For a couple's escape: Maryborough
Hire a cosy compact car and zip off on a romantic getaway. With Maryborough only three hours’ drive from Brisbane, there’s plenty of time for detours. Hop off the Bruce Highway to corkscrew up onto the Blackall Range, home to a charming trio of villages: Maleny, Montville and Mapleton (the view from Mapleton Tavern stretches all the way to the sea). Maryborough, birthplace of author PL Travers, makes much of its Mary Poppins connection (including fun pedestrian crossing signals). Stroll hand in hand (in lead), ticking off some of the town’s 37 large-scale murals and ogling the classic Queenslanders, before heading to Hervey Bay to swim or whale-watch.