Parliamentary Triangle pram friendly walk directions

Summary

We never tire of exploring this beautiful area. For humans, it's jam-packed with great architecture, fascinating history, awesome sculptures and impressive vistas. For our dogs there's challenges in negotiating stairs, ramps and different surfaces plus tempting rabbit smells and duck poo galore! The walk starts and ends at the National Library of Australia where there is plenty of parking and an excellent café with a spacious outdoor area overlooking the lake. This walk also has paved and ramp options the whole way and is therefore accessible for prams and wheelchairs.
Start/Finish - National Library of Australia, Parkes Place West
Time/Distance - Allow 75 minutes/approx 5 km
Off lead rating - on-leash only
Parking - Several public car parks at and near the National Library; most are pay parking on work days
Dog friendly café - Bookplate at the National Library plus several outdoor coffee venues en route
Public toilets - In the Senate garden, in the sculpture garden, at Commonwealth Place, and inside the Library
Bins - Plentiful en route
Distractions - None
Playgrounds - None
Photo gallery - See photos taken on the Parliamentary Triangle pram friendly walk.

Note - All our dog walks assume you are a responsible dog owner with an obedient and well-socialised dog. See our Important Stuff page before starting any of our walks.

Map

The map below illustrates the route with key areas of interest marked by stars. Use the navigation tools to zoom in or out for different views of the route or click on the 'view larger map' icon on the top right hand corner of the map to view in google maps. Below the map, the route directions include links to more info about each area.

Directions

We provide only very brief notes on the highlights of this walk so we encourage you to google more context on everything you are seeing - there is so much to learn! This is also a walk which invites additional wandering and exploring - especially at the Old Parliament House Gardens and the NGA Sculpture Garden - so bear this in mind when planning your time. We estimate around 75 minutes to complete the walk but you could easily spend two hours.

National Library of Australia to National Gallery of Australia (30 minutes)

1. With your back to the front entrance of the National Library, walk right on the footpath along the road in front of the Library (Parkes Place West).
There is usually plenty of parking in the National Library car park but you'll need to pay on work days.
Toilets are located inside the Library, accessed through the main entrance.
The Library café, Bookplate, has plenty of outdoor seating on the side of the Library facing the lake. To access the cafe with dogs, you'll need to leave your dog at your outdoor table and go in to order at the counter through the small door adjacent to the outdoor area. Once you've ordered, your drinks/food will be brought outside for you.
For more information about visiting the Library, click here.
2. Continue across the first road (King Edward Terrace) using the traffic lights, and again across the next road (Langton Crescent).
In between these two roads you'll pass the heritage-listed Treasury building on your right, dating from the 1960s, and a pretty park with impressive mature trees on your left. There is a direct view (part of the famous Walter Burley Griffin axis) to another heritage-listed public service building on the other side of the park (which you'll pass later in the the walk).
3. On the other side of the road, continue straight ahead for several metres on the wide formed path heading into a lovely arcade of tall trees, then veer right on the smaller path that will take you to an open structure with tall columns.
This structure is a monument to the Magna Carta, considered a symbol of early democracy. There are informative plaques around the monument but you can read more about the monument design, its history and the history of the Magna Carta here.
4. When you're ready, retrace your steps back to the wider path and turn right. As you walk along this path, with a tall, well clipped hedge on your left, look for a gap in the hedge. This will be approximately half-way along this long hedge. Turn left through the gap to enter gardens on the other side (one half of the Old Parliament House gardens - the Senate Garden).
The gardens are lovely any time of year, but especially when the hundreds of roses are in bloom. With smaller paths leading through the garden and plenty of seating, it is a very pleasant place to spend a little time.
Click here for the fascinating history, features and current news about the Gardens.
There are public toilets adjacent to the tennis courts, at the side nearest Old Parliament House.
5. Continue on the main paved path through the gardens as it passes under a wide wisteria covered pergola, and then out of the gardens to a small road (Parliament Square) and the west side of Old Parliament House. Turn left and then right to walk around to the front of Old Parliament House.
Old Parliament House now houses the Museum of Australian Democracy. It is well worth a visit, sans dog, for a glimpse into parliamentary life in the 'ole days'. Especially interesting is the modest suite designed for the Queen when she visited. I really love the old toilets! The museum often hosts excellent art exhibitions and the annual Behind the Lines exhibition of the best political cartoons.
Directly opposite the front entrance of Old Parliament House is the Aboriginal Tent Embassy and beyond that the Griffin designed vista all the way across the lake and through to the National War Memorial and Mount Ainslie.
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy has a fascinating history. To learn more click here.
6. Continue past the front and then turn right again into a small road (Parliament Square again), and then left through the gap into the other half of the Old Parliament House gardens - the House of Representatives Garden).
The second half of the Old Parliament House gardens is just as pretty as the first. Immediately as you enter, there is a small raised pond with a line of tiles leading away on the ground on the other side. The line of tiles represents a timeline of women in Federal Parliament and records significant milestones - the most recent being the election of Julia Gillard as Australia's first female Prime Minister.
You can find out more detail about the design, plantings, structures and sculptures in the gardens here.
7. Continue on the main paved path through the gardens as it leads you through the hedge on the far side. On the other side of the hedge, turn left to follow the paved path as it leads you to a road (King George Terrace).
8. Cross King George Terrace using the pedestrian crossing and continue straight ahead on the footpath along the road ahead (Parkes Place East).
On your right you'll pass the old Administration Building (now the John Gorton Building), which you may have glimpsed at 2. above. This heritage-listed building dates from the 1950s and was originally intended to house the entire Federal Public Service ... yeh, I know! In the 1980s, it could still fit all of Foreign Affairs and ASIO (which had its own 'secret' floor). Now both agencies have their own purpose-designed buildings vastly more enormous than this, now relatively modest, building. Click on the link provided above to find out more about its design and history.
9. At the next road (King Edward Terrace), cross over using the pedestrian crossing, then turn right to follow the wide footpath across two small roads (both Parkes Place East). After the second small road, turn left to walk towards the main entrance of the National Gallery of Australia.
On the other side of the pedestrian crossing, before turning right, is the High Court of Australia. The building is considered an outstanding example of late modern Brutalist architecture, a very popular style in Canberra during the building boom of the 1970s. Click here to learn more about the building.

