Australian Capital Territory

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Quick Facts

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Capital

Canberra

Population

336,400^[1]

Time zone

UTC+10 (+11 DST)

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Introduction

Canberra

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The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is the smallest entity in Australia, only measuring 2366 square kilometers. Although many travellers avoid the area, if on purpose or not, there are some areas of interest. Half of the territory is protected as national park or reserve and is a mix of mountain ranges and hills covered in bushland, so plenty to keep hikers, campers and nature-lovers busy for a few days. And of course there is also Canberra, the capital city of Australia to visit, with many interesting museums and Parliament house to visit.

Geography

The ACT is a landlocked enclave in New South Wales, conceived during the federation conventions of the late 1800s as neutral location for a new National Capital.

Cities

The ACT's only city is Canberra.

Sights

• Namadgi National Park
• National Museum of Australia
• National Gallery of Australia
• Parliament House
• Lake Burley Griffin

Activities

Events and Festivals

Summer in Australia is much about Outdoor Music Festivals. With single day events, camping festivals out of town and week long festivals, there is definately a music festival to suit all tastes. Further reading in Outdoor Music Festivals in ACT.

Weather

ACT's summermonths are from November to March, when average daytime temperatures are between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius, sometimes rising to over 35 degrees. Nights are relatively cool, averaging around 10 to 14 degrees Celsius. During the wintermonths of June to August nights are only around zero on average, rising to 10-12 degrees during the day.
Rainfall is fairly even throughout the year, but usually is a little less than average during winter with the highest rainfall in October and November.

Getting There

By Plane

Canberra International Airport is served by Qantas and Virgin Blue. Destinations include Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide. Brindabella Airlines serves Albury Wodonga and Newcastle. There are no regularly scheduled international flights.

By Train

The southern services of Xplorer (CountryLink) provide sercives between Sydney and ACT/Canberra. Train services to Melbourne are provided by way of a CountryLink bus service which connects with a rail service between Sydney and Melbourne in Yass, about one hour's drive from Canberra.^[2]

By Car

Well maintained roads lead into ACT from New South Wales and there are easy connections to Sydney and Melbourne.
From Sydney: Travel along the Hume Highway and turn off at the Federal Highway near Goulbourn. Travel time is roughly 3 hours.
From Melbourne: Take the Hume Highway and turn off at the Barton Highway at Yass. Travel time is roughly 7 hours.

By Bus

Greyhound has services to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

Getting Around

ACTION buses run all across Canberra. Bus timetables can be collected from the offices in the bus interchanges in Civic (city), Woden, Tuggeranong, and Belconnen. Alternatively, they are all available on the ACTION website. The best option for travellers would be to purchase a Travel Ten card from a Canberra Newsagent. The ticket system is based on time - each ticket is valid for 90 consecutive minutes of travel, regardless of where you travel in the network.

The bus to the Airport is not operated by Action. Check the Canberra International Airport website for more information on this.

If you want to make the most of Canberra, consider buses or hiring a car as the landmarks are too spread out for walking to be a viable option.

By Train

By Car

By Bus

Eat

Drink

Sleep