Visit Victoria

Melbourne is set around the shores of Port Phillip Bay. The city itself, laid out in a large rectangle and boasting a lively and cosmopolitan pulse, sits on the northern banks of the Yarra River, about five kilometres from the bay.

For more information about Melbourne, Victoria visit
www.visitvictoria.com.au or call 132 842.

If it’s opulence you’re seeking, Melbourne has an abundance of luxury and boutique hotels. Or, if you crave a home away from home, serviced apartments allow you to spread out in style and comfort. If you’re travelling on a budget, the city’s network of clean guesthouses and backpacker hostels have wide appeal. Or perhaps your fancy runs to cosy bed and breakfast establishments, motel chains, private caravan parks, even a room in a residential college. Whatever your preference, Melbourne has an accommodation option to suit your budget and travelling style.

Melbourne's melting pot of cultures is reflected in its microcosmos of restaurants, cafes, bistros and bars. Fashionable, eclectic and eccentric – Melbourne’s dining spots offer a dizzying spread of the world’s great cuisines, serving meals from the substantial and classic to the truly exotic.

In the city, you can enjoy afternoon tea in the genteel surroundings of a nineteenth-century hotel, watch and be watched in buzzing laneway cafés and bars, or handpick a bottle of Yarra Valley chardonnay at the latest über-chic hangout. Head out a little further and explore one of Melbourne’s specialist eating destinations – Richmond for cheap and cheerful Vietnamese dishes, Carlton for Italian classics, Fitzroy for tantalising Spanish tapas.

Melbourne is a city with something for everyone. From chic fashion stores to buzzing laneway cafés and trendy bars, botanic gardens to sports stadiums, elegant Victorian-era streetscapes to Manhattan-style skyscrapers, film and food festivals to galleries and opulent theatres, Melbourne has an activity and attraction that will interest you.

Most visitors base themselves in the city centre, the buzzing commercial heart of Melbourne that's also home to museums, theatres, restaurants, bars and shops. The city's layout makes Melbourne an easy city to navigate, and almost everything is within walking distance – if it's not, simply hop aboard a train, tram or bus.

You'll see two types of tickets during your visit. Melbourne is currently moving from Metcards to a new smartcard ticketing system called myki. During this time, it's recommended that visitors continue to buy Metcards.

For information about travelling on Melbourne's trains, trams and buses visit www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au or call 131 638.