Behind hidden doors, down dark laneways, and beneath the city streets, Brisbane has a few secrets up its sleeve.

Just when you think you know the city, you discover an anonymous orange door, a shadowy laneway, or a staircase disappearing underground, and suddenly an entirely different Brisbane waits on the other side.

And naturally, there are cocktails.

I have a particular weakness for places that require a little detective work. Give me an unmarked doorway over a flashing neon sign any day. Half the fun is finding the place; the other half is settling into a dark corner with something fabulous in a glass and feeling rather pleased with yourself for knowing it’s there.

So, in the interests of serious travel research (you’re welcome), I’ve hunted down five of Brisbane’s most intriguing hidden cocktail bars and created a ‘Cocktail Trail’ just for you.

Some are genuinely secretive. Others are hiding in plain sight. All have a story to tell.

START – 4 pm:

Maker – 9 Fish Lane

Secret weapon: Tiny bar, serious cocktails

Maker – Instagram

Maker occupies a compact space at number 9. It isn’t a gimmicky “secret speakeasy”; it’s a small, easily overlooked bar that rewards curious travellers, and local guides continue to single it out as one of Brisbane’s hidden gems.

Recommendation: Maker is tiny, around 20 seats, and its menu changes seasonally – sources specifically recommend asking the bartender to create something to your taste.

Jane’s order: I asked for something herbal, citrusy and dry rather than sweet. Their Margarita-style combination of tequila, pineapple, coriander, jalapeno, lime and Tajin was delish – unusual, savoury, spicy and fresh rather than lolly-like.

And Fish Lane itself gives us another story opportunity: street art, restaurants, tiny bars and all those details you enjoy photographing along the way.

Indulge Divulge verdict: Proof that very good things come in very small bars.

Now walk through South Bank, across the river to Burnett Lane, roughly a pleasant 20-minute stroll rather than a race.

5.00 ish

Death and Taxes Brisbane – 36 Burnett Lane

Secret weapon: 1,000 bottles and 100-year-old floors

You couldn’t really ask for a better address for a secret bar than Burnett Lane. Formed in 1829, it’s Brisbane’s oldest

via Instagram

laneway and was originally the trade entrance servicing what is now Queen Street Mall.

At number 36, enormous wooden doors conceal Death & Taxes, inspired by London and Paris’s underground bars. Inside are intimate lighting, sumptuous booths, a spectacular back bar displaying more than 1,000 bottles, and timber floors around a century old. 

This is where you slow the pace; those huge wooden doors are just made for photographs

Jane’s Order: Maxwell Smart – blood orange gin, Amaro Montenegro, tea, rosemary and tonic. The menu describes it as lightly bitter, floral, and refreshing. Again, that combination of orange + amaro + rosemary + tea is much more interesting to me than the sweeter fruit-heavy choices. (I’m having a moment with Amaro – post about this curious ingredient coming shortly)

Interesting fact: Don’t rush down the lane staring at Google Maps. Look around. There’s street art along Burnett Lane, including a wall of lion faces staring towards a Grim Reaper – a suitably theatrical introduction to a bar called Death & Taxes.

Indulge Divulge verdict: Go for the cocktail. Stay because you’ve forgotten there’s a city outside.

NEXT: a 10-minute wander across the CBD to…

Dr Gimlette Brisbane – 109 Edward Street

Secret weapon: A cocktail with a medical history

via Instagram

Now we get glamorous. Heritage brick, Italian leather, a nine-metre marble bar and those fabulous Martini Carts.

This one is less secret doorway and more hidden historical gem, housed in one of Brisbane’s oldest buildings on Edward Street.

There’s a nine-metre marble bar, heritage brickwork, Italian leather booths, brass fittings and a back bar containing more than 800 bottles. And then there are the Martini Carts, which bring the theatre right to your table.

But the best bit is the name.

Jane’s Order: Straight to the Martini Cart – I asked for a very dry, aromatic gin Martini with an interesting savoury garnish. It was more distinctive and vastly less sweet than working through another fruit cocktail. Their whole Martini service is one of the bar’s signatures.

Interesting fact: Dr Gimlette honours Royal Navy surgeon Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Gimlette, who is associated with adding lime cordial to sailors’ daily gin ration to help combat scurvy. Gin + lime eventually gave us the Gimlet cocktail. Medicine has rarely sounded quite so appealing.

