Melbourne

MELBOURNE is located in the South-East of Australia Melbourne is the capital of the state Victoria and the second largest city in Australia. But  Melbourne is growing and predictions say Melbournes metro area will soon overtake Sydney as the most populated capital city in Australia.
Besides of the tennis and the F1, Melbourne is well known for its high-quality of living. 2017 the city won for the seventh time in a row the title ‘Most Liveable City’. When visiting Melbourne it is easy to understand why Melbourne just keeps winning that  title.

For the Aussies, Melbourne is well known for its trams, excellent food from all over the world, premium coffee and its extreme weather.  ‘Melbourne Weather’ and ‘Four seasons in one day’ are terms to describe the rapid weather changes you can experience in Melbourne.

Climate

‘Melbourne Weather‘ is a little special. So you better carry always your sunnies, a woolen jumper and an umbrella in Melbourne. This way you will be well prepared for Melbournes Four Seasons in one day. But Melbourne got seasons, more predominant as most people would expect in Australia. Hot summers but also cold and wet winters. Autumn is for many people the most pleasant time of the year in Melbourne.

Spring (September – November)
In spring average temperatures ranges between 9.6 – 19.6°C. The weather can change a lot in this time. So the nicest sunshine can turn into a cold downpour and  October is the wettest month in Melbourne. Carrying a warm rain-jacket is advised when visiting Melbourne in this time of the year.

Summer (December – February)
The average temperatures in summer range from  14 – 25.3°C. But averages are hiding the extremes. The thermometer can hit the 40’s for a few days in January and February, with a bit of wind making the city feel like a fan-powered oven.  But Melbourne Weather changes quickly and temperatures can drop rapidly on a hot day.

Autumn (March – May
Autumn is a beautiful time of the year in Melbourne. Clear crisp mornings, sunny days and mild evening temperatures making it such a good time in Melbourne. The average temperatures in summer range in between 10.9 – 20.3°C.

Winter (June – August)
Winter in Melbourne can be described with wet, cold and unpleasant. The average temperatures in summer range in between 6.5 – 14.2°C. So you actually can have frost on the windscreen of your rental car.  Many Melbournians are keen skiers, heading on the weekends out to the ski-slopes in the high country. Staying in town you can experience hefty rain falls, strong winds which no umbrella can withstand.  On the upside you can have nice winter days with sunny 18°C. You just never know what might be next.

Getting there

Melbournes biggest airport is Tullamarine Airport. Airportcode: [MEL]
Coming from Europe you will have to stopover in Asia or the Middle East to reach Melbourne. Coming from America you can
Melbourne also has to regional/domestic airports called Essendon and Avalon. So be careful and double-check in case you have international-domestic connecting flights. Website Tullamarine Airport

Melbourne – Airporttransfer
Getting to the city from the airport is the easiest by bus, shuttle or taxi.  we do recommend STARBUS Shuttle Service. This shuttle drives to certain hotels in several suburbs but also to private addresses for an extra fee. All this without a special reservation. You are paying a standard fee of 18 Dollar (looked up 3/17).
The alternative is the Melbourne SKY BUS which brings you to the Southern Cross railway and coach station. Here you can change buses to a service which will connect to several hotels and the suburb St.Kilda.  The one-way ticket will cost you also 18 AUD (looked up 3/17) a return ticket will cost you 35 dollars.

Taxi
The price for a cab fare highly depends on traffic. In general, you should be prepared to pay in the range from 60-100 dollar for a trip into the CBD but take it as a rough estimate.

Uber
You can also easily use Uber. Especially when traveling with two or more people this is the most convenient and possibly even the cheapest option.

How many days should you plan for  Melbourne?

Melbourne has a lot to offer. There is so much to see and to experience that you can easily spend a week here.  But we also made a 2-3 day “Melbourne Must-See & must-Do-list” for everyone with less time in the schedule.

Wha do you have to see and to do in Melbourne?

Free Tourist Tram – City Circle Tram
Line 35 also called the ‘City CircleTram’ is a historic tram which circles around the city center.  The full loop takes half an hour and whilst looking out of the window a tape will tell you what’s located at that particular stop.
The City Circle operates between  10 AM and  6 PM Uhr, on Thursdays and Fridays as Saturdays even until 9 PM. The trams come every 12 minutes and run in both directions.
Even when you are still jet-lagged or it is a colder morning in Melbourne you can get a good overview of the city.  The best is, the city circle is free
Here the Link to Line 35

Melbourne Visitor Shuttle Tour – Bus Tour
The Melbourne Visitor Shuttle Tour is an hop-on-hop-off Bus Tour and a good alternative and addition to the City Circle Tourist Tram.  Tip: It makes sense to make a little preselection at which of the 13 stops you would like to get off to explore further.
The buses are operating daily except for public holidays from 9.30 AM to 16.30 PM every 30 minutes. The buses have free wifi and do have air conditioning.

