Is the National Museum of Australia in Canberra worth visiting?

The National Museum of Australia in Canberra does a great job of showing off sides to Australia that most visitors won’t have considered. It is well worth the visit, and entry is free.

It looks like 1,000 different architectural plans were submitted for The National Museum of Australia in Canberra. With every single one of them accepted.

It’s gloriously all over the place as a building. But inside it does a brilliant job of breaking down the people and places that have made Australia. The museum presents thousands of stories in easily digestible chunks.

At one moment, you might be learning about biologist William Caldwell. He killed and dissected hundreds of platypus in a bid to work out how they reproduced. The next it’s all about William Farrer. He systematically cross-bred wheat, producing varieties more suited to Australian conditions.

National Museum of Australia exhibits

The places focused on are deliberately picked for their impact on Australian history. These range include the Blue Mountains. When they were finally crossed, Australians had access to the relatively fertile lands where Australia’s agriculture and wool industries blossomed.

The museum also covers Mount Tom Price in Western Australia. This outback mining town symbolises the huge mines of the Pilbara region that drive the Australian economy.

The National Museum of Australia in Canberra flits unashamedly. It goes from imported water buffalo in the Northern Territory to the Aboriginal man who befriended Arthur Phillip, first Governor of New South Wales. It then skips to the Snowy Mountains hydro-electric scheme and a skeleton of the now extinct Tasmanian tiger.

Why visit the National Museum of Australia?

Somehow, these disparate versions of Australia come together in the Australian capital. And this is why the National Museum of Australia in Canberra is worth visiting. The museum gives an impressively rounded picture of the country. There are so many aspects of Australia that most visitors won’t normally consider. This museum introduces them in a way that doesn’t feel like overload.

Entry to the National Museum of Australia is free, although signs heavily suggest a $5 donation.

Other attractions worth visiting while in Canberra include the Australian War Memorial, the National Capital Exhibition and Questacon. Most of these are seen on a Canberra Segway tour.

Venture outside the centre, and you’ve got the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and hot air balloon flights.