Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia since 1908. The city has an interesting story. First Europeans started to settle down in the area in 1820s. But due to the long distance to the coast, the population of the city remained limited. At the beginning of 20th century, the discussions about the future capital city of the nation rised up. After a tough competition between Sydney and Melbourne, Canberra was selected as a compromise between the two cities. Following this, an international contest was held to select the lucky architects who were afterwards given the responsibility to plan the city. As a result, the architects from Chicago, Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, started with the construction in 1913 and created one of the few cities in the world that has been built according to a plan starting from the very beginning.

Today Canberra is mainly home to the parliament and numerous bureaucrats. Furthermore, the city has over 300,000 inhabitants and has one of the lowest population densities among other Australian capital cities. That the coast is around 150km away from Canberra city centre, has also had some influence because Canberra is the only "inland" city that has been selected as a capital city in Australia.

The easiest way to get to Canberra is taking a plane or a car. Please note that international flights, arrive to Canberra, are limited so the best way is first travelling to one of the big cities and then taking a domestic flight. If you prefer to travel by car, Sydney is 280km and Melbourne is 650km away.