Canberra
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The capital city of Australia and as such home to not only all manner of government infrastructure but also various national institutions and museums, some of which include a dark-tourism appeal of varying proportions.
More background info: The area around what today is Canberra had long been inhabited by indigenous Australians (Ngunnawal Aboriginals) for over 20,000 years. The arrival of the European settlers in the first half of the 19th century had a massively disruptive impact on the original landowners, who were driven off their land, repressed and subsequently marginalized (as happened practically everywhere in Australia).
When in 1901 the colonies of Australia federalized to become the single independent Commonwealth nation of Australia, the question as to which city was to become the capital of the country became a bone of contention. Neither of the big rivals, Sydney and Melbourne, wanted the other to become the nation’s capital, so a compromise was looked for. Eventually the choice was Canberra (officially so named in 1913), as it was located in between the big rival cities (though not quite equidistant from them). A construction plan was drawn up and realized from that year. In 1927, Canberra officially became the capital of Australia. Originally Canberra was part of New South Wales, but with the establishment of the new capital the Australian Capital Territory was created as the smallest of the eight main constituent parts making up Australia today.
The core of Canberra built in those years is hence a fully planned city. Meanwhile, however, many suburbs have more organically grown into almost towns of their own, with more shopping and entertainment facilities than the core – and more inhabitants. It’s thus also an incredibly sprawling city. In total Canberra has just under half a million inhabitants, which makes it the largest inland city of Australia and the eighth largest of them all. But it barely feels like a city, as it’s so scattered. However, quality of life is ranked the highest in Australia, with low unemployment, high incomes and excellent infrastructure.
In terms of tourism, on the other hand, Canberra is far behind Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane in attractiveness, at least as a city as such. Some of its national institutions, though, are major tourist destinations. This includes some with dark appeal too (see below), in addition to national institutions such as the National Gallery and National Library, plus the National University and of course all those government and administrative institutions like the High Court as well as several top military institutions.
What there is to see: The following four specific dark-tourism-relevant places are given their own separate chapters here:
- Australian War Memorial (and museum)
- Museum of Australian Democracy (at Old Parliament House)
+ Aboriginal Tent Embassy
Other than that there are numerous monuments with a dark theme, especially those lined up on either side of Anzac Parade, which leads from the Australian War Memorial in a straight line down to the north shores of Lake Burley Griffin with a good view of Parliament Hill (see below). Some are dedicated to particular parts of the Australian military, others to specific conflicts such as the Boer War or Vietnam. It’s nice to see there’s also a monument to Peacekeeping Missions that Australians are/were involved in (cf. e.g. East Timor).
I’ve also found an intriguing monument on Veterans Square in the heart of the Civic and Braddon district: it symbolizes families separated by war (see photo gallery below).
Location: ca. 160 miles (250 km) south-west of Sydney
Google Maps locators:
Anzac Parade: [-35.2859, 149.1441]
Monument on Veterans Square: [-35.27703 149.13025]
Canberra Museum and Gallery (loop tour start point): [-35.28045, 149.13098]
Lake Burley Griffin: [-35.2926, 149.1302]
National Library: [-35.2964, 149.1295]
High Court: [-35.299, 149.136]
Questacon: [-35.2983, 149.1312]
Train station: [-35.3193, 149.1493]
Airport: [-35.3074, 149.1902]
Civic and Braddon bar and restaurant area: [-35.2759, 149.1316]
Access and costs: Fairly easy to get to, even by train; many attractions are free.
Details: For such a big country where so much domestic travel is by plane (or endlessly long drives along straight highways) it’s great news that you can get to Canberra by train from Sydney (or by bus – also from other locations). The train journey takes a tolerable four hours, is fairly good value and passes through some nice rural landscapes (you may get to see kangaroos!). It’s run by NSW TrainLink and there are about three connections a day, of which the midday departure is the most convenient.
Of course you could also fly in, but given the overland alternatives I would advise against it unless you have to depart from a different part of the country and can’t make it via Sydney. To get into the city from the airport you can take a taxi or use the convenient bus line 3 (30 mins) when going to Civic and Braddon (see below).
Coming to Canberra by (hire) car would give you the convenience of being able to get around independently in this sprawling city without having to rely on public transport. But then you have the issue of parking.
Otherwise getting around is by bus or taxi … or on foot – but remember, the distances here are enormous and not especially pedestrian-friendly. Within Civic and Braddon everything is walkable, though.
