Within an hours drive or train ride of the centre of Geelong is Victoria’s capital Melbourne one of the world’s great cities. Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city after Sydney and capital of Victoria. Known for it’s love of sporting events, it is Australia’s most cosmopolitan and European style city with greater Melbourne being home to over 3.8 million people living in the urban sprawl hugging Port Phillip Bay.
Melbourne has some of the finest architecture in the country, from historic old sandstone buildings to the tallest architecturally challenging glass and steel skyscrapers towers found in the country.
Once dubbed “Marvellous Melbourne” by the British press around the time of the Victorian gold rush it was also the second largest city in the British Empire at the time this city still today is well worthy of the title with such a diverse and exciting city so easily accessible to all.
With a huge Greek, Asian, Sub Continent and European population Melbourne has the most diverse mix of cultures found anywhere in Australia. So with multiculturalism comes the food and Melbourne has it all- some of the best selection of food found anywhere in the world. There is everything available and and a huge array of restaurants, cafe’s and diners, from the dirt cheap to over the top extravagance.
An Olympic city in 1956 Melbourne is world renowned for its love of sport. Major sporting events during the year include the AFL grand final, The Formula One Grand Prix and Australian Open Tennis Grand Slam. Melbourne successfully staged the 2006 Commonwealth Games which was regarded as was the biggest sporting event of 2006. The first Tuesday of November is the Melbourne cup when all of Australia and much of the world stand still for one of the world’s greatest horse races attracting spectators and horses from around the globe. The Melbourne Cup is the social event of the year.
The central business district of Melbourne has Australia’s largest retail city with huge famous department stores like Myer and David Jones and all the big brand names, plus dozens of quaint malls filled with specialty shops and boutiques. The vibrant city centre is filled with art, bars, clubs, eateries of all types and cultural precincts like China Town and the Greek Quarter.
Located on the Yarra River which has only just been discovered as one of the cities greatest assets in the past few decades,is home to much of Melbourne’s culture and entertainment. The MCG and National Tennis Stadiums to the north of the city, Beautiful botanical gardens and arts precincts including National Gallery, Hammer Hall and Federation Square and the magnificent Flinders Street Station. A little more south you will find the biggest casino complex in the Southern Hemisphere, our new huge convention and exhibition complex and one of Australia’s best aquariums complete with Antarctic Penguins.
Further downstream is Melbourne’s newest playground- Docklands here huge residential developments intertwined with the Docklands Football stadium with seating for over 50,000 and a retractable roof, shopping, marinas, restaurants, a huge harbour and one of the world’s largest observation wheels.
Outside the city are many vibrant suburbs including the seaside city of St Kilda home to a rich history and the legendary Luna Park. Richmond is the place to shop for bargains with many outlet stores and the one of the city’s large Vietnamese population along with Footscray to the west. Fizroy and Collingwood are home to many of fringe artist and more interesting boutiques. Toorak and South Yarra are home to many of the city’s best boutiques and designer stores and the place to buy an expensive European Car. For Italian its Carton where Lygon Street offers some of the best pasta and was the first place in Australia where pizza was available.
There is no better way to get around Melbourne than by tram. Melbourne has the biggest tram network in the world and stretches miles into the suburbs in all directions. Although there are shiny new modern trams working Melbourne’s streets the famous W class trams dating back to early last century are favourite.Still used on some lines and a very popular form of transport around the city on the free city loop circuit which is a must for any tourist to the city.
Melbourne is connected by freeway to Geelong and there is a regular Geelong to Melbourne rail service which links several stops in Geelong to Melbourne’s brand new Southern Cross Station which is an attraction in its self with its amazing roofline and modern design. The station is in easy walking distance to the river, docklands and city attractions and a hub for public transport in the city.