Toowoomba is Queensland's largest inland city, with a population of 90,563, and it marks the start of the Darling Downs. Perched on the edge of the Great Dividing Range' 125 km west of Brisbane -at an elevation of 800 m, and with over 1000 ha of parks and gardens, Toowoomba has quite deservedly earned the title of the Garden City of Queensland. Its prosperity is based to a large extent on the fertile soil of the Darling Downs.

Allan Cunningham first sighted the Downs in 1827, and he was soon followed by squatters; by the 1900s intensive agriculture had taken over. The Downs is a prolific producer of all types of grain crops, and in good years two crops can be harvested. In recent years, cotton has been more extensively grown.

The first settlement started at Drayton, around a store, a pub and a blacksmith's shop. A lack of water prompted many of the town's residents to move to 'The Swamp', as Toowoomba was first called. There are any number of theories as to where the name originated, but Thomas Alford, one of the early settlers in the region, named his house 'Toowoomba', and by the 1860s this had become the town's name.

When the railway arrived in 1867, the position of Toowoomba as the commercial and service centre for the Downs was assured. Around this time many of the city's finest buildings were constructed. The city has many reminders of its colourful past, including the magnificently restored City Hall, the impressive Empire Theatre, and the Royal Bulls Head Inn at Drayton, now a museum operated by the National Trust. The Cobb and Co Museum houses Australia's largest collection of horse-drawn carriages and is the national centre for the research and conservation of Australia's horse-drawn vehicles.

The University of Southern Queensland is based in Toowoomba, and some of its schools date back to the nineteenth century.

Heritage walks and tourist drives are laid out around the city and its outskirts and provide an insight into the history and beauty of this country-style inland city. Toowoomba celebrates the coming of spring with the Carnival of Flowers, held in the last full week of September. A major attraction of this festival is the number of private residences that open their gardens to the public. The owners work for months to prepare for the home garden competition.