Holiday Destination: Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division of which Melbourne is the common name. As of June 2010, the greater geographical area had an approximate population of four million. Inhabitants of Melbourne are called Melburnians or Melbournians. The metropolis is located on the large natural bay known as Port Phillip, with the city centre positioned at the estuary of the Yarra River. The metropolitan area then extends south from the city centre, along the eastern and western shorelines of Port Phillip, and expands into the hinterland. The city centre is situated in the municipality known as the City of Melbourne, and the metropolitan area consists of a further 30 municipalities. Melbourne was founded in 1835 by settlers from Launceston in Van Diemen's Land. It was named by governor Richard Bourke in 1837, in honour of the British Prime Minister of the day, William Lamb the 2nd Viscount Melbourne. Melbourne was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria in 1847. In 1851, it became the capital city of the newly created colony of Victoria. During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world's largest and wealthiest cities. After the federation of Australia in 1901, it then served as the interim seat of government of the newly created nation of Australia until 1927. Often referred to as the cultural capital of Australia, Melbourne is the birthplace of cultural institutions such as Australian film, Australian television, Australian rules football the Australian impressionist art movement and Australian dance styles such as New Vogue and the Melbourne Shuffle.

Climate

Summer 24 °C (56.3 °F), Winter 5.5 °C (41.9 °F)

Tourist Season

November and March is best for tourism.

Accommodation

Hotels and Apartments.

General Information Of Melbourne

• Land Area: 3,400.0 sq mi (8806 km2)
• Population: 41 Lakh.
• Capital City: Victoria.
• Language: English.

Tourist Attraction in or Near by Melbourne

Federation Square

Federation Square is a civic centre and cultural precinct in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was opened in 2002. The square includes several buildings, housing the NGV Australia and the Australian Centre for the Moving. It is a mixed use development covering an area of 3.2 hectares and centred around two major public spaces open squares and one covered, built on top of a concrete deck above busy railway lines. It is located at intersection between Flinders Street and Swanston Street St Kilda Road in Melbourne's Central Business District, and is adjacent to Melbourne's busiest railway station, Flinders Street Station. It is Victoria’s second most popular tourist attraction, attracting 8.99 million visitors in 2011. It is sometimes considered to be one of the world's ugliest buildings or tourist attractions.

Melbourne Cricket Ground

The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light towers at any sporting venue. The MCG is within walking distance of the city centre and is serviced by the Richmond railway station, Richmond and the Jolimont railway station, East Melbourne. It is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct. Internationally, the MCG is remembered as the centrepiece stadium of both the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The open air stadium is also one of the world's most famous cricket venues, with the well-attended Boxing Day Test match commencing on Boxing Day each year. Throughout the winter, it serves as the home of Australian rules football, with at least one game held there each round. The stadium fills to capacity for the AFL Grand Final in late September, or early October.

Eureka Skydeck

Eureka Tower is a 297.3 metre skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction began in August 2002 and the exterior completed on 1 June 2006. Eureka Tower is named after the Eureka Stockade, a rebellion during the Victorian gold rush in 1854. The plaza was finished in June 2006 and the building was officially opened on 11 October 2006. The project was designed by Melbourne architectural firm Fender Katsalidis Architects and was built by Grocon. The developer of the tower was Eureka Tower Pty Ltd, a joint venture consisting of Daniel Grollo, investor Tab Fried and one of the Tower's architects Nonda Katsalidis. It was the world's tallest residential tower when measured to its highest floor, until surpassed by Ocean Heights and the HHHR Tower in Dubai. It is now the 9th tallest residential building in the world.

Melbourne Park

Melbourne Park is a sports venue in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 1988, Melbourne Park has been home of the Australian Open in tennis, which is played annually in January. The venue was the home of the Melbourne Tigers basketball team, and can be adapted to host netball, ice skating, concerts, cycling as well as swimming and motorsport events. Melbourne Park was built in 1988 beside the Jolimont Yards as a new venue to host the Australian Open, as Kooyong, the previous venue, had become too small. It was originally known as the National Tennis Centre at Flinders Park until 1996, when then Premier, Jeff Kennett decided to rename it Melbourne Park, mainly to advertise the name Melbourne to a wide international audience. It is run by Melbourne & Olympic Parks, which also runs the adjacent Olympic Park Stadium. The Yarra Park section of the Sports and Entertainment Precinct is run separately.

The Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre

The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre is the name given to two adjacent buildings next to the Yarra River in South Wharf, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Owner and manager of the venues is the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust. Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust began, replacing the previous trust with the added scope of the Melbourne Convention Centre, formerly called the World Congress Centre Melbourne. In August 1997 the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust became owner and venue manager of both the Melbourne Exhibition Centre and the Melbourne Convention Centre.

