Review a long overnight in Canberra
 

Hi, all.

I'm spending 12 days in Australia, and I could really use some itinerary review and thoughts, please. I'm going to break them up into sections.

Flying from Melbourne to Canberra, arriving on a Tuesday at 9:35 am, departing Wednesday at like 7:30 pm.

Tuesday:
- perhaps take taxi to Park Hyatt Canberra? The Airliner bus just seems inconvenient for this hotel. Or maybe I can spare the extra time and just connect on another bus. I'll hardly have any luggage
- National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery. Lunch in one of those places.
- High Court
- Tour of Parliament House at 3 pm
- Museum of Democracy
- Head back to Park Hyatt, enjoy lounge snacks

Any idea about dinner? There are virtually no dinner restaurants nearby in walking distance as far as I can see, and Waters' Edge is a bit too pricey

Wednesday:

- cab to Telstra Tower 9 am
- Botanic Gardens
- walk to Civic Square
- quick bite
- walk to War Memorial and Anzac Parade
- cab from somewhere to National Museum Australia (2 until closing?)
- cab (or maybe just walk) back to Hyatt, and depending on energy and timing, cab or Airliner bus back to Airport for 7:35 flight.
(how much time to allot for check-in? any options for dinner?)

Any way to avoid all the cabbing on Wednesday? Could get expensive

I should say that all of this will be happening in mid-July ...

One thing from this proposed itinerary that jumps out to me is the short amount of time you have allotted for the Australian War Memorial. I've been there several times and never spent less than 4 hours there. (I even spent a full day there on my last visit.)

Unfortunately, I can't help any with public transportation. When I lived there, I had a car and never had a need to use the bus.

If you can drive, I'd suggest you rent a car at the airport. Canberra is a city that lends itself to independent transport & you will cover your costs in taxi savings, plus have maximum flexibility. Get a GPS with the car - or use your iPhone's Google map facility.

Get a paper map at the airport or from the car rental desk. Canberra is very well planned & easy to navigate once you know where your points of interest are.

There are myriad interesting & many inexpensive eateries to suit just about any palate & budget. Some clues as to yours would help us make some useful recommendations.

Thanks. Maybe I will skip War Memorial, then. I will not plan on driving, but thanks for the tip. I enjoy seafood, salads and sandwiches, European food mostly. Not much for Asian food. Budget would ideally be 20-25 USD for a meal. I'm shocked how expensive Australian restaurants are.

If you go to the Telstra tower at dusk you will get a view of the city and then the city lights. The revolving restaurant was very good when we last went about a dozen years ago. It is expensive but the views are great.

The museum of Democracy is not as great as it is made out to be. The tour of the old parliament house is much better followed by a quick look at the museum of democracy. It is designed mainly for school groups.

Just behind old Parliament house in the National Archives. They have a small museum in the foyer which is well worth 45minutes. The displays change regularly, but they always have the actual Act of British Parliament on display which is the basis of our federation.

You can do the War Memorial quickly by going on one of the free guided tours. It will give you a taste.

Otherwise, doing it yourself can take a while unless you focus on one War only OR just pick out a few artefacts you want to see up close.

This is what we do at museums - almost all the information you could ever want on any topic is on the internet. What isn't is the artefacts/relics etc.
So read up first, then focus on looking at the artefacts rather than reading everything.
The artefacts worth looking at are:-
An original landing boat from Gallipoli.
The piece of corrugated iron from Gallipoli that looks like a cheese grater it has so many holes in it. It was the roof of a dug out and was covered in a metre of soil, yet it is still full of holes - gives an understanding of what shell fire is like.
G for George - a Lancaster bomber is well worth a look.
The dioramas made before the advent of Audio visuals.
The Roll of Honour.(you will not find Breaker Morant or Handcock as they were in the British army, when they were executed.
The Hall of Memory.
Lots more
awm.gov.au

Enjoy

Hi Joe
Please don't skip the War Memorial - and try to walk along the avenue from the lake up to the memorial; it has so many interesting sculptures dedicated to all manner of armed service personnel.

At the War Memorial even if you see nothing else, make sure you're there for the G for George re-enactment. I've never seen anything so realistic and dramatic - the display and sound effects really take you right there; enough even to still a group of teenagers who were there at the same time as us.

The displays are held on the hour every day, between 10 am & 4 pm. See https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/anzac-hall/#showtimes for details. Di

For a useful starting perspective suggest you consider a first up visit to the National Capital Exhibition at Regatta Point, across the bridge from the Hyatt.

If visiting Telstra Tower during the weeks commencing 7 and 14 July which are the local school holidays there should be a (limited) bus service calling at Black Mountain -

http://www.action.act.gov.au/routes/81_loop

That same route continues out towards Government House with good views around the western section of the lake.

Consider walking around the central basin of the lake between the two bridges, taking a diversion up Anzac Parade to the War Memorial where you should allow plenty of time.

Don't miss the Treasures Exhibition at the National Library or taking a walk up to Parliament House.

Good cafes with views at the War Memorial, the National Library, and the National Portrait Gallery.

