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Melbourne Attractions
Melbourne Travel Guide
Find out what makes Melbourne the cultural capital of Australia. Here's a hint: street art, history and an energetic nightlife.
What you'll find in this guide:
Top things to do in Melbourne
Practical Information
Getting to Melbourne
Getting around Melbourne
Weather in Melbourne
When to visit Melbourne
Where to stay in Melbourne
Attractions in Melbourne
Accessibility in Melbourne
Melbourne for LGBTQI+ travellers
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ACTIVITIES
Guided coffee and history tour of Collingwood
You'll enjoy a delicious coffee at an amazing, local social enterprise café before exploring the back streets and graffiti laneways.
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EXCURSIONS & DAY TRIPS
Great Ocean Road and Twelve Apostles
Kick-start your great Australian journey and visit the Great Ocean Road and Twelve Apostles.
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ACTIVITIES
Dark Melbourne guided tour
Let one of Melbourne's top-rated tour guides take you on the exploration of the haunted and horrific past of Melbourne.
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EXCURSIONS & DAY TRIPS
Phillip Island - Penguins, Koalas and Wildlife
Pay an awesome visit to Phillip Island's pristine beaches and see native Australian wildlife in their natural habitats!
GMT +10
Australian dollar AUD
English
Type I
22 hours
Practical Info
Culture and etiquette
Religion
About 50% of the population is a mix of Christian denominations with the rest a combination of other religions and atheists.
Tipping
Do you need tip in Melbourne? Tipping isn't required in Australia. Similar to here in the UK, 10% is always appreciated for good service.
Smoking
Smoking is illegal in enclosed public spaces, including shops, restaurants and public transport.
Jabs, visas and other advice
UK citizens visiting Australia will need a visa to get in. There are a number of different visas depending on why you're visiting. Most travellers from the UK will need either an eVisitor visa or an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA), both of which will let you stay for up to three months. To find out which one you need, use the Australian government's visa finder.
For up-to-date advice on jabs, visas and other foreign advice, we recommend following the government's website
Emergency numbers
Dial 000 in any emergency.
Getting to Melbourne
It takes roughly 22 hours to fly to Melbourne from London, and that includes a layover – usually in Bangkok, Dubai or Singapore.
Melbourne is also a popular cruising destination, with a cruise terminal that has easy access to the city centre. Ideal for if you're visiting from the sea.
Getting around Melbourne
All of Australia's cities have efficient and affordable public transport and that includes Melbourne. If you're sticking to the centre of the city you can get around quite nicely using the free tram service. It covers a lot of the city's popular spots like Victoria Harbour, Marvel Stadium and the Immigration Museum.
You'll probably want to venture a bit further than the centre though, in which case you'll need to get yourself a myki card which lets you travel on trains, buses and trams outside the city centre. You can top it up with money and use that to cover your fares, or buy a myki Explorer which gives you unlimited travel for a full day along with maps and discounts on the city's best attractions.
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Melbourne Airport Transfers
Book your Melbourne Airport transfers, with prices starting from under £26.92 and free cancellations up to 24 hours before travel.
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Melbourne Ultimate Experiences
From the Great Ocean Road to Old Melbourne Gaol! Make the most of your trip and pre-book the top Melbourne experiences for you and your family before you fly.
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Travel Insurance for Melbourne
Whatever you're doing in this stunning city, you'll want a reliable travel insurance policy for your trip to Melbourne.
What's the weather like in Melbourne?
You can expect all four distinct seasons in Melbourne, a bit like in the UK, except with more reliably warm summers. Similar to here, the city is sometimes known for throwing all four seasons at you in one day – so pack for anything.
In summer you can expect highs in the mid 20s, but it's not unusual for it to go way into the 30s as well. While in winter it rarely gets colder than 6º, but it can get quite frosty overnight.
When's the best time to visit Melbourne?
While any time of year has its benefits, pretty much all the fun stuff happens in summer. Summer in Australia coincides with our winter, so there's the added bonus of escaping our cold weather too.
There's loads of festivals happening at this time of year, making it the perfect place to escape the British winter. You've got the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as well as the Australian Open which takes place in the middle of January.
Summer is also when the city's beaches are at their best.
