Canberra/Gungahlin

Gungahlin is Canberra's northernmost district. Many travellers visit the district for the Gold Creek Village, a family-friendly "village", holding nearly all of Gungahlin's important tourist attractions.

Understand
Gungahlin is a rather new but rapidly growing district. When it was as a town in 1991, it had only 389 inhabitants, but in the 2016 census, Gungahlin had 71,142 inhabitants, but before the 1980s, the area was just farmland. There are many new housing developments in the region that you'll encounter, and since it's a rather relatively new district, most of the district is still very green and has a rural feeling. The new light rail that opened in 2019 has also made it a more attractive place to live, but tourism outside Gold Creek has yet to reach its potential.

Today, Gungahlin makes up one of Canberra's five main town centres, with the other four being Civic, Belconnen, Tuggeranong, and Woden (Queanbeyan doesn't count as it's a part of NSW). However, it's the smallest of the five, and as there are no government offices, some may not consider Gungahlin town centre as one of Canberra's main town centres. However, it is still larger than other smaller centres like Weston Creek town centre or Kingston.

While the tiny historic town of Hall is often included as part of Gungahlin for statistical and government purposes, it's a separate district and therefore is not covered here. There is also no road access to the village from the rest of Gungahlin; it's only accessible via the Barton Highway which runs along the borders of Belconnen and Gungahlin.

By car
There are several highways from New South Wales, Belconnen, Civic and North Canberra.

From Civic, the most common route is to use the A23 Northbourne Avenue and turn onto Flemington Road by following the light rail to Gungahlin. Still, you could also use the A25 Barton Highway, which is more effective if you are heading to the Gold Creek Village.

From Hall, use the A25 Barton Highway southeast and turn left onto any one of the roads pointing towards Gungahlin – there will be signs pointing you to the town centre.

From Tuggeranong, use the unnumbered Tuggeranong Parkway north until the end of the freeway. Once at the end of the freeway, continue onto Gungahlin Drive, which should lead you to the town centre. Otherwise, if you're heading to the Gold Creek Village, take the A25 Barton Highway exit (note the signs still have the old National Route 25 route number and follow the brown signs toward Gold Creek Village.

If you're coming from the airport, take the M23 Majura Parkway north and continue up till the end of the freeway, and once the freeway ends, continue onto Horse Park Drive until you get into the town centre.

By bus
There are several bus lines to Gungahlin, but there is only one rapid route (excluding R1 which is used for the light rail): the R8 ( from Belconnen. Other bus routes are usually more minor, localised services.

By light rail
Gungahlin is linked to Civic through the R1 light rail line ; the dynamic route winds through North Canberra and the Dickson Interchange, terminating in Gungahlin's town centre. Frequent services mean you will not have to plan.

By cycle
Although unpopular in 2023, three of Canberra's long-distance cycling routes are present in Gungahlin.
 * – from Civic, passing through the west of Dickson before making its way through Gungahlin suburbia and the town centre.
 * – from Belconnen. It's mostly straightforward, but you will need to turn left past Barton Highway if you're visiting Gold Creek Village (it will be signposted).
 * – from Canberra Airport, this route largely follows parallel to Majura Parkway (M23) and Horse Park Drive.

Gold Creek Village
This is a "village" of specialty shops, attractions, hotels (for drinks), coffee shops, a native reptile museum, a butterfly enclosure, and garden supplies, in a group of separate buildings in a strip about 1 km long along Barton Highway. Locals and visitors alike use the area, especially on weekends. It was established during the 1990s in order to be under "one brand", and has since been attracting many visitors, both Canberrans and non-Canberrans ever since.

To get here from Civic, take A23 Northbourne Avenue towards A25 Barton Highway (left) then follow about 5 km to a major roundabout; go straight on about 2 km and follow signs to turn right. ACTION bus route 24 also passes by Gold Creek Village from both Belconnen and Gungahlin Town Centres, but these only operate around once every 30 minutes.

Though this system is often only found in rather large cities, Gold Creek also has a system of "one ticket, multiple venues" system, which can be found at the Gold Creek website, which covers the Canberra Reptile Zoo, Cockington Green Gardens, the Canberra Walk-in Aviary and the National Dinosaur Museum.

Outside Gold Creek Village
Outside the Gold Creek Village, there is not much to see nor do in Gungahlin, but there are a few venues. These barely get any visitors, and are only really visited by locals from Gungahlin, but there are some points of interests like the Canberra Centenary Trail that is done by many. See Hall for One Tree Hill Lookout. It's a lookout that's in Gungahlin but is most accessible via Hall.

Budget

 * Fast food: There's a KFC and a Maccas available in the Gold Creek Village just near the roundabout at Nicholls Way. There's also another Maccas in Gungahlin Town Centre along with a Domino's and a few other small pizza chains.
 * Fast food: There's a KFC and a Maccas available in the Gold Creek Village just near the roundabout at Nicholls Way. There's also another Maccas in Gungahlin Town Centre along with a Domino's and a few other small pizza chains.

Sleep
Gungahlin does not have a large range of accommodation available. Most accommodation can be found at the Gold Creek Village next to all of Gungahlin's tourist attractions, but outside Gold Creek Village, there is only one hotel in the town centre, There is also a few across the border along Federal Highway, but these are not located within Gungahlin, but are covered here.
 * Gold Creek Tourist Resort - Restaurant contact functions@gctr.net.au
 * Gold Creek Tourist Resort - Restaurant contact functions@gctr.net.au
 * Gold Creek Tourist Resort - Restaurant contact functions@gctr.net.au

Connect
CBRfree public Wi-Fi is available in several locations throughout Gungahlin, but the main place is in Marketplace Gungahlin. However, there is no free Wi-Fi in Gold Creek Village, Gungahlin's largest tourist draw.

Telstra has 3G and 4G throughout Gungahlin, with 5G present in most locations, though it's most notably absent in the northwest. Optus also has 4G coverage throughout but only has 5G coverage in parts of Mitchell, Harrison and Franklin with no 5G coverage in Gungahlin Town Centre. Meanwhile, Vodafone surprisinly has 5G coverage throughout Gungahlin, though patchy in some areas.