Cover: Part of the Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Drive

Melbourne, in the state of Victoria, is one of the most diverse Australian coastal cities, is known for its city vibe, art and culture, street art in laneways, trendy cafes, bars, and food, Add to it the famous Great Ocean drive with stunning scenery and wineries around, you pretty much have everything interesting for a vacation.

Tidbits

It would be best to explore Melbourne is using public transport like trains, buses and trams, and on foot. It is well connected by an excellent transport system.

Currency is Australian Dollar (AUD). Can easily use credit cards everywhere as long as you are aware of any foreign transaction fees charged by your credit card company, if you are travelling from other countries.

Power outlets in the Australia are Type I plug adaptors with 230 V and 50Hz.

Remember, this is the southern hemisphere and so Nov thru Feb is summer which is hot and sunny, and June through August is winter which is cold and a damp. The best time to visit Melbourne are from September to November and March to May when the weather is pleasant and the tourist crowd is not at its peak. Also, check out events in the link. However, June to August is considered to be the cheapest time to visit due to the winter season. It does get very cold and it will not be pleasant to do many outdoor sights in the winter.

While English is spoken in Australia, it takes a little effort to decipher the various slangs they use.

About this blog

Writing and pictures by Jyothi Shankar and Avantika Hasija.

All blog pages are best viewed on a laptop/large screen versus on the phone, especially for any serious travel planning, to minimize scrolling and to appreciate its larger-than-life pictures. Depending on the device you are using, hover or hold down on an image for its name/location. Note: There are other similar websites and so don’t miss the s and the u in Travels to Savour (travels to savour 🙂 ).

Melbourne Highlights

Three days in Melbourne

• • Federation Square: This is considered the heart of Melbourne and a great place to start your visit. It’s home to art galleries, restaurants, bars, and hosts numerous events and festivals.
  • Flinders Street Station: This historic train station is one of Melbourne’s most recognizable landmarks, known for its beautiful architectural design.
  • Laneways: Melbourne is known for its laneways and vibrant street art scene. Visit Hosier Lane, Degraves Street, Hardware lane and Centre Place to see it and also enjoy the cafes and restaurants.
  • Regent Theatre: Catch a live performance at this historic theater, which hosts musicals, plays, and other entertainment events.
  • St. Paul’s Cathedral: This stunning Anglican cathedral with neo-Gothic architecture is a peaceful place to visit in the midst of the city.
  • St. Kilda: A coastal suburb of Melbourne, St. Kilda has a lovely beach, Luna Park (an amusement park), and a lively café and restaurant scene.
  • MCG: A tour of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) would be inevitable for Cricket lovers.
  • Old Melbourne Gaol: Learn about Melbourne’s criminal history and visit the jail where outlaw Ned Kelly was once held.
  • Fitzroy Gardens: A tranquil spot in the city with beautiful gardens and the historic Captain Cook’s Cottage.
  • Yarra River Promenade: The Yarra River runs through Melbourne and offers pleasant walking and cycling paths. Located along the river, Southbank is famous for its dining options, entertainment venues, and views of the city skyline.
  • Royal Botanic Gardens: A peaceful oasis in the heart of the city, the gardens feature a stunning collection of plants from around the world.
  • Eureka Skydeck: For views of Melbourne, head to the Eureka Skydeck, which offers a 360-degree panorama from the 88th floor of the Eureka Tower.
  • National Gallery of Victoria (NGV): Australia’s oldest and most visited art museum, NGV has an extensive collection of art, including indigenous and international works.
  • Melbourne Museum: Explore the cultural and natural history of Australia and Victoria through a variety of interactive exhibits.

Also see, 3 days in Melbourne – Tourism Australia

Street Art Lovers

The cobblestoned Hosier Lane is one of the best for street art. Also, if you want more of it you can visit Croft Alley, Caledonian lane, Stevenson lane, Rankins lane, Centre place between Collins Street and Flinders Lane, Duckboard place. Click here for a map.

