Many people don’t like it because it can, in a way, feel a bit soulless. It’s very well designed and there aren’t many people (only around 450,000), which means that there aren’t many areas where there is hustle and bustle. It’s also around a 2-hour drive from the coast with many Australians prefer to live nearer the sea. That being said, I have friends who live in Canberra who love it for that very reason, no traffic, no stress, beautiful mountains and a nice life – each to their own!

I’d definitely recommend visiting if you find Geography and history interesting. It’s en route from Sydney to Melbourne, so you can go via Canberra or stick to the coast road. Personally, I think it’s worth seeing.

Some interesting facts about how Canberra came to being is that Sydney and Melbourne were, and are, Australia’s two major cities at the time of Federation (when Australia unified into a single nation). Canberra is located en route between the two. It was also deemed that by building a capital city in the mountains, where the area is cooler, it would help politicians think more clearly (which I totally understand from being cooped up in British classrooms on a hot day with no A/C and not being able to think!). Finally, for reasons of defence, Canberra is located inland, which would make a foreign naval bombardment or capture of the capital far more difficult.