Things to do in Canberra

Landmark · Central Canberra

A 1963 artificial lake with the National Gallery, the National Library, Questacon, Old Parliament House and Parliament House arranged around it on Walter Burley Griffin's geometry.

Local tip: The 5km Central Basin loop over Kings and Commonwealth Avenue bridges is the walk locals actually do. Go at dawn in autumn when the fog sits on the water, and finish on the grass roof of Parliament House — it is the only national parliament in the world you can legally walk over the top of, and it is free.

Nature · Braddon / Campbell, 3km from Civic

The lookout that explains the city — the whole Griffin axis lines up from the War Memorial through Anzac Parade to Parliament House in one sightline.

Local tip: Walk up from the War Memorial car park rather than driving; it is 45 minutes and a genuine climb. Do it once in your first week and the city's layout stops being confusing. Kangaroos on the lower track at dusk are a certainty, not a possibility.

Nature · 45–60 minutes south-west

Nearly half the ACT's land area — granite tors, sub-alpine grasslands, Aboriginal rock art at Yankee Hat and a night sky with no city glow.

Local tip: The Yankee Hat rock art walk is a flat 6km round trip and one of the most accessible rock-art sites in south-eastern Australia. Check the ACT Parks fire and closure notices before you drive out — the park closes on Extreme fire danger days and there is no signal past the visitor centre.

Nightlife · Immediately north of Civic

A former light-industrial block turned into Canberra's densest run of bars, restaurants, roasters and independent shops.

Local tip: Braddon is where Canberra stopped being a joke about roundabouts. Come on a Thursday — Friday belongs to whichever department has just finished a budget cycle. The laneways behind Lonsdale hide the better small bars, and almost none of them have signage.

Food · 35 minutes north

A cool-climate riesling and shiraz district on the NSW side of the border, with about forty cellar doors inside an hour of the city.

Local tip: Clonakilla's shiraz viognier is the wine that made the region's name, but the quieter Sunday plan is Murrumbateman's smaller doors plus the farmers' market. Note you cross into NSW to get there — different speed camera rules, different police force, same drive.

Culture · Tidbinbilla, 40 minutes south-west

One of three tracking stations in NASA's Deep Space Network, with a free visitor centre, a piece of Moon rock, and 70-metre dishes talking to Voyager.

Local tip: Free, open most days, and almost nobody who lives in Canberra has been. The best time is when a spacecraft is actually being tracked — the live status display in the visitor centre tells you what each dish is pointed at, and combining it with the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve next door makes a full day.