Markets and Shopping

• • Queen Victoria Market: A historic and bustling market offering a wide variety of fresh produce, clothing, souvenirs, and street food. The market has been a Melbourne landmark for more than a century and offers an incredible range of local and imported gourmet foods.
  • Chinatown: Melbourne’s vibrant Chinatown is filled with restaurants and shops.
  • Royal Arcade: A historic shopping arcade with boutique shops and a famous clock that has been chiming since the 1800s.
  • Bourke Street Mall: A pedestrian-only shopping precinct, Bourke Street Mall is home to numerous shops, boutiques, and department stores.
  • Block Arcade: Another beautiful shopping arcade, the Block Arcade is known for its elegant architecture and specialty stores.
  • Collins Street: Known for its high-end shopping and luxury boutiques, Collins Street is often referred to as the “Paris end” due to its stylish reputation.

If you want to pick other places outside the city, such as the wineries, national parks and beaches, pick based on your interest and read the next section for details.

Other Attractions in Victoria outside Melbourne

The below places would need a minimum of 4 to 5 days if you did them all.

• • The Great Ocean Road: While not in Melbourne itself, this iconic road trip along the coast is easily accessible and offers stunning views, including the famous Twelve Apostles. If you like hiking, the Otway National Park off the Great Ocean drive has some very good hikes. It is a beautiful park to see waterfalls, streams, see large old trees, walk on a tree canopy, and spot koalas on trees. There are beaches too. It would be a good idea to spend a couple of days in this place before continuing to drive on.
  • Yarra Valley: Known for its wineries and beautiful scenery, the Yarra Valley is a great day trip from Melbourne as it is only an hour’s drive away.
  • Phillip Island Penguin Parade at Summerland Beach is one of the island’s main attractions. It is a 2 hour drive from Melbourne.  Every evening, at sunset, you can watch many groups of little penguins return to their burrows after a day of fishing. There are viewing platform to sit on and watch.
  • Phillip Island Wildlife Park is home to various native Australian animals, including kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and a wide variety of bird species.
  • Ballarat: A historic city known for its rich gold rush history. Visit Sovereign Hill, a highlight of Ballarat and a re-creation of an 1850s gold-mining town. Visitors can pan for gold, explore period buildings, and interact with staff donning historic costumes.Get to go underground and watch the gold smelting process etc.

Vegetarian Food in Melbourne

Australia is a delight when it comes to finding good vegetarian food and some great fusion foods. With so much Asian influence, there are some wonderful tastes created with an emphasis on fresh food. Please visit the Vegetarian food section in the Sydney page for common food and drink related information specific to Australia.

Narrative and more pictures

By Avantika Hasija, visited 2023

The first day after the opening ceremony of our conference, we went out to the city centre to have dinner. The city centre is about a 20min walk or three stations away from tram. We preferred to walk and crossed the Seafarers Bridge which connects Melbourne Exhibition Convention Centre (MECC) to South wharf. The MECC lies next to Yarra river. The river is lined with beautiful restaurants, pubs, hotels, and cafes, also known as the Promenade. A strong influence of the aborigines (The first human habitant to come to Australia) is seen in many parts of the city and acknowledged.

We went on a two-day drive on Great Ocean Road from Melbourne. Stayed overnight at Apollo Bay. This place has a lot of beaches facing properties for staying and also a street full of restaurants and souvenir shops. Due to off season, we got a beautiful property at a relatively cheap price but I expect this place would be bustling in summer season. Apollo bay is around 196km away from Melbourne city hence a perfect spot for a halt when driving through Great Ocean Road. As the properties here were along the sea coast, the most easily available category of food here was sea food with at least 10-12 vegan/vegetarian options in the menu.

