Melbourne: the capital city of the State of Victoria, Melbourne is very much an international city with a totally different look and feel to Sydney. A cosmopolitan city with just over 3 million inhabitants, it has a reputation for being a major ethnic melting pot. As a result, the city is known for its restaurants which serve a multitplicity of foreign cuisines, and for being at the forefront in fashion, style and the arts in Australia. The city has thrice shared top position in a survey by The Economist of the World's Most Livable Cities on the basis of its cultural attributes, climate, cost of living, and social conditions such as crime rates and health care.
Wilsons Promontory: the southernmost point of the Australian mainland, The Prom is arguably the most loved national park in Victoria. The park contains the largest coastal wilderness area in Victoria. A wild and desolate headland with open heaths, sand dunes, tall forest ranges, tree fern valleys, salt marshes, sandy beaches, islands, reefs and granite headlands, The Prom, as it is affectionately known to Victorians, is just a half day's drive from Melbourne. Mountainous and heavily wooded, it is a wonderful place to fish or observe the abundant flora, fauna and marine life. Walking trails provide access to the gorgeous coastal scenery with a choice ranging from short walks to all-day hikes. For the skilled rock and beach angler, the fishing is good.
Mornington Peninsula: a short drive from Melbourne, the peninsula is a diverse region with beautiful beaches, abundant flora and fauna, mixed farming, wineries and sleepy coastal towns. The peninsula has two coastlines; one is the calm waters of Port Phillip Bay, the other is a mix of rugged headlands and surf beaches. With a climate milder than Melbourne, it is the city's summer playground. There are so 50 wineries on the peninsula, offering cellar door tastings and sales. Many have or are near restaurants and cafes set in beautifully landscaped gardens and on terraces overlooking the vines. A wine-tasting can stretch into lunch or dinner, and then into an overnight stay.
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Great Ocean Road: one of Australia's great drives, the 273 km Great Ocean Road winds its way from Torquay to Warrnambool on the south west coast alongside some of the most dramatically scenic seascapes in the world. It was constructed by ex-servicemen and the unemployed between 1918 and 1932 and is dedicated to those that lost their lives in World War I. The most well known feature in the region is The Twelve Apostles rock formation near Port Campbell, carved out of the limestone headlands by rough seas over time.
The Grampians: an area of valleys, mountains and woodlands set amid three stark and spectacular ridges of upthrust sandstone, some 90 kilometres in length and rising in peaks to a height of 1070 metres. Rich in native flora and fauna - herds of acclimatised deer roam the hills and duck-billed platypuses still inhabit the streams - the form and mood of these mountains is different from any other in Australia. In spring and summer, the hillsides are clothed with brilliant heaths, flowering peas, wild fuchsias, boronia, ground orchids and wattle. All sections of The Grampians offer fascinating bush walks for the nature lover, panoramic views to picturesque lakes and waterfalls, and some challenging country for rock climbers. Whether you prefer driving, sightseeing and picnicking, camping and hiking, cycling, fishing or rock climbing, you are able to set your own pace. Beyong The Grampians are the semi-desert regions of the north-west and the mighty Murray River to explore.
The Macedon Ranges: known for its beautiful gardens and plantations thriving in its rich volcanic soil, the Macedon region is a one hour drive from Melbourne. One a haunt for some of Australia's most infamous bushrangers in the goldrush days, there are many pleasant drives and walks through the district leading to streams that are regularly fished for trout, over 30 cool-climate wineries, Australia's richest content of mineral springs, not to mention many superb cafes and restaurants in the towns and villages scattered throughout the region. Beyond the Macedon Ranges are the Victorian era goldfields towns of the Central Victorian Highlands and the farmlands of the Goulburn and Murray River valleys.
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Phillip Island: just 140 kilometres south east of Melbourne, Phillip Island, is the best place in Victoria to come face to face with the wildlife of Australia. Here you can drive down a road where hundreds of koalas sit dozing in their treetop homes above you; take a look at Australia's largest colony of fur seals, and at night, enjoy watching hundreds of Little Penguins returning to their burrows at the famous Penguin Parade. Phillip Island has some spectacular coastal scenery, being exposed to Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean and boasts such features as Cape Woolamai, the Blowhole, Seal Rocks, the Collonades, The Nobbies, Pyramid Rock and the Pinnacles.
