Canberra
Travel Guide > Oceania > Australia > Australian Capital Territory > Canberra
In this Article
- Introduction
- Neighbourhoods
- Sights and Activities
- Events and Festivals
- Weather
- Getting There
- Getting Around
- Eat
- Drink
- Sleep
- Work
- Learn
- Keep Connected
- Nightlife
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Introduction
Canberra is the capital city of Australia and is located in the Australian Capital Territory to the southwest of Sydney. Following a long dispute over whether Sydney or Melbourne should be the national capital, a compromise was reached: Canberra. It was constructed in the early 1900s following a design by architect Walter Burley Griffin. The highly organised layout is evidence of the planning that went into this city. As a result of being the nation's capital, Canberra is home to many national monuments and institutions such as the Australian War Memorial, the National Gallery of Australia, the National Portrait Gallery currently housed at Old Parliament House, the National Library of Australia, the National Archives of Australia, and the National Museum of Australia.
Neighbourhoods
Sights and Activities
Canberra is home to many of Australia's most significant cultural institutions.
- Parliament
- National Museum of Australia
- National Library of Australia
- National Gallery of Australia
- Australian War Memorial
- Questacon - large interactive science and technology centre for kids.
Events and Festivals
Summer in Australia is all 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: Outdoor Music Festivals in ACT.
Weather
Canberra'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
The Canberra International Airport provides direct domestic services to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Newcastle, Traralgon and Albury.[1] There are no regularly scheduled international flights.
By Car
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 Train
CountryLink connects Canberra to Sydney by rail. Canberra's railway station is in the inner south suburb of Kingston. Train services to Melbourne are provided by CountryLink bus services which connects with a rail service between Sydney and Melbourne in Yass, about one hour's drive from Canberra.[2]
By Bus
Greyhound has services to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
By Boat
Getting Around
ACTION buses run 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 which means that 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 Car
By Public Transport
By Foot
By Bike
Eat
A good place to start is by checking out the following websites, which allow you to search on restaurants, cafes and bars according to cuisine, location etc. and view customer reviews:
Drink
Sleep
Budget
| Property | Address | Type | Popularity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victor Lodge Bed & Breakfast | 29 Dawes St Kingston | Guesthouse | 75 |
Mid-Range
Upscale
Work
Learn
Nightlife
Canberra has a limited but varied nightlife. For cheap drinks and student types, try the city which is called Civic. Mooseheads on London Curcuit is very popular with the very young party goers. King O'Malleys in Garema Place is a decent Irish Pub with live music most weekends.
Kingston and Manuka are more upmarket options. Lot 33 in Kingston is the place for pop-techno all night dancing, but beware as it doesn't really pick up until midnight at the earliest. Irish pubs Filthy McFaddens and The Durham in Kingston are good fun, but get very crowded.
Smoking is banned in all Canberra clubs and pubs.
References
This is version 23. Last edited at 9:58 on Aug 18, 09 by Utrecht (+167). 12 articles link to this page.
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