Enroute we also stopped at Great Otway National Park near Kennett River where we anticipated some Koala viewing but to our disappointment, we were not lucky enough to see koalas. It was a picturesque landscape with cockatoos, Rainbow Lorikeets, and Kangaroos. We stayed at Apollo Bay for the night and resumed our journey the next morning.  Then we went to visit Hopetoun waterfall. There were two stops for viewing the falls. The second one, closer to the falls was under renovation during our visit. The view from the first stop was serene and felt like in lap of nature.

On the Great Ocean road, the Angelsea golf course had a kangaroo viewing tour. A tour on golf cart showcased courts of kangaroos on the golf course with several little joeys hanging out of their mother’s pouch. On our way to Memorial Arch, we passed by several beaches which were recommended for surfing. Though I have limited knowledge, the flora along this route (generally in outskirts of Melbourne) is quite different from what we had seen so far in the form of wide spread low lying leafy plants under the tall trees of eucalyptus.

Day two trip included visiting beautiful cliffs- The Twelve Apostoles, Grotton, Razorback, London bridge and many more. The cliff tops were cold, extremely windy with continuous drizzling. It is suggested to plan these visits after checking the weather forecast.

Due to large number of south-east Asian immigrants, Melbourne has lots of shopping options from famous Japanese and Malaysian brands. The last day we visited the Melbourne Museum which provided a rich and elaborate experience. The museum exhibits include of extinct species, a wide variety of dinosaurs skeletons, a library of bright and vivid crystals, rocks, and minerals. The visit was an exhilarant tour into the history of Australian fauna.

We ended the day with a visit to MCG, Melbourne Cricket Ground which was also converted into an Olympics stadium in 1956. A guided tour of 75mins with interesting commentary made it very interesting. We saw the sculpture of the cricketing great, Don Bradman, of course.

By Jyothi Shankar, visited 2008 to 2011

The city of Melbourne

After moving to Australia from Sydney in Jan, we took a trip to Melbourne during the first school holidays in May. Staying in a lovely old bungalow in the city centre, it was easy to get around. The first impression as we walked around was how arty and funky the buildings were especially near the Federation square. The Flinders Street station is a beautiful building and stands out. We visited the Fitzroy Gardens and Captain Cook’s cottage, the old Gaol (prison) of Melbourne, the outside of the Victoria Parliament House and Hotel Windsor, the MCG, the fashionable Collins street and walked along the Yarra river.

I did go to Melbourne many times on business trips after this one but those were confined to trying out various restaurants and cafes, and very different from the first sight-seeing one.

Outside of Melbourne

We made some fun trips from Melbourne which the kids enjoyed very much. We spent a day driving on the Great Ocean Road making many stops on the way. While it was still May, the weather had already turned blistery, cold and windy along the way. We spend time in the Great Otway national park enjoying the huge trees and waterfalls. We had booked ourselves in a very cute cabin beyond the Twelve Apostles. The view points overlooking the Twelve Apostles were spectacular except for the fact that we could not stand there for too long without feeling chilled. It was however worth it. The little cabin itself was a beautiful experience with the kids having a ball in the bunk beds. The next day we took the inland road back to Melbourne.

Over the remaining days, we made two day trips, one to the gold mining town of Ballarat which is about 1.5 hrs from Melbourne. We had a wonderful time hearing about the process of gold mining, watching a goldsmith smelting gold, the kids had a blast panning for gold in the flowing water, there were people in period costume making us feel we had gone back in time. We took a old shaft like an elevator underground. People who are claustrophobic, I imagine will not like this. We had a fun experience.

Another day-long trip was to Phillip Island about 3 hours south of Melbourne. We were very excited to go to the Penguin Parade. However, it felt like a let down because instead of seeing hundreds of penguins as promised in all our readings. we only saw a few small groups of them coming ashore at sundown. The drive to and back was not justified to see only this. Anyway, after one more day of relaxing around the city, our holiday came to an end. I have been to Melbourne on many business trips after and each time, I have looked forward to my lunches and dinners the most!