Canberra Transportation Tips by Kakapo2

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: Funny that Canberra Airport is labelled as International Airport. You would at least expect a good selection of international flights, direct domestic flights from many airports and shuttle buses that also operate on the weekend... Anyway...

If you do not travel by car or campervan I highly recommend to take the airplane to get to Canberra. It does not only take much longer to get to Canberra by train or bus, it is also more complicated and expensive.

Domestic flights from Sydney and Melbourne take about one hour and cost about AU$ 100. With Virgin Blue you get direct flights only from Melbourne (from AU$ 75). You cannot makes changes to those cheap flights. If you do not book well in advance or want flexible tickets you pay a lot more (about AU$ 250).

Online bookings on:
www.qantas.com.au
www.virginblue.com.au

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Phone: (02) 6275 2222
Website: http://www.canberraairport.com.au/index_fla

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: I cannot full-heartedly recommend the shuttle bus between the airport and the city as it only operates on weekdays. But when it operates it is really rather punctual - and even offers personal service. When I used it, it did not only service Bill Bryson's famous Hotel Rex but also made little detours for several passengers.

I also found it quite amusing that the same driver - very friendly BTW - seemed to be working all the time. Perhaps the bus does not work on weekends because he also wants to spend some time with his family LOL

The service is provided by Dean's Buslines.
A single trip costs $7, the return ticket $12 (as 2007).

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Phone: (02) 6299 3722
Website: http://www.deanesbuslines.com.au/queanbeyan/

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: If you have read my intro you already know that I had some problems with using the bus service to its full potential.

The network seems perfect but it is of not much use if you want to get around outside the business hours.

As there are never enough taxis around you should seriously consider to rent a car. Or make your sightseeing during business hours and stay at a hotel in the city centre, so you do not need transportation after hours.

A single trip cost $2.50.

Contact

Phone 13 17 10 (from Canberra) or (02) 6207 7611 from outside the ACT

Website: http://www.action.act.gov.au/

Email: action@act.gov.au

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: Don't say I have not warned you... ;-)

If you really need a taxi at a certain time on a certain day, best book it a week in advance LOL

The numbers of cars operating on a certain day seems to be heavily related to the session periods of Parliament, and if an airplane arrives five minutes early or late the taxi service gets totally chaotic.

My first priority in Canberra was reporting about the Hockey Champions Trophy, so I had to work until very late at night. That is why I stayed at a motel close to the hockey centre in Lyneham, so I could walk and did not depend on any kind of transportation.

But sometimes I would have needed to meet teams in their city hotel during the day, or get back from dinner in the city centre, and as the car rental company I had booked a car with was so terribly busy that they could not deliver the car to my motel I would have needed a taxi to get there, as I did not want to spend my time waiting for a bus which would arrive - or not...

Once I felt very lucky when I spotted a taxi arriving in front of my motel and dropping off a passenger, after I had not succeeded to book a taxi for an hour later. So - already on the way to the bus stop and an unknown future - I sprinted to the taxi and asked the driver to take me to the city centre. But he said he could not serve me because this other passenger would only drop his luggage and would be back in a minute...

So I waited and asked this business man if he probably would travel to the city centre, and we could share the taxi. He was delighted that he could help me out because he had been in similar situations on most of his trips to Canberra - and even more delighted to learn some German swearwords from me, and an excuse why he did not want to play golf with his business partners...

(If you are interested... You just have to say: "I do not play golf yet. I still have sex.")

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Phone: Canberra Cabs 13 22 27