MELBOURNE’S15 BEST ATTRACTIONS

DISCOVERING MELBOURNEMany visitors to Australia never make it to Melbourne. As the second largest city in Australia, it often plays second fiddle to Sydney and its stunning harbor, or to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. That’s such a shame because Melbourne is a beautiful, vibrant and dynamic city that has for many years been rated one of the most livable cities in the world.

Compared to Sydney, Melbourne has a much more European feel to it. It has a city centre that was planned from the beginning to be easy to navigate, being laid out as a grid. It’s very easy to stroll around its streets to check out the many museums, historic sites, in-teresting alleyways, bars and restaurants.

As the capital city of Victoria, the Garden State, Melbourne does not disappoint with acres of lush gardens right in the heart of the city, in-cluding the lovely Royal Botanic Gardens.

Melbourne is a cosmopolitan city and is one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world. It is renowned for its world class bars and restaurants with influences from all around the world.

This book shows you the fifteen best attractions you can visit within or close to the center of Melbourne. The best bit is that many of them are free!

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A mosaic sculpture along the Yarra River

The Yarra river flows through Melbourne’s city centre just beneath the central business district. On a nice sunny day there is nothing more enjoyable than to take a stroll along the banks of the Yarra to soak up the at-mosphere and to get a unique view of Melbourne’s sky-line from the river’s edge.

THE YARRA RIVER

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One of the riverboats that can take you on a tour down the Yarra

Popular with both tourists and locals, you will come across many joggers, cyclists and dog walkers as you wander along the river. But in spite of being popular, it remains a very peaceful walk and it never feels too crowded.

Many bridges span the river and they often offer excellent views of the city skyline.

The best place to start your Yarra River walk is from the iconic Flinders Street Station. On leaving the station, turn right and walk across to the southern side of Princes Bridge. Take the stairs down to the South bank of the Yarra, passing the beautiful Alexan-dra Gardens along the way. Walk along the banks of the river until you reach the next bridge. Cross back over to the North bank and head back towards the city along the Princes Walk path.

On the way back you will pass through the beautiful Birrarung Marr Park, Melbourne’s newest park with its avenue of Elm trees and art installations. Once back under the Princes bridge, con-tinue along the river bank past the aquarium and back across the river via the Crown casino.

If you are staying overnight in the city don’t forget to head down to the river at night to see the Melbourne skyline all lit up.

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Open every day of the year and with free admission, Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens are a green oasis in the heart of the city; somewhere to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. On a beautiful sunny day, the gar-dens will be packed with locals who go there to relax with a picnic, and with the kids and dog in tow.

THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS

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During the working week the gardens are also popular with office workers.

With an extensive collection of plants and colorful flowers, the stunning Ornamental Lake and with many meandering paths to follow, you can easily spend a few hours or an entire day in the gardens.

Kept immaculately clean and manicured, this 150 year old park is one of Melbourne’s gems and is totally worth exploring.

For a romantic moment with your partner, you can take a private punt tour of the Or-namental Lake which gives you unique views of the lake and the surrounding gar-dens. The ride costs a minimum of AU$50 for a thirty minute ride.

In summertime the Melbourne Moonlight Cinema shows a mix of new release and classic movies on an outdoor screen set up on one of the grassy lawns in the gardens. On a pleasant evening it’s a perfect way to relax and enjoy the tranquility of the gar-dens.

At dusk you’ll also start to see the garden’s colony of fruit bats come to life!

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Right next to the Birdwood Avenue entrance of the Bo-tanic Gardens is the Shrine of Remembrance. The shrine is Victoria’s main war memorial and is one of Mel-bourne’s most iconic landmarks. Built in 1934, the shrine was erected to commemorate Australia’s war vet-erans and those who did not return.

THE SHRINE OF REMEMBRANCE

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Looking up to the ceiling inside the shrine

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An inscription on the exterior wall of the shrine honoring those who died in World War One

The shrine offers splendid views of the Melbourne skyline from its balcony. In its large underground museum it also displays some very moving exhibits from both of the World Wars and other con-flicts that involved the ANZAC forces.

The gardens surrounding the shrine are beautiful and there are many moving memorials, such as the animals memorial and the World War II’s eternal flame.

The shrine is open daily from 10am to 5pm, except on Christmas day and Good Friday. The entrance to the shrine and the mu-seum inside is free, although they do welcome donations.

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Melbourne is famous for its arty arcades and street art covered alleyways. There are many to explore and the best way to discover them is to simply start walking and get lost in the little laneways that branch off the main CBD streets.

