Canberra, AU

Ben Willis's degustation room in suburban Griffith — quietly Canberra's only consistent fine-diner, with a six- or eight-course tasting menu drawing on local cool-climate produce. Booked weeks out; the room seats 50 and turns once a night.

Ross McQuinn and Dash Rumble's Ainslie shopfront restaurant — a small room and a long tasting menu working through native ingredients with European technique. The chef's-counter seats face the open kitchen and the chefs serve you directly.

Braddon's biggest brunch room on Lonsdale Street — a fit-out built into a former warehouse with two banquettes, a long terrazzo counter, and a kitchen turning out the most photographed plates in town. Walk-in only and the queue starts at 9am on weekends.

Gus Armstrong's Braddon share-plates room — the restaurant that arguably reset Canberra's dinner template when it opened in 2013. Loud, lively, no reservations after 6pm; the menu changes constantly and the kitchen sits centre-room.

Civic's pan-Asian dining hall on Bunda Street — fluoro-bright, late-opening, with a menu running from sushi to dumplings to Korean fried chicken across one room. The first restaurant Canberrans think of for a dinner that doesn't need booking three weeks out.

Braddon's neon-lit modern Asian diner — Hong Kong meets New York, with a Mr Wong-style menu of bao, dumplings, and a tongue-in-cheek fortune-cookie soft-serve dessert. Loud music, low light, and the room every off-shift hospitality worker in town ends up at.

Kingston Foreshore's modern Vietnamese diner — long marble counter, a wood-fire grill, and a menu of share-plates running banh mi, pho, and grilled meats with a chef-driven edge. The most polished Asian room south of the lake.

A long Marcus Clarke Street room with an open kitchen and a wood-fire oven driving everything — modern Australian share-plates leaning Spanish and Italian, with the city's most reliable wine list. The dinner Canberra suggests when out-of-towners ask for one restaurant.

Civic's 11th-floor French bistro inside the Hotel Hotel/Ovolo Nishi — long banquettes, white tablecloths, classic Parisian menu with a Murrumbateman wine list. The dressy dinner in the city; named for its floor.

A first-floor wine bar above the Melbourne Building in Civic — small share plates, natural wine list, and a window-lined room overlooking London Circuit. The Canberra wine-bar template every other one in town is now compared to.

A Braddon corner bar on Lonsdale Street with a wide outdoor terrace and a menu of pub-plus burgers, fried chicken, and bar snacks. The weekend afternoon spot when the sun's out and you want a beer with food.

Braddon's brewpub on Mort Street — 18 taps poured straight from the in-house tanks visible through a glass wall, plus pub food and a beer garden. Canberra's most decorated craft brewery and the easiest place in town to drink local.

Pasquale Trimboli's Civic Italian — a long room with a wood oven at the back turning out Roman-style pizzas, hand-rolled pasta, and a list of Italian and Canberra-District wines. The trattoria that's been the city's default Italian since 2005.

A NewActon cafe inside the Nishi precinct — small open kitchen, communal blackbutt-timber bench, and a single-page menu of seasonal vegetable-forward plates. Canberra's design-conscious lunch spot; the room features in architecture magazines.

Braddon's original specialty coffee roaster on Lonsdale Street — two shopfronts a block apart, both pouring their own single-origin beans, with a small breakfast and lunch menu. The cafe that helped launch the Braddon strip.

A NewActon bakery cafe under the Nishi apartments — sourdough cooled on the counter, viennoiserie laid out at eye level, and small breakfast plates served until mid-afternoon. The Saturday-morning pick-up-a-loaf spot in the city.

An all-day bakery and bistro inside the Hotel Hotel/Ovolo Nishi — communal tables, an open kitchen, and a menu running from morning pastries to evening share-plates. The NewActon hotel restaurant locals also use.

Kingston Foreshore's lake-edge cafe — coastal-bright interior, all-day brunch menu, and a terrace facing the marina. The southside Sunday-morning destination; queues out the door from 9am.

A NewActon Italian aperitivo bar inside the Ovolo Nishi — pink-lit ground-floor room, marble bar, and a menu of negronis and small Italian plates. The pre-dinner drink in the city; small, loud, fits 40.

