By bike
Bicycles are a practical way to get around Canberra while visiting, and will get you to most attractions using a well developed network of off-road cycle paths. Functional bicycles can be bought cheaply from Tiny's Green Shed (http://www.tinysgreenshed...) at the Resource Management Centre tip at Mugga Lane, Symonston and Flemington Road, Mitchell, expect to spend around $30 and bring an air pump and puncture repair kit.
Canberra also has generally well developed on-road cycle facilities but the on-road cycle lanes do sometimes end and start in utterly inexplicable places. The grade can be a little steep as away from central Canberra is fairly hilly, but all the attractions around the lake are accessible on fairly flat paths. Pedal Power (http://www.pedalpower.org...) has a list of commuter and other routes. Bicycles are also permitted on footpaths in the ACT except when passing shops during trading hours.
There are bike racks to lock your bike up at most shopping centres and points of interest. Bike helmets are compulsory.
The intertown buses will carry two bikes on bike racks on the front of the buses. The bike racks have clips, so no additional equipment is necessary. Only 20" tyres or larger bikes are carried. There is no charge for using the bike rack. Kids must be accompanied by adults, and child seats and other accessories must be removed from the bike.
A bicycle path map bought from a visitor information, petrol station or newsagent also shows bike paths and on-road cycle lanes. The map is also online at the ACT Department of Planning (http://apps.actpla.act.go...).
By car
Town Centre?
Drivers are often confused by the many signs around Canberra that direct you to the "Town Centre". The unanswered question that the sign poses, is "Which Town?". The city centre, also known as "Civic", is its own centre, but the other Canberra "towns" are Belconnen and Gungahlin to the north of the lake, and Woden, Weston Creek and Tuggeranong to the south. Each of these towns has its own suburbs. You will see signs directing you to each of these towns, but once you get closer the sign will simply direct you to the "town centre". You need to know which town you are in for the sign to make sense.
Most attractions in Canberra provide parking, usually at no extra cost, and Canberra roads are generally of excellent quality and relatively uncongested.
The default speed limit on all roads in the ACT is 50km/h, unless signposted otherwise. Major roads in the ACT will have 60-100km/h speed limits in 10km/h intervals. There is little rhyme or reason regarding how a speed limit is set in the ACT, with similar roads having vastly different speed limits. In some situations, the same road will have a different speed limit for traffic heading in oposite directions. Speed limit signs within the ACT tend to be spiradic and intermittently placed. Several major limited access roads like the Tuggeranong Parkway between the City and the town centres of Woden, Weston Creek and Tuggeranong are 100km/h, though others are 80-90km/h. The ACT also has the highest amount of speed cameras per capita in Australia. Fixed speed cameras have plenty of warning signs in advance via overt signage. Red light/speed cameras have much smaller warning signs, usually not coupled with a sign reminding of the speed limit. If in doubt, slow to 50km/h. Mobile speed camera vans operate on major roads in the ACT. These may be overtly or covertly parked, and may be identified by a large white sign on the roof.
Motorists should watch out for 40km/h school zones which in Canberra are active throughout the school day unlike surrounding New South Wales where they only operate for an hour or two at the beginning and end of the school day. School zones are rigorously policed.
The main shopping and commercial area of Canberra is known as Civic, but you will never see a signpost to Civic. It is signposted as "City".
Take change for parking meters in Civic if you want to park on the streets, or in the government parking lots. Parking in the CBD can be difficult on weekdays, due to development of carparks and encouragement to take public transport. There are several multi-level carparks near the Canberra Centre with ticket pay-stations and pay-booths. Note that all day parking in the Canberra Centre is cheaper on the rooftop level. You will need to collect a parking entry ticket from the first boom gate and then feed the ticket into the second boom gate as you enter the rooftop level.
Fixed speed traps in Canberra are highly visible with multiple signs informing motorists that they are approaching a speed trap. However, mobile police speed traps are set up in large, highly visible white vans with police signage informing motorists that their speed has been checked. Many red light cameras double as speed cameras regardless of whether a red light infringement has occurred. The signage for these speed cameras is substantially less visible than the signage for standard speed cameras.
Petrol/fuel. There are remarkably few fuel stations on the main roads. Instead they tend to be located near local shops, off the main roads. Look for the small blue fuel pump signs pointing off the main roads. Start looking well before you run too low. There are several petrol stations just east of Northbourne Avenue at Civic.
In the suburbs of Tuggeranong the "Monaro Highway" is signposted as a destination on numerous signs for the three roads that head east-west. The Monaro Highway is actually a north-south road to east of Tuggeranong Town and the intended meaning is that the road is an appropriate route to the Monaro Highway.