High Country: the alpine region located in the north eastern area of Victoria is approximately 3 to 4 hours to drive rom Melbourne. This area is often snow covered and there are ski resorts present (operational from June to October), though they are quite small by world standards and the terrain is gentle. Summer in the high country is a totally new experience for many. The snow melts, revealing a vast horizon of breath-catching beauty including rugged alpine ranges and deep, mist-hung valleys, fields of colourful spring flowers, glorious summer sunsets and relics from the days when the area was in the grip of a goldrush. Wallabies, kangaroos, wombats, echidnas, lyrebirds, cockatoos, rosellas, fantails, falcons and perhaps a platypus are not uncommon - even eagles may also be seen.
Echuca: a former paddle steamer port on the Murray River, Echuca has re-invented itself as one of the most interesting inland tourist towns in Australia, whilst mainatining its position as an important local agricultural centre. Its present day attractions centre around the old port - the shops, hotels and stores that once served the river trade; the huge 1865-built timber wharf with its three wharf decks to accommodate the river's ever-changing levels; the housesboats for those who wish to explore the river at their leisure; the authentic paddlesteamers Adelaide and Pevensey that take visitors for river cruises - in fact, Echuca is home to Australia's largest collection (six) of operating paddlesteamers.
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The city of Melbourne is the hub of the state of Victoria, with all forms of transport radiating out from it.
Rail: Only two interstate capital cites are linked to Melbourne by rail - Sydney by an XPT service via Albury-Wodonga, and Adealide via The Overland. The Overland is now operated by private company Great Southern Railway, the train completes three return trips a week, travelling mostly during daylight. The train operates between the Melbourne terminal of Southern Cross Station, and Keswick Rail Terminal in Adelaide, and covers 828 kilometres between capitals in 10 hours 40 minutes. The service offers onboard buffet meals and first and economy class seats and a lounge car. The Melbourne - Sydney XPT, based on the British 125 High Speed train, operates a twice daily service between the cities, one during the day and the other overnight. The service offers onboard buffet meals and first and economy class seats with first class bunk sleeping births on the overnight runs. The train operates between the Melbourne terminal of Southern Cross Station, and Central Station, Sydney, with a running tome of 10 hours 40 minutes.
V/Line railo services operate daily between Melbourne and East Gippsland, terminating at Bairnsdale (3 hours 35 minutes); Melbourne and Albury (3 hours 34 minutes); Melbourne and Shepparton (2 hours 18 minutes); Melbourne and Echuca via Bendigo (3 hours 20 minutes); Melbourne and Swan Hill via Bendigo (4 hours 8 minutes); Melbourne to Ararat via Bendigo (2 hours 10 minutes); Melbourne to Warrnambool via Geelong (3 hours 14 minutes).
Ferry: The Spirit of Tasmania Car and Passenger Ferry operates daily from Station Pier, Melbourne to Devonport in Tasmania, running overnight, with additional trips in daylight hours during peak travel periods (mainly Summer); duration approx. 12 hours.
Air: Most domestic and international air traffic into Victoria is through Tullamarine International Airport on Melbourne's northern outskirts. Avalon Airport near the city of Geelong to the south of Melbourne handles a limited amount of interstate flights, particularly those of Jeststar from Sydney. Flights to Victoria's regional centres and the islands of Bass Strait depart from either Tullamarine Airport or Morrabin Airport in Melbourne's south-east. Daily direct flights to and from all other Australian capital cities operate out of Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport. The main routes followed are -
- Melbourne to Sydney: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Melbourne to Darwin: 4 hours 40 minutes
- Melbourne to Hobart: 1 hr 15 minutes
- Melbourne to Adelaide: 1 hr 20 minutes
- Melbourne to Perth: 4 hours 10 minutes
- Melbourne to Gold Coast: 2 hours 5 minutes
- Melbourne to Sunshine Coast: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Melboune to Alice Springs: 2 hours 55 minutes
Road (coach): Numerous operators provide coach services between Melbourne and Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Adelaide. Services to other cities and towns across Australia are by connnections to one of those destinations. The main routes followed are -
- Melbourne to Sydney (12 hours min.) via Canberra (8 hours min)
- Melbourne to Sydney (19 hours 10 minutes) via Sale (5 hours) and Bega (9 hours 50 minutes)
- Melbourne to Brisbane (22 hours 30 minutes min.) via Ballarat, Dubbo and Moree
- Melbourne to Adelaide via Stawall and Ballarat (9 hours 45 minutes)
- Melbourne to Adelaide via Gt Ocean Road and Grampians.