Mork Sosothikul's Kingston Foreshore Thai-Cambodian restaurant — a lakeside room with a long share-plates menu drawing on his family's southeast Asian cooking. The most ambitious Asian kitchen south of the lake.

Braddon's modern-Australian fine-diner in the old Gorman House Arts Centre — a heritage room separated from the loud strip outside, with a degustation menu and an a la carte list. The quieter dinner option when Braddon is too loud.

A Civic Persian-Middle Eastern shopfront on Bunda Street — slow-cooked stews, charcoal-grilled kebabs, and the city's only proper saffron-rice service. Cheap, fast, BYO, and family-run.

Dickson's all-vegetarian Asian restaurant in the Chinatown strip — mock-meat Buddhist cuisine done with technique, with a long menu running from Vietnamese pho to crispy fried 'duck'. The vegetarian dinner Dickson's serious eaters point to.

The 4km return climb from the War Memorial car park up Mt Ainslie's western face — 600 steps in the steep middle section, sealed paths and stone steps the rest, ending at the lookout with the parliamentary-triangle view. The local before-work hike.

A 6km return loop from the Botanic Gardens up Black Mountain's northern face — bushland the whole way, climbing 250m to the summit lookouts beside Telstra Tower. Quieter than Mt Ainslie and shaded under eucalypts.

The 5km flat loop between Commonwealth and Kings Avenue bridges around the central lake basin — sealed path, lakeside the whole way, passing the Carillon, the Captain Cook Jet, and the cultural-institutions strip. The default Canberra walk or cycle.

A 40-minute drive south of the city — 5,500 hectares of bush at the foot of the Tidbinbilla Range, with multiple short walks past kangaroos, emus, koalas, and platypus pools. The day-out option when you want wildlife and the bush, not a city.

A 9km return walk in Namadgi National Park, an hour south of the city — through subalpine eucalypt forest to a granite outcrop with views east across the ACT. Harder than the city hills, easier than the high peaks; a half-day commitment.

A 5km return walk in Namadgi to a 200m granite cliff edge — eastern aspect, big drop, and views across the Naas Valley. Steep middle section, then flat granite slabs you can walk out onto for the view. Climbers come for the rock; walkers for the lookout.

A fenced predator-free woodland reserve in Gungahlin's north — easy walking tracks through grassy box-gum woodland with reintroduced bettongs, quolls, and bush stone-curlews. The wildlife walk without the Tidbinbilla drive.

A 3km loop from Red Hill's southern car park up through woodland to the summit lookout — Burley Griffin's third major hilltop view, looking north across Parliament House and the lake. Easier and quieter than Mt Ainslie.

A planted pine and native-forest reserve 25 minutes west — old logging tracks repurposed as walking and mountain-bike trails, with the Stromlo Forest Park trail network nearby. The mountain-bike day trip; quieter than Stromlo on weekends.

The country's social-history museum on Acton Peninsula — Howard Raggatt's deconstructivist 2001 building, free entry, and exhibitions running from Indigenous Australia to the Holden 48-215 first off the line. The museum that tells the story of how Australia got here.

The 1968 marble-columned library on the lake's south edge — Cook's Endeavour journal, the country's largest map collection, and free exhibitions on the ground floor. Bookworm catnip and a quietly grand reading room upstairs.

The country's flagship art museum on the lake's southern edge — Pollock's Blue Poles, the world's largest Indigenous art holdings, and a sculpture garden free to wander 24 hours. Permanent collection always free.

The country's science museum on the lake's south edge — 200+ hands-on exhibits across eight galleries, the 6m freefall slide, and an earthquake-simulator floor. Built for kids, takes adults two hours to get through anyway.

Australia's national war memorial and museum at the head of Anzac Parade — free entry, three floors of military history, and the Last Post Ceremony at closing time every day.

A 2008 purpose-built gallery between Old Parliament House and the NGA — Australian portraits from colonial era to contemporary, with a curated permanent display and ticketed touring shows. Smaller and faster than the NGA next door; same precinct.

The nation's audiovisual archive on McCoy Circuit in Acton — heritage Art Deco building from 1931, free exhibitions on Australian film and music, and a regular screening program in the Arc Cinema. Quieter than the lake-side institutions and weirder.

