National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Advantages: 'Interesting', note the inverted commas
Disadvantages: Long way from anywhere civilised

...I like to go all out when I travel, and since I've made it all the way to Australia (and, incredibly, managed to get someone else to pay for it all under the pretence that it's a business trip) I'm keen to take advantage of my temporary location and see it all, or as much as my time frame will allow. This weekend, therefore, I decided to pop off to Canberra, Australia's capital, to see what all the fuss was about. I've visited many capital cities, from Vienna and Rome to London and Washington DC. Hands down, Canberra is the least capital-like Capital city I have ever seen. Canberra is in its own little world, the Australian Capital Territory, much like Washington's home in the District of Columbia. Rumour has it that when they realised they could do with a capital, the good people of Australia were torn between the two obvious choices... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Anything you could possibly want in a holiday all in 1 country!
Disadvantages: Far from anywhere, long way to get anywhere

...you go. The south gets really cold in winter so the best time to go is probably the summer months. Temperatures can get down to -9 below freezing in Canberra (the coldest of the cities) and Melbourne and Adelaide are not far behind! This does however allow for some skiing and snowboarding if you like this in your holiday (see my opinions on Perisher Blue and snowy mountains national park) On the whole I have found Australia the perfect place to travel as I like doing lots of things. I like to see the beautiful beaches and relax in coastal towns, I like going skiing, I like bushwalking, I like to get out into the country miles away from anywhere and truly experience the 'outback' and realizing how big the world actually is, I like camping under the stars in the middle of nowhere, I like the buzzing cities and seeing famous landmarks... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Interesting for a day trip
Disadvantages: No atmosphere or character

...A three hour drive from Sydney will find you in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), a territory in Australia surrounded entirely by New South Wales. There is not much in ACT apart from Canberra, Australia's capital city, designed in 1912 by Walter Burley Griffin. Being a very new city all of its buildings and memorials are also very new, but nonetheless impressive. If you drive around the suburbs of Canberra you can see over 60 embassies, ranging from the massive and imposing American and Chinese embassies to those from Thailand and Fiji which were much more imaginative and beautiful. The Thai embassy is built in Thai style with the typical elevated roof design, upswept roof corners and roof tiles in gold colour - very impressive. There is even an Aboriginal embassy opposite the Parliament Building consisting of tents... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful