Brunch along Brisbane St 

Fuel up for your day of discovery with brunch along Brisbane Street. Once the city’s bustling main street, the historic stretch retains many heritage buildings and original facades with cute cafes, antique stores and boutiques interspersed throughout.

Follow your nose to Rafter & Rose, a shabby-chic cafe and garden laneway just off Brisbane St. Order at the counter and settle in the laneway dining area amid masses of lush jungle plants or, if the temperature is a little nippy, nab a table inside the cosy café. Rafter & Rose bake daily treats such as scones and muffins so check out the counter display for specials. 

Further along Brisbane St is Fourthchild, a café and restaurant serving urban-inspired gourmet flavours and old-world ambience in a heritage building dating back to the 1800s. 

Across the road, St Shoebill has modernised the Heritage-listed Ellenborough House, highlighting its brickwork and original timber beams with lush greenery and sleek furniture. The café serves a mouth-watering seasonal menu with produce sourced from ONA coffee, Code Black coffee, Mork Chocolate, Prana Chai, Byron Bay Muesli and TwoBoys Kombucha. 

Bunny-hop back to the 19050s and ‘60s at The Retro Diner and sample its nostalgic menu of hot dogs, chip butties and creamy milkshakes. Or grab your partner and two-step across the road to UB’s Milk Bar for a modern twist on old-school diners. You can’t leave without trying a scoop – or two – of Ungermann Brothers ice cream. Gourmet flavours change regularly and include carrot cake, fig and blue cheese, rosewater and pistachio and finger lime.

Travel back in time 

Walk west along Brisbane St to the Old Flour Mill Building, designed by renowned architect George Brockwell Gill and constructed in 1902. Step inside to see the old water wheel in the middle and browse the many small businesses that now reside within.

Explore the past and present as you shop Brisbane St retailers. The Vintage Advantage is an antique store stocking unique pieces from yesteryear, Lost Vintage sells second-hand and vintage goods and ethical and sustainable fashion and CJ Vogler & Sons is a hobby shop established in 1877 that sells the likes of model trains, die-cast cars and collectibles.

Towards the east, the old Town Hall was built in the 1860s, originally as a School of Arts. Local legend has it an aeroplane was placed on display inside the hall in 1911 and somehow the engine was started but two brave men managed to hold the plane down! The building now forms part of the awesome Ipswich Art Gallery, the first in Australia to have a permanently dedicated Gallery space for children. The exhibitions change regularly and feature contemporary and classic artists and works.

The last stop is the Soldiers’ Memorial Hall which had its foundation stone laid in 1920. Architect George Brockwell Gill designed the Hall and the adjacent Technical College. 

Arrive hungry at 88 Limestone 

All that heritage made you hungry? Continue combining the best of both worlds at 88 Limestone Street, a beautiful food and business precinct set within the grounds of the old Technical College where construction started in 1897. The Pumpyard Brewery is a craft beer pub that pulls an excellent local pint. Check the taps for interesting and unusual brews. Under its Four Hearts brand, the working brewery experiments beyond the core range with flavours including carrots or s’mores. The menu is a crowd-pleaser with sliders, burgers, pizza, salads, snacks and platters and if you have room for dessert, the deep-fried Oreos might just change your life.

Go on the hunt for antiques

Ipswich is a goldmine of hidden treasures and collectables. Make a beeline for the Ipswich Antique Centre where individual dealers operate small shops within a restored 1895 Heritage-listed building on East St. Browse their wares to find everything from glassware and pottery to turn-of-the-century furniture. There is also vintage clothing, movie memorabilia and a special retro room. Ipswich is home to the largest number of pre-1946 homes in Queensland, making it a top spot for sourcing antique fixtures, fittings and furnishings. There’s also a café if you need a caffeine boost or a cool drink.

Are you still hungry?

Keen to keep going? Drive out to Spicers Hidden Vale for dinner at the exquisite Homage Restaurant. Chef Ash Martin and his team tend to a mammoth kitchen garden; collecting, preserving and growing produce to use on the plate. If it doesn’t come from the Grandchester cattle property where the luxury country resort resides, it comes from neighbouring farms or local producers throughout the region.

Otherwise, The Cottage Restaurant in Ipswich CBD is a cute fine-diner set in a charming heritage Queenslander home built in 1861. The converted bedrooms are now dining spaces with cosy fireplaces, plus there are tables on the veranda to catch the summer breeze.