Australia · Australian Capital Territory · Canberra
Amaroo, Canberra — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Amaroo is a suburb in the Gungahlin district of Canberra, gazetted in 1991, its name meaning 'a beautiful place' in Nyoongar.
About Amaroo
Where to stay in Amaroo
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Amaroo has no hotel strip. Anyone wanting a bed near Gungahlin looks first to the Gungahlin Town Centre, a little over a kilometre away, while the wider choice sits 15 km off in Canberra proper, which is where most visitors to the Australian Capital Territory end up sleeping. Ngunnawal, Moncrieff and Forde are equally residential.
About Amaroo
What are the main landmarks in Amaroo?
The Gungahlin Town Centre does the heavy lifting here, about 1.4 km from Amaroo's edge. Shops and services gather there rather than in the suburb, which keeps to housing along Mirrabei Drive, Horse Park Drive and Gundaroo Drive. No monument marks the streets.
Shoalhaven Avenue and its river-named siblings are the local signature.
What is the history of Amaroo?
Gazettal came on 18 October 1991. Amaroo took its street names from Australian rivers and lakes, so Shoalhaven Avenue and its neighbours read like a gazetteer of waterways, and the suburb filled in as Gungahlin grew out from the older parts of Canberra. Ngunnawal and Gungahlin sit alongside.
Moncrieff, Forde, Bonner and Jacka came around it.
Where is Amaroo?
Mirrabei Drive, Horse Park Drive and Gundaroo Drive bound Amaroo, which lies about 1.4 km from the Gungahlin Town Centre. Canberra's centre is 15 km off.
More areas in Canberra
Updated September 2026