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Melbourne

TRAVEL GUIDE

Melbourne

TRAVEL GUIDE

Consistently rated among the "world's most livable cities" in quality-of-life surveys, Melbourne is built on a coastal plain at the top of the giant horseshoe of Port Phillip Bay. The city center is an orderly grid of streets where the state parliament, banks, multinational corporations, and splendid Victorian buildings that sprang up in the wake of the gold rush still stand. This is Melbourne's heart, which you can explore at a leisurely pace in a couple of days.

In Southbank, one of the newer precincts south of the city center, the sprawling Crown Melbourne entertainment complex and the Southgate Centre's bars, restaurants, and shops have refocused Melbourne's vision on the Yarra River. Once a blighted stretch of factories and run-down warehouses, the southern bank of the river... Read More

Consistently rated among the "world's most livable cities" in quality-of-life surveys, Melbourne is built on a coastal plain at the top of the giant horseshoe of Port Phillip Bay. The city center is an orderly grid of streets where the state parliament, banks, multinational corporations, and splendid Victorian buildings that sprang up in the wake of the gold rush still stand. This is Melbourne's heart, which you can explore at a leisurely pace in a couple of days.

In Southbank, one of the newer precincts south of the city center, the sprawling Crown Melbourne entertainment complex and the Southgate Centre's bars, restaurants, and shops have refocused Melbourne's vision on the Yarra River. Once a blighted stretch of factories and run-down warehouses, the southern bank of the river is now a vibrant, exciting part of the city, and the river itself is finally taking its rightful place in Melbourne's psyche.

Just a hop away, Federation Square—with its host of restaurants, galleries, and museums—has become a civic hub for both Melburnians and visitors. A subtler city icon, its "laneways" thread the city center between major streets and are home to fascinating bars, cafés, shops, and art galleries.

Melbourne's inner suburbs have a character all their own. Stroll along the Esplanade in St. Kilda, amble past the elegant houses of East Melbourne, enjoy the shops and cafés of Fitzroy or Carlton, rub shoulders with locals at the Queen Victoria Market, nip into the Windsor for afternoon tea, or rent a canoe at Studley Park to paddle along one of the prettiest stretches of the Yarra—and you may discover Melbourne's soul as well as its heart.

Recommended Fodor’s Video

Neighborhoods

Just 4 km (2 miles) north of the city center, Brunswick is Melbourne's multicultural heart. Here Middle Eastern spice shops sit next to avant-garde galleries
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To see the best of Carlton's Victorian-era architecture, walk along Drummond Street, with its rows of gracious terrace houses (notably Rosaville at No. 46, Medley
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The City Center (CBD) is designed in a grid formation, with myriad alleyways twisting between them, often containing restaurants, galleries, and bars. The CBD is
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The harmonious streetscapes in this historic enclave of Victorian houses, which date from the boom following the gold rushes of the 1850s, make East Melbourne
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Hotels

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Language

English

Nearby Airports

MEL

Electrical Outlets

230-40V/50Hz; wall outlets take slanted three-prong plugs and plugs with two flat prongs set in a V.

Currency

Australian dollar

Local Weather

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Historic Weather: Powered by Dark Sky
Weather info provided is using averaged daily data within the given month of the previous year.

Language

English

Electrical Outlets

230-40V/50Hz; wall outlets take slanted three-prong plugs and plugs with two flat prongs set in a V.

Currency

Australian dollar

Nearby Airports

MEL

Local Weather

{{monthAverage.f_high}}° {{monthAverage.c_high}}° {{monthAverage.f_low}}° {{monthAverage.c_low}}°
{{monthAverage.month}}
Historic Weather: Powered by Dark Sky
Weather info provided is using averaged daily data within the given month of the previous year.

Melbourne and Victoria are at their most beautiful in autumn, from March to May. Days are crisp, and the foliage in parks and gardens is glorious...Read More

Discover the best neighborhoods in Melbourne with curated recommendations from our editors.

Explore All

Local Weather

{{monthAverage.f_high}}° {{monthAverage.c_high}}° {{monthAverage.f_low}}° {{monthAverage.c_low}}°
{{monthAverage.month}}
Historic Weather: Powered by Dark Sky
Weather info provided is using averaged daily data within the given month of the previous year.

Melbourne and Victoria are at their most beautiful in autumn, from March to May. Days are crisp, and the foliage in parks and gardens is glorious...Read More

Discover the best neighborhoods in Melbourne with curated recommendations from our editors.

Explore All

Local Weather

{{monthAverage.f_high}}° {{monthAverage.c_high}}° {{monthAverage.f_low}}° {{monthAverage.c_low}}°
{{monthAverage.month}}
Historic Weather: Powered by Dark Sky
Weather info provided is using averaged daily data within the given month of the previous year.

Melbourne and Victoria are at their most beautiful in autumn, from March to May. Days are crisp, and the foliage in parks and gardens is glorious...Read More

Discover the best neighborhoods in Melbourne with curated recommendations from our editors.

Explore All