Australian War Memorial visit: a Canberra half day

An Australian War Memorial visit is free, and this guide plans a half day around the highlights. The Memorial stands at the top of Anzac Parade in Canberra. It is a shrine, a museum and an archive in one place. The guide covers what to see, how long to allow, the Last Post Ceremony and Anzac Day.

Sources for this section: Australian War Memorial (AWM), About; AWM, Visit.

Plan your day

Entry is free. The Memorial is open from 10 am to 5 pm every day except Christmas Day, and the galleries start closing from 4.40 pm. Anzac Day hours differ, as the last section explains.

The address is Treloar Crescent, Campbell, at the top of Anzac Parade. Buses run from the city centre on route 10 on weekdays and on routes 930 and 931 on weekends. Parking is free, but on weekdays, apart from public holidays, the car parks have a four-hour limit between 7.30 am and 6 pm.

The Memorial offers free daily tours with volunteer guides, and they leave from the Orientation Gallery at the main entrance. A highlight tour of the galleries takes 90 minutes, with seven start times from 10 am to 2.30 pm. A tour of the First or Second World War galleries, or a themed tour, takes 60 minutes. A tour of the Commemorative Area takes 30 minutes and runs at 4.15 pm. The Memorial says tours can change or be cancelled.

For a half day, take the 1.30 pm highlight tour, then the 4.15 pm Commemorative Area tour and the Last Post Ceremony.

Sources for this section: AWM, Visit; AWM, Access; AWM, Guided Tours; AWM, The Last Post Ceremony.

The building and the courtyard

The building opened on 11 November 1941. It was a joint design by two Sydney architects, Emil Sodersten and John Crust. Inside the front entrance is the Commemorative Courtyard, with the Pool of Reflection and the Eternal Flame in front of you.

The Roll of Honour surrounds the courtyard, inside arched cloisters. Its bronze panels carry the names of more than 102,000 Australians who have died in war since 1885. Many visitors tuck a paper poppy into the Roll beside the name of someone who matters to them. The Commemorative Area includes the courtyard, its cloisters and the Hall of Memory.

Sources for this section: AWM, Origins of the Memorial; AWM, Entrance and commemorative courtyard; Wikipedia, Australian War Memorial (8 April 2015).

The Hall of Memory

The Hall of Memory stands at the far end of the Pool of Reflection, under a copper dome. Its inner walls and dome are covered in a mosaic of six million pieces. Artist Napier Waller made both the mosaic and the stained glass.

The Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier lies directly beneath the dome. The soldier's remains came home from Adelaide Cemetery, near Villers-Bretonneux in France. They were buried in the Hall of Memory on 11 November 1993, the 75th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

Sources for this section: AWM, Hall of Memory; AWM, Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier; AWM, Origins of the Memorial; Wikipedia, Australian War Memorial (8 April 2015).

The galleries

• First World War Galleries: Australia in the Great War has been on show since 1 December 2014. It covers Gallipoli, the Western Front, Sinai and Palestine, the war at sea, the home front and the war's legacy.
• Second World War Galleries: Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa, the war against Japan in south-east Asia and New Guinea, and the home front.
• Hall of Valour: it honours Australians awarded the Victoria Cross and Australian Defence personnel directly awarded the George Cross.
• Anzac Hall: the Lancaster bomber "G for George", a Japanese midget submarine and First World War aircraft, with sound-and-light shows through the day. The last one starts at 4.30 pm.
• Aircraft Hall: classic aircraft such as a Mosquito, a Kittyhawk and a Mustang.
• Conflicts 1945 to today: the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency and Indonesian Confrontation, the Vietnam War, peacekeeping since 1947 and recent conflicts including Afghanistan.

The Anzac Hall shows and the Conflicts 1945 to today galleries are among the areas with bright, flashing lights, the Memorial says.

Sources for this section: AWM, First World War galleries; AWM, Second World War galleries; AWM, Hall of Valour; AWM, Anzac Hall; AWM, Aircraft Hall; AWM, Conflicts 1945 to today galleries; AWM, Access.

The Last Post Ceremony

The Memorial ends each day with a Last Post Ceremony at 4.55 pm. The ceremony usually ends by 5.15 pm, and the Memorial encourages visitors to take their places in the Commemorative Area by 4.45 pm.

The national anthem is sung and a piper plays a lament. A serving member of the Australian Defence Force reads the story of one person named on the Roll of Honour and recites the Ode. A bugler then plays the Last Post.

While the piper plays, visitors can lay a wreath or flowers at the foot of the Pool of Reflection. The Memorial asks anyone laying a wreath to tell the staff in the Orientation Gallery by 4 pm. Photos and filming are welcome, and the Memorial streams the ceremony live on its website.

Sources for this section: AWM, The Last Post Ceremony; AWM, Last Post Ceremony FAQ.

Timing your visit around Anzac Day

In 2015, Anzac Day falls on Saturday 25 April and marks 100 years since the landing at Gallipoli. The Memorial holds a Dawn Service at 5.30 am and a National Ceremony at 10.15 am, and it expects large crowds at both.

On the day, the Memorial says, Anzac Parade will be closed from Constitution Avenue between 3.30 am and 1 pm. Limited onsite parking is for mobility-impaired visitors only. Cars showing a government-issued parking pass get in, first come, first served. Free park-and-ride shuttles run to the Memorial from Majura Park Shopping Centre and Russell Offices. Free shuttles from the Canberra Centre ($2 parking) stop at the corner of Anzac Parade and Blamey Crescent. All shuttles run from 3.45 am to 5 am for the Dawn Service and from 8.30 am to 10 am for the National Ceremony. Return trips start 20 minutes after each ceremony ends.

After the Dawn Service the Commemorative Area is open from 6.15 am to 8 am. The Memorial then opens at about 12.45 pm, after the National Ceremony. The Memorial's National Ceremony page gives 4.45 pm for the Last Post Ceremony that day, and the Memorial expects more people than normal. Check the Memorial's Anzac Day pages for changes.

Sources for this section: AWM, Anzac Day; AWM, Anzac Day Dawn Service; AWM, Anzac Day National Ceremony; AWM, Anzac Day visitor information.