the Golden West, formally known as the Darling Downs which is famous for its rich fertile farming land inherited from the regions volcanic ancestry. In fact Toowoomba sits right on top of a now extinct volcano.

Perched precariously close to the edge of the Great Dividing Range escarpment, Toowoomba commands a dominating position at close to eight hundred meters above sea level and is famous for it’s panoramic views and crisp fresh mountain air accompanied by mild year round temperatures.

A well planned city, Toowoomba has streetscapes that are wide, and lined with many large tree species including the ubiquitous imported noxious Camphor Laurel and the classic Jacaranda - a native from the Republic of Brazil to name just a few.

Scattered with an abundance of heritage listed buildings from the cities by-gone federation and earlier eras includes a house named Tawa, an example of one of the earliest surviving dwellings established in an area known as Mort Estate.

The Toowoomba area is the traditional homelands of the Giabal, Jagara and Jarowair indigenous tribes. Other tribes of the greater Toowoomba region include the Barunggam, Bigambal, Kambuwal and the Gooneburra peoples. Tabletop mountain is the location where a series of escalating conflicts took place culminating in the infamous ‘battle of One Tree Hill’ when early European settlers invaded the area.

Toowoomba's modern settlement traces back to 1827 when English explorer and botanist Allan Cunningham discovered a stretch of rich fertile farming land just to the west of the great dividing range which was named the Darling Downs after NSW state governor Ralph Darling, when Queensland was still a part of New South Wales.

Drayton, the first settlement on the downs, now a suburb of present-day Toowoomba was originally established in 1842 by Thomas Alford, and initially called The Springs.

By 1849 The Springs was growing and a drought ensued, so clearing and draining of swamp lands just a few miles to the North-East of The Springs took place and by 1851 settlers from The Springs purchased new sub-divisions of land and so Toowoomba progressively began to grow developing into a township by 1860 and a city in 1904.

Toowoomba’s name was acquired from a word in the aboriginal vocabulary meaning either swamp, reeds, place where melon grows or where the water sits down, but there is no definitive conclusion.

A small city at heart Toowoomba may be, but that does not take away from what the city has to offer - able to retain it's unique country charm but still match the best offerings of any modern world class city.

As an educational hub, there is no shortage when it comes to choice, whether its primary, secondary or tertiary, Toowoomba offers no less than fifty different educational institutions including it's own university, TAFE and vocational colleges.

Contrary to what many hear through the grapevine, Toowoomba is not a boring place either. Entertainment in Toowoomba is wide and varied and includes live theatre, indoor or outdoor cinemas, clubs and pubs, ten pin bowling, speedway racing, live music events and more.

Toowoomba is an economic powerhouse and has many and varied industries including tourism, education, hospitality, manufacturing, retail and agriculture. With an annual gross domestic product of more than twelve billion dollars for the financial year ending June 2019.

Famous for it spring floral festival the ‘Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers’ which is a major draw-card that attracts visitors in the tens of thousands to the city and surrounds each year, there is more to this beautiful place than first meets the eye.

Boasting a new airport capable of accommodating jumbo jets, Toowoomba is ideally situated for a short getaway with a lot of fun activities and places to explore any time of the year. Below are some other maybe not so well known hidden treasures and other activities to explore in this beautiful little city. article copyright © 2019 toowoomba.org

• Have a bite on Eat Street (Margaret Street)

  • Sofra Turkish Cusine

  • Fitzy’s Toowoomba

  • Cafe Valetta

  • Jillys Cafe

  • Park House Cafe

  • GPO Bar & Cafe

• Watch a movie

  • BCC Grand Central

  • BCC Cinemas (Toowoomba Strand)

• Go for a swim

  • Milne Bay Aquatic & Fitness Centre

• Climb a mountain

  • Table top mountain

• Watch a live performance

  • Empire Theatre

• Go touring

  • Caledonian Estate historic walk

  • Mort Estate historic walk

  • Russell Street Historic walk

  • Newtown historic walk

  • Queens Park and surrounds historic walk

  • Cultural and legal precinct walk

  • East Creek Park and Paddington Estate historic walk

  • Drayton historic walk

• Go bushwalking

  • Glen Lomod Park

  • Picnic Point Parklands

• Go bowling

  • Sunset Superbowl

  • South Toowoomba Bowls Club

  • Garden City Lanes

• Go Sightseeing

• Go to a Carnival

  • Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers

• Learn about Toowoomba

  • Toowoomba historical society

  • Toowoomba Visitor Information Centre

• Visit a park

  • Queens Park

  • Newtown state rose Park

  • Laurel Park

  • Lake Annand Park

  • Crows Nest National Park

  • Ravensbourne National Park

• Do some shopping

  • Grand Central

  • Clifford gardens

  • High Street Shopping Centre

  • Wilsonton Shopping Centre

• Admire some artwork

  • First Coat Street Art Festival

  • Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery

• Mountain Biking

  • Jubilee Park

• Visit a church

  • St Patrick's

  • St. James Anglican Church

  • St. Luke's Church

• Visit a pub

  • Irish Club Hotel

  • The Spotted Cow Hotel

  • Federal Hotel

  • Newtown Hotel

  • Shamrock Hotel Motel

• Visit the markets

  • PCYC Markets

  • Margaret street markets

• Camping

  • Murphy's creek escape

• Visit a Library

  • Toowoomba City Library

• Go for a drive

  • Farmers Country Drive

  • High Country Drive

  • Great Bunya country Drive

  • Open plains country drive

  • Steele Rudd country drive

• Do some cycling

• Do some exercise

  • Go for a walk

  • Go for a run

• Enjoy a picnic

  • Queens Park Botanic Gardens

  • Laurel Bank Park

  • Lake Annand

  • East Creek Park

  • The Japanese Gardens

  • Perseverance Dam

  • Spring Bluff

  • Webb Park

  • Queensland State Rose Park

  • Picnic Point

• Relax

  • Don't do anything

• Take some photos

• Take in some action

  • Toowoomba speedway

• Step back in Time

  • Royal bulls head inn

  • Toowoomba Historical Society

• Visit a Museum

  • Milne bay military museum

  • DownStream Tourist Railway & Museum

  • Cobb+Co Museum

  • Transport and Main Roads Heritage Centre

  • Met Galleries

  • Museum of Australian Army Flying

• Stay somewhere special

  • B&B

• Enjoy a live music event

  • Toowoomba Busking Festival

• See some animals

  • Darling Downs Zoo

• Misc.

  • Jondaryan Woolshed

  • Spring Bluff Railway Station

  • The Mills Prescient

  • Christmas Wonderland

  • Toowoomba Railway Station

  • Chocolate Cottage

• Visit a lookout

  • Picnic Point Lookout

  • Top of Jubilee Park

  • Webb Park

  • Biil Goulds Lookout

• Join a club

  • Toowoomba Stamp Club

  • 25th Battalion Association Toowoomba Inc

  • Apex Club of Toowoomba

  • Rotary Club

  • City Golf Club

  • Toowoomba Police Citizens Youth Club

• Go to the races

  • Clifford Park Race Course

• Horse riding

  • Cowboy up trail riding

• Arts & Crafts

  • Crows Nest Community Arts & Crafts Centre