Canberra / UNPACKED

Located in the Old Parliament building, this museum, unsurprisingly, documents the history of democracy in this coutry. It does so by allowing you to explore several impressive exhibits and the old parliament building, including both the senate and house of representatives chambers, and the prime ministers suite. History is to be found in these halls that governed Australia up until 1988, and it's much bigger and engagaing than you might expect for something focused on politics. There are tours available and things for kids to do too.

Canberra made a fantastic decision when it invited nations around the world to construct embassies in the city by asking them to create designs that are in the traditional style for their country. You can therefore take a drive through three diplomatic estates and feel like you are taking a trip around the world. Such embassies include China, the US, Thailand, Pakistan, and many more - over 40! Start by heading into Yarralumla from Parliament House. Check out this flyer for a map, or click the link below for more info and to find the map linked at the bottom.

There are plenty of tours and special activities to do in Canberra if you are after some expert guiding or a looking to create a memorable day. Options include wine tours, city walking tours (spies or badass women of canbeera, anyone?), food tours, hot air balloon rides, photography, cruising on the lake (inclduing with dinner), 4WD, Helicopter, Aboriginal tours, wildlife, or tours of the city.

Lake Burley Griffin, named for the designer of the city, is the real (but unseen) centrepiece of Canberra. The edges of the lake meander and twist and monument and museum come and go along its path. Canberra is great for cycling, having wide open spaces, lots of parkland, and it's fairly flat. With a hired bicycle, you can enjoy the lake air, the parklands, and take regular breaks at the many sights or drop into a museum or coffee shop. If you do the full loop, it is around 28km and will take at least half a day, depending on how many stops you make. Cycles can be hired at various locations, brought to your hotel, or picked up from Share A Bike stations - more info here.

This city museum is located in the CBD (north side of the lake) and houses exhibits that "celebrates the regions social history and visual arts". It tells stories of Canberra's inhabitants through various objects and includes a collection of Sydney Nolan paintings. Many of the exhibits are temporary, so click through to their website to see what's on. There are several car parks around the area and access to bus stops too.

*Currently closed, but planning to re-open* This NASA run complex (alongside sister sites in Madrid and Goldstone) has a massive dish at it's centre pointing towards the stars that is used to communicate with spacecraft like Voyager. They have a visitor centre you can visit to find out more and see fantastic displays about space exploration and the mars rover, see a moon rock, look at spacecraft models and watch a short movie. It's not a massive display, but if you have any interest in space you should definately make a visit. There is a playground and cafe and it takes around 45min to drive here from Canberra with free parking available.

This decent zoo and aquarium is houses a collection of Austrlain and international animals. This includes lions, hyena, tigers, leopards, giraffe and rhino, whilst the aquarium part includes sharks and tropical reef sepcies. There are a plethora of "encounters" you can experience for an additional fee such as meeting a cheetah, the tiger encounter, or different tours. WILD Night ZooVenture gives you the opportunity to see the animals at night on a tour. If you have a few thousand dollars spare, the Jamala Wildlife Lodge allows you to stay overnight in luxury with windows looking onto Tigers, Giraffe, Lions, Cheetah or Sun Bears. There is no public transport option, but it's only a 10min drive from the centre of Canberra.

The triangle created between Parliament House, Central Canberra, and Kings Avenue is known as the National Triangle, or Parliamentary Triangle, due to the ceremony and important building's housed within it. Whilst we have covered these above, the gardens between the buildings and the lake are worth an exploration in themselves, for both the landscaping, and the many memorials. Look out for Magan Carta Place, the National Rose Garden, Reconciliation Place, Old Parliament Gardens, and north of the lake, Commenwealth Gardens and Kings Park.

The snowy mountains are only a 2hr drive south of Canberra, making the city one of the easiest places to access skiing and snowboarding during the winter. Perisher and Thredbo are the most popular resorts, but there are many others to check out. You can make it there for a day trip, including by tour, or go and stay for a few days if you are keen on snow season. The area is also worth visiting during summer, when you can easily climb Australia's highest mountain, Mt Kosciuszko (see below), mountain bike, hike, 

Aboriginal Australians have long been on the wrong end of historical injustice since the beginning of the colonial era. This unequal treatment continues in some form to this day and, over 50 years ago, a particular flash point led to the occupation of a piece of land next to the old government house as a protest. A beach umbrella was stuck in the ground and a sign for an Aboriginal embassy was erected. Now complemented by tents, they have never been moved and the protest carries on. This is one of the longest running continual protests in the world, so it's worth going to check it out.

Despite the sprawled out nature of Canberra's design, it does actually have a CBD, which is sometimes referred to as "Civic". Located just north of the lake, along the edges of the large hexagon shaped roadway (London Circuit), the CBD is small but packs in the main high street shops, plenty of restaurants, hotels, the civic square, the Ainslie + Gorman Art Centres, the Nancy Sever Art Gallery, and the Canberra Museum & Gallery (see below). There is plenty of parking available and it's also central to the bus network.

30 minutes south of Canberra, this national park gives you an opportunity to walk, camp, mountain bike ride, swin, fish, and more, in beautiful hilly surroundings. Try the Booroomba rocks walks, check out a historic hut, or head to Gibraltar Falls.