e-travel-to Melbourne - Tourist Attractions & Sights

Melbourne Trams

Wherever you are going in Melbourne, make sure you include taking a tram on your itinerary. The tram network is extensive and the trams are both a delight for tourists and an essential commuter service for locals. The burgundy-coloured City Circle tram is free, and is a good way to get your bearings as well as explore the inner-city. Or enjoy a 3 course meal as you cruise the Melbourne streets in a Colonial Tramcar Restaurant.

MCG and the Australian Gallery of Sport

Sports fans should not miss the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Australian Gallery of Sport, which celebrates Australian achievements in sport. There is also an Olympic Museum and a Cricket Museum with sporting memorabilia. Take a day or evening tour. Take the train, tram or bus from the CBD.

Queen Victoria Markets

This undercover food market, not far from the city centre, opened in 1878 and is a Melbourne institution. you can shop or take an historic or gourmet tour. Shop for gourmet food, organic produce, clothing, toys, jewellery, souvenirs and more. Throughout summer there is a Gaslight Night Market on Wednesday evenings. Closed Mondays and Wednesdays. Corner Elizabeth & Victoria Streets.

National Gallery of Victoria

With 2 wonderful galleries the NGV is the centre piece of art culture in Victoria. There&dbquo;s the Ian Potter Centre: NGV in Federation Square housing Australian art, photography, decorative arts and fashion. The NGV International houses a collection from Europe, America, Asia and Oceania. Entry to the permanent collections at both gallleries is free.

The Shrine of Remembrance

Situated in the parklands of Kings Domain, just off St Kilda Road, about 1.3 km south of the CBD. Victoria’s memorial to those that have served in armed conflicts and peacekeeping operations. Remembrance ceremonies are held every half-hour, and special events honouring particular groups take place throughout the year, while the Visitor’s Centre houses permanent and touring exhibitions and educational displays. Burwood Avenue. The Shrine is open from 10 am to 5 pm daily, except on Good Friday and Christmas Day.

Melbourne's Eureka Tower

Imagine speeding skywards at nine metres per second to reach the heady heights of one of the world’s tallest buildings.
The trip of a lifetime in one of the fastest elevators in the Southern Hemisphere is soon to open in Melbourne, Australia. The elevators are located in Eureka Tower, which is about to open its Observation Deck, claiming it to be among the highest public vantage points in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Eureka Tower Observation Deck is located on level 88 and is 285 metres from the ground. Access to the Deck is by one of two dedicated elevators that reach their destination in a mere 40 seconds.
Once the Observation Deck is open, developers will set their sights on building a walkway over the top of the skyscraper. The planned Eureka Skywalk will be 350 metres from the ground and will rival the London Eye ride or the Eiffel Tower climb.
Eureka Tower is 300 metres and 92 storeys high and includes 560 apartments, each featuring either a balcony or winter garden.
The building has been designed by one of Melbourne’s leading architects, Nonda Katsalidis, who has designed some of Melbourne’s most impressive buildings. His projects include the Ian Potter Museum of Art at Melbourne University, Republic Tower, The Silos and now Eureka Tower.

Melbourne Zoo

An innovative zoo located 10 minutes from the heart of the CBD with African rainforest area, underwater Seal watching and Trail of Elephants exhibit.

Southgate - Southbank - Docklands

Southgate & Southbank are a shopping and leisure area running along side the Yarra River with restaurants, bars, casual dining and a wonderful Arts & Crafts market on Sundays. The New Quay Docklands also has amazing collection of restaurants, bars and retailers in the old Melbourne Docklands precinct. Take the 86 Tram or the free City Circle tram which runs along the Harbour Esplanade.

Museums

Scienceworks - is an exciting and innovative science and technology museum located in Spotswood. also houses the Melbourne Planetarium. The Melbourne Aquarium - for interactive discovery of marine life of the Southern Oceans. Immigration Museum - Old Customs House has an extensive collection of exhibits related to migrants and immigration to Victoria across the years. Old Melbourne Gaol and Penal Museum has the gallows from which Ned Kelly was hung, among its chilling exhibits Melbourne Museum is the place for stories, performances and a history of fascinating Australian icons. Melbourne Maritime Museum is home of the Polly Woodside, Melbourne’s tall ship. Experience the sights and sensations of the city’s maritime heritage. South Wharf Road, Southbank

Federation Square

Fast becoming the cultural icon of Melbourne with its ‘Fractal Façade’ system on each building in the square. The façade is made up of triangles made of sandstone, zinc and glass pieced together at different orientations and surface angles.

See it from the inside at The Atrium and the BMW Edge Theatre indoor amphitheatre. The Square is home to restaurants, cafes, bars and retail outlets as well as venues including the Melbourne Visitor Centre, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the Australian Racing Museum and the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia - dedicated exclusively to Australian art.

Parks & Gardens

Melbourne is justly proud of its parks and gardens, and in particular the Royal Botanic Gardens. Covering 35 hectares, the gardens are a peaceful counterpoint to the pace of the city. There are free guided walks each day. Nearby in Kings Domain is La Trobe`s Cottage, imported as a prefab from England for Governor La Trobe and now a National Trust property furnished with some of La Trobe`s belongings. Fitzroy Gardens is well worth exploring with a model Tudor village, the Fairy Tree with its carved trunk and Captain Cook`s cottage. This cottage was brought out stone by stone from Yorkshire in 1934, and was the home of Captain Cook`s parents. At dusk, see possums in the adjoining Treasury Gardens. There is also the World Heritage listed Carlton Gardens with a central avenue of mangificent plane trees. Don"t forget the newly opened Birrarung Marr - a major parkland running along the banks of the Yarra river with pathways and bike tracks.