15 Must Visit Melbourne Attractions & Travel Guide

1. Melbourne City Circle Tram

The City Circle Tram in Melbourne is a boon to Melbourne visitors. It operates daily along a city circuit passing a number of Melbourne attractions.

Not only is travel completely free on the City Circle Tram but you get a running commentary on the places of interest along its route. You can get off the tram at any of its stops, so you can visit particular attractions at close hand, and catch the next one.

Clockwise service

Flinders Street > Harbour Esplanade > Docklands Drive > La Trobe Street > Victoria Street > Nicholson Street > Spring Street > Flinders Street

Anti-clockwise service

Flinders Street > Spring Street > Nicholson Street > Victoria Parade > La Trobe Street > Docklands Drive > Harbour Esplanade > Flinders Street

2. Queen Victoria Market

Victoria Market is Melbourne’s major & must visit tourist destination, offering a variety of fruit and vegetables, meat, poultry  and seafood, gourmet and deli foods as well as specialty delicacies.

It also has a large non-food related market, selling a diverse range of clothing, shoes, jewellery  and handmade art and crafts.

The friendly competition between stallholders, and their concern for customers, is what gives the Market its Old World charm and the addictive power to draw millions of visitors each year.

Opening Hours :

Tuesday & Thursday 6am – 2pm / Friday 6am – 6pm / Saturday 6am – 3pm / Sunday 9am – 4pm

Closed on Monday & Wednesday.

For More Info : Queen Victoria Market

3. Flinders Street Station

Flinders Street Station is among Melbourne’s most recognizable landmarks & the busiest suburban railway Station in the southern hemisphere.

The Melburnian idiom “I’ll meet you under the clocks” refers to the row of clocks  above the main entrance, which indicate the departure time of the next train on each line

4. Penguin Parade

The Penguin Parade is Australia’s most popular wildlife attraction and home to the largest Little Penguin colony in the world.

Every sunset, the hundreds to over a thousand wild Little Penguins emerge from the sea and march across the beach to their sand dune burrows.

The Little Penguin is the world’s smallest (and cutest) penguin and the Penguin Parade is the best place to experience this completely natural phenomenon.

Tommy Ooi’s Traveling Tips

Buy or Upgrade to Penguin Plus for better & closer viewing of the cute little penguins

For More Info : Philip Island Penguin Parade

5. Warrook Cattle Farm

Warrook Cattle Farm is renowned as a premier working farm to which visits can be made. Located just an one hours drive from Melbourne, on the way to Phillip Island.

Visitors can spend some lovely time to be up close with animals such as sheep, kangaroos, wombat and even experience the fun of feeding them.

Also, not to be missed is to experience Warrook Cattle Farm award winning pies and delicious country cooking.

Address : 4150 South Gippsland Highway, Monomeith, 3984 Victoria, Australia

For More Info : Warrook Cattle Farm

6. 12 Apostles at Great Ocean Road

The Twelve Apostles are giant rock stacks that rise majestically from the Southern Ocean and are the central feature of the rugged Port Campbell National Park.

The Twelve Apostles have been created by constant erosion of the limestone cliffs of the mainland that began 10–20 million years ago. The stormy Southern Ocean and blasting winds gradually eroded the softer limestone, forming caves in the cliffs.

The caves eventually became arches and when they collapsed rock stacks up to 45 metres high were left isolated from the shore.

Sunrise and sunset offer particularly impressive views as the Twelve Apostles change colour from dark and foreboding in shadow to brilliant sandy yellow under a full sun.

7. Puffing Billy

Puffing Billy, Australia’s oldest surviving and famously preserved steam railway. The 25-kilometre journey takes visitors through thick forests and lush fern-filled gullies from Belgrave, only one hour east of Melbourne, to Emerald Lake Park and Gembrook.

Puffing Billy also offers first-class travel and dining experiences, with lunch, Devonshire tea and evening meals available on the ‘Night Train’. You can catch the train at any of the stations along the way, or simply watch it leisurely go by from one of the station refreshment rooms.