ARCADES AND ALLEYWAYS

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The beautifully carved roof of the Block Arcade

The Block Arcade is Melbourne’s most impressive arcade with its mosaic-tile flooring, carved stone walls and a glass canopy. This arcade was built in the nine-teenth century and is a popular shop-ping arcade connecting Collins Street to Little Collins and Elizabeth streets.

If you are hungry check out Hopetoun Tea Rooms for some delicious cakes, or if you want to try some fine chocolates check out Haigh's Chocolates, one of Australia's premier chocolatiers.

The Royal Arcade is another arcade worth visiting. Built in 1869 it has beauti-ful architecture, some quirky boutiques, and lovely cafe and coffee shops.

The main attractions in this arcade are the two giant figures, Gog and Magog who ring the chimes on the clock every hour.

On a cold winters day check out Koko Black for the best hot chocolate you will ever have! It’s certainly not cheap but it is delicious! The Royal Arcade goes from Little Collins Avenue through to Collins Avenue.

To check out some of Melbourne’s finest street art, head to Hosier Lane, AC/DC Lane, Centre Place and Union Lane. All have ever-changing displays of street art that covers almost every inch of them.

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Melbourne’s street art culture is well re-nowned internationally, so if you’re into street art you should definitely check out these laneways. Event if street art is not your thing you will still be amazed by the amount of creativity on display.

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The “VIC” market as we call it, is the best market in town and the largest open-air market in the Southern Hemisphere. It isn’t only a market, it’s a historic land-mark and a popular tourist attraction.

Covering several blocks, you will be able to find any-thing from fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and fish,

THE QUEEN VICTORIA MARKET

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and delicious cheeses, to local and imported gourmet and organic food, fashion accessories and general merchandise.

Are you looking for cheap and tacky souvenirs? You won’t find them cheaper than at the VIC market.

The market is open five days a week with Sunday being the busiest day (the market is closed on Mondays and Wednesdays). As with most markets it is best to visit early morning before all the best pro-duce disappears.

Every Wednesday night in the summer the market becomes a night market and attracts both locals and tourists alike with arrays of global street food, together with free live music and entertainment.

The Queen Victoria Market is on the corner of Elizabeth and Victoria Streets in the North of the CBD. It is a five minutes walk from Flag-staff Train Station which you can reach by the the city loop train, or even better by taking the free Circle Line tram.

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Out the front of the Queen Vic-toria market

The City Circle tram (number 35) is an old-style tram that travels in a loop around the city centre. Designed for tourists, it's free to ride and provides tourists with in-formation about the history of the places it passes.

It’s a great way to get around the city and to see sites that may not be on your list.

THE CITY CIRCLE TRAM

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The City Circle Tram making its rounds

The City Circle tram can also serve as a relaxing break after a long day of walking! The only downside to this tram is that it can get very crowded, particularly during Melbourne’s peak tourist season. Despite that it’s worth catching at least once during your stay.

The City Circle tram service runs continuously throughout the day, approximately every ten minutes. There are many tram stops along the way where you can simply hop on or off.

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St Kilda Beach is the most popular beach in Mel-bourne. It is a wide, sandy beach that is suitable for swimming and it gets pretty crowded in summer.

The waters off the beach are also popular with kite and wind surfers as they often have quite strong bay breezes.

ST KILDA

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A beautiful sunset viewed from the St Kilda foreshore

The main landmarks nearby the beach are the St Kilda Sea Baths, the St Kilda Pier and the St Kilda Pavillion.

The breakwater which protects the St Kilda harbor is home to a small colony of little penguins. They are best seen around sunset when they return to their homes between the rocks that make up the breakwater. If you cant find time to visit the penguins on Philip Island then this is your next best option. As a bonus it’s also free!

If you are a fan of fairgrounds then head to Luna Park, St Kilda’s iconic theme park. Entry is free but you’ll need to pay to for any rides. Some rides are meant for kids, but there are a few exciting ones for adults. It all depends on whether you like scary rides!

Head to St Kilda’s Acland and Fitzroy streets to eat and drink. They have many popular cafes and restaurants and are also great for sitting back and doing a bit of people watching!

If you like cakes and pastries you should check out the many cake shops on Acland Street. If you prefer gelato then you will find a few gelato stores there as well.

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Brighton Beach is the second most popular beach in Melbourne. Part of its popularity is due to the 82 color-ful and quaint beach boxes that line it. The beach also provides some spectacular views of city skyline.

THE BRIGHTON BEACH BOXES

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A beach box with very patriotic owners!

Brighton used to be Melbourne's favorite seaside destination. Now it is better known as one of Melbourne’s most expensive sub-urbs. Many of the rich and famous live there. On a summers day, you will find Brighton beach crowded with people sunbathing, swimming and windsurfing.

