Canberra Transportation

Planning a Trip

Visitor Information

The Canberra Visitors' Centre, 330 Northbourne Ave., Dickson (tel. 02/6205 0044), dispenses information and books accommodations. The office is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 5:30pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 4pm. The official government website, www.visitcanberra.com.au, is worth checking out.

Special Events

A host of free events -- from concerts to competitions -- is part of the annual Canberra National Multicultural Festival held over 10 days each February. The city also celebrates its founding with more free events on Canberra Day, which is a local public holiday, on the second Monday in March. There are many other major events scattered throughout the year, the biggest of which is the annual free spring flower show Floriade, when Commonwealth Park erupts in a blaze of color with more than 1.5 million bulbs and annuals in bloom. The Summernats street machine car festival in January, the Easter National Folk Festival, and the Australian Science Festival in August also draw big crowds. Check dates at www.visitcanberra.com.au.

City Layout

Canberra's focal point is the pondlike Lake Burley Griffin, an artificial lake with the Captain Cook Memorial Jet (a spire of water that reaches 147m/482 ft. into the air) at its center. Most of the country's more culturally and politically significant buildings -- Australia's most expensive building, Parliament House, the much smaller (in comparison) Old Parliament House, the National Archives, the National Library, the National Gallery, the High Court of Australia, and Questacon, the National Science and Technology Centre -- are clustered around it, making it easy for visitors to go from one attraction to the next. Officially, the area is called Parkes (after Sir Henry Parkes, the "father of Federation"), but it is more commonly referred to as the Parliamentary Triangle, which is bounded by Commonwealth, Kings, and Constitution avenues. Capital Hill is at the apex of the triangle, while City Hall, in the city center, and the headquarters of the Australian Defense Force, in the suburb of Russell, are at the other two points.

Most of the embassies and consulates are in the suburb of Yarralumla, east of Capital Hill; Canberra's main shopping district, Civic, is on the other side of the lake, centered on Northbourne Avenue, one of the city's main thoroughfares. Compared to other capital cities, the Central Business District (CBD) there is quite small. The inner suburbs of Manuka and Kingston are the places to go for boutique shopping and the best restaurants and cafes. On the outskirts of the city you'll find the National Zoo and Aquarium, and just a few minutes drive away is Black Mountain, crowned with its 195m-high (640-ft.) communications tower with a viewing platform, revolving restaurant, and exhibition hall.

Getting There

By Plane

Qantas (tel. 13 13 13 in Australia; www.qantas.com.au) runs frequent daily service to Canberra from all state capitals. Virgin Blue (tel. 13 67 89 in Australia; www.virginblue.com.au) offers discount daily flights to Canberra from Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide and Sydney. Tiger Airways also has daily flights from Melbourne (www.tigerairways.com). The Canberra Airport is about 10 minutes from the city center. It has car-rental desks, a currency exchange, a bar, a bistro, and a mailbox for cards and letters (but no post office). The newsdealer sells stamps. There are no lockers or showers.

The Airliner Bus (tel. 02/6299 3722; www.airliner.com.au) operates a 20-minute shuttle between the central business district and the airport Monday to Friday, leaving every half-hour on weekdays and hourly on weekends. The one-way fare is A$9 (US$8/£4), and a round-trip costs A$15 (US$14/£7).

By Train

Countrylink (tel. 13 22 32 in Australia; www.countrylink.info) runs two Canberra Xplorer trains daily between Sydney and Canberra. The 4 1/4-hour trip costs around A$80 (US$72/£36) in first class and A$57 (US$51/£25) in economy during peak season (school and public holidays), but seasonal discounts apply so check when booking; children pay half-price, and a round-trip costs double. Many people book Countrylink transport-hotel packages (call Countrylink Holidays, tel. 13 28 29), which can save you quite a bit. Countrylink has an office at Central Railway station in Sydney.

From Melbourne, the Canberra Link, run by V/Line (tel. 13 61 96 in Australia; www.vlinepassenger.com.au), involves a 6-hour bus trip and a 3 1/2-hour train trip. It costs A$55 (US$50/£25) for adults and A$34 (US$31/£15) for children and students.

Canberra Railway Station (tel. 02/6239 6707) is on Wentworth Avenue, Kingston, about 5km (3 miles) southeast of the city center. Coaches connect the railway station to the center.

By Bus

McCafferty's/Greyhound (tel. 13 14 99 in Australia; www.greyhound.com.au) does eight runs a day from Sydney to Canberra; the trip takes 4 to 4 1/2 hours. Tickets cost around A$38 (US$34/£17) for adults, A$34 (US$31/£15) for students with an ISAC (International Student Activity Card), and A$31 (US$28/£14) for children 3 to 14.

From Melbourne, tickets to Canberra cost A$87 (US$78/£39) for adults, A$78 (US$70/£35) for students, and A$72 (US$65/£32) for children. Advance-purchase fares can be as much as 35% lower.

Murrays Australia (tel. 13 22 51 in Australia; www.murrays.com.au) runs from Sydney to Canberra four times a day for A$37 (US$33/£17) for adults and A$28 (US$25/£13) for children. Book over the Internet for further discounts. Several sightseeing companies in Sydney, including AAT Kings (tel. 04/456 0505; www.aatkings.com) and Australian Pacific Touring (tel. 1300/655 965 in Australia, or 03/9277 8499; www.aptouring.com.au), offer day trips to Canberra.

Interstate buses arrive at Jolimont Tourist Centre, at the corner of Northbourne Avenue and Alinga Street, Canberra City.

By Car

The ACT is surrounded by New South Wales. Sydney is 306km (190 miles) northeast, and Melbourne is 651km (404 miles) southwest of Canberra. From Sydney, you can use an extension to the M5 motorway that links with the Eastern Distributor highway near Sydney Airport. Veer left before you reach the airport and follow signs heading toward Canberra, and veer left onto the M5. The drive takes between 3 and 3 1/2 hours. From Melbourne, take the Hume Highway to Yass and switch to the Barton Highway; the trip will take about 8 hours.