Price

Getting There

By Train

Travel to Belgrave via the ‘Belgrave Line’.  Upon your arrival at Belgrave Station, simply follow the blue line painted on the platform to Puffing Billy Station.

For More Info : Puffing Billy

8. Healesvile Sanctuary

Tucked in to the foothills of the Yarra Ranges, Healesville Sanctuary offers a distinctly Australian wildlife experience and an introduction to the sights and sounds of the bush.

Get close to over 200 species of Australian wildlife, including platypus, koalas, emus, Tasmanian devils, lyrebirds, wombats and eagles. Daily ‘Meet the Keeper’ sessions are an ideal way to learn from the experts who care for the animals.

Catch the spectacular ‘Birds of Prey’ presentation everyday at 12pm & 2.30pm, starring the wedge-tailed eagle with its two-metre wingspan, and the peregrine falcon as it dives from the top of a gum tree.

Opening Hours

Daily 9.00am to 5.00pm

Price

Adult – AUD 24.40

Children – AUD 12.10

Family ( 2 Adults + 2 Children ) – AUD 55.50

Getting There

For More Info : Healesville Sanctuary

9. Yarra Valley Wineries

Sit back and allow the experts to introduce you to the famous food and wine of the Yarra Valley region.

Join a luxury food and wine tour or customise your route in consultation with your guide to take in some of Victoria’s best cellar doors, produce, and fine dining.

If you prefer to go it alone, there are several self-drive touring routes in the region, including the Yarra Valley Regional Food Trail.

Discover and sample the best produce and wine in the Yarra Valley at farm gates, roadside stalls, wineries, and gourmet outlets. You can even take to the skies and arrive at a winery in a hot air balloon.

10. Melbourne Cafes

Melbourne is the coffee capital of Australia. In the CBD, the cobblestoned laneways are filled with the aroma of espresso coming from a myriad of cafés.

Visiting Melbourne without enjoying its unique coffee is a definitely a big loss.

Melbourne has a long and rich coffee culture beginning with Victorian era coffee palaces and further enhanced by Italian migrants arriving in the aftermath of World War II.

Australians are fiercely independent when it comes to their java, and Melbourne’s residents even more so.

Perhaps the best proof of Melbournian pride in the city’s independent coffee culture came in 2008, when Starbucks was forced to close 16 Melbourne outlets (and scores more throughout Australia) after failing to make robust enough inroads into Australia’s entrenched coffee culture.

Tommy Ooi’s Traveling Tips

Have no idea where to start your coffee journey? Try Brunswick Street in Fitzroy. It is Melbourne’s go-to destination for some of the city’s best coffee houses.

11. Peninsula Hot Springs

Peninsula Hot Springs is the first natural hot springs & day spa centre in Victoria around 1.5Hrs from Melbourne.

Natural thermal mineral waters flow into the pools and private baths providing the idyllic setting for relaxation and rejuvenation.

Peninsula Hot Springs makes it possible to bathe in the naturally healing waters of mineral rich thermal pools.

Opening Hours

Daily 7.30am – 10.00pm

Address : Springs Lane (formerly Devonport Drive) Rye (Fingal), 3941 Mornington Peninsula, Victoria.

For More Info : Peninsula Hot Springs

12. Harbour Town

Harbour Town Melbourne is an exciting mix of brand direct outlets, specialty stores, entertainment and attractions.

Offering a diverse mix of fashion, jewellery, gifts, homewares, leisure/sportswear and general merchandise, Harbour Town is more than great shopping.

Experience two levels of unique laneway shopping with over 90 outlet stores dedicated to offering shoppers up to 70% off the regular retail price of premium brands.

Opening Hours

Monday – Thursday & Saturday – 10.00am – 6.00pm

Friday – 10.00am – 9.00pm

Sunday – 10.00am – 5.00pm

Getting There

Free City Circle Tram

The Free City Circle Tram stops right outside Harbour Town Shopping Centre.

Tram

– No.30 via La Trobe Street to cnr La Trobe Street and Harbour Esplanade

– No.70 via Flinders Street to Waterfront City/ Harbour Town

– No.86 via Bourke Street to Waterfront City/ Harbour Town

Melbourne City Tourist Shuttle

The Free Melbourne City Tourist Shuttle will Stop directly at the Harbour Town Tourism Lounge, buses will run every 25 minutes.

