Five regular markets ring Victoria Square Apartments: art and craft stalls in Kurrawa Park a seven minute walk away, beachfront markets three evenings a week in Surfers Paradise, and Saturday farmers’ produce, a permanent market village and street food nights all inside a fifteen minute drive. That’s the Gold Coast markets circuit, and the best of it needs no car at all.
Which market can you walk to from Victoria Square?
Distance: 7 minutes walk from Victoria Square Apartments
Directions: Down Victoria Avenue to the beach, then left into Kurrawa Park at the surf club; the stalls spread across the parkland.
Hours: First and third Sunday of each month, 8am to 2pm.
The Broadbeach Art and Craft Markets are our home market, more than 150 stalls of handmade work, art, jewellery and gifts under the Kurrawa Park trees. Because it’s all handmade, this is where guests find the things that don’t appear in shopping centres: local prints, timber boards, coastal ceramics. Arrive before 10am for the calm browse and the first coffee run. It’s an open-air market, so on a genuinely wet Sunday check their site or socials before you wander down; fine-weather Sundays here are as good as this suburb gets.
When do the Surfers Paradise Beachfront Markets run?
Distance: 10 minutes by G:link from Broadbeach North, or a 35 minute walk along the oceanfront path
Directions: Ride the tram to Cavill Avenue and walk one block to the foreshore, or follow the beachfront path north and arrive with the sunset behind the stalls.
Hours: Every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 4pm to 9pm.
The Beachfront Markets string more than a hundred stalls along the Surfers Paradise foreshore three evenings a week, selling fashion, jewellery, artwork, photography and homewares. They run rain, hail or shine, per the operators, and visitors keep describing the same thing in reviews: a well-lit evening stroll with the ocean beside you, best folded into the walk to dinner. Our arrival tip is to take the tram up and walk the beach path home if the night is mild; the return leg along the dark, quiet sand is half the experience.
Where do you go for Saturday morning produce?
Distance: 10 to 12 minutes drive south
Directions: Follow the Gold Coast Highway south to Burleigh Heads; the market sets up in the grounds of Burleigh Heads State School on the highway, with parking on the school oval.
Hours: Every Saturday, 7am to 12 noon.
The Burleigh Market is the produce run: fresh fruit and vegetables, organic growers, bakers, gourmet food, plus arts, crafts and antiques, with live local musicians playing every Saturday. It trades rain, hail or shine, and the free oval parking makes it the easiest early start of the weekend. Go hungry and go early; the best of the seasonal produce is gone by mid-morning, and a self-contained apartment with a full kitchen is exactly the place to bring a market haul home to.
What’s at Carrara Markets?
Distance: About 12 minutes drive inland
Directions: Head west along Hooker Boulevard past Pacific Fair, then follow the signs toward Carrara; entry and parking are both free.
Hours: Every Saturday and Sunday, 8am to 3pm.
Carrara Markets is the big one, a permanent weekend market village that has been a Gold Coast institution for decades, with stalls running from fresh produce and plants to tools, fashion, collectables and food vans. The fixed stalls and sheds mean a passing shower rarely stops trade, and the sheer range makes it the wet-morning or fourth-day option when the group wants variety. Give it a half day, wear comfortable shoes and set a meeting point; families lose each other here weekly, and happily.
Which market runs at night?
Distance: 8 to 10 minutes drive south
Directions: Follow the Gold Coast Highway to Miami; the laneway entrance is just off the highway, with street parking in the surrounding blocks.
Hours: Wednesday to Saturday from 5pm; free entry, no bookings.
Miami Marketta is the street food answer to the weekend: a laneway of hawker-style kitchens, bars and a live music stage, open Wednesday to Saturday nights with free entry and no bookings needed. The laneway is covered, so a wet forecast doesn’t cancel the music. Our arrival tip, learned from years of guest reports: get there before 6.30pm on a Friday or Saturday to claim a table before the dinner rush, then let everyone order from a different kitchen. It suits groups who can never agree on one cuisine.
Gold Coast markets FAQs
Which Gold Coast markets run on a Sunday?
Two within easy reach of us. The Broadbeach Art and Craft Markets run the first and third Sunday of each month in Kurrawa Park, a seven minute walk away, and Carrara Markets trade every Sunday from 8am to 3pm, about twelve minutes’ drive inland.
Do the beachfront markets run in the rain?
Yes. The Surfers Paradise Beachfront Markets operate rain, hail or shine every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 4pm to 9pm, and the operators post any changes to their socials. June evenings are cool and mostly dry, which makes for comfortable browsing.
Can you get to the markets by tram?
Yes. The G:link from Broadbeach North, five minutes’ walk from Victoria Square Apartments, runs straight to Cavill Avenue for the beachfront markets. For Burleigh, Carrara and Miami Marketta you’ll want the car or a rideshare; each is inside a fifteen minute drive.
Are the markets worth visiting in winter?
June is one of the best months for them. Mornings are crisp and clear for the produce and craft markets, evenings sit in light-jumper territory for the beachfront stalls and street food laneways, and the winter school holiday crowds don’t arrive until late in the month.
A market weekend from Victoria Square Apartments writes itself: craft stalls in the park on Sunday, produce from Burleigh in the fridge and street food nights when nobody wants to cook. Check our apartments and rates to base yourself in the middle of the Gold Coast markets circuit, and browse our Attractions page for the rest of what surrounds Victoria Square.
Image credit: Surfers Paradise Beachfront Markets via Queensland.com