The unusual carillon monument rises 50 metres high on Queen Elizabeth II Island near Kings Park in the south of Canberra city centre.

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The Chimes was donated by the British Government for Canberra's 50th anniversary in 1967, but has only been in use since 1970.

When does the chime play?

The tower has a total of 57 bronze bells of varying sizes spanning nearly 5 octaves. The smallest bell weighs 6kg and the largest 8kg.

The chimes are active every quarter of an hour, when they play a short melody similar to the one on London's Big Ben.

In addition, every Sunday from 11:00 to 12:00 and on various other occasions such as Christmas and public holidays, there are chime concerts. The bells can be played via a keyboard located at the bottom of the tower.

How to get there

The bells can best be heard directly from the island on which the tower stands or from the adjacent quay.

From the centre, it takes about 30 minutes to walk there along the seafront promenade.

You can also take the R3, 56, 59 and 182 bus routes which stop on Russell Drive about 400 metres from the chimes.

All routes go into the city centre and the R3 route also takes you to Canberra CBR Airport.

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