Seven reasons Canberra doesn’t suck
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Sick of people telling you just how crap Canberra is when they haven’t visited since their Year 6 school excursion (or ever)? Pull out our handy list of seven reasons our city doesn’t suck.
At HerCanberra, pretty much everything we do comes down to telling people just how great Canberra is. Every day, we publish stories about the amazing people, places, and events that make our city a wonderful place to live.
But we’re not stupid. We know Canberra’s reputation beyond our borders and across the sea can be, well, less than stellar.
So when you say you’re from Canberra and all you get is polite silence or snide comments about roundabouts, porn, and politicians, just pull out our handy list of seven reasons our city doesn’t suck. It’s our turn to be smug.
We have more restaurants than you. Soz.
Mu Omakase. Photography: Ben Calvert.
With more restaurants per capita than anywhere else on mainland Australia (and more opening every single month), Canberrans are spoilt for choice when it comes to eating out.
From street food to hatted restaurants, the problem isn’t finding somewhere to eat, it’s choosing between the excellent and seemingly-endless array of venues. Need a suggestion? You can’t go past the winner of 2023 Good Food Awards New Restaurant of The Year, Such and Such. And yes, that is a brag.
World-class exhibitions comes to us
Tempe Manning, Self-portrait, 1939, oil on canvas, 76 x 60.5 cm. Art Gallery of New South Wales. Acquired with the support of the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales 2021. Copyright: Estate of Tempe Manning. Photo: AGNSW
Oh, you’re off to the Netherlands to see Discovering Ancient Egypt? We’re going to see it in our lunch break. But you do you.
And that’s just the beginning. From Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize to Emily Kam Kngwarray, there’s always something amazing to see.
Look beyond the national cultural institutions and you’ll find about 40 contemporary galleries in Canberra. Check out M16 Artspace, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Nancy Sever, Strathnairn Arts, ANCA, CMAG, Nishi Gallery, Beaver Galleries, and more.
There’s more to our nightlife then Mooseheads
Bar Rochford. Photography: Tim Bean
In fact, staff favourite Bar Rochford was named the Best Bar in Australia by Gourmet Traveller in 2017.
We have internationally-inspired bars (Bar Beirut and Highball Express, to name just two), down and dirty nightclubs (Fiction), Italian aperitivo bars (Ciao, Joe’s Bar and Amici), footy-watching local pubs (take your pick), rooftop bars (like Leyla), epic beer gardens (hello Assembly)—and if that doesn’t impress you, maybe the fact that you can get a drink past midnight will.
And yes (sigh) we’ve heard of a speakeasy bar. Just pick one.
We’re close to all the fun stuff
We’re a mere two hours from the beach and, let’s be honest, that’s about as much time as you’d spend on public transport trying to get there in a major city.
As for the snow, forget a two-day expedition just to get there. From Canberra, you can do it in a well-timed day trip (or just pop down the road to Corin Forest for a bit of snow play).
Also within easy reach are The Riverina (known as the ‘food bowl of Australia’), the charming Hilltops region, and the Southern Highlands, where you can get your fix of the UK countryside and weather without leaving the country.
I mean, it’s almost like living in Europe, where everything’s a short trip away. Almost.
We make lots of beers and spirits. And they’re amazing.
Canberra Distillery. Photography: Andrew Ly.
From gin (including *ahem* our own HerCanberra x The Canberra Distillery French Earl Grey Gin) to beer, we have some of Australia’s best—and we don’t mean some faceless monolith brewery. Canberran tipples are coaxed into existence through the hard work and imagination of some of our most passionate locals.
BentSpoke and Capital Brewing Co can hold their own against some of Australia’s best craft brews (click here if you don’t believe us) and our local spirits speak for themselves.
Award-winning gin, moonshine, vodka? Pick your poison. We’ll wait.
You can feel the serenity
They don’t call us the bush capital for nothing.
Kangaroos on our lawns each morning? What’s new? Peacocks roaming the suburbs? Oh, you mean other cities don’t have them?
Bush reserves next to each suburb? For our morning walk, of course.
National Parks, rock climbing, swimming holes, hikes and mountain bike trails less than a 30-minute drive away? Yeah, we’ve got them too.
And when it comes to getting around, even the commutes aren’t that bad—at least a lot better than Melbourne or Sydney (in our humble opinion).
We have our own wine region
Agostinis at Lark Hill. Photography: Adam McGrath.
That’s right. Forget expensive trips to the Hunter or the Yarra Valley, the Canberra Wine Region delivers in spades…or should we say sips?
With 140 vineyards (!!!) and more than 30 cellar doors less than a 35-minute drive from Canberra—not to mention some of the most lauded wines in the country (Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier, anyone?)—even the snobbiest of your wine snob mates will be impressed.
But wait, there’s more…
We haven’t even mentioned the world’s coolest bus shelters, fabulous festivals, the fact that we’re a smart city which thrives on conversation, amazing architecture, the ‘small town’ feel, the picturesque lakes, amazing theatre and dance, the thriving artistic scene, truffles, market culture, and so much more.
Maybe it’s time we started asking other cities to prove just how cool they are.
