FREE + HANDS-ON
Canberra
The Parliamentary Triangle, Australian Capital Territory
- Museums
- Heritage sites
Canberra is the school-holiday city that's mostly free: the National Museum, the galleries and Parliament House itself (with its LEGO replica and a kids' activity booklet at the door) all walk in without a ticket, and the institutions run free craft programs through the holidays. Questacon's halls of hands-on science are the paid anchor. In spring, Floriade fills Commonwealth Park with a million blooms, free, right across the break.
Suited to
- Ages
- All ages
- Stay
- 2–3 nights
Getting there
Good to know
- Most national institutions are free, budget mainly for Questacon
- Food and supplies: The national museums run cafes; supermarkets and family dining in Braddon, Kingston and the centre.
Stays
Kingston and Barton
The closest accommodation to the Parliamentary Triangle, which holds the free institutions and almost no accommodation: five minutes' drive, foreshore dining.
Civic and Braddon
North of the lake, the eating and shopping side of town with the light rail through it. You cross the water to the museums each morning.
Namadgi and the Cotter
Bush campgrounds and two heritage cottages in the reserves south-west of town, booked through Parks ACT. Quiet and cheap, and museum days are a drive.