Tamborine Mountain Day Trip from Brisbane: Wineries, Glow Worms and Rainforest

Tamborine Mountain is the easiest escape from Brisbane: an hour's drive south, then a winding climb up onto a plateau of rainforest, waterfalls, cellar doors and village shops. It's cooler up there, greener, and slower. You can walk to a waterfall, cross a rainforest canopy on a suspended walkway, taste wine, gin and beer, and see glow worms, all in one day.

The one catch is getting there without a car. Here's how to plan it.

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Tamborine Mountain is about 68 km from Brisbane, roughly an hour's drive via the Pacific Motorway. Parking on the mountain is easy outside of busy weekends.

The problem, if wineries are on your list, is that somebody has to drive back down a mountain road. Which brings us to the alternatives.

A tour is the simplest way to do Tamborine properly, especially if you plan to taste. Most pick up from Brisbane hotels, and they range from winery-focused trips to rainforest-and-waterfall days. Hop-on hop-off buses also run on the mountain.

It's possible, just about. Translink runs an on-demand shared shuttle between the mountain and Beenleigh or Helensvale train stations on weekdays, for the standard 50c fare. You need to book it through TransitCare on 1300 153 636 at least an hour ahead, or by 6pm the day before for the first trip of the day. There's no service on weekends or public holidays, and taxis and rideshare are scarce on the mountain, so plan your return carefully.

This loop works well from Brisbane, with or without a tour.

The Curtis Falls track, in the Joalah section of Tamborine National Park, is a 1.1 km return walk of about 30 minutes through palms, strangler figs and towering rainforest to a waterfall tumbling into a rock pool. Start from the Dapsang Drive car park, which has toilets, or from Eagle Heights Road. Swimming or entering the rock pool area isn't allowed, and there are penalties.

At 333 Geissmann Drive in North Tamborine, the Skywalk is a mix of rainforest floor paths and steel bridges up to the canopy, with a cantilever that juts out over the creek valley. Allow about an hour. It's open daily from 9:30am, with the last walk at 4pm. Tickets cost $21.50 for adults, $10.50 for children aged 6 to 17, and $54 for a family; under-sixes are free.

Gallery Walk, on Long Road at Eagle Heights, is the mountain's main street: more than 70 shops selling antiques, jewellery, art and souvenirs, plus cafés, fudge and tastings. It's a good place for lunch.

For drinks, these are well-known and open seven days:

Check opening hours before you go: several cellar doors close by 4pm on weekdays.

You have two options for seeing glow worms near Brisbane.

At Cedar Creek Estate, these are man-made caves with a thriving glow worm colony, seen on 30-minute guided tours, daily between 10am and 4pm. They're the easy option: daytime, close to everything else, and a sure sighting. Book online or call (07) 5545 1666.

The wild alternative: a rock arch with a waterfall pouring through its roof, and a cave behind it lit by glow worms after dark. It's free, but it's a further drive from Tamborine and only works at night, so it suits a longer day with a car. The best season is December to March.

The national park's rules are there to protect the glow worms: bring at least one torch per two people but never shine it on the glow worms, don't use flash, keep quiet, and visit in groups of 12 or fewer. Don't leave valuables in the car park.