9. Aussie Personalities | 2 p.m.

Walk along the bucolic lawns to the National Portrait Gallery and take a light bistro lunch in the cafe by the lake. The cool gallery rooms are hung with a rotating collection of paintings and photographs of Australians world-famous and not-so known, from Cate Blanchett and the indigenous Olympian Cathy Freeman to the late art critic Robert Hughes.

10. Afternoon Politics | 3 p.m.

Walk across a disheveled lawn to the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, a protest site established by four aboriginal activists in the 1970s that is anchored by a shed spray-painted with the red, black and yellow Aboriginal flag. Then it’s up the hill to “the new Parliament House,” passing the Art Deco “Old Parliament House,” which was retired when Queen Elizabeth II blessed the new building in 1988. Join the 3 p.m. guided tour, the best way to experience the home of the Aussie government in what might be the most spacious, light-filled bunker in the world. Tours start in the Grand Hall overlooking the wall-size tapestry of the Australian bush by the Australian artist Arthur Boyd. Much Australian history has unfolded in this building, including former prime minister Julia Gillard’s viral feminist smackdown of the country’s prime minister, Tony Abbott.

11. Venue Hopping | 7:30 p.m.

At the Hyatt Hotel Canberra, bellhops wear knee-high socks and bartenders in bow ties shake a sturdy Old Fashioned or pour a top-shelf Champagne, both of which go down nicely in the hotel’s Rose Garden. Then take a five-minute cab ride to Ottoman Cuisine for a Turkish feast of crispy salmon and prawn dolma (22 dollars) and veal scallops with Aleppo chile (34 dollars). For dessert, go back to town to the hopping eightysix — the buttered popcorn sundae (14 dollars) is hedonistic. Wash it down with a decadent “share” cocktail for two (25 dollars) here or head for a whiskey nightcap at the Hippo Co (whiskeys run from 9 dollars for the Japanese Nikka from the barrel to 92 dollars for a nip of 36-year-old single malt Glenglassaugh).

SUNDAY

12. Bacon and Bikes | 8 a.m.

Start with a locally roasted fair trade piccolo latte at Mocan & Green Grout in the neighborhood known as NewActon. Order Tasmanian salmon (16 dollars) or the bacon and egg roll with thick Australian bacon (10 dollars). The décor involves potted plants and hand-built bicycles from the owners’ bicycle brand named Goodspeed Bicycle Company — the perfect combo for outdoor-loving, gourmandising Canberrans who pick up their wheels in the cafe.

13. War History | Noon

The Australian War Memorial, a sandstone Byzantine-style dome, is a vintage landmark rising from the center of a spacious lawn and sculpture garden. The galleries span Australia’s military history from controversial colonial times to the Boer War to Afghanistan. Arrive on the hour for the sound-and-light shows — one directed by Peter Jackson — in the ANZAC Hall, which pivots around war relics like a recently salvaged Japanese midget submarine that was part of a bungled raid on Sydney Harbor during World War II.