Indulge Divulge verdict: Doctor’s orders. Probably.

NOW… Don’t go anywhere. Go DOWN!

Shaman – basement, 109 Edward Street

Secret weapon: Go underground, entry via the laneway

Now we’re talking.

via Instagram

Shaman describes itself simply as ‘Cocktails, Cerveza, Santana’ and provides precisely the sort of address that

makes a secret-bar hunter’s heart flutter. Opening in November 2025, it drew its original cocktail concept from the film Cocktail and its famous poem.

Shaman sits beneath Dr Gimlette at the same address, making this a particularly useful little pocket of Brisbane for cocktail reconnaissance. After all, descending beneath familiar Brisbane streets and discovering what’s been hiding underneath your feet makes this little adventure particularly fun. Dr Gimlette upstairs, followed by Shaman downstairs, one address, two completely different cocktail experiences.

Jane’s Order: I asked the bartender: Give me one of your strangest drinks – but dry, ot sweet’. Their bar program deliberately focuses on quality spirits and fresh ingredients, and an excellent ‘Old Fashioned’ landed in my hands, made with Weller Special Reserve. If you like whisky, the Old Fashioned is my pick here.

Indulge Divulge verdict: The Old Fashioned

NOW…abandon walking heroics – you’ve had four cocktails! Uber/Taxi to Fortitude Valley

Grand Coctail Finale: Savile Row – 667 Ann Street

Secret weapon: Find the orange door

No enormous sign. No obvious entrance. Just an orange door. Push through it, slip behind the black curtains, and

via Instagram

you’ve arrived at Savile Row, a dark, sophisticated cocktail and whisky bar inspired by the history and traditions of London’s famous tailoring street.

And this isn’t just somewhere trading on atmosphere. In 2026, Savile Row was named Best Cocktail Bar in Queensland at the Boothby Best Bars Queensland Awards.

Savile Row doesn’t even open until 6 pm, which is another reason it works beautifully as our finale. Its current cocktail offering is particularly fun because the bar introduced Tailored, a monthly magazine-style cocktail menu – meaning your drink choice can genuinely change with the story when you visit.

Jane’s Order: Again, I gave the bartender something interesting to work with: ‘Something unusual, spirit-forward or citrus/herbal, and definitely not sweet. Surprise me.’ Now I can’t tell you what actually arrived for the name he gave it escapes me – though my fellow ‘take one for the team’ cocktail buddies assure me I enjoyed it!

Interesting fact: Behind that rather modest orange door sits a collection of more than 1,000 bottles. Its cocktail selection also tells stories connected with the street addresses of London’s Savile Row.

Indulge Divulge verdict: Possibly the most rewarding orange door you’ll ever open.

NOTE I strongly suggest sharing/tasting some drinks, eating along the way and drinking water between stops.

Now to a Secret Supper – 7-10 minutes

That’s a sizeable evening! Five cocktail bars. Several mysterious entrances. A few fabulous concoctions. And quite possibly a slightly questionable sense of direction. Surely it’s time for dinner?

But we’re not abandoning our secretive theme just yet. From Savile Row, wander along Ann St towards Alden Street and look for an unmarked black door beside the Lounge Lovers loading dock. This restaurant doesn’t give away its secrets from the street.

The Final Secret: hôntô – 9 Alden St, the Valley

4.4 Contemporary Japanese

Website: Honto

Secret Weapon: Because it continues the intrigue beautifully.

A contemporary Japanese restaurant whose rather unassuming entrance gives very little away about the dining

via Instagram

experience waiting inside.

Step through and discover an atmospheric world of dark interiors, clever lighting and beautifully presented Japanese-inspired dishes designed for sharing.

It’s the sort of place that makes you feel you’ve been let in on a delicious little secret, and after an evening spent hunting down Brisbane’s hidden cocktail haunts, isn’t that exactly how the night should end?

Recommend: Order a selection of savoury dishes to share.

