Everyone has their own idea about city highlights. They can be places to visit, things to do, interesting sights or just traveling around. For me, Melbourne highlights cover all these things. The Arts Centre is a great place to visit. The Yarra River provides walking and tour opportunities. The city lanes and arcades are a shopping bonanza, while the major city buildings have great sightseeing appeal. The excellent public transport system makes everything so easy.
Theatre is a big deal in Melbourne. The Melbourne Arts Centre is a major development at Southbank which has the State Theatre, Playhouse, Fairfax Studio and George Adams Gallery but there are many other options. Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne's famous theatre showpiece was built in 1886. Dame Nellie Melba made her Melbourne grand opera debut here in 1911 and gave her final farewell performance as well in 1928. The Princess Theatre, which is just around the corner, is renowned for its extravaganza productions. It opened its doors in 1886 and can seat nearly 1500 patrons over three levels. The Princess Theatre is famous for it's magnificent marble staircase and it's ghost sightings.
The Arts Centre is an outstanding structure and so too is the Exhibition Building. Originally constructed for the Great Exhibition of 1880, this was the home of the Victorian Parliament from 1901 until 1927. The Royal Exhibition Building was also the site of the opening of the first session of the Commonwealth Parliament, on 9th May 1901. Parliament House is another grand structure built of granite. The Legislative Chambers were constructed in 1856 ready for the first sitting of the Victorian Parliament. This building was used by the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia while Melbourne was acting as the capital of Australia (1900-27).
A visit to Melbourne would not be complete with a shopping expedition. This is Australia’s shopping capital. It has the largest department stores, the best fashion boutiques, and a great network of lanes and arcades to explore. The central city is best but if you have the time also visit Toorak and South Yarra for trendy shops and funky, sometimes expensive, styles.
Melbourne adopted European coffee culture with enthusiasm so there are cute and trendy cafes everywhere. The city is also home to the widest range of cuisines in Australia so take the opportunity to sample something new.
Quick Tips:
Southbank beside the Yarra River has become one of the main focal points for the city area. Here there are upmarket restaurants, food courts, interesting shops and a fabulous promenade along the riverbank.
Originally renowned for being the biggest casino in the Southern Hemisphere, the Crown complex is now regarded as a major entertainment center which every visitor should experience.
Melbourne has arguably the best shopping arcades of any city in Australia, with a mix of quaint shops in historic buildings and small cafes in dimly lit laneways.
St. Kilda, an elderly bayside suburb, is worth a visit because of its history, fantastic beachside setting, sidewalk cafes, a street famous for its cakeshops and one of the best kept secrets in Melbourne - the excellent St Kilda Botanic Gardens
Melbourne has some of the finest gardens of any city in the world, many of them within a kilometre of the CBD. A morning in the Royal Botanic Gardens is one of the great treats of visiting this city.
Federation Square is a central and unifying public space, a landmark and a cultural magnet bringing together open spaces and innovative architecture and engineering. Go there for the music, the action and the arts.
The Docklands is Melbourne's biggest urban renewal project. Only minutes from the CBD, the Docklands precinct is turning into a thriving waterfront community with great restaurants, and a popular spot where Melbournians can live, work and play.
The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square is the spectacular new home of Australian art, with twenty galleries housed in a landmark architectural complex. It has more Australian art on permanent display than any other gallery in the world, as well as special exhibitions and programs, cafes, and a restaurant. And what's more, admission to the permanent collection is free.
Melbournians are passionate about the finer things in life - eating out is no exception, making Melbourne a great place for an appetite, bad if you're watching your waistline.
Best Way To Get Around:
Melbourne has an excellent privatized public transport system. The automated ticketing system operates on all train, tram and bus services in the metropolitan area (including NightRider, Melbourne's after midnight bus service) with electronically-encoded tickets called Metcards. One Metcard can give you flexible travel between trains, trams and buses. Note however, that Airport bus services are not part of the Metcard system.
Metcards can be purchased from customer service centres at major rail stations, from Metcard ticket machines at train stations and trams, on buses, and from retail outlets displaying blue Metcard signs.
Melbourne’s public transport network is divided into two zones. Zone 1 covers all areas out to about a 12 kilometre radius of the central city.
When travelling, you are required to always validate your Metcard before entering a train platform and each time you board a tram or bus. Validation involves inserting your Metcard into a validator machine. However, when purchasing your Metcard from a ticket machine on a tram, it is automatically validated for that journey only.
If you are staying in the central city, you can visit all the places covered in this journal on foot. Melbourne is a good city for walking because it is flat, the footpaths are wide and the streets are on a grid system so you won’t get lost. They are all walkable from Flinders Street station if you take public transport into the city.