We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Canberra, but by no means did we visit every tourist destination. Here are a few final activities and places we enjoyed, and a few we didn’t visit but have on the list for another time.
1. Mt Ainslie
We travelled up Mt Ainslie in both the daytime and the nighttime to enjoy views of Canberra. It is a great spot for this, and it’s located very close to the Australian War Memorial, making it easy to factor into another activity.
We were surprised that there were no established food or beverage venues at the top of Mt Ainslie. Coming from Brisbane, we expected a café or restaurant up there to capitalise on the amazing views like we have on Mt Coot-tha. Nevertheless, Mt Ainslie has a great lookout and is worth a quick visit.
2. Telstra Tower
The Telstra Tower was not open to visitors during our trip, but this is something to look into if you are heading to Canberra.
3. National Art Gallery, National Library and various other significant cultural collections
If we had more time, some of these destinations would have been on our list for sure. We even parked in the National Library carpark to visit Questacon. The reality of family travel is that, sometimes, places with a lot to see/learn become a lower priority than places where there is a lot to DO. We did take our children through museums and galleries while we were in Canberra, but we tried to balance these days with outdoor adventures and hands-on activities to keep the trip family-friendly. Your family may well prioritise activities differently .
4. Transportation
We drove our own car to Canberra (it was part of a road trip), so any use of public transport would have been for fun only. There is a light rail that runs through the heart of the city and it was on my list of activities to enjoy if we had any spare time. In the end, we didn’t have any spare time and so we didn’t get to use public transport on this trip.
5. Tours, shows and festivals
I try to keep my finger on the pulse of activities and festivals in our home region and in any regions we plan to visit. I do this by following social media accounts from the destinations and through plenty of internet searches in the months leading up to our trips. It’s as simple as searching: “What’s happening in Brisbane in August 2023?” and, in most cases, a populated calendar is available, complete with links to more information.
During our visit to Canberra, the Christmas in July Festival was running for a few days. We made this a destination for dinner one evening and it was wonderful. Most of the food was European, in keeping with the theme of northern-hemisphere Christmas traditions. There was also entertainment provided, along with markets, and even a corridor to walk through where ‘snoap’ (soapy snow) fell, creating pretty photo opportunities.
It is definitely worth checking out what’s on, in case you’d like to attend a festival or show, or perhaps because you’d like to avoid crowds associated something happening. It’s certainly good to have a heads-up if traffic or transportation is going to be impacted by a big event.
What's the best festival you've come across in your travels?
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