Melbourne Museum

Melbourne Museum is located in the Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, adjacent the Royal Exhibition Building. To many Melburnians, the most significant exhibit is the preserved body of Phar Lap, a famous racehorse of the Depression era. Situated in the Carlton Gardens, it was commissioned by the Victorian Government Office of Major Projects on behalf of Museums Victoria. The museum is a rich response to Melbourne’s urban condition, and provides a place for education, history, culture and society to engage with each other in a contemporary setting. It is now an important part of Melbourne’s soft infrastructure. It is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, and is a venue of Museum Victoria, which also operates the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum. The museum has seven main galleries, a Children's Gallery and a temporary exhibit gallery on three levels, Upper, Ground and Lower Level and was constructed by Baulderstone Hornibrook. The Touring Hall is where temporary exhibits are displayed.

Royal Exhibition Building

The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site listed building in Melbourne, Australia, completed in 1880. It is located at 9 Nicholson Street in the Carlton Gardens, flanked by Victoria, Nicholson, Carlton and Rathdowne Streets, at the north eastern edge of the central business district. It was built to host the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880-1881 and later hosted the opening of the first Parliament of Australia in 1901. Throughout the 20th century smaller sections and wings of the building were subject to demolition and fire, however the main building, known as the Great Hall, survived. It received restoration throughout the 1990s and in 2004 became the first building in Australia to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage status, being one of the last remaining major 19th century exhibition buildings in the world.

State Library of Victoria

The State Library of Victoria is the central library of the state of Victoria, Australia, located in Melbourne. It is on the block bounded by Swanston, La Trobe, Russell, and Little Lonsdale streets, in the northern centre of the central business district. The library holds over 2 million books and 16,000 serials, including the diaries of the city's founders, John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, and the folios of Captain James Cook. It also houses the original armour of Ned Kelly.

Victorian Arts Centre

Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as The Victorian Arts Centre and briefly officially called The Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the inner Melbourne suburb of Southbank in Victoria, Australia. It was designed by architect Sir Roy Grounds, the masterplan for the complex was approved in 1960, and construction of the Arts Centre began in 1973 following some delays. The complex opened in stages, with Hamer Hall opening in 1982, and the Theatres Building opening in 1984. The Arts Centre is located by the Yarra River and along St Kilda Road, one of the city's main thoroughfares, and extends into the Melbourne Arts Precinct. Major companies regularly performing in the theatres include Opera Australia and The Australian Ballet, the Melbourne Theatre Company and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The Arts Centre also hosts a large number of Australian and international performances and production companies.

Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex

Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex is a large casino and entertainment precinct located on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited. Crown's current casino complex opened in 1997, after moving from its original location from 1994 on the north bank of the Yarra. It is one of the central features of the Southbank area in the central business district and the Crown Promenade fronts onto the waterfront as part of Southbank Promenade. Children under 18 are permitted into the entertainment section of complex, but not into the gaming area or areas serving alcohol. The entire complex has a space of 510,000 m² which is equivalent to 2 city blocks, making it the largest casino complex in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the largest in the world.

Docklands

Docklands is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km west from Melbourne's Central Business District. It is bounded by Spencer Street, Wurundjeri Way and the Charles Grimes Bridge to the east, CityLink to the west and Lorimer Street across the Yarra to the south and is a primarily waterfront area centred around the banks of the Yarra River. It is now home to several of Melbourne's modern landmarks, including Etihad Stadium, Southern Cross Station and The Southern Star. From the 1880s, the former swamp west of Melbourne became heavily used as a dock, with an extensive network of wharfs, heavy rail infrastructure and light industry. However, following the containerisation of shipping traffic it fell into disuse and by the 1990s was virtually abandoned, becoming notable for an underground rave dance scene a dance culture which survives through popular organised events held at Docklands Stadium.

Luna Park Melbourne

Melbourne's Luna Park is a historic amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay in St Kilda, Victoria, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia. It opened on 13 December 1912 and has been operating almost continuously ever since. The St Kilda park was developed by American showman J D Williams, in company with the three Phillips brothers, who had all had experience in the amusement and cinema industry in the US. Their Chief Engineer and main designer was Englishman T H Eslick, who, according to the opening day brochure, had worked on numerous parks around the world. Williams returned to the US in 1913 to help found First National Films which subsequently became Warner Brothers. The Phillips brothers stayed on and ran the park until their deaths in the 1950s.

Accessibility

Bus Terminal in or Near by

Ventura Bus Lines

21 Scotchmer Street
Fitzroy North, VIC, Australia

Greyhound Australia

Spencer Street/Collins Street
Melbourne, VIC, Australia

TAB Moonee Ponds

740 Mt Alexander Rd
Moonee Ponds, VIC, Australia

Airports in or Near by

Melbourne Domestic Airport: For domestic flights.

Essendon Airport: For international and domestic flights.

Railway Stations

Sugar Station

Flinders Street Railway Station
Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Southern Cross Station

99 Spencer Street
Docklands, VIC, Australia

Melbourne Central Railway Station

Melbourne, VIC, Australia