Road (private motor vehicle): Victoria's towns and cities are linked to each other, and to towns and cities in other states by a network of well signposted, well maintained sealed highways and major roads which allow for easy travel between localities. The capital cities are linked by highways that, in the main, bypass the smaller towns on the way, making the journey relatively uninterrupted. There are few parts of the state of interest to visitors that can't be reached in motoring comfort, although lesser roads, whilst sealed, do tend to be narrow. The major routes through regional Victoria are -
- Sydney via Morwell, Sales, Bairnsdale, Bega, Batemans Bay, Wollongong (Princes Highway)
- Sydney via Wangaratta, Albury, Yass (Hume Highway)
- Sydney via Wangaratta, Albury, Wagga Wagga, Cootamundra, Young, Bathurst (Gt Western, Mid Western, Olympic, Hume Highways)
- Canberra via Morwell, Sale, Bairnsdale, Orbost, Bombala, Cooma (Princes, Cann Valley, Monaro Highways)
- Canberra via Wangaratta, Albury, Gundagai, Yass (Barton and Hume Highways)
- Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road (Geelong, Apollo Bay, Warrnambool, Heywood, Mt Gambier, Kingston SE, Meningie)
- Adelaide via Ballarat, Ararat, Horsham, Bordertown (Dukes and Western Highways)
- Adelaide via Geelong, Camperdown, Mortlake, Hamilton, Casterton, Mt Gambier, Keith (Princes, Hamilton, Glenelg Highways)
- Brisbane via Seymour, Tocumwal, Forbes, Moree, Goondawindi, Warwick (Newell and Cunningham Highways)
- Mildura via Seymour, Shepparton, Echuca, Kerang, Swan Hill (Hume, Goulburn Valley, Murray Valley Highways)
- Mildura via Kyneton, Bendigo, Kerang, Swan Hill (Calder, Loddon, Murray Valley Highways)
- Mildura via Ballarat, Daylesford, Castlemaine, Maryborough, Avoca, St Arnaud, Birchip (Midland, Pyrenees, Sunraysia Highways)
- Albury via Morwell, Sale, Bairnsdale, Omeo, Mt Beauty (Princes, Omeo, Keiwa Valley Highways, Alpine Tourist Road)
- Hobart via car ferry from Port Melbourne to Devonport, then by road via Launceston, Campbell Town (Tasman and Midland Highways)
- Sale via Dandenong, Wonthaggi, Forster, Yarram (Gippsland Highway)
In Victoria, the speed limit on the open road is generally 100 kilometres per hour and on some sections of freeway, 110 kilometres per hour. In Victoria, a driver’s licence from your home country or another Australian state will usually suffice for up to three months, as long as it has photo identification and it’s for the same class of vehicle you intend to drive. If you’re staying more than three months, you’ll need to get a Victorian drivers licence.
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| Useful information for visitors |
Clothing
Australians in general dress casually, except for formal functions and venues. A jacket or warmer clothing is recommended for evenings and during the winter months. Comfortable walking shoes are recommended when touring regions such as The Grampians and Wilsons Promontory, or whenever bushwalking activities are planned.
Banking
Banks in Victoria are generally open:
9.30 am - 4.00 pm Monday to Thursday
9.30 am - 5.00 pm on Fridays.
Shop trading hours
Mondays to Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Thursdays, 9:00 am to 9:00 pm
Sundays, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Smaller shops and many businesses in smaller country towns and some regional centres close at 5:00 pm on all weekdays, at midday on Saturday and refrain from Sunday trading altogether.
| The Best Times to Visit Victoria |
As Victoria has a temperate climate, there is no one season or month that the visitor needs to avoid, except perhaps summer (December - February), if you find hot weather unbearable. Even then, only the north and the north-west tend to suffer from extended periods of intense heat, so those areas would be the only ones to contemplate avoiding in summer if you don't like the heat. In and around Melbourne, which gets more cloud and disturbed weather despite a lower rainfall, sunshine hours per day in winter (June - August) are three to four as against seven to eight in summer. Cold spells are brief and never severe on the coast, and temperatures can drop much lower inland in winter.
