Note: I was invited by Viator to choose a Canberra Viator tour for two. All opinions are my own.
https://www.viator.com/en-AU offers a range of bookable tours and activities in cities around the world. I was invited to try out a tour in Canberra, but seeing as I’m very much a food-based blogger, there aren’t many Viator food tours in Canberra. There are a few brewery/winery tours but that’s not my thing.
I ended up choosing the Ultimate Museum Experience at the National Museum of Australia which starts at 10am and includes a 1 hour guided tour, lunch at the Museum’s cafe, and a $20 voucher for the museum gift shop. This is usually $65 per person.
When we arrive, we’re told that the 10am tour is the building tour (mainly outside), while 1pm is the museum highlights tour (inside the galleries). The website only mentions a 10am museum tour indicating the highlights of the museum so I really wasn’t prepared (or that interested) for a tour of the building’s history. Luckily as we are the only two people on the tour, our tour guide doesn’t mind switching it around and proceeds with the museum highlights tour.
I must say, I did learn new things about Australia’s history and the indigenous community as we traipsed around the exhibits. It was nice to be a tourist in Canberra! After the hour, we get dropped off back at the museum shop and make some purchases thanks to the gift vouchers (that must be used on the same day).
Then it’s time for lunch at the museum cafe catered by Broadbean Catering. Both the breakfast menu and lunch menu are available until 2.30pm. Our vouchers give us any main meal plus a drink each.
I pick the beef cheeks with vegetables and sweet potato noodles. The beef cheeks are very soft and pull apart easily with a bit of fat on the chunks. I find that there’s not enough noodles – far more shredded carrot than noodles, and it isn’t filling. Unfortunately it’s not a dish I would recommend.
Mr FPJ ordered the cider braised pulled pork with coleslaw. A generous portion of pulled pork is provided but it’s quite dry and really needs more coleslaw to balance it out.
We did both enjoy our iced coffee and iced mocha on the outdoor verandah looking out over Lake Burley Griffin. I feel like there are a couple of shots of espresso in each, with vanilla ice cream, creamy milk and lots of whipped cream. Perhaps the museum cafe is a better spot for afternoon tea instead.
The Ultimate Experience is actually pretty good value for money. The $65 ticket includes lunch and drink (say $25 worth), plus $20 to spend at the gift shop. So you’re basically paying $20 for a 1 hour guided tour where you can ask all sorts of questions about everything related to Australian history and the building itself. We were the only two on the tour so it ended up being a private tour for us. Not a bad gift idea for museum-loving tourists visiting the capital.
Thanks to Viator for the invitation.
National Museum of Australia
Lawson Crescent, Acton, Canberra
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