The Verdict:

Five secret cocktails and one secret supper. Brisbane, you’ve been hiding your talents rather well. Perhaps the best thing about Brisbane’s hidden bars isn’t what’s in the glass at all. It’s the hunt. That delicious little moment when you disappear down the stairs or turn into a laneway you’ve walked past a hundred times and think How did I not know this was here?

Because travel, even in your own city, isn’t simply about where you go. It’s about what you notice while you’re there.

Here’s the route:

Maker – Fish Lane

walk 20 mins

Death & Taxes – Burnett Lane

walk 10 mins

Dr Gimlette – 109 Edward Street

walk about 30 seconds

Shaman – basement 109 Edward St

short Uber/Taxi

Saville Row – 667 Ann ST

walk 7 – 10 mins

hôntô

Cheers to looking a little closer! And if you have a favourite, drop it in the comments; we’d love to add it to the list!

(And why you’ll suddenly start looking up… everywhere)

You’re wandering through Paris, admiring balconies, dodging scooters, perhaps mid-croissant (or, like me, checking the name of the street (rue) you’ve just crossed as a breadcrumb back to base should your phone battery expire)

…and then you spot one.

A tiny, pixelated alien.
Perched high on a wall. Watching.

Welcome to the wonderfully quirky world of Paris’s Space Invaders mosaics – one of the city’s most playful (and slightly addictive) street art treasures.

So… What Are These Little Creatures?

They’re small mosaic artworks made from ceramic tiles, designed to look like characters from old-school 8-bit video games – especially the classic Space Invaders arcade game. 

Think:

• Pixel aliens 
• Retro ghosts 
• Occasionally, even Mona Lisa or baguette-inspired designs (very Paris) 

Each one is handmade and permanently fixed onto buildings – like a tiny piece of digital nostalgia brought into the real world.

Who Created Them?

The mastermind is a French street artist known as Invader (real name: Franck Slama, though he remains famously anonymous). He started placing these mosaics in Paris in the mid-to-late 1990s, inspired by the video games he grew up with. 

His idea?

To “liberate art” from galleries
To bring digital pixels into physical space
And to “invade” cities with playful, unexpected works 

Yes… he literally calls each city installation an “invasion.”

Why Are They There?

Because Paris needed a little mischief. But also, more meaningfully:

• Art for everyone – no tickets, no queues 
• A blend of digital + physical worlds 
• A global art game you can participate in 

In fact, Invader even created a scoring system and an app where people can “hunt” and log each mosaic they find – turning the whole city into a kind of real-life treasure hunt. 

(You know I love a little purposeful wandering… this is next-level.)

Where Do You Find Them in Paris?

Everywhere… once you start looking! Typical hiding spots:

• High up on building corners 
• Near street signs 
• Above doorways 
• Tucked into unexpected facades 

They’re often deliberately placed just out of easy reach – both for visibility and to avoid the tiles being souvenired. Hotspots include:

• Le Marais 
• The Latin Quarter 
• Montmartre 
• Around the Seine 

There are over 1,000+ mosaics in Paris alone – so yes, you’ll spot quite a few once your eye is in. 

And Here’s the Fun Part…

Once you see one… you can’t stop.

You’ll find yourself:

• Looking up at every corner 
• Scanning every wall 
• Quietly competing with yourself 

It becomes less about sightseeing…and more about spotting.

Are They Only in Paris?

Not even close. This is a global “invasion.” Invader has placed mosaics in:

• London 
• New York 
• Tokyo 
• Hong Kong 
• Los Angeles 
• Melbourne 
• And dozens more cities worldwide 

In fact:

• There are thousands of mosaics across 70–80+ cities globally 
• One has even made it to the International Space Station (because… of course it has) 

Paris, however, remains his most heavily “invaded” city – lucky us.

Final Thought (And a Little Challenge) 

Paris already invites you to slow down.

The Space Invaders give you a reason to:

• Look up 
• Notice more 
• And turn wandering into a game 

So next time you’re strolling along the Seine or getting lost in Montmartre…keep your eyes peeled.

Because somewhere above you, a tiny pixelated alien is waiting to be found.

Let us know if you’ve sighted these little critters – Paris, London, Melbourne, Tokyo or elsewhere- by dropping a line in the comments section!

London is magnificent. Historic. Grand. Cinematic. Having spent four weeks wandering this fine city with the Silver Fox, I have come to learn this. So too my feet, Google Maps overload and the bank balance.  