The city's main performing-arts venue in Civic Square — two stages, a year-round program of theatre, dance, and music, and the main touring-show stop in town. Cheaper than the Sydney equivalent and easier to get a ticket to.

A working glass-making studio inside the 1915 Kingston Powerhouse — public viewing platform over the hot-glass floor, on-site shop, and short visitor workshops where you blow your own piece. The Kingston Foreshore institution that predates the foreshore.

A Fyshwick brewery and tap room in a corrugated-iron shed — 18 taps from the on-site tanks, a beer garden with food trucks, and dog-friendly outdoor tables. The weekend afternoon Fyshwick destination; bigger than Bentspoke, further from the city.

Braddon's brewpub on Mort Street — 18 taps poured straight from the in-house tanks visible through a glass wall, plus pub food. Canberra's most decorated craft brewery.

A privately-run zoo and aquarium combo on the lake's western edge — big cats, primates, native Australian fauna, and a small aquarium. Smaller than Sydney or Melbourne's; close-encounter sessions are the draw.

The ANU's working astronomical observatory on a hill 20 minutes west of the city — heritage telescope domes (some still bushfire-damaged from 2003), visitor centre, and a popular cafe with the city view back east. The night-sky tour is the highlight.

An eight-screen arthouse cinema inside the NewActon Nishi precinct — first-run and arthouse films, gold-class recliners in two of the screens, and an in-house bar. The city's go-to for anything that isn't a blockbuster.

Australia's national war memorial and museum at the head of Anzac Parade, looking straight down the axis to Parliament House across Lake Burley Griffin. Free entry, three floors of military history, and the Last Post Ceremony in the Commemorative Courtyard at closing time every day of the year.

The grass-roofed seat of federal government on Capital Hill — Romaldo Giurgola's 1988 design buried into the hill so you can walk over the top of it. Free self-guided entry, daily tours, and the public can sit in on Question Time when the House is sitting.

The 1927 provisional parliament that ran the country until 1988, now a museum of Australian political history with the original chambers, prime ministers' offices, and press gallery preserved exactly as they were on the last sitting day. Cheaper, smaller, and more atmospheric than its replacement up the hill.

The country's flagship art museum on the lake's southern edge, holding Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles, the largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art anywhere, and a sculpture garden free to wander 24 hours. Permanent collection is always free; ticketed exhibitions rotate quarterly.

The artificial lake at the centre of Walter Burley Griffin's 1912 city plan, flooded in 1964 — 35km of shoreline path, Captain Cook Memorial Jet shooting 147m skyward at set times, and the orientation point every Canberra district sits around. Free to walk, cycle, kayak, or paddleboard.

The 843m summit directly behind the War Memorial with the textbook view straight down Anzac Parade, across the lake, and up to Parliament House — Burley Griffin's land axis in one frame. Drive up or walk the Kokoda Track from the Memorial; both end at the same paved lookout.

The 195m communications tower on top of Black Mountain — the tower interior is closed to the public pending redevelopment, but the summit itself remains the city's highest viewpoint, with 360-degree panoramas from the surrounding lookout decks. Drive up Black Mountain Drive or walk from the Botanic Gardens.

250 hectares of young forest on the hills west of the city — 94 separate forests of rare and threatened tree species planted after the 2003 bushfires, with the Pod Playground, Margaret Whitlam Pavilion cafe, and a hilltop view back across the lake. Free entry, free parking.

A 50m concrete bell tower on Aspen Island in the lake — a 1970 gift from Britain marking Canberra's 50th birthday, with 57 bronze bells and free recitals Wednesday and Sunday afternoons. Walk across the small footbridge from Kings Park to the island for free.

The country's largest collection of native Australian plants on the lower slopes of Black Mountain — 90 hectares, free entry, with the Rainforest Gully, Eucalypt Lawn, and a Red Centre garden recreating arid-zone flora. The most relaxing free morning in the city.

The factory that strikes every Australian coin in circulation, in Deakin south of the lake — free self-guided tour with a gallery overlooking the production floor and a press where you can mint your own $1 coin for a small fee. Quieter and weirder than the better-known national institutions.