Although they don’t look very large, these beach boxes are quite pricey with some fetching over $AU100,000 at auction!

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Some of the many color-fully painted beach boxes found along Brighton Beach

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Check out Melbourne’s iconic Eureka Sky Deck for a stunning birds-eye view of the city, and St Philip Bay. It offers unobstructed three hundred and sixty degree views from its observation deck on the 88th floor. The Eureka Sky deck is the highest viewpoint in Melbourne and it also has the highest post box!

THE EUREKA SKY DECK

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Try to time your visit to overlap with the sunset in order to get both day and night time views. If you can’t manage that, you can upgrade your ticket to a double entry pass which will allow you to come back later.

If you are not scared of heights and have some extra money to spend try the “EDGE”. The Edge is a cube with glass walls, ceiling and floor and it extends from the 88th floor to suspend you nearly three hundred meters over Melbourne. It’s a fun thing to do for the more adventurous among you!

The Eureka Sky Deck is open every day of the year. The entrance fee is AU$20 per adult and if you feel tempted by the “EDGE” there is an extra charge of AU$12.

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Looking down on Flinders Street Station, the Arts Centre Spire and the Yarra river from the Eureka Sky Deck

Three kilometres south of Melbourne’s CBD is beautiful Albert Park with its main attraction, Albert Park Lake.

With a backdrop of tall building from the city centre, and with its many tall palm trees, Albert Park is both a pleasant and peaceful place to visit, perhaps for a pic-nic or to enjoy your morning exercise.

ALBERT PARK

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Palm trees lining the exercise cir-cuit that surrounds Albert Park Lake. Those sheaths on the trees are to prevent possums from climbing them!

Albert Park Lake is encircled by a five kilometre exercise circuit which is very popular with joggers and dog walkers. While on the circuit you may spot some of the many inhabitants of the lake such as its famous black swans and water fowl.

If you’d like to spend some time on the lake itself, you can hire a paddle boat, a kayak or sailing dinghy.

Albert Park is also home to the Australian F1 Grand Prix and you can even drive on the famous Lakeside Drive which forms part of the track. But look out for the black swans that may decide to cross the road after exiting the lake. They always have the right of way and are known to take their time when crossing!

If you’re looking for a fantastic (and relatively quiet) spot to watch Melbourne’s New Years Eve fireworks then Albert Park offers some spectacular views of the show and it is a lot less crowded than the city. Our favorite spot is next to the Carousel Cafe.

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Flinders Street Station and its distinctive clocks are Mel-bourne’s most recognizable landmarks. It is the busiest station not only in Melbourne, but also in Australia.

FLINDERS STREET STATION AND FEDERATION SQUARE

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Crowds gathered to watch one of the regular performances at Fed-eration Square

Flinders Street Station is a great place to start walking tours. The Melbourne Information Cen-tre is right across the road in front of Federation Square. If you are meeting someone, ask them to meet you on the steps under the clocks. It’s what Melburnians do!

Fed Square (as the locals call it) has arguably some of the weirdest architecture you’ll see any-where and Melburnians have a love/hate rela-tionship with it.

The best thing about Fed Square is not its quirky design but all of the entertainment found there daily; films show on its big screen, bands play the main stage and many festivals are held there. The complex also has plenty of quality bars and restaurants.

If you enjoy art then visit the Ian Potter Gallery with its Modern Australian and Indigenous Art Collection, and the Australian Centre for Moving Images. Both are free and worth a visit.

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The MCG or Melbourne Cricket Ground is Australia's largest, oldest and most popular sporting venue. Even if you are not a big sporting fan, watching a game in-side this imposing stadium should be on your Mel-bourne bucket list. Especially since Melbournians are mad about sports! With a total capacity of a hundred thousand people it certainly is an impressive venue.

THE MCG AND SPORTS PRECINCT

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Melbourne’s central sporting pre-cinct - the home of the Australian Open tennis tournament, Austra-lian Rules football matches, and international cricket and rugby arenas.

During the winter months you will find AFL games being played there every weekend. Dur-ing the summer months cricket matches take their place.

The MCG has also hosted plenty of other major events in the past such as the Commonwealth and Olympic Games and many stadium con-certs.

For A$23, you can take a guided tour of the inte-rior and backstage area of the stadium and walk on the arena itself.

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Melbourne’s biggest museum, the Melbourne Museum is a great place to spend the day especially on a rainy or cold winters afternoon.

