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Where to Stay

A by Adina

Canberra’s newest hotel, A for Adina, is located in the heart of the city. Catering to those travellers who like a touch of home comforts, it features 130 rooms combining spacious apartment living with hotel services and facilities. The five-star rated property will adjoin a new office building with a laneway style retail and hospitality precinct and will be located a short distance from the city’s largest shopping centre, the Canberra Centre and city dining precinct.

A Wild Night Out at Tidbinbilla

There has never been a better time to experience Canberra’s iconic wildlife sanctuary than with the ultimate sleepover – A Wild Night Out at Tidbinbilla Only 45 minutes’ drive from the city centre, spend a night under the stars in the comforts of a family glamping tent.  With ranger-guided activities and talks, dinner by the campfire and much more, there’s a lot to learn and appreciate about this area on the northern edge of Australia’s Alps.

Eat and Drink

Not your normal wine bar

The newest kid on the block is tucked away in the city centre’s outskirts in the leafy suburb of Campbell 5 precinct. Here you’ll find Paranormal Wines, a bottle shop and bar specialising in natural wines and left-field wines. Pick from a selection of local Canberra District wines and a wide range of Australian and international drops. Stay for a while and sip on a drink of your choice, order a snack and take in the relaxed surroundings, or choose a bottle to take home.   Open Wednesdays to Sundays, 11am till 8pm.

Explore Canberra’s food and drink scene

The Eat Canberra team are back and ready to help you discover some of the best eats and hidden gems in Canberra. Join them on a Taste of Braddon food adventure and eat your way around and sample tasty food and drink at five venues with a four-hour walking tour along the Lonsdale ‘Eat’ Street Braddon. From AUD$145 pp.

Delicious eat street

The latest hot spot to eat can be found in a laneway behind the historic Sydney Building off Northbourne Avenue. The Verity Lane Market is a chef-driven food hall with three kitchens Ramen Daddy, Super Bao and Pizza Artigiana serving the hungry hordes and the art deco cocktail style Verity Bar offers an extensive list of drinks. In time, the laneway offerings will expand. It’s open for dinner Tuesdays to Sundays until late and lunch Thursdays to Saturday.

See and Do

Amazing autumn festivities for all

Canberra will shine bright with culture and creativity as the Enlighten Festival brings together the best autumn events in the nation’s capital.

Join in the festivities and celebrate from 26 February to 14 March with experiences across five hero events – Enlighten Illuminations on some of the capital’s most iconic buildings, the Lights! Canberra! Action! short film festival, the Canberra Balloon Spectacular, Symphony in the Park and Canberra Day.

Enlighten Festival will kick off with the Enlighten Illuminations (26 February – 8 March) as popular attractions in the Parliamentary Zone become canvases for digital artworks. Watch as the walls of the National Portrait Gallery, National Library of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, Australian Parliament House, Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, and Questacon come alight with architectural projections. Art installations will also shine bright throughout the Parliamentary Zone, just waiting to be discovered by all. Local flavours, Canberra food and drink, and live music will also be on show at the Enlighten Illuminations. Feast on delights at Enlighten Alley or enjoy a locally crafted brew at the BentSpoke Beer Garden. Fancy taking part in an exclusive after-dark event. Some of the major attractions will open their doors to host an array of exclusive after-dark events – tickets on sale now.

Enlighten Festival will run a little differently this year. Festival fans will be required to book in advance for experiences and timed sessions. For more information, registration for free events, tickets, and the full Enlighten Festival 2021 program, go to enlightencanberra.com


Magical mornings in the capital

Wake up early to the view of hot air balloons floating across the city during the Canberra Balloon Spectacular. Held over nine mornings, the Canberra skyline will be filled with a flurry of colour, sounds and movement as up to 20 hot air balloons take to the skies. To see the festival from a different perspective, get up early, jump aboard a GoBoat or paddle boat and get out on Lake Burley Griffin to take in a magical morning experience in Canberra. See the famous Skywhalepapa with your own eyes joining in the festivities on Monday 8 March, inflating on Patrick White Lawns from 5:30am.

Art exhibitions to be admired

Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London will be exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra from 5 March – 14 June 2021. Spanning 450 years, the exhibition presents 60 paintings by some of Europe’s most revered artists, including Titian, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Velázquez, Goya, Turner, Renoir, Cézanne and Gauguin. Exclusive to Canberra, it comprises the largest group of works to travel outside of the United Kingdom in the history of the National Gallery, London.

Love, in all its forms, takes centre stage at the National Portrait Gallery’s Love Stories exhibition, 20 March – 1 August. From the enduring to the forbidden, romantic to platonic, the unrequited, obsessive, scandalous or creative. Swoon over more than 200 artworks from across photography, painting, works on paper, small sculpture and an immersive glass installation.

Autumn’s in the air

As the weather starts to turn, think crisp mornings, blue sky, and colourful trees. It’s the perfect time to get outdoors and celebrate the beauty of Canberra’s autumn foliage. The city’s treescape plunges into vivid colours of red, gold and orange as the season changes. For the best spots to find Canberra’s prettiest display of autumn locations check out the Autumn Leaves interactive map.

Australia’s craft beer capital

Featuring over 40 exhibitors from around Australia, the Canberra Craft Beer & Cider Festival features the ‘best of the best’, with opportunities to meet the brewers, enjoy beer-food matching and demonstrations by master brewers. The festival is held in two ticketed session – 11am-2pm and 3pm-6pm on 20 March in the grounds around the heritage Mercure Canberra hotel.