Autumn (March - May) is probably the best season to visit Victoria, particularly if you intend touring the whole state. The uncomfortable heat of summer has then been tempered in the north and the north-west and the weather is more stable in the mountains and along the coast. This is also the best time for bush walking or mountain climbing. Snow sports and wildflower enthusiasts, however, should do their travelling in late winter-early spring (August to October). If you intend to add a trip to Tasmania on either end of your visit to Victoria, be aware that the ski season in Tasmania extends from June to as late as October, that the weather in Tasmania is most reliable in late spring (October - November) and autumn (March - April), and that midsummer is colourful with apple and pear blossom. Some tourist facilities like ocean cruises do not operate in Tasmania's colder winter months (May - July); the main tourist rush on the apple isle occurs mid December to late January.
The climate of Victoria is characterised by a range of different climate zones, from the hot, dry Mallee region of the northwest to the alpine snowfields in the northeast of Victoria. Median annual rainfall ranges from less than 250 mm in parts of the Mallee to in excess of 1800 mm over some of the mountainous regions.
The mountains of the Great Divide in Victoria attain a maximum height of 1986 metres at Mt Bogong near the town of Mt Beauty. There are several peaks in excess of 1500 metres in the northeast of Victoria. The Great Divide extends westwards almost to the South Australian border, with most peaks below 600 metres except in the mountainous area called the Grampians, near Stawell, where Mt William's summit is 1167 metres.
To the west and north of the Great Divide the land flattens out to the dry inland plains. It is in the Mallee where the hottest temperatures in the State most commonly occur during summer, and where the annual median rainfall drops below 250 mm.
The coastal strip, south of the ranges, is generally wetter except in the far east where the Strzelecki Ranges shelter the East Gippsland District from the moisture-laden westerly winds. The climate changes across the State are reflected by marked changes in vegetation that ranges from mallee scrub in the northwest, through irrigated plains in the north and the wetter grazing lands of the south to the forested mountainous country of northeastern Victoria.
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Destinations - regional centres
Destinations - tourist
Experiences/Activities
Journeys - rail
Journeys - road
Journeys - cruises
Journeys - scenic flights
Journeys - hiking
Area
- Total: 237,629 km2 (6th)
- Land: 227,416 km2
- Water: 10,213 km2 (4.3%)
Population (2004)
- Population: 5,000,000 (2nd)
- Density: 22/km2 (2nd)
Abreviations
- Postal: VIC
- ISO: 3166-2: AU-VI
Elevation
- Highest: Mt Bogong (1,986 m)
Time zone: UTC+10 (+11 AEST)
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About Victoria
Victoria has a wide diversity of landscapes which cover the whole gamut of the Australian experience - it has everything from semi arid desert areas to rugged coastal cliffs, lush farmlands, alpine ski resorts, historic goldmining towns and river gum forests. Because of Victoria's relatively small size and Melbourne being located toward's the state's geographical centre, all of these are easily accessible and many are no more than a few hours' drive away from Melbourne. It is easy, during a day's drive, to pass through pastoral landscapes, explore spectacular coastlines and mountain country, yet still arrive at you destination in time to watch the sunset.
Each of Victoria's five geographical regions have their own specific appeal. The Western district has the impressive Grampian Ranges with the semi-desert mallee country as its backdrop; the Central district has many old goldmining towns, some well preserved ones seemingly frozen in time; Australia's greatest river - The Murray - winds its way across the north of the state, through vineyards, farmland and redgum forests; no trip to Australia would be complete without a drive down the Gt Ocean Road, one of the world's great ocean drives, along Victoria's dramatic south-west coast; Gippsland is home to some of the state's most beautiful and varied country, with rolling pastures, snow-capped high country in winter that has fields of wildflowers in spring, National Parks with dense lush undergrowth, Australia's largest inland lakes system, all fringed by a rugged, granite-cliffed coastline.
Victoria is the 2nd largest state in terms of population with 4.6 million people, although the landsize is comparatively small at 227,000 sq km. The entire state is located within the temperate zone with Melbourne the capital city on Port Phillip Bay. Victoria is 10 hours ahead of GMT sharing the same time zone as NSW, Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT.
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