Why Do People Go There?

Culture: Melbourne is the cultural hub of Australia. It is a focal point for many branches of the arts in Australia - music (all kinds), dance, theatre, cinema, stand up comedy, sculpture, painting - you name it, Melbourne performs it and has a festival to celebrate it. The festival season is from February to June.

Food: There is no other place in Australia that offers the array of culinary experiences like Melbourne does. Street cafes are everywhere, the choice of restaurants, in terms of ambience, location, price and variety of fare, is almost unlimited. The standard of food and service is pretty high across the board - it has to be as a cafe or restaurant would not survive in such a competitive Multicultural melting pot such as Melbourne is, where good food and service is not only valued and appreciated but demanded.

Sport: Melbourne sees itself as the sporting capital of Australia and backs up its claim by hosting some quite heavy duty sporting events, including The Australian Open tennis; The Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix; The traditional Boxing Day Cricket test match: the Melbourne Cup, and pretty well any other national or international sporting event it can get its hands on.

Shopping: Melbourne is a shopaholics paradise, particularly in terms of clothing and homeware. The centre of Australia's fashion industry, the city has a number of shopping precincts full of designer fashion outlets where there are bargains on offer all year round.

Block Arcade, Melbourne

Why Do We Go There?

Melbourne is the closest state capital city to Sydney, which is where we live, so it is where we go for a short term change of environment, sometimes for a week, but more often for a weekend if there is a show, festival or event we want to see. It is a day's drive away through some interesting countryside (the Rutherglen wine region and the Milawa Gourmet region are on the way), or if time does not permit a drive, air fares are usually quite low on the Melbourne-Sydney run which is the world's busiest and hence one of the most competitive air routes price-wise in the country.

Where Do We Stay?

I stay at different places depending on the circumstances and reason for my visit. If I haven't come by car, and am by myself I usually stay in budget accommodation in the city such as Hotel Enterprize Melbourne. Situated in Spencer Street just a short walk from Southern Cross Railway Station and the Southbank district, it is clean, cheap, basic accommodation. Formule One in Elizabeth Street is slap-bang in the heart of the CBD and offers basic accommodation for up to 4 people for less than $100 a night. There's no on-site parking at either inner city location.
In the inner suburbs, I've often stayed at Charnwood Motor Inn in St Kilda. There is a tram stop almost outside the front door and the city is only 10 minutes away by tram. It's a short walk to Albert Park and the St Kilda cafe/restaurant strip.
If I have the car and want to save money, I go a little further out to Oakleigh Motel on Dandenong Road, South Oakleigh. One of Australia's first motels (it was built in 1956 to service Melbourne Olympics Games visitors) its clean and tidy and very kind on the wallet.
If I want to stay out of the inner city area, I use Beach Motor Inn at Frankston. The rooms have full kitchen facilities, and wireless broadband internet is free. It is within walking distance of the beach, the main shopping area and railway station (just over an hour by train to the city) and Mornington Peninsula is a short drive away.

What Do We like To Do There?

Besides shopping, eating and visiting friends and relatives, I always enjoy either a walk along one of the beaches of Port Phillip Bay or a drive around the Bay itself. Sometimes I just visit Mornington Peninsula, doubling back to Melbourne via the towns of Flinders and Hastings on Western Port, or I take the car ferry across to Queenscliff and return to Melbourne via the Bellarine Peninsula and Geelong. Either way, it's a pleasant day's drive.

Port Phillip Bay

Everyone knows about the Dandenong Ranges, which are always good for a bushwalk, but there are some equally enjoyable bushland and riverside walks in the lower Yarra valley in the Heidelberg and Warrandyte areas, as well as the Marybyrnong River valley in the north-west. There are also a number of remnants of bushland, grassland and wetlands dotted throughout Melbourne's inner suburbs, many of which have walking tracks and are easily accessed by public transport. The book A Guide to Melbourne's Parks And Gardens by Rhonda Boyle, has details about these often forgotten pockets of natural bushland and is a worthwhile investment for locals and visitors alike.

