Canberra Attractions - Canberra Hotel Discounts and City Guide Hotel special offers, luxury hotel accommodation, restaurants, essential travel information and Canberra city maps. In 1908, Canberra was chosen from seven shortlisted areas to become Australia's capital city. Good, clean water, a temperate climate and gently undulating terrain allowed American architect, Walter Burley Giffin, to plan the garden city of his dreams. His master design has given us today's broad, symmetrical boulevards, meticulously planned housing projects and large green spaces. Lake Burley Giffin was his reward for this dazzling example of modern-city planning.
Visitors can enjoy the successful fusion of innovative design and multicultural diversity.
Popular as a destination for further education, the student society adds a cosmopolitan verve to Canberra's nightlife. It is also a comfortable, lively stopgap for skiers heading to the Snowy Mountains. This impressive complex, completed in 1988, is the long awaited replacement for the old Parliament house. Guided tours are available and there is public access to debates in both the House of Representatives and the Senate viewable from the public galleries. Roughly modelled on a Byzantine church, the Australian war memorial was built to commemorate all the Australian servicemen and women who died for their country.