Melbourne

View of the Melbourne skyline from Yarra's Edge in the Docklands
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Melbourne_Docklands_-_Yarras_Edge_-_marina_panorama.jpg
Author: David Iliff


Melbourne is the capital and biggest city in the state of Victoria. It is also the second biggest city in Australia after Sydney. The Melbourne metropolitan area has a population of about 4 million people. It is located on a large natural bay called Port Philip, at the estuary of the Yarra River.

View of the Yarra River from Alexandra Gardens in Melbourne
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Melbourne_Yarra_River.jpg
Author: Donaldytong


Melbourne was founded in 1835. The name Melbourne was given in 1837 in honour of William Lamb, the 2nd Viscount Melbourne. It was granted city status by Queen Victoria in 1847. By the mid 19th century, Melbourne grew rapidly, becoming one of the biggest and richest cities of the world, thanks largely to a gold rush. It served as the interim capital of Australia between 1901 and 1927.

Today Melbourne is a cosmopolitan city that is the centre of the arts, commerce, entertainment and tourism in Victoria. The city has the largest tram network in the world.

Melbourne on Google Maps Street View

A Tram going along St Kilda Road in Melbourne
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St-kilda-road-melbourne.jpg
Author: Marcus Wong

Travel to Melbourne

Melbourne Airport (MEL) is the main airport for the city. Also known as Tullamarine Airport, it is the second busiest airport in Australia. The airport is located 23 kilometers (14 miles) from downtown Melbourne. Among the low-cost carriers that is based at Melbourne include Jetstar and Tiger Airways.

Melbourne Airport has four terminals, the first three within the same building while Terminal 4 is within walking distance. Terminal 2 is the international terminal while the rest are for domestic flights. Arriving at Melbourne Airport, you have a choice of airport bus (called Skybus) or taxi to reach Melbourne. The Skybus picks up passengers at Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. Tickets are available from both terminals. The journey to Melbourne takes 20 minutes if the traffic is smooth. One way ticket costs A$16.00. The same journey by taxi will cost you A$40-A$45.

Sculpture in the forecourt of the Melbourne Observatory
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Melbourne_Observatory_Cafe_%26_The_Gardens_Shop_%28Art_Sculpture%29.jpg
Author: Donaldytong

Travel within Melbourne

Although Melbourne is a sprawling city, most of the tourist attractions are found around the Central Business District and its vicinity. The transportation authority for Melbourne is Metlink. It manages the buses, trains and trams in Melbourne.

You pay for your rides all the buses, trains and trams using a magnetic-strip Metcard and the new smart-card version called Myki. At the moment, Metcard predominates. The city is divided into zones. If you intend to use the public transport for a visit of less than 5 days, I suggest you you get the daily pass for A$6.80, allowing you unlimited rides. Otherwise, a single ticket is valid for a two-hour period, and you can use it to transfer from one transport to another within that period.

The Parliament House of Victoria in Melbourne
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parliement_House_Melbourne_2010.jpg
Author: Elekhh


La Trobe Reading Room at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Library_of_Victoria_La_Trobe_Reading_room_5th_floor_view.jpg
Author: David Iliff

Places of Interest in Melbourne

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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