Canberra District
Canberra Region
The national capital's independent side — cool-climate wineries, specialty coffee, galleries, and the growing maker scene that thrives in a city where government isn't the only employer.
Poachers Vineyard
431 Nanima Rd, Springrange NSW 2618, Australia
Wed–Sun 10:30am–5pm
Thirty-five years ago, Susan and Robert Bruce built a smokehouse on a Ngunnawal Country grazing property outside Springrange. The operation grew — restaurant, vineyard, cellar door, weddings — before the smokehouse was finally retired at the end of 2025. What remains is a fourth-generation family farm anchored by lunch Wednesday to Sunday, complimentary cellar door tastings, and William Bruce's estate wines.
Belconnen Arts Centre
118 Emu Bank, Belconnen ACT 2617
Tue–Sun 10am–4pm
Belconnen Arts Centre is a cultural centre in Canberra, ACT that explores themes of contemporary art, performing arts. Core activities include exhibition, performance, community, education. The venue serves as a community hub and is family-oriented. Visitors can enjoy cafe, shop, accessible, family friendly, workshops. Nearby towns include Belconnen, Canberra CBD, Gungahlin.
SKEEHAN Studio
Building 3 Dairy Rd, Fyshwick ACT 2609, Australia
Tom Skeehan's Fyshwick studio works across furniture, exhibition, and strategic design — a broader brief than most maker practices. The Hoshi Armchair, now a decade old, is the calling card: research-led, materially honest, and still in production. A new brand, HAN, launched in 2024. Worth watching if considered Australian furniture design is your thing.
Homeleigh Grove Olives
Wallaroo Rd
Stallholders at Canberra's farmers market since day one, this 2,000-tree grove outside the capital produces two certified extra virgin oils — the mild Homeleigh Grove and the spicier Lowanna's Paddock — alongside infused oils running from Blood Orange to Wild Lime Chilli. Table varieties including Manzanilla, Kalamata and Sevillano are hand-picked to avoid bruising. Multiple Best of Show trophies; the medals question comes up every Saturday.
Nick O'Leary Wines
149 Brooklands Rd, Wallaroo NSW 2618, Australia
Thu–Sun 11am–5pm
Nick O'Leary built his name on Canberra-region Riesling and Shiraz — both made across several single vineyards, from the Bolaro Shiraz to the White Rocks and Flying Fox Rieslings — alongside Chardonnay, Sangiovese, Tempranillo and Albariño. The wines now have a home: Heywood, an estate in the Hall Valley at Wallaroo, just over the ACT border, built around a 16-hectare vineyard and winemaking facility, with a tasting bar, restaurant and event space. Award-winning across the board; the cellar door and kitchen make it worth the trip from Canberra.
Royal Australian Mint
Denison St, Deakin ACT 2600
Mon–Fri 8:30am–5pm · Sat–Sun 10am–4pm
Since 1965, the Mint has produced every circulating Australian coin — and still does. The visitor gallery makes the manufacturing floor visible, while the National Coin Collection traces the full arc from British imperial currency to the decimal changeover of 1966. Few government facilities are this candid about what actually happens inside them.
Ravensworth Wines
312 Patemans Lane, Murrumbateman
Bryan Martin spent 15 years as Tim Kirk's offsider at Clonakilla before going all-in on his own Murrumbateman label, started in 2001 with his wife Jocelyn. The home vineyard runs no synthetic chemicals — Martin calls it "natural forestry" — across Shiraz, Riesling and Sangiovese plus Rhône and Italian varieties. The 2020 cellar is built from straw bales and filled with amphorae, ceramic eggs and concrete. The Shiraz Viognier gets called "baby Clonakilla"; the Sangiovese is among the country's best.
ANU Drill Hall Gallery
Kingsley Street, Acton ACT 2601
Australian National University's public gallery in a converted WWII drill hall. It presents exhibitions from the ANU art collection and contemporary Australian and international artists.