Ferries from New Farm Park ferry terminal

New Farm Park ferry terminal sits on the Brisbane River at the eastern edge of one of the city's grandest inner suburbs, at the end of Brunswick Street beside the sprawling lawns and rose gardens of New Farm Park. The pontoon is a short walk from the Brisbane Powerhouse — the converted power station that now hosts theatre, comedy and the weekend Jan Powers Farmers Market — which makes this one of the most popular leisure stops on the whole river network.

The terminal is served by Brisbane's flagship CityCat catamarans, operated for Council under Translink. CityCats run the long spine of the river between the University of Queensland at St Lucia in the west and Northshore Hamilton in the east, calling at New Farm Park along the way; heading downstream (outbound) the next stops are Hawthorne, Bulimba, Teneriffe and Bretts Wharf, while upstream boats carry on toward the CBD, South Bank and the university. Services run frequently through the day, typically every 15 minutes at peak and every 15 to 30 minutes off-peak.

New Farm Park is also a node on the shorter Cross River Ferry services worked by the smaller KittyCat vessels, which dart straight across the water to Norman Park on the opposite bank — handy for reaching the eastern suburbs without riding the full CityCat loop. Together the two services make the terminal a genuine interchange rather than a simple stop.

Fares use the same system as Brisbane's buses and trains: tap on and off with a go card, a paper Translink ticket, or a contactless Visa, Mastercard, Amex card or smart device. River travel is zone-based like the rest of the network, and go card users get the usual off-peak and frequent-traveller discounts. There is no separate ferry ticket.

Getting here overland is easy too — the 195, 196 and 199 buses run along Brunswick and Merthyr streets nearby, and there is limited parking around the park, which fills quickly on sunny weekends. For most visitors, though, the point of New Farm Park terminal is the ride itself: gliding past the Story Bridge and the city towers on an open-air CityCat deck is one of Brisbane's best-value sightseeing trips.