Australia ranks 17th on the Good Trip Index
This score is calculated based on Sustainability, Human Rights, Women's Rights, Press Freedom, Quality of Life, LGBTQI+ Rights and Animal welfare
Find out moreWhere to stay in Melbourne
The CBD
Otherwise known as the central business district – but that doesn't sound as cool. This is the central area of the city and it's ideal for first-time visitors – you can get around pretty much all of it using the free tram. It's got the highest concentration of attractions, as well as some of the best bars and restaurants in town, so you can really get a good feel for the city by staying here. Plus, since it's so central, it's ideal for exploring the city's other districts as well.
Some of the best attractions here include the National Gallery of Victoria, the Royal Botanic Gardens and the ooky spooky Old Melbourne Gaol, which once held some of Australia's most notorious criminals.
Fitzroy and Collingwood
These two suburbs make up the city's more artistic areas and it's the best place to go if you want an authentic taste of life in Melbourne. Between them there are dozens of restaurants and bars where you can go to catch live music from local artists. There's loads of street art here too, whether on the sides of big old buildings or hidden away down side streets.
Smith Street in Collingwood was also named the coolest street in the world by Time Out in 2021 so definitely add that to your itinerary. During the day you can browse the vintage clothing and scandi furniture shops or grab a coffee in one of the trendy cafes, but make sure you come back at night when the fun really begins. The street comes alive and you can grab a few cocktails before enjoying a drag show and then dancing until your feet get sore in one of the bars and clubs.
St Kilda
If you're bringing the family then St Kilda is the best place to take them. It's got a 700-metre-long golden sandy beach framed by a lively boardwalk, a theme park with a 100-year-old wooden roller-coaster (ride at your peril!), a traditional pier and countless places to eat and drink. It's perfect for evoking that nostalgic beside-the-seaside feeling.
Also there are actual penguins that nest under the pier. Every day at sunset they waddle out of the sea to get ready for bed and if you're lucky you can watch them. If you get there early enough in the morning you'll also see them waddle back down to the surf for a long day of fishing.
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The Great Ocean Road
Just an hour outside the city, The Great Ocean road snakes along the southern coast of Victoria offering stupendous views of the Southern Ocean and beyond.
Make sure to stop at Teddy's Lookout to see the 12 Apostles – a collection of soaring limestone pillars that have been carved out by erosion over 20 million years. If monumental limestone towers don't rock your world then why not see how much of Australia's fascinating wildlife you can spot along the route?
The bushland here is home to kangaroos, koalas, bandicoots, sugar gliders, kookaburras and more. Plus, if you turn your gaze towards the sea, you might be lucky enough to spy humpback and southern right whales.
Old Melbourne Gaol
Take a tour of this prison-turned-museum for an alternative dive into the history of the city. The wings of the prison have been carefully preserved and you can visit individual cells to learn about the inmates that lived there along with the troubling crimes they committed.
For braver visitors you can head there at night for a tour in search of ghosts, or one with the hangman to learn about the unfortunate souls who walked their final steps along the beams of the gallows.
Or if that's a bit too morbid for you it might surprise you to learn that the gaol is also a popular events venue that even hosts weddings. So check if there are any events during your visit and see the prison in a different light.
Luna Park
Luna Park lies in the city's seaside St Kilda district. It's a traditional theme park that opened in 1912 and is still going strong today. Ride the world's oldest continually operated roller-coaster or take in views of St Kilda from the top of the Sky Rider – a 20-metre-high ferris wheel.
There's plenty here for all ages including more sedate rides or belly dropping climbs and dips for thrill seekers. And it all comes with a big dose of old timey vintage vibes.
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Despite being one of Australia's oldest cities, accessibility in Melbourne is improving all the time, with plenty of resources available to help anyone see the best the city has to offer.
You can get a full overview of what's available on the Accessible Victoria website – including an accessibility map and where to find the best accessible parking throughout the city.
Melbourne for LGBTQI+ travellers
Australia is a great place for all queer travellers – it landed comfortably in the top 20 of our Good Trip Index and its second highest score (after quality of life) was in LGBTQI+ rights. Stunning!
The LGBTQI+ scene in Melbourne is closely interwoven with the fabric of the city, including in the arts, food and nightlife. Collingwood is a popular neighbourhood thanks to its queer-themed street art and lively bars. Then there's the district of Prahan which is filled with boutiques, cafes and galleries for days.
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