Hi Guys, recommend us a few tourist attractions in Canberra. We are two adults and two kids (8-10yrs) staying at Novotel Hotel this week. We have two days to spend there before returning to Sydney. TIA.
Tourists Places in Canberra - 2 Days
bluespider on 18/03/2023 - 22:18
closed Comments
cockington green
Is that the sister attraction to Cockburn Central in WA?
Nah, its sister location to COC on Iron Knob St
Back in the early 90s, it was really something… not much has changed in 30 years.
We still liked visiting though but it didn't have the same shine as it did in my memories from as a child (same can be said for lots of things though, kids still love it).
Probably didn't help they were doing a lot of cleaning, draining the main pond etc when we were there, boats were all piled up etc.That's because you have grown older, now you rather be Fyshwick than Cockington Green ;)
Kids that age, Questacon! They will love it
i stopped going when they got rid of the roller coaster and earthquake house…
Earthquake house was there last Winter when we were visiting
^^^ 100% this - Questacon is great for primary school aged kids.
was a little awkward in a covid environment with so many snotty kids handling everything one after another, they had sanitiser stations around and I feel like a stripped a few layers of skin by the end of it, but should be good again now.
For kids it'd be the National Museum, War Memorial (with a side trip to Mt Ainslie lookout), Questacon (with maybe a walk along the lake), and the National Zoo and Aquarium (check out the views from the top of the Arboretum on the way back from the zoo).
Why is there an aquarium when Canberra has no sea?
That's why Canberra has an aquarium, because there is no sea.
I see
They really should put "national" in the title on account of Australia being girt by sea
oh wait they did
Could visit the Royal Australian Mint as well.
Good one, kids love that "mint your own coin" thing
Just go on a weekday - stupidly we went on a weekend and nothing was happening on the mint factory floor on a weekend, but they still do tours and talk about what you would be seeing if you were there on a workday… robots working, stamping coins etc.
Yeah good point, I also attended on a weekend and it was the same. Would’ve been awesome to see all the machines going around and people working!
stupidly we went on a weekend and nothing was happening on the mint factory floor on a weekend
The way the gov "prints money" these days, I'm actually impressed they don't need to run on weekends ;)
@SBOB: … yeah what a shock we have inflation after the ~$100bn in QE…
However, the mint only makes coins, the notes are made elsewhere… so I'm actually surprised they still make any at all given how little it's now valued at as a result. Might cost more to make a coin than its face value
AKCHTUALLY, I called them because like you i always missed the time when it was busy with the machines minting coins.
The answer is: they don't mint coin much these days, and don't have a planning in advance, so could not tell me when the next day of big activity.
So, hit or miss unfortunately
@borgainerz: Good to know - however there's ~0% chance on a weekend… there's at least some chance there will at least be someone there on a weekday doing something
Bookmarked always wanted to go especially being in gallery of parliament question time lolz
@bluespider dunno about Canberra, but wondering what you thought of the dishwasher recommendation I spent time researching for you.
Clearly you don't have the time to do a lot of this research yourself. But it would be nice to at least acknowledge the people doing it for you.Thanks for your inputs very much helpful but currently I’m waiting for the property manager PM to get back to me if the tenant has verified the pipes details as PM thinks there is issue with pipes in past too.
Generally speaking, Canberra is a great place to visit with kids - both educational and fun. 2 days you will fill easily, you could go ~5 days and keep them busy… Questacon, Parliament House (old & new), Mint, Zoo & Aquarium, good parks/playgrounds/walks/lookouts (lake, arboretum, tidbinbilla etc), war memorial, dinosaur museum, national gallery, national museum. We went when floriade was on too.
Parliament House - Question Time………………………………
…………………………..if you want your kids to turn into young Liberals or young Labor
Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
One day 1 we will complete the War Memorial and Closing Ceremony due to late arrival in Canberra. Which means we will have one full day available for rest places to see.
I’m thinking of covering below in one day, is it doable if we start early in the day? In what sequence should we visit these places? Hopefully they have free parking available at site.
1) Parliament
2) Royal Australian Mint
3) Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre
4) National Gallery of AustraliaThanks
Questacon is a full day event if your kids play at each section.
Mint you only need an hour.
1,3,4 are at the same place (aka walking distance). Mint in further so keep it for the begining or end, but yes, that would be a bit short to do them all without rushing in between.
Canberra is the ultimate ozbargainer destination, almost all the tourist stuff is free.
LMGTFY