Things to Do in Canberra

Parliament House flag-raising tour

Stand beneath the 81-metre flagpole. The maple-leaf flag cracks overhead and warps your sense of scale. Guards nickname the chamber 'the boat'. Every footstep echoes off marble. From the roof you sight the whole Griffin axis. Lake, embassy precinct, mountains frame the city like bookends.

Lake Burley Griffin dawn paddle

Water trails behind your kayak like molten glass at sunrise. Damp rye grass drifts off the foreshore. Black swans hiss if you paddle too close. The reward is National Carillon's reflection shimmies while hot-air balloons hover above the treeline in silence.

Mount Ainslie lookout after dark

Crushed peppermint gum scents the gravel path. Wallabies rustle into shadows. At the summit the city spreads like a circuit board. Amber streetlights, white Observatory dome, wood-fire pizza drifting from suburbs. The wind bites. Your zipper stings your chin.

Australian War Memorial Last Post Ceremony

The bugle note hangs under copper. Goosebumps rise even without family ties. Polished linseed and fresh rosemary drift through the cloisters. Roll of Honour gold catches one spotlight like a miniature sun.

Old Bus Depot Sunday food market

Steam from gozleme pans fogs the corrugated roof. A jazz trio noodles beside vintage suitcases. Taste peppery Canberra truffle honey. Bite into a buttery beef-brisk bun. Smoky paprika stains your lips. Frost still clings to car windows at midday.

NewActon - warehouse pads above indie cinemas, lobby scented with cedar incense and artisanal toast

Braddon - Lonsdale Street terraces flipped into micro-hotels, steps from third-wave coffee and vintage basements

Kingston Foreshore - lakefront apartments where joggers pant past and pelicans land on empty jetties

Civic (City) - mid-rise chains plus an art-deco holdout, handy for buses and late-night dumpling runs

Yarralumla - embassy quarter, quiet streets smell of privet and barbecue smoke. Boutique B&Bs inside 1950s cottages

University precinct - student dorms open to visitors outside semester, basic rooms but ten minutes to the national museums on foot