Getting to Canberra

Getting to the nation's capital is easy, whether you fly, drive, take a bus or train.

Flying: Fly into Canberra International Airport with Qantas, Virgin Blue, Tiger Air or Brindabella Airlines. The city centre is a ten minute drive from the airport by taxi, hire car or shuttle bus.

Driving: With a good highway system linking Canberra to surrounding New South Wales, driving to Canberra is simple. The direct driving route from Sydney is 3 hours. Leave via the M5 tollway, connecting to Hume Highway 31. Take the exit after Goulburn on to the Federal Highway. For a more scenic drive route follow the coast road to Batemans Bay. Turn onto the Kings Highway and head to Canberra via the historic towns of Braidwood and Bungendore. Or take the Mittagong exit from the Hume Highway 31 and follow the Old Hume Highway through picturesque Mittagong, Bowral, Moss Vale and Sutton Forest, and rejoin the Hume Highway 31 to Goulburn and Canberra.

From Melbourne the direct driving route is 7 hours. Follow the City Link tollway to the Western Ring Road, connecting to the Hume Highway. Near Yass, take the Barton Highway turn off to Canberra. For a more scenic drive route, follow the coast road through Genoa, Bairnsdale and Eden to Batemans Bay. Turn onto the Kings Highway and head to Canberra via the historic towns of Braidwood and Bungendore. Or take an inland drive through Bendigo, Echuca and Albury-Wodonga and either travel direct to Canberra, or take a scenic detour through the Snowy Mountains and visit Khancoban, Tumut, Jindabyne, Thredbo and Cooma.

From Adelaide the direct driving route is 12 hours. Take the South Eastern freeway towards the Mallee Highway and Sturt Highway. At Yass, take the Barton Highway turn off to Canberra. For a more scenic drive route, explore the Murray River area by travelling from Adelaide to Mildura, Swan Hill and Echuca to Albury-Wodonga. From there travel either direct to Canberra or through the Snowy Mountains. Or take a coastal route from Adelaide to Murray Bridge and Mt Gambier and travel the spectacular Great Ocean Road to Melbourne and then take either coastal or inland routes to Canberra.

From Brisbane the direct driving route is 16 hours. Follow the Pacific Highway south to Sydney, or take the M7 to avoid Sydney, then take the Hume Highway 31 to Goulburn, turning on to the Federal Highway to Canberra. For a more scenic drive route travel along the scenic Pacific coast to Sydney, and then continue to Canberra by either the coastal route to Batemans Bay, or inland via the Southern Highlands and Goulburn. Or travel the inland route via Tenterfield, Tamworth, and Muswellbrook, where you can turn off to Dubbo and head to Canberra through Bathurst, Cowra and Yass.

From the Snowy Mountains the direct driving route is 2.5 hours. Follow the Kosciuszko Road to Cooma, and then follow the Monaro Highway to Canberra.

From the South Coast the direct driving route is 2 hours. Take the Kings Highway to Queanbeyan, through the historic towns of Bungendore and Braidwood and continue on to Canberra.

Rental Car: Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, Rumbles and Thrifty all provide rental vehicles to Canberra.

Train: CountryLink provides a train service from Sydney Central Station to Canberra.

Bus: Several coach operators provide services to Canberra from all over Australia. McCafferty's, Greyhound Express Coaches, Murrays, Sid Fogg's Coachlines and Transborder Express all have scheduled services from various destaintions Australia wide.