Melbourne Travel Guide

Melbourne Travel Guide, climate:

Best: Spring and Autumn.
Worst: June-Aug. Nights can get wet, windy and chilly, but are good for skiing. Nov-Jan temperatures can hit 40C [over 100F].

Tour operators offering tours to Australia can be found in our listings here: Australia Tours

Festivals guide:
Late Jan-mid Feb, Midsumma, a wild 3 week gay fiesta.
Feb, 1st weekend, Melbourne Blues Festival, excellent.
Early March, a weekend, Melbourne Moomba Waterfest. An extravagant family festival.
March, from 4th Thurs for a month, Melbourne Comedy Festival.
June, 2nd Sat/Sun, Melbourne Good Food & Wine Show.
Oct for 2 weeks, Melbourne Festival. A city-wide arts and culture event.
November, 1st Tues, the Melbourne Cup - the biggest horse race in the southern hemisphere.

Arts/Culture Guide:
Museums: The outstanding Melbourne Museum is a wacky new millennium showpiece and covers Australia in depth, while in contrast the Immigration Museum is based in the restored Old Customs House; it's very well designed.
Classical Music/Opera: see the world renowned Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at the Melbourne Concert Hall.
Dance: at the University; the Melbourne Ballet; the performing Arts Museum.
Live Music & Clubs: There is a lot happening with live music, comedy and theatre all over the city.
Check The Age on Fridays or Beat Magazine. Warehouse, The Lounge, Metro and Revolver for clubs.

Shopping:
Classy: there's an excellent international selection widely available.
Wacky: Queen Victoria Market is Melbourne's #1, quaint and tourist friendly, but St Andrews market is eclectic and unusual and St Kilda and Camberwell markets also fun.

Cuisine:
Like Sydney the mix of cultures in Melbourne make for a diverse selection of foods, though many Australians believe that Melbourne offers the country's best eating out, and at the right price too.
Greek, Italian, Vietnamese, and Chinese dominate, but there's a good cross-section of most world cuisines available.

Why Travel to Melbourne?

Australia's second largest city, Melbourne is perhaps the most refined and 'European' city in the country, an affluent and exciting city demanding cutting edge performances in the arts, live music and dance.
There's a racial hot pot of superb restaurants and food halls.
Victorian and some modern buildings are lovely, especially in the summer, and the immense amount of landscaped parks are a haven all year round for urban refugees.
Melbourne has some wonderful beaches, wildlife, hilly walks and winter skiing not too far away and is in pole position for the spectacular Great Ocean Road driving experience.

Downside:
Winter is often decidedly chilly, grey and wet, and Melbourne doesn't have any special style icons, unlike their great rival, Sydney.

Sights guide:
Take the free city circle tram for a city tour but not the dull boat rides.
The Royal Botanic Gardens on the Yarra River are outstanding and the city has many other calm, green oases.
Melbourne Zoo was the first in Australia, it's enjoyable, instructive and features the Platypus.
Night tours of old Melbourne Gaol [Ned Kelly's place of execution] are a giggle.
St Kilda, with its beach front walks, market, gardens, funky cafés and bars and red light district.

Melbourne Transport:
The city has an excellent integrated public transport system of trams, trains and buses.
Biking is popular and easy except for the tram tracks.
Driving a rental car is NOT easy here, with complicated rules governing tram/car interaction.

Short Trips guide:
- Mornington Peninsula National Park, snorkel or just swim with dolphins. Near the city.
- For walks around weird rock formations head for Organ Pipes National Park [20kms NW] and/or Hanging Rock NP, just past Organ Pipes.
- Stagger around and sample top class plonk at Yarra Valley wineries. 60kms [37mls].
- The hilarious and totally natural Penguin Parade at dusk on Phillip Island is wildly popular, and there are wildlife walks, seals, koalas and good surfing. 120km [75mls] SE.
- Wilson's Prom National Park is a world ranking national park, busy but unspoiled and alive with native fauna and flora. 170kms [106mls] SE, past Phillip Island.
- Surfing. The Surf Coast, from Torquay to Lorne, best season March-Aug. Pro-surfers love [inconsistent] Bell's Beach but there're more than enough amateur action spots too.
- Otway National Park [200kms/125mls], a temperate rainforest with wildlife, camping, beaches, swimming, surfing, fishing.
- Great Ocean Road. Travel along one of Australia's most famous coast roads, visiting the limestone chimneys known as the Twelve Apostles, whale watching at Warrnambool [June-Sept], then circling back via the gorgeous Grampians NP - good for hikes, bikes, adrenaline activities and wildlife viewing - and old gold Ballarat town [1.5hrs from Melbourne]. The GOR circuit needs about 5 days, but don't expect too much, it's not really spectacular by global standards.

And while you're in the area you might want to meet the neighbours...

Melbourne Guide

Melbourne Travel Guide, climate:

Why Travel to Melbourne?