For More Info : Waterfront City

13. Eureka Skydeck 88

Created to reach for the sky, nothing you have ever experienced will prepare you for the awe inspiring view of Melbourne from the Southern Hemisphere’s highest viewing platform.

The Skydeck features thirty viewfinders that help visitors to pinpoint numerous significant landmarks around all parts of Melbourne, along with several free binoculars.

Tommy Ooi’s Traveling Tips

Not to be missed is Skydeck 88’s ” The Edge “-  a glass cube which projects 3 metres out from the building – with you in it – suspended almost 300 metres above the ground!

You will be able to purchase a souvenir photo of you actually in ‘The Edge’ from our Edge Shop on Level 88.

‘The Edge’ is easily accessible by wheelchair and children 7 years or under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Price

Opening Hours

Daily 10.00am – 10.00pm

Getting There

Walking

Set on the Southbank of Melbourne’s Yarra River on Riverside Quay, Eureka Tower is hard to miss, just look up! It’s an easy walk from the CBD, Federation Square or Crown Casino.

For More Info : Eureka Skydeck

14. Sovereign Hill

Step back in time and experience Australia’s exciting goldrush days at Sovereign Hill. Set on a former goldmining site, this award winning outdoor museum recreates in fascinating detail the hustle and bustle of life in the 1850s. There is so much to do and see.

In the diggings you can pan for REAL gold! Witness $50,000 of molten gold being poured into a bullion bar at Sovereign Hill’s Goldpour.

Go 13 metres underground on a tour of the Red Hill Mine, which uses life-size, moving “holograms” to reincarnate battling Cornish miner, Richard Jeffrey as he stumbles on what was the biggest gold nugget ever found, the Welcome Nugget – at 69 kilograms, still the second largest nugget in the world.

Sovereign Hill’s Main Street is busy with people in colourful costumes and horse-drawn vehicles. Craftsmen are at work throughout the township, with a variety of shops and businesses open to purchase goods – grocers, candle maker, blacksmith and jewellers to name a few.

Opening Hours

Daily 10.00am – 5.00pm

Price

For More Info : Sovereign Hill

15. Melbourne Aquarium

Explore a world unlike any other in Antarctica – one of the four exciting and entertaining worlds at Melbourne Aquarium. Marvel as the majestic King and cheeky Gentoo penguins play in the pool and slide across the snow-covered ice.

The colourful and vibrant Weird & Wonderful journey allows you to experience some of the strangest marine animals in the world and these creatures will certainly challenge how you believe a fish should behave and what it should look like.

Come up-close to the amazing island inhabitants – rainbow fish, turtles, snakes, catfish, barramundi and even deadly poison arrow frogs.  Don’t miss Australia’s largest freshwater fish – the Murray Cod.

Melbourne Aquarium’s 2.2 million litre Oceanarium features a panoramic Fish Bowl viewing area that allows you to feel as though you are underwater with intimidating sharks, massive stingrays, turtles and hundreds of fish swimming overhead.

Price

Adult – AUD 32.50

Children – AUD 18.50

Family ( 2 Adult + 2 Children ) – AUD 87.50

Opening Hours

Daily 9.30am – 6.00pm

Getting There

Tram

1. Tram routes 70 and 75

2. Take the free City Circle Tram. Stopping in front of Melbourne Aquarium

Bus

Take the FREE Melbourne City Tourist Shuttle, stopping at Melbourne Aquarium

For More Info : Melbourne Aquarium

Melbourne offers many attractions for tourists so when planning your trip to Melbourne with Expedia be sure to include some time to explore this amazing city.”

Check Out by Tommy Ooi

• Melbourne Overview

• Melbourne Hotel Review

• Must Eat Food in Melbourne ( coming soon )
  

• Halal Food in Melbourne  ( coming soon )

Disclaimer :

All the information above is correct upon published & is subject to change without further notice. Please make an effort to double check. Neither the author nor owner will be liable for any damage or lost caused.