Photo: Wikimedia CommonsThe City Botanic Gardens are a green oasis wrapping around a bend in the Brisbane River, first planted in the 1820s and still the CBD favourite escape. Riverside paths wind past towering figs, bamboo groves and ornamental ponds, with the Riverwalk offering easy strolling right at the water edge. It is a lovely free spot for a picnic or a shady wander. Enter from Alice Street near Parliament House and follow the river path for the best of the old-growth trees.