Yes, it’s…
• Expensive
• Enormous and…
• Occasionally damp
• And wildly committed to making you walk far more than you think is reasonable

So here it is – my personal, lovingly road-tested guide to surviving (and thriving) in this glorious city.

1. The Shoe Situation Is Not a Suggestion

You will walk.
You will walk more.
You will look at your step counter and briefly question your life choices.

Pack shoes you have already worn in.
This is not the city for “they’ll soften eventually” optimism.

Blisters are not cultural immersion.

If you’re tubing to a glam gig, do what the savvy London woman does – carry those heels in little drawstring calico bags in your tote for a quick swap and bag check before deftly accepting that first glass of champers!

2. The Tube Is Your Friend (But She’s a Bit Moody)

The Underground is brilliant. Fast. Efficient. Iconic.

But:
• Stand on the right of the escalator (or risk public shaming by eye contact).
• Avoid peak hour unless you enjoy full-contact commuting.
• Download Citymapper. It will save your sanity.
• “Mind the gap” is both practical advice and philosophical wisdom.

She’s also a bit frenetic when trying to find your particular line, the direction you need to head on the loop and the best stop to jump off. That map just inside the door will keep your sanity in check. AND…the tube is sooo much cheaper than a cab! (I can already hear my travel buddy Jenny muttering, ‘yeah nah,’ I’ll wear the expense! )

Bonus tip: Sometimes walking one stop above ground is faster and far prettier.

3. Book the Big Stuff Early

London does not reward spontaneity when it comes to:
• West End shows
• Afternoon tea
• The London Eye
• Popular exhibitions

If it’s iconic, assume it books out.
Future You will thank Organised You.

4. Afternoon Tea Is a Strategy, Not Just a Treat

This is not simply cake.

This is:
• A rest stop
• A morale booster
• A blood sugar stabiliser
• A cultural institution

If you’re doing 20,000 steps, schedule tea like it’s mission-critical.

5. Weather: Dress in Layers, Always

London can:
• Drizzle
• Shine

• Gust
• And pivot emotionally within 40 minutes

Layers are your armour.
A light waterproof is your best friend.
Sunglasses and umbrella in the same day? Entirely plausible.

6. Museums Are Free (Pace Yourself)

The British Museum.
The V&A.
The Natural History Museum

They are enormous.

Choose your highlights. You do not need to absorb 4,000 years of civilisation before lunch.

I made it my mission to view Britain’s big family photo album – The National Portrait Gallery -in one swoop, a heroic effort simply demanding that high tea reward!

National Portrait Gallery – London

7. Don’t Try to “Do” London – Let It Happen

Yes, see:
• Buckingham Palace
• Big Ben
• The Tower

But also:
• Wander a quiet mews
• Duck into a pub
• Sit in a park
• Watch the world go by

London reveals herself slowly. She rewards curiosity over checklists.

8. Markets = Lunch Solved

Borough Market.
Portobello Road.
Camden.
Spitalfields.

If you’re stuck for lunch, find a market.
Street food in London is elite-level.

Spitafields Market – London

9. Plan Big Days + Soft Days

Alternate:
• Landmark-heavy days
with
• Neighbourhood wandering days

Your energy (and your feet) will last much longer.

10. End at the River Whenever Possible

There is something about the Thames at sunset.

Walk the South Bank.
Take a riverboat.
Sit outside a pub and watch the light shift over the water.

It’s one of London’s quietest magic tricks.

After a visit to Ted Lasso territory (Richmond) our darling host held up the ferry while we raced to the dock with heartfelt apologies to the patient punters aboard, settled in with G&T in hand to enjoy a lazy Friday sunset cruise back to the city…ahhhh!

Peggy Jeans – Richmond – London

Final Word from the Field

London is not a city you conquer.
It’s one you experience.

It will exhaust you.
Delight you.
Surprise you.
And almost certainly make you want to come back.

And when your step count reads 23,487, and the Silver Fox says, “Perhaps tomorrow we rest?” That’s when you know you’ve done it properly.

What are your favourite tips for big city vacays? Drop them in the comments!

Scroll away for more tips, a super blog and a few snaps and chats from our time in London…