THE MELBOURNE MUSEUM AND ROYAL EXHIBITION BUILDINGS

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Outside the entrance to the Mel-bourne Museum with the dome of the Royal Exhibition Buildings in the background

It showcases Australia’s social history, Aboriginal culture, science and an extensive collection of insects and minerals.

The museum takes you through the history and development of Melbourne. You can also walk through a living forest! Kids love to be surrounded by life-size dinosaurs and other animals from around the world. There is so much to do in this huge museum that you could easily spend all day there.

The museum is open daily (apart from Christmas day and Good Friday) and costs A$14 per adult.

While in the area pay a visit to the impressive Royal Exhibition building. Built for an exhibition in 1879, this iconic building is stun-ning both on the inside and outside. It became a World Heritage Site in 2004, the first Australian building to get such a listing.

The building is normally closed unless an exhibition or special event is happening but there is a daily guided tour of the interior at 2pm for a A$10 cost. It is worth it if you want to check out its beautifully restored interior.

Melbourne Museum is across from the Royal Exhibition Buildings in Carlton, North of the CBD.

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Melbourne has a stellar reputation with foodies, having some of the best restaurants in Australia, with cuisine from all over the world readily available.

Some of the best chefs in the world have restaurants in Melbourne and if you want to splash out you can eat at some very fancy restaurants!

BARS AND RESTAURANTS

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Rice Paper Scissors is a fantastic restaurant serving Asian Fusion Tapas in the heart of Melbourne

Three of our favorite restaurants are:

Movida

Movida serves delicious Spanish dishes in a stylish atmosphere: https://movida.com.au

Rice Paper Scissors

Rice Paper Scissors is a hugely popular restaurant in the heart of Melbourne that serves delicious Asian tapas: http://www.ricepaperscissors.com.au

Gingerboy

Gingerboy has been serving quality Asian fusion food for over ten years: http://www.gingerboy.com.au

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Melbourne has a very big coffee culture and the CBD is saturated with coffee shops on every corner. Some say that Melbourne has some of the best coffee in the world!

If you’re in the city early you’ll often see office workers lining up outside the many cafes to get their coffee fix before work!

COFFEE

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There are so many good coffee shops in town which are changing all the time; so instead of writing them all down, it’s best that you check out the link below for the most up to date list of the hippest caffeine experiences.

https://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/collections/cafes-melbourne

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If you’re not a coffee drinker try a delicious cup of hot chocolate at Koko Black. This one is their yummy Chilli Hot Chocolate!

All of the places in this book are within easy reach of public transport.

Here’s directions for getting to each of the places we’ve mentioned.

GETTING THERE

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The Royal Botanic Gardens

The Royal Botanic Gardens are located just off St Kilda Road, an easy fifteen minute walk from Flinders Street railway station. You can also take any tram heading south-bound along St Kilda road apart from route number 1.

https://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/

The Shrine of Remembrance

The Shrine of Remembrance is on St Kilda Road 1.3 kilometres south of Flinders Street Railway Station. Walk there in 15 minutes or take any tram south down St Kilda road except route number 1.

http://www.shrine.org.au/

The Block Arcade

The Block Arcade is located at 282 Collins Street in the the Mel-bourne CBD, an easy walk from Flinders Street station.

http://theblock.com.au/

The Royal Arcade

The Royal Arcade is located of 335 Bourke Street Mall in the Mel-bourne CBD, an easy walk from Flinders Street station.

http://royalarcade.com.au/

St Kilda

St Kilda is six kilometres south of the city centre and is reachable by taking trams 3a, 16, 79, 96, and 112 (all of these stop in St Kilda).

http://stkildamelbourne.com.au/

The Brighton Beach Boxes

The beach boxes are on Brighton beach, thirteen kilometres south of the city. You can catch a Sandringham line train there from Flinders Street station, getting off at Brighton Beach station.

http://www.brightonbathingbox.org.au/

The Eureka Sky Deck

The Eureka Sky Deck is located in Eureka Tower on Riverside Quay in Southbank and is a five minute walk from Flinders Street Station.

https://www.eurekaskydeck.com.au/

Albert Park Lake

The lake is in the middle of Albert Park which is three kilometres south of the CBD. You can take one of the many trams south down St Kilda Road outside Flinders Street station to get there:

http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/albert-park

The MCG and Sports Precinct

The MCG is located on Brunton Avenue in Richmond and is a pleas-ant fifteen minute walk from Flinders Street Station.

http://www.mcg.org.au/

The Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Buildings

The museum and exhibition buildings are located in Carlton, north of the CBD. Walk there from Flinders Street Station in 20 minutes or hop off at the nearby City Circle Tram stop.

https://museumvictoria.com.au/reb/

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