Hotels near Canberra, Australia

A little about Canberra...

Canberra is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Australia. With a population of over 334,000, it is Australia's largest inland city. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, 280 km (170 mi) south-west of Sydney, and 650 km (400 mi) north-east of Melbourne. The site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nation's capital in 1908 as a compromise between age-old rivals Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's two largest cities. It is unusual among Australian cities, being an entirely purpose-built, planned city. Following an international contest for the city's design, a design by the Chicago architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected and construction commenced in 1913. The city's design was heavily influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title "bush capital". Although the growth and development of Canberra were hindered by the World Wars and the Great Depression, it emerged as a thriving city after World War II.

As the seat of the government of Australia, Canberra is the site of Parliament House, the High Court of Australia and numerous government departments and agencies. It is also the location of many social and cultural institutions of national significance, such as the National Gallery of Australia and the National Museum of Australia. The federal government contributes the largest percentage of Gross State Product and is the largest single employer in Canberra.

Education: The two main tertiary institutions are the Australian National University (ANU) in Acton and the University of Canberra (UC) in Bruce.

The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) and the Royal Military College, Duntroon are near the suburb of Campbell in Canberra's inner north-east. ADFA teaches military undergraduates and postgraduates and is officially a campus of the University of New South Wales; Duntroon provides Australian Army Officer training. Tertiary level vocational education is also available through the multi-campus Canberra Institute of Technology.

There are also two religious university campuses in Canberra: Signadou in the North Canberra suburb of Watson is a campus of the Australian Catholic University; St Mark's Theological College adjacent to the Parliament House is a campus of the secular Charles Sturt University.

Stonefest at the University of Canberra is Canberra's largest music festival. Canberra is also the home turf of an Australian hip-hop duo, Koolism. There are numerous bars and nightclubs which also offer live entertainment, particularly concentrated in the areas of Dickson, Kingston and the City Centre. Most town centres have facilities for a community theatre and a cinema, and they all have a library. Popular cultural events include the National Folk Festival, the Royal Canberra Show, the Summernats car festival, the Canberra Multicultural Festival in February and the Celebrate Canberra festival which is held over 10 days in March in conjunction with Canberra Day.

Transport: A publicly run bus service, the Australian Capital Territory Internal Omnibus Network (ACTION), provides public transport throughout the city. Transborder Express and Deane's Buslines are private coach services that operate within Canberra and nearby areas of New South Wales.

A private bus service operates between Canberra and Queanbeyan, an adjoining town in New South Wales. There are two local taxi companies, Aerial Consolidated Transport the parent of the Canberra Cabs service which enjoyed monopoly status for over four decades, and a recent arrival, Cabxpress.

Canberra International Airport provides direct domestic services to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, with connections to other domestic centres. There are direct daily flights to Albury and Newcastle in New South Wales. No regular commercial international flights operate from the airport.