Williamstown foreshore

I always like to squeeze in a visit to Williamstown when I'm in Melbourne. The maritime village has a lovely olde worlde ambience, and its array of cafes are perfect for lunch and afternoon tea. I usually take the ferry from Southbank and return by train.
Melbourne has a vast array of museums and galleries which are ideal destinations for rainy days. Its inner city parks are great places to go for a little peace and tranquillity if you need some time out from a busy schedule.

Melbourne At A Glance: The cosmopolitan cultural hub of Australia, renowned for food, fashion, music and the arts in Australia.

The capital of the State of Victoria, Melbourne is very much an international city but with a totally different look and feel to Sydney. A cosmopolitan city with over three million inhabitants, over the years it has been a major ethnic melting pot; it started in the Victorian gold rush days of the 1850s that attracted many Irish and Chinese miners to the city, laying the foundation for the distinctive multicultural flavour of the city today. Their arrival was followed by large scale post war immigration from Europe which attracted migrants from Greece, Turkey, Italy and Yugoslavia. As a result, Melbourne is known for its diverse cultural backgrounds that are reflected in its restaurants that serve a multiplicity of foreign cuisines.
It also holds its own in 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.

Collins Street, Melbourne

Melbourne is often referred to as Australia's "other" large city, being a smaller than Sydney, which invariably tops the list of most travellers' must-see Australian destinations. It has a totally unique look and feel when compared to the other capital cities of Australia. 
Melbourne is very sport focused and the locals are typically fanatics. This is reflected in the fact that Melbourne is the only city in the world that has five international standard sporting facilities (including three with retractable roofs) on the fringe of its central business district. The major sports are cricket, Australian Rules Football and horse racing.
Each year Melbourne plays host to tens of thousands of interstate and overseas visitors who come to see the Australian Open Tennis Championships, the Australian Grand Prix, the Australian 500CC Motorcycle Grand Prix, Spring Racing Carnival, the Australian Football League Grand Final and many more special events. Melbourne 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.

Fitzroy Gardens

Though Victoria overall has a temperate climate, Melbourne can at times experience extremes. For example, it has a reputation for experiencing all four seasons (summer, autumn, winter and spring) in the one day, so it is not uncommon to see people walking along in sunshine wearing a T-shirt, but with an umbrella on one arm and an overcoat over the other. Melbourne's warmest months are generally January and February, in the middle of summer, which are often dry and prone to hot spells, although some respite is provided by the cooling sea breezes of Port Phillip Bay. June and July are the coldest months (July to August can be cold and damp), while October is the wettest. The annual average rainfall for Melbourne is around 600mm, which is substantially less rain than Sydney receives.

Victoria Barracks is a pretty picture in Autumn

Winter can be quite cold in the city centre, its corridors of tall buildings often become chilly wind tunnels during the cooler months. The only snow Melbourne ever sees is the occasional light fall on the Dandenong Ranges beyond the suburbs, but the winds that blow through the city in the cooler months can feel as though they have come straight off Antarctica; the chill factor often makes Melbourne feel colder than it what the thermometer indicates.
Unlike some of the more northern Australian state capital cities, Melbourne experiences spring and autumn (Fall) as distinct seasons, in early mornings there is often a cool freshness in the air, and in Autumn, the extensive plantings of deciduous trees bathe the inner suburbs in shades of orange as the trees shed their leaves. Autumns (March - May) are mild and it is during these months that most of the Festivals and outdoor events hosted by Melbourne are held. The summer can be very warm and the winters cool.
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 if you intended 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), that midsummer is colourful with apple and pear blossom, and that some tourist facilities like ocean cruises do not operate in the colder winter months (May - July). Tasmania's main tourist rush is mid December to late January.

Yarra River, Melbourne