A Travel Guide to Canberra, Australia

Many U.S. visitors to Australia follow a familiar pattern that local tourism promoters call “Sydney-Rock-Reef” — itineraries that include Sydney, Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Great Barrier Reef. 

But Australia is a massive country, comprising an entire continent — with much more than just three bucket-list items to tick off. 

Many Americans would be hard-pressed to name Australia’s capital, Canberra, or find it on a map (roughly halfway between Sydney and Melbourne). A purpose-built, planned capital — much like Washington, D.C. — it has long had a reputation within Australia for not being terribly interesting. Some gift shops in the city even sell items proclaiming “Canberra thinks you’re boring, too.”

But that’s changing as more U.S. clients become familiar with Australia, seeking new places to visit on return trips. I recently spent several days in Canberra, figuring out exactly what it has to offer, and I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. Here’s what to know about visiting this unassuming city.

Australia’s Easiest Entry

I arrived at Canberra’s compact airport via a Fiji Airways flight from Nadi. The airline’s new nonstop flights to Fiji from my home in Dallas made the trip across the Pacific easy. I could have connected directly to Canberra the same day, but I instead chose to burn off the jetlag with a few days in the islands — and clients headed Down Under may also prefer to make their Fiji drop-in a stopover.

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More important for Canberra-bound travelers is that the Fiji flight is virtually the otherwise-sleepy airport’s only international one. Forget arriving in Sydney or Melbourne in the middle of a morning rush of international arrivals from the U.S., Asia and Europe with serpentine customs lines and schleps to domestic connections in a different building. My wait to enter Australia was about 30 seconds. Definitely a win for weary, ocean-crossing travelers.

Canberra’s Cultural Attractions

Australia is a diverse country, full of regional flavors. National capitals, by contrast, are more broadly influenced by design, with Australians from all over the country residing here alongside diplomats from around the world, giving the city an intensely cosmopolitan feel.

It’s also the job of national capitals to tell their country’s story. Australia’s story is told in Canberra through a wealth of cultural attractions and museums. For clients, it’s almost like a survey course in Australia before moving on to other destinations. Another benefit is that many of the museums here are free (much like Washington, D.C.).

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The National Gallery of Australia has both permanent and traveling collections of Australian and international art, including the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, representing many of the different styles and mediums from across the country. Many of the works in the gallery were painted during the 1970s — often on found wood, such as panels from repurposed wooden furniture, during a First Nations cultural renaissance, when Indigenous elders were encouraged to record their artistic traditions for posterity.

There’s also a large selection of contemporary art by Aboriginal artists, much of it posing provocative questions about the country’s colonial heritage and the place of Aboriginal Australians.

Outside the gallery, there’s a free sculpture garden featuring the work of Australian sculptors, making for a pleasant afternoon in a eucalyptus grove fronting Lake Burley Griffin.

At the National Museum of Australia, meanwhile, the permanent Great Southern Land exhibition tells the natural and human story of Australia, ranging from how the continent’s distinctive flora and fauna evolved over millennia, to the cultural shocks and exchanges that came with the arrival of Europeans to the continent, to the distinctive Australian identity that developed.

Clients who are keen on learning more about Australia’s government can book a tour of the Parliament House through Cultural Attractions of Australia. The tour takes visitors into private areas, including the press gallery and courtyards, and is capped off with a high tea service typically reserved for visiting dignitaries. It’s a fascinating look at both the Australian Senate (where there’s a throne reserved for King Charles III or his representative, the Governor General) and the House of Representatives (where the monarch traditionally doesn’t go).

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Behind the scenes, the first floor — reserved for legislators and their staff — is specially designed to be noisy, so you can’t sneak up on a conversation and eavesdrop. Visitors will also see several famous paintings depicting Queen Elizabeth II opening Parliament House in 1988, and her grandfather opening the first Australian Parliament in 1901, when he was still a duke (he was later crowned King George V).

When clients aren’t busy exploring the trappings of Aussie national identity, there are distinctive activities right in the midst of the city center. At Canberra Glassworks, for example, visitors can book glass-blowing classes to learn how glass is made, colored and fired, then try their own hand at it.

Culinary Highlights in and Around the City 

Although Australia is known for wine, the country’s best-known wine regions tend to be clustered in South Australia and Victoria. But immediately surrounding Canberra, there’s a small wine region — the Canberra Wine District (which is actually mostly in the neighboring state of New South Wales) — that utilizes the area’s volcanic soil and high elevation that results in warm days and cool nights to produce distinctive wines.

Van du Vin, for one, offers private tours of the Canberra wine region with lunch (the tour can be customized to clients’ specific wine interests). At Brindabella Hills, there are weekend wine tastings with vegan fudge tastings from Fudgemental and a lovely restaurant overlooking the Murrumbidgee River.

The more boutique Helm Wines does its tastings in a vintage 1888 schoolhouse, where — if you’re lucky — you might notice a kangaroo hopping among the surrounding vines. At Clonakilla Wines, meanwhile, known for its shiraz viognier, the tasting room has lovely views of the surrounding vineyard.

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Truffle fans will find their zen at Beltana Farm, with its rows of stately oak trees, where guests can join truffle hunts in season. And there’s always the lovely farm restaurant, which focuses on local cuisine. Clients who want a casual lodging option can book a farm stay in the quiet, residential neighborhood, where locals tend to set up informal farm stands in their driveways. 

When it comes to dining around the city, there are plenty of options, with cuisine ranging from modern Australian tasting menus to continental or Asian cuisines. I particularly enjoyed pasta with sweeping city views at the hilltop Lunetta, modern cuisine at Rebel Rebel and family-style Mediterranean (try the fluffy whipped ricotta) and inventive cocktails (some with ice cream) at Carlotta. 

Where To Stay

The arty Ovolo Nishi is a comfortable choice for clients seeking a bit of avant-garde style in their accommodations — think: polished concrete walls, comfy beds and a round of cocktails included in the room rate during happy hour. The hotel is part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and clients won’t want to miss the a la carte breakfast for comfort foods such as a breakfast “toastie” or bacon roll. 

For more traditional accommodations, try the plush Hyatt Hotel Canberra – A Park Hyatt Hotel near Parliament House. Set in a historic building from the 1920s, this property is just about as old as the buildings get in Canberra. Traditional luxe room design, marble bathrooms with soaker tubs, a gorgeous see-and-be-seen traditional tea room and an overwhelming selection from the sumptuous breakfast buffet make this one of the most comfortable digs in the city.

Ultimately, I found Canberra to be delightfully undiscovered — devoid of the tourist crush of larger coastal cities and perfect for laid-back clients who have a taste for culture, cuisine and the bragging rights that come with exploring a truly offbeat destination.