A selection of reasonably convenient dining possibilities from the Hyatt -

the very well regarded Ottoman Restaurant at Barton - taxi, or walk via King George Terrace past Old Parliament House,

a choice of restaurants at Manuka - perhaps Belluci's on the corner of Franklin and Furneaux Sts, or Urban Pantry on Bougainville St - take a taxi, or bus (line 6) from nearby Langton Crescent in front of the Dept of Finance offices -

http://www.action.act.gov.au/routes/pdf/6.pdf

or take one of the many buses on Commonwealth Avenue outside the Hyatt across the bridge into Civic (where the bus interchange area and surrounds can be pretty bleak) for good choices Sammy's Kitchen, Cream, and Jamie Oliver in Bunda St, or perhaps Ardeche or Banana Leaf on either side of Ainslie Ave/ City Walk.

Thanks for the tips. A few replies:

- I will be there July 15-16
- I had thought about Telstra later at night, but it seemed so far out of the way of the rest of the stuff I'm seeing. Maybe I should swap my days, so I end up closer to the University, where there are more food options?
- I've heard a lot of great things about the War Memorial here, but now I do worry I just won't have time for it or Anzac Parade, along with everything else.
- I will be sure to see the Library/Archives and de-emphasize Democracy Museum
- I came across Ottoman as well, but it seemed expensive for a cuisine I don't typically like. I think I just have to accept that food in Oz is going to be really expensive.

Can I actually walk from Botanic Gardens to the Tower? Or is that a real challenge? Bus 81 could work, but I'm not sure if my dates align.

Okay, with the feedback, how does the following sound:

Tuesday:
- land 9:35 am. Probably aim for taxi, since airport bus leaves at either 9:36 am or 10:25 am
- Walk from Hyatt to National Portrait Gallery and National Gallery. Lunch there
- High Court
- Parliament House tour at 3 pm
- National Library/Archives till close at 5
- snacks back at hotel lounge. Consider dinner nearby, or even in hotel if no other option.

Wednesday:
- Walk to National Capital Exhibition at 9 am.
- Walk around Civic Square
- Catch 10:20 am Bus 81 from City Platform 9 to Telstra Tower
- Go up Telstra tower (or maybe just to coffee shop?)
- 11:42: 81 Bus to Botantic Gardens. If miss it, just walk
- Tour Botanic Gardens
- 12:48 bus Botanic Gardens back to City
- Bus 7 at 1:25 pm to National Museum Australia
- National Museum Australia bus 7 back at either :46 or :16 past the hour
- Walk back to Hyatt, explore nearby Parks
- either cab or airport express bus back in time for 7:35 flight

Looks like I just won't have time for Anzac Parade or War Memorial. Sorry :(

Don't skip the Australian War Memorial!!! I think it's the best of the many excellent museums in Canberra. I know everyone has their own interests, but there are a lot of places you plan to see that I would skip in favor of making time for the Australian War Memorial e.g. the Telstra Tower (there are excellent views of the city for free from the War Memorial), the High Court, and parts of the National Museum.

If you feel pressed for time, as PeterSale suggests, you can take one of the free guided tours. They will show you the highlights of the museum in 90 minutes. There are even shorter tours (45 minutes long) at 10:45 am and 1:15 pm.

I think part of it is also the hassle of getting over there and back, given that's it not super convenient to anything else I have planned ... My interests are mostly art museums.

Canberra is organised along the lines of lots of small neighbourhoods (where you will find eateries) but it's hard to get between them. It's not a pedestrian-friendly city, unfortunately.

I second farrermog's suggestion of Manuka as a place to find restaurants and cafes - lots of good choices. Otherwise if you go to the shops at Civic (close to Braddon, on the northern side of the lake) there are some choices such as Tosolini's, which is a middle of the road cafe but quite good. From memory there is also an Irish pub nearby (patchy food quality), and a chain restaurant (Hog's Breath), but it's quite a big centre so there would be more than those. They would be the two closest shopping areas to the Park Hyatt (and neither within walking distance).

Lavandula

To each his own, Joe.

I'm curious, though: on the Melbourne thread, you list top echelon restaurants in terms of cuisine & price as your dining venues - yet complain about the price of Canberra's Ottoman & Waters Edge & say you enjoy " seafood, salads & sandwiches".

Hardly the fare of Cumulus, Florentino etc, I'd have thought.

Anyway, as I said - to each his own. I'm just curious at the apparent anomaly between your choices in the two cities.

I'm okay with a splurge every now and then (Cumulus), but Floretino can be had for relatively less, especially with the bar and upstairs options. I think it's more about not wanting to eat expensively every night at the least, so Canberra could ideally be more of a savings. I'm also not that interested in fixed price tasting menus, which Canberra seemed to have a lot of.

Also, my breakfast and lunches will be covered each day in Melbourne, so my food budget could go further these days. I'm open to less expensive places in Melbourne, too, but there are at least a couple of the places I listed on that thread I do plan to try. I don't want to get too far afield to pick a fight over my one restaurant night in Canberra. Thanks for all the advice - even if our tastes in sights or food are different - I appreciate hearing it.

You'd have to try a lot harder than that to pick a fight with me, Joe. I was just curious.

You might like the Pork Barrel Cafe - in the Rose Garden opposite old Parliament House & about 5 mins walk from the Hyatt. It's open for dinner Tues-Friday. www.porkbarrel.com.au

Good choice to have lunch at the Portrait Gallery restaurant - it's excellent.

Also have a look at UrbanSpoon - it's usually pretty good for reviews.

Thanks - I'd come across Pork Barrel but didn't realize it was open for dinner!

Pork Barrel is only open Friday nights.