National Gallery of Australia to National Library of Australia (40 minutes)

10. Just before you nearly reach the main entrance, turn around and look for the path leading in the opposite direction behind a low wall. This path will lead you down to a beautiful small garden and the James Turrell Skyspace.
The Skyspace 'Within Without' is just awesome! I'm not going spoil your experience by describing it. But go inside with your dog and spend a few minutes enjoying the light and space. The seats are heated in winter and if you can get yourself up in time, there is a light-show at dawn every day.
11. When you're ready, retrace your steps back to the front entrance of the NGA and continue past it. As you walk outside the Gallery building, look for a set of very wide steps on your right. Walk down these steps to reach another beautiful garden - the NGA Sculpture Garden. (Alternate ramp access to the gardens is reached by continuing to walk straight ahead on the path past the Gallery building. The ramp access will be on the right and lead down to the garden close to the bottom of the steps.)
There is an outdoor cafe next to the front entrance which is generally open during Gallery hours.
12. At the bottom of the steps, follow the path to the right, and then turn left past the pond with a cool sculpture - Floating Figure - in it. Follow the path straight ahead as it leads to the lake shore and another cool sculpture - Angel of the North - inviting you to come closer with outstretched wings.
We highly recommend spending some time exploring the significant artworks in the Sculpture Garden. Most of the sculptures will be to the right of the path. Some are also ahead and to the left off the path.
There are also public toilets in a small building to the left of the path across the grass, just below the ramp access to the gardens.
13. At the end of the path, there is another set of stairs leading down to the lake edge. Go down these stairs and turn left to follow the footpath next to the lake. (There is alternate ramp access to the path below adjacent to the stairs.) When the path soon forks, take the right fork to continue next to the lake.
We recommend walking along the path closest to the lake as the alternate path parallel to the narrow road is popular with speeding cyclists.
As you walk along the lake, enjoy the vistas on your right across the lake to the Carillon, Commonwealth Park and the War Memorial. On your left are raised beds of Pyrus rubris, an ornamental pear which has beautiful white blossoms in spring and stunning red leaves in autumn.
14. After a few minutes the path reaches a large open area with jetties, benches and one or more cafés (depending on the season).
There are public toilets adjacent to the jetty area.
15. Veer left here to reach the narrow road running parallel to the lake (Queen Elizabeth Terrace). Cross the road and look for the footpath leading directly away from the lake through a green steeply-sloped lawn area.
The jetty and lawn area is Commonwealth Place. The flags lining the road to the right and left represent all the member countries of the Commonwealth.
16. Continue walking along this path as it leads you through an open 'tunnel' between two high walls lined with sandstone.
The walkway through the tunnel is in precise alignment with the Griffin axis and leads to Reconciliation Place.
17. When you exit the tunnel, you can either: a)walk straight uphill over the grass to the highest point to maximise another perfect view of the Griffin axis - with Old Parliament House directly ahead and the War Memorial directly behind - and then turn right to return to the National Library; or b) veer right to follow the paved path as it skirts below and around the highest point, and then heads right to the National Library.
As noted above, the grassed area at the end of the tunnel is Reconciliation Place with several artworks and sculptures commemorating this. Use the link in 15. above for more info.