Melbourne Travel Guide
Melbourne is a city with endless options. The city sweeps you up into laneways and libraries, attractions, art galleries, parks, theatres and a vibrant waterfront atmosphere. It boasts great events, a passion for food and wine and a fabulous arts scene. Known as a style-setter, Melbourne is home to a non-stop program of festivals, renowned dining, major art exhibitions and musical extravaganzas.
Melbourne Zoo
You can’t visit Melbourne without spending a day at Australia's oldest zoo. Located deep within leafy Royal Park, the Zoo sprawls over a 22-hectare area, offering twilight visits with live music over summer. Families with children will be especially delighted with the chance to get up and close and personal with 350 animal species. And not just the Aussie natives - like the impossibly cute koala bear, and the bounding kangaroo - you can also step foot into the African and Asian rainforest displays with plant and animal species native to the region.
Queen Victoria Market
Queen Victoria Market, one of the largest open air markets in the Southern Hemisphere combines almost 1,000 traders across this 7-hectare site which has been a vital part of the Melbourne community since 1878.
Melbourne Museum
See Australia's champion horse Phar Lap, the kitchen set from the hit TV soap Neighbours and learn about local Aboriginal history and culture - this is the most exciting history lesson you'll ever take under the one roof.
Melbourne Observation Deck
Get a whole new view of Melbourne when you scale the heights of the city's tallest office building - the Rialto Towers. The impressive reinforced concrete structure, with its unique glass façade, is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. You'll feel the impact of the Rialto’s staggering height, when you head up to level 55 of the 253-metre monument.
The Royal Melbourne Show
The annual Royal Melbourne Show (know as “The Show” to locals) comes to town in the middle of September during the school holidays. Usually beginning on the second Thursday of September and running for 10 consecutive days, it is located at the Royal Melbourne showgrounds in Ascot Vale, approximately 10 minutes from the centre of Melbourne on the train. The dedicated train station serves only special events and runs the entire duration of The Show.
THE COLONIAL TRAMCAR RESTAURANT
This unique “best of Melbourne tour” is a showcase of Melbourne's charm. Since it's inception in 1983, the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant has become a star attraction in Melbourne. Dining is not only a culinary delight, but also a journey into a little piece of Victoria's past. The converted 1927 tram that has become a glossy, burgundy restaurant on wheels, the first travelling tramcar restaurant in the world and a delightful innovative approach to dining. As it cruises the scenic streets of Melbourne, diners can enjoy fine cuisine and drink the very best of Australian wines or make a selection of beverages from the fully stocked bar at an all-inclusive price. The atmosphere is cosy, the service friendly and the decor as inviting as the colonial period reflects.
Old Melbourne Gaol
Those interested in crime will appreciate a tour of the Old Melbourne Gaol. The establishment is known for having been the first jail established in Melbourne and rumor has it the building is now haunted. Ned Kelly, the famous bushranger, was held here until 1880 when he was finally hanged.
Her Majesty’s Theatre
Her Majesty’s Theatre is another hot theater destination in City Center. The theater itself opened in 1886 and has hosted a wide variety of international musicals including Chicago and Fiddler on the Roof. They are known to occasionally host an opera as well.
ROYAL ARCADE
355 Bourke Street, south side of the mall, Melbourne. Built in 1870. Melbourne’s oldest shopping mall. Despite alterations, it retains an airy, graceful elegance, that touch of class notably lacking in more modern shopping centres. Walk about 10 metres into the arcade, turn around, and look up to see the statues of Gog and Magog, the mythical monsters that toll the hour on either side of Gaunt's Clock. At the far end of the arcade is a wrought-iron portico from the same period, one of the few remaining examples of the many verandas that once adorned Melbourne’s city centre.
MELBOURNE CITY BATHS
Corner Swanston Street and Franklin Street, Melbourne. This Edwardian building circa 1903 still functions as a health and fitness center, containing a high calibre gymnasium and a plethora of other sporting facilities which complement the existing swimming pools. Casual rates for a swim are $AU4 adult, $AU3.20 student and $AU2 pensioner.
OLD TREASURY BUILDING AND GOLD TREASURY MUSEUM
Corner Spring Street and Macarthur Street, Melbourne. Phone 03 9651 2233. Built in 1858, the city’s first Italian Renaissance building with the majority of Melburnians considering that its elegance has not been surpassed by anything built in Melbourne since. The neoclassical bluestone and sandstone building was built to hold the gold that was pouring into Melbourne from the Ballarat and Bendigo mines. Architect J. J. Clark designed the building when he was only 19 years of age, incorporating subterranean vaults protected by iron bars and foot-thick walls. The Melbourne Exhibition occupies the entire ground floor, taking you from Melbourne’s Aboriginal times to the present with relics from Melbourne past, borrowed from public and private collections. Not to be missed is the “Built on Gold” show staged in the vaults themselves. Opens Monday to Friday from 09:00 am to 05:00 pm, Saturday & Sunday from 10:00 am to 04:00 pm. Admission $AU8.50 adult and $AU5 child.
Heide Museum of Modern Art
The Heide Museum of Modern Art is in a suburb of Melbourne, about 12 km from the Central Business District. Once home to prominent art collectors and critics from the city, John and Sunday Reed, who wanted to inculcate a haven for creative types and aficionados alike, the excellent space recently underwent a $3 million (AUD) facelift.
National Sports Museum
As the de facto sports capital of Australia, it makes sense that Melbourne should have the National Sports Museum. A location within the legendary Melbourne Cricket Ground gives the facility instant credibility and backbone. Much focus is paid to Aussie Rules Football, the Olympics, Cricket and the Sports Australia Hall of Fame.
Australian National Aviation Museum
The only bona fide aviation museum in all of Australia is fortunate to call Melbourne home. Since 1962 the museum has had a mission to restore and display historic aircraft and now has over 50 planes and 25 engines for visitors to observe.