We have listed a few of the stops in our recommendations below. So take the time and compare on the website  Melbourne Visitor Shuttle Tour 
The bus tour used to be free of charge but nowadays a two-day ticket will cost you 10 dollar (updated 03/2017)

Art and museums  in  Melbourne
The good news is, the museums are highly concentrated in Melbourne. Four of the galleries and museums are in walking distance from each other.
Even if you are not really into museums, the options below can be a good plan B when the weather is not the nicest in Melbourne.

National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) International
and the  Ian Potter Centre NGV
The National Gallerie of Victoria is a good starting point for all friends of art. There is an interesting permanent exhibition which is free to visit. Further, there are changing exhibitions of international artists. 

The Ian Potter Centre focusses on Australian artists. The Ian Potter Centre is located opposite to the  Flinders Street Station on the Federation Square, just a few minutes walking distance from the NGV.
This is the joined website of the  NGV & Ian Potter Center

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA)
Also easy to reach by foot from the NGV is the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. The admission is free.
ACCA website

Australian Centre of Moving Images (ACMI)
The ACMI is certainly worth a visit. At ACMI the history and development of the moving images leading to the modern TV and movie get explained. Besides a lot of technical gear, you can also see some requisites of Australian movies and you can learn which movies have been filmed on the red continent.
Changing exhibitions focus on artists and often times on directors. The ACMI is located on the Federation Square.
The admission to the general exhibition is free but special exhibitions might not be. Check on the  ACMI website what’s on.

Immigration Museum
The Immigration Museum is located on Flinder Street, downstream of the Yarra River or westwards of the Federation Square. You can walk from here or you just catch a tram for two stops. At the Immigration Museum, you can learn a lot about Melbourne and Australias former Immigration policies. The exhibition explains what ethnic groups settled in Melbourne and how the city became so multicultural. https://museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum

Royal Exhibition Building
The Royal Exhibition Building is for sure one the prettiest exhibition halls you can think of. No wonder this building located in the Carlton Gardnes is a popular background for wedding photography. The Melbourne Museum and the IMAX are located right next to it.  Best to reach with the BusTour or a with tram line 96.

Melbourne Museum
The Melbourne Museum is located in the Carlton Gardens. We recommend the Melbourne Museum as a bad weather option. You can easily spend a couple of hours here and learn about Australia’s animals and plants. If the rain continues you can go afterwards into the IMAX which is located underneath the museum.

IMAX Melbourne
Since the IMAX in Sydney is getting rebuild the IMAX in Melbourne has the largest screen in the world with a stunning 32 by 23 meters!
You can buy tickets at the venue or better online: https://imaxmelbourne.com.au

Victoria Market und South Melbourne Market
At these two markets, you can not only shop groceries. At these markets, you can get a good idea what rich supplies of tropical fruits and seafood Australia has to offer. Further, you can find specialties from all over the world. Especially the South Melbourne Market is great to wander around and snack and try some food. Certainly one of the best places to slurp a fresh Oyster or sip on a delicious Melbourne Coffee.

St.Kilda
St.Kilda Beach is located 7 km south from the city center vom. You can reach St.Kilda easily by tram line 96 or tram line 16. St.Kilda is not only  Melbourne city beach it is also a party mile. So you can enjoy the sunset at the beach and go for drinks and nightlife after.  People do swim and kite-surf in St.Kilda but there are plenty of nicer beaches close by. So if you ride a bike or have a car you should check out Elwood, Brighton Beach or BlackRock. If you gotta a car head down to Safety Beach in Mount Martha.  Fun fact, Safety Beach used to be called  ‘Shark Bay’…but no shark attacks have ever been recorded. If you are in Melbourne in the colder time of the year you can check out the St.Kilda Sea Bath.

Brunswick Street (Fitzroy)
Brunswick Street in Fitzroy is a good choice for some afternoon shopping, lazy drinks and dinner. Especially vegetarians and vegans won’t have any problems to find a decent meal. Further, there are plenty of options to dance or play a round of pool in a bar. BarOpen is good for Live-Musik. Naked in the Sky one of Melbournes top rooftop bars. But it tends to get busy there.

Australian Center of Moving Images (ACMI)
Das ACMI erlärt die Geschichte des bewegten Bildes und wie dieses ‘konsumiert’ wird. Desweiteren liegt der Fokus natürlich auf australischen Filmen. Gewiss einen Besuch wert und der Eintritt in die permanente Ausstellung ist kostenlos.

State Library of Victoria
Die State-Library ist ein guter Ort auf auf einer langen Tour durch Melbournes Stadtzentrum zu verschnaufen. Es gibt bequme Leseselle und schnelles Wifi. Neben Büchern gibt es aber auch reichlich Kunst zu bestaunen. Besonders eindrucksvoll ist der La Trobe reading room (Lesesaal) auf dem obersten Level.

