Top Attractions Canberra

Five Travel Tips for Visiting Canberra, ACT, Australia

Words and photos: Monica Tindall

  1.  Get Mobile Wi-Fi

Many hotels in Australia don’t yet offer complimentary Internet services, and you’re going to want connection not only in your room but on the road as well. Having a mobile router allows you to navigate, upload holiday snaps to social media, and check out food and attraction recommendations depending on your location and in the moment. Currency exchange is not so favourable at the moment either, so booking a device from Travel Recommends before you leave means you pay in ringgit and can allow for the exact cost in your budget.

portable wifi, pocket wifi
Travel Recommends

2. Stay in a Self-Contained Apartment

Hotels are not cheap in Australia, and neither is food or laundry, so staying in a self-contained apartment makes sense, especially when traveling with family or friends. Having a kitchen allows you to take advantage of Australia’s incredible produce and wine, and enjoying some local drops at your own dinner table means you won’t have to worry about strict drink driving laws either. Having the option of doing a load of laundry allows you to pack lightly and have more space in your luggage to take back some delicious holiday souvenirs. We highly recommend the East Hotel Canberra for its well-equipped, fully serviced apartments.

East Hotel Canberra review
East Hotel Canberra, Apartment

3. Hire a Car

Distances are loooooong in Australia and the population sparse, so public transportation is not the most convenient way to get around. When in the city centre most Aussies will walk or cycle to their destination, but in inclement weather and to take advantage of seeing Australia’s gorgeous natural environment, a car is needed for sure. AVIS car rental is our choice for its international reputation for quality and service, and convenience of pick up and drop off at the airport.

hire cars in Canberra
Avis Car Rental

4. Visit the State Tourism Board

Every state in Australia has a tourism board and they have done most of the hard work for you in putting together information about what to see and do, and where to eat and stay. On our recent stay in Canberra we found the Visit Canberra site extremely helpful and they even have an app to help you plan your itinerary and create your own individualised movie trailer of your planned getaway. Here’s a link to my video!

5. Visit The Yum List

We just spent a fun-filled week in Australia’s capital and with the assistance of ACT Tourism discovered some of the regions’ top wine producers, gourmet products, Hatted restaurants and a whole host of excellent attractions. Find our coverage by following the links to Canberra from our Destinations menu above, or travel directly via this link.

Top Attractions Canberra
Lake Burley Griffin
Top Attractions Canberra
Australian War Memorial
Top Attractions Canberra
Pialligo Estate
Top Attractions Canberra, ACT
Australian National War Memorial

15 Comments

  1. I would, 1 and 2 and 5, of course. LOL!!!

  2. The National War Memorial is very touching. My father was a veteran and I have a lot of respect for them. Interesting too, that the poppy is one of my favourite flowers.

    • My dad too – and his photo is supposed to be in there somewhere, but on our short visit we didn’t find it.

  3. Good advice.
    Colin

    • Dad’s photo apparently is somewhere in the war museum. We tried finding it but arrived too close to closing and ran out of time.

  4. Australian poppies look slightly different to English poppies?!
    Your petals have frilled margins!
    Probably inspired by frilled lizards?! 😉

  5. i’m going to go check out the visit canberra site now! 😀

  6. Canberra, here we come =)

    • The nice things about Canberra is that you have all of this great food, but you also have plenty of outdoor activities to balance it out (work it all off 😉

  7. I like your tip to get mobile Wi-Fi so you can stay connected. This would be especially helpful if you are in an area you are unfamiliar with. A fully-serviced apartment sounds like a good idea too. Would this provide some of the luxuries of a hotel, like house keeping and room service? Thanks for sharing these great tips!

  8. Affiqah Farhana Ahmad Faudzi

    Hi can i ask on the speed of the pocket wifi (travel recommends) in australia? Do you have trouble connecting in some of the areas?

    • Hi Affiqah,
      Speed was fine. Reception was normal – similar to that of other services in Australia – slower in more isolated areas, faster in the city centre.

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