Carrara Markets

Carrara Markets has been trading since 1973, which puts it ahead of most of the Gold Coast skyline that now surrounds it. Over 50 years it's grown into what's commonly described as Australia's biggest permanent market: more than 400 stalls spread across 10 acres, with weekend crowds reported as high as 25,000 people.

Big enough to include a mini golf course

The stall count covers fresh produce, fashion, homewares, pots and plants, bric-a-brac and arts and crafts, plus specialty stalls that read more like a curiosity cabinet: crystals, tarot readings, and a reptile stall called Everything Reptile that keeps baby crocodiles among its animals. It's the kind of range that makes "just popping in" a two-hour undertaking.

Kids' attractions are a real part of the draw, not an afterthought: pony rides, a baby animal farm, face painting and a bungy trampoline sit alongside an indoor-and-outdoor mini golf course themed for the site. For a family trip that needs to occupy more than one age group at once, that combination is hard to match at a normal weekend market.

Good to know before you go

It's a Saturday-and-Sunday-only market, close to both Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, so it pairs easily with a beach day. Given the crowd size, arriving earlier in the morning makes both parking and browsing noticeably easier.