Free-City Walking Tours
Diese Tours starten 2-mal täglich, um 10.30 Uhr und 2.30Uhr, vor der State Library of Victoria auf der Swanston Street.
In ca. 3 Stunden führen die Guides zu den lokalen Sehenswürdigkeiten daber auch zu Strassen und Gassen mit seinen vielen Graffitties. Bezahlt werden die Tours und Guides in Form einer freiwilligen Spende.

Moonlight Cinema

• In der Sommersaison findet in Melbournes Botanischen Garten mehrmals wöchentlich das Moonlight Cinema / Mondschein Kino statt.
  Nach einem heissen Tag ist es einfach herrlich sich bei sinkender Sonne auf einem Beanbag mit einem kühlen Glässnd einem Snack niederzulassen. Es gibt Snacks und Getränke zu kaufen Sobald die Sonne ganz verschwunden ist werden aktuelle Blogbuster wie evergreen Klassiker gezeigt. Vor Filmbeginn ziehen meisst noch ein paar Flyingfoxes / Riesenfledermäuse vor der Leinwand her.
  Umbedingt mitbringen:
  Tipps:
  Die eigene Decke oder Sitzkissen und ein Picknickkorb/Daypack mit Drinks und Snacksspart ein paar Dollar. Ein warmer Pulli und Mückenschutz sollten mit bei sein.

Tagestrips in Melbournes näherer Umgebung

 

Great Ocean Road / 12 Apostel / Twelve Apostel

(Tagestour)
Die Great Ocean Road ist eine der beliebtesten Touristen-Attraktionen rund um Melbourne. Sie gehört zu den weltweit schönsten Küstenstrassen und an Ihr liegen die 12 Apostel. Wer die Zeit hat sollte sich einen Tag nehmen um die Great Ocean Road sehen. Lest hier mehr

Phillip Island
(Tagestour)
Phillip Island ist bekannt für zwei Dinge, Motorradrennen und Pinguine.
So findet jährlich ein Weltcup-Run der Superbike auf Phillip Island statt. Ausserdem lässt sich täglich der Marsch von hunderten Pinguinen bestaunen. Nähere Infos gibt es hier LINK

Mornington Peninsula
( 1 – 2 Tagestour)
Mornington Peninsula nennt sich die Landzunge welche sich um Uhrzeigersinn von Melbourne zieht. Ca. 100 km ausserhalb Auf der Mornington Peninsula gibt es so viel zu erleben dass sie bei uns Ihre eigene Seite hat. LINK-Mornington Peninsula.

Healesville Sanctuary Healesville Zoo
(Halb-/Tagestour)
Healesville liegt gut 60 km nordöstlich von Melbourne und lässt sich auch mit öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln und Shuttlebussen erreichen. Der Zoo bietet eine große Auswahl an australischen Wildtieren darunter auch Schnabeltiere. Die Platypus , australisch für Schnabeltiere, können hier in einem ihrem natürlichen Lebensraum nachempfundenen Gehege beobachtet werden.
Hier der Link zur Webseite

Grampians
(1 – 2 Tagestour)
Die Grampians sind eine Bergkette und Naturpark ca. 250 km nordwestlich  von Melbourne. Die Grampians sind ein beliebt bei  Wanderern, Klettern sowie allen Outdoorfreunden.
Ein Besuch der Grampians kann man übrigens sehr gut mit der Great Ocean Road verbinden. So kann man mit einer Übernachtung beide Destinationen  auf einer 2 Tagestour ohne Stress erleben. Ebenfalls lassen sich die Grampians gut als Zwischenstopp auf der Fahrt Melbourne-Adelaide / Adelaide -Melbourne nutzen. Lest hier mehr 

Melbourne Geheimtipps

Das Moonlight Cinema
(Sommer – Abendprogramm)
Das Kino im Botanischen Garten gehört zu den absoluten Highlights.
Hier kann man im Mondschein auf dem Rasen des botanischen Gartens picknicken und einen Film schauen. Gespielt werden das Neuste aus Hollywood genau wie absolute Klassiker. Mitnehmen sollte man eine Flasche Weine, Käse und Cracker, einen Wollpulli und Mückenschutz und das Strandbadetuch was zur Picknickdecke wird. Wer Goldclass bucht bekommt einen Beany-Sitzsack und ein Deckchen.

Aktuelles
Die Webseite That’s Melbourne-What’s On  bietet immer gute Informationen zu den aktuelle Veranstaltungen in der Stadt.

Jährliche Events in Melbourne:

Formel 1 Royal Albert Park
Australian Open
Moomba Festival
Melbourne Comedy Festival

 

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