Melbourne Travel Guide
Melbourne Itineraries
WEEKEND IN MELBOURNE
Itinerary
48 HOURS FOR FOODIES
Itinerary
Stay in Melbourne
Where to Stay in Melbourne: City Centre Hotels
While we’re big fans of holiday rentals and serviced apartments for stays longer than a few days, and for shorter periods we’ll opt for a boutique hotel, we do see the advantages of staying in …
Where to Stay in Melbourne – Best Melbourne Boutique Hotels
The Best Melbourne boutique hotels include everything from stylish art hotels themed around great Australian painters to renovated heritage pubs with chic contemporary rooms and buzzy bars downstairs. Where to stay in Melbourne depends on how you're …
Book Melbourne Accommodation
Eat in Melbourne
Eating Out in Melbourne — Melbourne’s Ethnic Cuisine
When it comes to eating out in Melbourne 'ethnic' cuisine is probably what first comes to mind. Judging by our last story on Contemporary Asian Cuisine in the Victorian capital, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Melbourne was …
Eating Out in Melbourne: Melbourne’s Contemporary Asian Restaurants
Whatever you eat, eating out in Melbourne is a delight, but there is a food movement there at the moment that doesn’t involve food trucks or Mexican food (don’t ask) and that’s the food of Melbourne's contemporary …
Drink in Melbourne
A Melbourne Cafe Culture Walk in the Land of the Long Flat White
A Melbourne cafe culture walk to get a taste of Melbourne's coffee history should be high on your to-do list when you're in the Land of the Long Flat White, as we like to call our …
Coffee Cupping at Market Lane Café in Melbourne
Coffee cupping at Market Lane café in Melbourne had been recommended to us by a guide on one of the market tours we did. Melburnians are obsessed with their coffee and cafés and see Melbourne as a global coffee-making capital. Does …
Explore Melbourne
Things to Do in Daylesford, Victoria – Where to Stay, Cook, Shop, Stroll, Sip and Eat
Things to do in Daylesford range from browsing one of Australia’s finest regional art galleries and learning to cook with local produce at the legendary Lake House to indulging in spa treatments at nearby Hepburn …
Weekend in Bendigo Itinerary – 48 Hours in the Grand Gold Rush Town
A weekend in Bendigo makes for a great escape from Melbourne to take in the grandeur of the Gold Rush town and good food and wine. Try to time your trip to Victoria's third-largest city to coincide …
Experience Melbourne
Things to Do in Daylesford, Victoria – Where to Stay, Cook, Shop, Stroll, Sip and Eat
Things to do in Daylesford range from browsing one of Australia’s finest regional art galleries and learning to cook with local produce at the legendary Lake House to indulging in spa treatments at nearby Hepburn …
Weekend in Bendigo Itinerary – 48 Hours in the Grand Gold Rush Town
A weekend in Bendigo makes for a great escape from Melbourne to take in the grandeur of the Gold Rush town and good food and wine. Try to time your trip to Victoria's third-largest city to coincide …
Book Melbourne Tours
Absorb Melbourne
The Best Melbourne Museums
A priority for us on trips back to Australia is soaking up as much culture as we can. After we’ve caught up on the newest restaurants, we can be found in museums and galleries catching …
Meandering the Masala Trail in Dandenong in Melbourne
Meandering the Masala Trail in Dandenong in Melbourne provides a taste of Little India in one of the world’s most cosmopolitan countries. Nowhere is Australia's ethnic diversity felt more than in multicultural Melbourne and outer-suburb Dandenong where 55% of residents …
Shop Melbourne
Melbourne Shopping: The Most Eclectic Boutiques Of All
Melbourne shopping is some of the best shopping there is in Australia, especially for idiosyncratic fashion, jewellery and accessories. Designers are hand-making beautiful pieces while boutique owners are carefully curating eclectic collections. While most visitors make …
A Local Guide to Vintage Shopping in Melbourne
That we needed to provide you with a local guide to vintage shopping in Melbourne quickly became apparent after spotting some Melbourne locals in beehives, cats eye glasses and bobby socks. After meeting vintage princess …
Melbourne Festivals & Events
River Graze, a Celebration of Food and Wine from Victoria
River Graze, which sprawls along the banks of Melbourne’s Yarra River on Southbank Promenade, is a celebration of food and wine, from across the Australian state of Victoria. Launched on Friday night and running through …
Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and the World’s 50 Best Restaurants
Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is where we’re headed – we’re in transit in Saigon en route to Australia’s culinary capital and we are already salivating. And that’s not just because my airport foraging turned …
Melbourne Local Knowledge
Will Studd, the Cheese Guy and the Story of Australian Cheese
When chatting with chefs around Australia for the feature stories we’ve been working on, one man’s name comes up repeatedly when talk turns to cheese — Will Studd. Or, Will Studd, "the cheese guy". Studd arrived …
Matt Skinner on Melbourne, Wine, Bars and Food
Melbourne wine guy Matt Skinner may be a comparatively young bloke as far as Australian wine icons go, but with a handful of wine books, an annual wine guide and a television series under his belt, he’s …
Melbourne Resources
Monday Memories: Sublime Sunset at St Kilda Pier, Melbourne
We were blessed with brilliant weather during our Melbourne stay. No, really. While our Sydney friends griped about having experienced one of the worst summers ever, we were soaking up the sunshine in a city …
Melbourne on a Budget
Australia is an expensive destination to visit, regardless of the drop in value of the Aussie dollar, and the capital of its southern state Victoria is no exception, but it is still possible to do Melbourne …
Melbourne Essentials
WHEN TO GO
Dec-Feb Can be extremely hot, but that doesn’t stop tennis, F1 and music fans from flocking to the city.
Apr-Sep April has the best walking weather, getting crisper as winter begins.
Oct-Nov Can be cool but is busy due to football finals and horse racing fanatics.
Health
Melbourne has a very good healthcare system, but of course always buy comprehensive insurance. Despite its reputation for dangerous creatures, you won’t find many of these in urban areas, apart from the ocassional spider. Given Melbourne’s liberal drinking hours, hangovers are your main concern. Recommended Vaccinations
Visas
Only New Zealanders do not need a visa for Australia. There are myriad classes of visas, but if you’re coming for a holiday (depending which passport you have) and you are staying for less than three months, apply for an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) with a cost of UAD$20. For other visas visit the visa finder page of the Australian Government.
Insurance for Melbourne
CURRENCY
CURRENT EXCHANGE RATES
$1.00 USD = 1.40 AUD
€1.00 EUR = 1.59 AUD
£1.00 GBP = 1.82 AUD
The Australian currency is the Australian Dollar (AUD).
ATM machines are all over Australia and generally dispense AUD$10, $50 and $100 notes. Credit and debit cards a almost universally accepted and paying by cash is almost considered quaint on restaurants, supermarkets and hotels. If heading ‘outback’ carry extra cash in case of ATM unreliability.
LANGUAGE
ENGLISH IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF AUSTRALIA.
ELECTRICITY
ELECTRICITY IN AUSTRALIA IS 220 VOLTS. 50 CYCLES/SEC.
LOCAL TIME
CURRENT MELBOURNE TIME
Melbourne’s Time Zone is (GMT+11)
Melbourne’s daylight saving (one hour forward) generally starts in October and finishes in April.
WEATHER
CURRENT MELBOURNE WEATHER
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TEMPERATURE
°C | °C -
HUMIDITY
% -
WIND
m/s -
CLOUDINESS
% -
SUNRISE
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SUNSET
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THU 21°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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FRI 22°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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SAT 23°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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SUN 24°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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MON 25°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
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TUE 26°C | °CCloudiness%Humidity%
TRANSPORTATION
AIR/LAND/SEA
Melbourne’s main airport, Tullamarine (MEL) is the city’s only international airport and main domestic airport. There is a convenient SkyBus service to the main Southern Cross train station and a free shuttle on to many hotels. There are taxis and Uber but trams, trains and buses are convenient, paying by using a ‘myki‘ debit-type card that’s better value the longer you stay. There is also a bike-sharing system (a helmet is required).
Melbourne Reading List
Melbourne Map
