Old Parliament House walk – Photo supplied by JJ Harrison
| Start/Finish | Category | Distance | Estimated Walking Time |
| Glebe Park / Senate Gardens, Old Parliament House | History and Architecture, Tourism | 5.5 km | 1 hr 25 min* |
Summary
Starting in the city centre this walk passes a number of buildings of cultural significance before ending at the Senate Gardens outside Old Parliament House.
Public transport
Catch the bus to the Civic bus interchange.
Directions
Starting point – Glebe Park
This walk starts on Bunda St adjacent to Glebe Park, which is a public park on the eastern side of Civic and just a short stroll from the Civic bus interchange.
From Glebe Park walk down Bunda St in a southerly direction away from the city. Bunda St joins with Binara St and then Allara St. Keep walking down Allara St in the same direction and cross over Constitution Ave.
Continue down Allara St and you will pass Civic Pool on your left. Further along you will come to the Parkes Way footbridge. Walk over the footbridge into Commonwealth Park. Commonwealth Park is on the north side of Lake Burley Griffin and home to Floriade, one of Australia’s premier flower displays that attracts thousands of tourists in September/October each year.
Commonwealth Park has many walking trails that will take you down to the shore of Lake Burley Griffin. Once you depart the footbridge take the path that runs in an easterly direction past Stage 88, an open air permanent stage used for concerts. This path will take you to Nerang Pool. Once you reach Nerang Pool continue on the path that goes in a southerly direction down to Lake Burley Griffin.
When you reach Lake Burley Griffin continue around the lake in an easterly direction past the Sir Robert Menzies statue.
Lake Burley Griffin
Image: Lake Burley Griffin, photo supplied
The next attraction along this walk is the National Carillon. The Carillon is situated on Queen Elizabeth II Island and was a gift from the British Government to Australia to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Canberra. The Carillon is in regular use and plays a tune every hour. If you feel like a short break this is the place to take it.
From the Carillon take the path that goes up to Kings Ave Bridge. Walk across the bridge on the side closest to the Carillon. This will give you great views of the city. The path off the bridge will wind around and take you down to the side of the lake directly opposite the Carillon.
Continue on the path in a northerly direction and turn left down Parkes Place East. This will take you past the National Gallery of Australia. The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) is the national National Art Museum of Australia and holds more than 166,000 works of art. The building is brutalist in design and characterized by raw concrete geometrical shapes. If you have time, make sure to check out the sculpture gardens located at the lake end of the Gallery, or the ‘within/without’ dome situated at the southern end.
From the NGA cross over King Edward Tce and continue down Parkes Place East. You should be heading in the opposite direction to the lake and see Parkes Place East lawns to your right.
Finish – Senate Gardens, Old Parliament House
At the end of Parkes Place East turn right onto King George Tce. On King George Tce is Old Parliament House, which was the national seat of Parliament from 1927 to 1988. At the front of Old Parliament House is the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. The Aboriginal Tent Embassy serves as a permanent protest site for first nations people in Australia.
The walk ends at the back of Old Parliament house on Queen Victoria Tce in the Senate Gardens. The gardens have an extensive rose collection, including varieties from all over the world.
Old Parliament House walk – GPX file
To access to the GPX file for this walk click on the download button below.
Information on GPX files and how to import them into Google maps on your phone can be found here.
Old Parliament House Walk – Map
Start – Glebe Park
- Glebe Park
- Canberra Olympic Pool
- Commonwealth Park
- National Carillon
- National Gallery of Australia
- Aboriginal Tent Embassy
- Old Parliament House
End – Senate Gardens
