The nation’s capital has a pretty bad rap, we’ll admit that, but it can actually be really fun! I’ve been down there twice recently: one just as a day trip and the other time for the weekend...and only went to one museum!
So, here are some things to do in Canberra to spend your day:
1) Markets. We went to two lots of markets over the course of one weekend. One was a smaller market just by the Australian War Memorial which had clothes, jewellery and showcased some interesting foods: e.g. Ethiopian!
The second lot of markets were on Sunday morning and were absolutely fantastic. They’re a regular event and are well known, frequented by tourists and locals. It’s essentially split into two floors: one for yummy gourmet food and one for everything else (clothes, lingerie, makeup, art works, cushions, leather goods, woodwork, metalwork, etc).
We went on a food tasting extravaganza and ended up buying lunch and dinner there for later (squid ink pasta with special sauce, cherry pie, homemade breads, pumpkin and hummus dips, chai tea, freshly squeezed juice, the list goes on).
2) Australian War Memorial. This is a fantastic monument set out for detailing Australia’s military involvement in conflicts throughout the world. It is very detailed and informative, and also really moving. There are full aeroplanes inside, uniforms, swords, guns, etc. The remembrance area is the most beautiful, with a central pool flanked by archways listing the different soldiers who died in the various battles worldwide. The view back towards the city is beautiful as it follows one main promenade (Anzac parade), straight to the two Parliament houses. Even if you don’t want to go inside, just enter the building to see the memorial and look back.
3) Black Mountain. On top of Black Mountain is the Telstra Tower. It costs about $7 to go up but the view is awesome. Take a jumper though! You can see all of the city and the surrounding countryside, as well as mountains, Lake Burley Griffin and so on.
4) Yes, Canberra is out capital, so of course, Parliament is located here. There’s Old Parliament House and New Parliament House. I was surprised to still be able to see the Aboriginal Tent Embassy set up outside Parliament house. You can do a free tour of the new Parliament House which lasts about 40mins and is really good. Politics, generally speaking, is not everyone’s interest point, but this is done in a fun and informative way so it does make it interesting! You can take a lift up on the roof to walk around (a symbolism of the people always being above the government in a democratic state). There are nice views of the city (back up towards the War museum) to be seen up here.
5) Finally, some night out advice. Canberra is little, which in terms of going out is great, because you can pretty much walk anywhere. Take a jumper though because Canberra at night is freezing – literally! We hit up a great Irish pub called King O’Malley’s – there was a fantastic live band there and the place was packed. Drinks were also really cheap ($5 cocktails for example!). We then went to Cube Bar for some clubbing action, and I’m told the place to end up after that is Mooseheads, if you want to party hard, military style! The atmosphere is really fun in all these places and you realise that because a large part of Canberra is a uni population, it’s a really great way to meet a lot of young people too!
Canberra, of course also has: The National Gallery, the Australian Institute of Sport, the Portrait Gallery, the National Museum, Questacon Science Museum, the Film and Sound Archives, and so much more that I’ve missed. There is a lot to do there, but you can fill in time without having to go and see exhibitions, if that’s not what you’re into. Just take it at a leisurely place and it can be a really nice weekend away, or commonly a nice stop off on the way to or from the snow!