What kind of weirdo gives a cemetery 5 stars? I know it seems strange. BUT... The Toowong Cemetery is one of the most peaceful, tranquil and gorgeous places to have a stroll through if you're in the Inner West. If you're going to walk through it, begin at the top (Birdwood Terrace entry) and wind your way down the steep descent. Give yourself some time too- it's something of a labyrinth and you can get lost. The Toowong Cemetery was originally called the Brisbane General Cemetery and was allocated as the eternal home of residents of greater Milton past. It's been open since 1875. This probably explains why there are trees growing out of cemented plots, and other trees that seem to all but consume some gravestones. The cemetery isn't orderly. It's overgrown with old, wild strangler figs, and some parts of the cemetery look more like ruins. There's something quietly poignant and pretty about strolling through the gravestones and reading epitaphs more than 100 years old. The graves all have character too. Some have route iron fences around them, others bear huge marble crosses, others are more humble and have a small rose bush planted at the head of the plot. For those of you who have a bit of a thing about cemeteries, you'll be glad to know that there are gimmicky Ghost Tours you can take (see website). If you enter from Birdwood Terrace, the cemetery 'technically' doesn't shut. You won't be able to get in outside of business hours if you try enter through the gates. If you're brave enough to wander around there at night, you will find your resident goths and occultists sitting on gravestones by candlelight. read more

Toowong Cemetery - Funeral Services & Cemeteries Near Me - Toowong, QLD

This is one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Brisbane, and even though it's coming up to it's 140th birthday there's still life in the old girl yet. Well, not really life I guess - what I meant is that it's still a functioning cemetery so people are still getting interred here (for a hefty fee I imagine if local real estate prices are any guide). For me it's a quiet spot for reflection - and a place I used to terrify myself at when I was a teenager. After a awesome hang time on Mt Cootha I'd often end up parked outside this cemetary hearing stories about cultists and vampire worshippers who were just waiting to jump into my mum's Nissan Pintara and suck my blood. read more

For a cemetery... this place gets props from me. I went to the school across the road from it and have had the pleasure of exploring it from time to time on a whim. Oh what a whim. I have often thought it crazy but oh well. So they also do ghost tours here at night... the witching hour doo doo doo doo.. are you afraid of the dark? Because there is a haunting history of many of these lovely people buried here over the years and many believe that the ghosts of the pasts come out to play during the night. Sometimes. Okay I didn't really see anything. Okay so I was scared! This cemetary is very peaceful, tranquil and although they are building Legacy way tunnel right next to it at the moment... i'm sure is a serene place to visit when the truckers and cranes aren't in operation. read more

Cemeteries aren't much fun to write about, except if there's a good ghost story attached or you're talking about them from an artistic perspective. The former at Toowong Cemetery relates to an alleged spot on one of the roads that winds around the cemetery where your car will be "pulled up" the road on a decline. (This urban legend has been doing the primary school circles for generations; I wished it stopped at primary school.) In terms of the latter, I'm sure photographers, stencil fans etc will find a lot here to intrigue them. As to myself, I have a morbid fear of cemeteries. Likewise I'm not too fond of funerals or death, either. An older relation died recently, calling for both the funeral and cemetery service. And to those fellow cemetery-phobes out there: you can get over it. I got over it at Toowong Cemetery. It might have been the peaceful and appropriate funeral service, but when we arrived at the cemetery everything felt "right". It was hard to describe, but I not only conquered my feelings of panic but took charge. I ended up being one of the pallbearers and actually voluntarily approached the grave (while everyone else hung back), removed the planks and watched them lower my grandmother's coffin into the ground. I recognized immediately that the coffin was beautiful and her final resting place (the cemetery itself) was, too, and that these factors would have been important to her. I mulled over it for a while and thought my grandmother would have been happy with the service. This all sounds ridiculously naff, but it's true. As these ideas swirled around I didn't even notice much of the other graves or soil mounds; or when I noticed them, I felt strangely calm. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in love with cemeteries yet - but this one I owe a debt of gratitude to. read more

Who likes to be deliciously scared? If the answer's yes, I have the perfect midnight rendezvous for you and your friends this year. All you need is some midnight snacks, torches and hearts of steel - plus a getaway car although really, if an angry spirit is after you it could easily blow your engine. You can probably guess that the rendezvous involves sneaking into the cemetery in the middle of the night with friends and telling ghost stories. As if the ambience isn't already perfect, I suggest doing this around the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival (usually in August), the Autumn Moon Festival or of course, Halloween. I admit, I've never actually made it into Toowong cemetery for one of these midnight story telling sessions. My friends and I have only been brave enough to sit in a parked car outside the cemetery and freak each other out with stories. Although of course there's the urban legend about the patch of road along Toowong cemetery which drags your car uphill backwards so it probably is best to do this journey on foot. read more

It is a wonderful place to visit in daylight. Suggest great care at night as apart from plenty of rabbit and snake holes to break an ankle there a lots of branches laying there and you never know when a derelict grave stone might topple. If only people did there family history and fix up their family graves. All graves belong to the family of those interred there. The council can only do something if there is a danger to the public, it is the responsibility of the descendents to keep the graves in good order. The council sprays for weeds and mows between the graves but that is all they are allowed to do. If you do find family as long as it is 30 years since the last burial you may bury a direct family member after providing evidence you have the right such as birth and death certificates. read more