As a very useful alternative I found an outfit (simply called Explorer Loop, by Canberra Day Tours, if I remember correctly) that is basically a hop-on, hop-off loop tour departing from just outside the Canberra Museum and Gallery on London Circuit. It then goes via some old residential parts from the time when Canberra was the newly founded capital to the Australian War Museum, drives past the memorials on Anzac Parade (see above) before stopping by the northern shores of Lake Burley Griffin, then continuing on to the National Library and the High Court. The next stop is at Parliament House, from where the Old Parliament House (with the Museum of Australian Democracy) is walkable (so you don’t have to co-ordinate it with the bus times). After that the tour goes past some embassies and then the final stop is by the National Museum of Australia, before the bus returns to the starting point. You have to pick up or make a note of the timetable so you don’t miss the bus on the next loop to move on. There are seven departures spread over the day from 9:30 a.m. (the whole loop driving time is 50 mins).
I found it worked very well and was money well invested. The price for the hop-on-hop-off loop tour is 60 AUD; and if you pay cash at the departure point you get a 5 AUD discount. But you can also book ahead online. If you spread the tour over two days you get another massive discount for the second day (just 25 AUD). I wish I had had the time for that, but still it helped me get to the main sights within one day, except that by the time we got to the National Museum there would not have been enough time left to visit the museum and catch the last bus back afterwards.
By the way, this was not the typical garish double-decker hop-on, hop-off outfit you see in so many cities around the world these days (with automated audio commentary) but by a large van (ca. 18 seats) and thus more intimate and the driver personally provided some illuminating commentary along the way.
For accommodation there are many options in Canberra, including a plush historic hotel right on Parliament Hill – but that’s expensive and not actually so convenient as it’s miles from everything else (though you might have some interesting fellow guests staying there in the right season).
One of the better parts of the city to stay in is the Civic and Braddon districts, the closest Canberra has to a city centre (see below). There are a few hotels here that make for a good base in what is also the liveliest part of town. Alternatively there are also plenty of options in the quieter Kingston and Barton districts south-east of Parliament Hill and closer to the train station. I’d still favour Civic and Braddon, even though you need a bus or taxi to get there from the train station, but it’s also convenient for the loop tour described above and it has more eating and drinking out options.
Food and drink options are plentiful, again especially in the Civic and Braddon districts, where I found two exceptional restaurants (both Asian) and one of the nicest craft beer bars I encountered in all of Australia (Bent Spoke).
Time required: I only had two nights in Canberra leaving me with one full day for exploring – and that was way too little. I felt in a rush and still had to skip the National Museum. So two days would have been better, more if you also want to delve deeper into the non-dark attractions of Canberra.
Combinations with other dark destinations: none in the immediate vicinity – better get back to Sydney.
See also under Australia in general.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: Apart from Parliament Hill and all the national institutions dotted on and around it (see above), Canberra’s cityscape is dominated by the artificial Lake Burley Griffin that separates the government district from the more lived-in older parts of the core city. That said, though, Canberra doesn’t really have a proper city centre, no CBD (Central Business District) like the other big Australian cities, and instead the many suburbs have their own centres. The closest Canberra has to something that feels a bit like city centre setting is the Civic and Braddon districts just north of City Hill and the Vernon Circle roundabout that is connected to Parliament Hill by the grand Commonwealth Avenue thoroughfare.
Near Civic Square you find a largely pedestrianized area with shops and restaurants and also the Canberra Museum and Gallery (worth a look). Further north in Braddon along Mort Street and Lonsdale Street, which run parallel to the main Northbourne Avenue thoroughfare A23), you find the densest accumulation of bars and restaurants in all of Canberra, as well as some entertainment options. Hence it is also a good place to be based rather than in the much less lively parts beyond (see above).
The other main attractions are quite spread out, though, and outside the Civic and Braddon districts the city is not very walkable (long distances, often along wide avenues with lots of traffic), so you’ll need public transport or taxis to see them all. Apart from the places already mentioned there’s the National Gallery of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery, also the National Library, Royal Australian Mint, National Capital Exhibition, National Zoo & Aquarium, National Botanic Gardens and the National Arboretum. There’s also a science museum with the quirky name “Questacon” (which features an earthquake simulator as a darkish add-on!).
In addition to all those more formal institutions you can also take a boat cruise on Lake Burley Griffin or go hiking in the mountains surrounding the city.
