Canberra best day tour. The Highlights of Canberra is Canberra Guided Tours’ most popular tour and it’s not hard to understand why. This experience packs as much as possible into a single day, giving the client the best possible of experience and context of Australia’s Capital in the time allowed.

Following pickup at your accommodation in one of our comfortable vehicles, the tour progresses to one of Canberra’s most beautiful vantage points at the top of Mount Ainslie. From the lookout, your guide will explain the growth of a young city, the two-tiered colonial and capital city history and point out places of interest and key attractions, all while you survey the tremendous design of Canberra’s architect, Walter Burley Griffin.

From Mount Ainslie, expect a drive through the grounds of the Royal Military College Duntroon and perhaps to Mount Pleasant where you’ll be delighted to an alternative aspect overlooking central Canberra.

A brief stop for some history at the National Capital Exhibition before a journey through the Parliamentary Triangle and then to Old Parliament House, where you’ll enjoy our own short guided tour to key parts of this magnificent building showcasing more than 50 years of Australia’s political history.

From the Old to the New, it’s then just a short journey up the Hill to New Parliament House, which is where we usually break for lunch at the Queens Terrace Café, a café with a variety of food options, sure to satisfy even the most diverse tastes.

Once refuelled, we’ll take you through this living, breathing hub of Australian Government and democracy. Many of our guides have worked here in other capacities as political advisors and government officials, so be sure to ask about the daily happenings of APH (Australian Parliament House).

As mid-afternoon rolls around, we’ll leave New Parliament House for a drive through Canberra’s diplomatic district where you can spot the embassies of different countries represented in Australia, after which we travel to the Australian War Memorial (AWM). We’ll guide you around the central part of the AWM before you’ll have some free time to observe some of the many galleries dedicated to showing Australia’s roll in conflict.

The final part of the tour is the Memorial’s Last Post Ceremony where a dedication is made to those who have fallen in service for Australia. It often leaves no dry eye.

From the Australian War Memorial, we’ll return you to your accommodation or place of convenience (we can always recommend somewhere good for dinner in Canberra).

Key points

• Approximately 8-hour tour from pickup to drop off in a comfortable tour vehicle. Approximately 9:30am pickup.
• Witness the wonderful views of Canberra and the Region from the top of Mount Ainslie.
• Walk through the corridors of power and former corridors of power at Parliament House and Old Parliament House.
• Survey the Parliamentary Triangle, Lake Burley Griffin, National Institutions and embassies.
• Explore the Australian War Memorial and experience the moving Last Post Ceremony.
• Lunch available from local café as own expense.
• This tour requires a gentle level of walking.

Recommended for

• First time visitors to Canberra or those who haven’t been back in a while.
• Those on a short schedule to see the City.
• Visitors wanting to see and do as much as possible in one day.

*Tour schedule may change subject to local conditions.