Travelling to Melbourne?
Melbourne is Australia’s cultural capital and its coffee capital: the laneways, street-art alleys with cafés wedged in, are the local monument. Trams are free within the city centre, and the Great Ocean Road starts an hour away.
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What to see in Melbourne
8 ROUTESOur routes, not a list of everything. Places that have been there for centuries: no opening times or prices, which go stale.
- 01
Melbourne in a day
9 hThe lanes that are now the city’s monument were the back yards: the rubbish went out that way. Nobody designed them for this.The laneways · Coffee, which here is an institution · The Royal Exhibition Building · The tram, and the free ringRead the full guide - 02
A weekend in Melbourne
20 hSome two hundred and fifty kilometres of tram track, the biggest network on earth. A weekend here is planned on rails, not on a map.Saturday morning: the market · Saturday: the lanes and the gallery · Saturday night: the north · Sunday: St Kilda and the bayRead the full guide - 03
What to see in Melbourne
7 hIn 1880 this was one of the richest cities in the world, and it shows in everything worth seeing. Gold paid for the city you’re looking at.The library reading room · The National Gallery of Victoria · The MCG · The city that was here before 1835Read the full guide - 04
Where to eat in Melbourne
3 hThe dim sim was invented here and it isn’t dim sum: it’s another thing, bigger and rougher, and it’s been suburban food for eighty years.Chinatown, which dates from 1850 · The Greek and the Italian · Footscray and Richmond: the Vietnamese · The parma, and the argument about the nameRead the full guide - 05
Melbourne’s neighbourhoods
5 hFitzroy, Collingwood and Brunswick are ten minutes away by tram and they’re another city. The centre’s grid is only the starting point.Fitzroy and Collingwood · Brunswick and the north · St Kilda and the bay · The west, which almost nobody crossesRead the full guide - 06
Day trips from Melbourne
11 hThe Great Ocean Road was built with picks and shovels by soldiers back from the First World War. It’s the largest war memorial on earth.The Great Ocean Road · Phillip Island · Ballarat and the gold · The Yarra Valley and the hillsRead the full guide - 07
From Melbourne airport to the city
1 hMelbourne is one of the few big cities on earth with no airport train. The coach isn’t an alternative: it is the public transport, full stop.The express coach · The taxi, and the toll on top · The train that’s been promised for decades · The card, and the free zoneRead the full guide - 08
Melbourne: practical tips
1 hThe hook turn exists only here: to turn right you pull into the left lane. And it’s the trams’ fault.Four seasons in one day · The sports calendar, which fills everything · The tram: free inside, card outside · What holds for all of AustraliaRead the full guide
Airport to city centre
2 OPTIONSThe real options, with what actually decides it: which terminal it leaves from and where it drops you. Fares and timetables live with the operator, who keeps them current.
- BusSkyBusSouthern CrossThere is no airport train: the express coach to Southern Cross is the de facto public transport, around the clock.·Fares and timesSkyBus
- TaxiCBD (~23 km)Via the toll motorway. The toll is added to the meter.·Fares and timesAeropuerto de Melbourne
VIP lounges in Melbourne
3Before you fly, or on the layover. Pay per visit, whatever airline.