Things to Do in Victoria

Australia’s second largest city, Melbourne is also its cultural capital, with a plethora of museums, galleries and theaters, as well as expansive parklands and attractive Victorian-era buildings. Home to the Australian Open tennis tournament and the Melbourne Cup horse race, the city is also a jumping off point to visit the Great Ocean Road or the penguin colonies on Phillip Island.

How to Get to Melbourne

Your ship will dock at Station Pier in Port Melbourne. The tram station is about a five minute walk from the pier and, from there, it is about a twenty minute ride into the center of Melbourne. Taking a taxi is another option and should cost about $20.

One Day in Melbourne

Begin your exploration of Melbourne by hopping on the free Circle City tram, which makes an hour-long loop around the city center. Then, head to Federation Square, where you will find numerous galleries, shops and cafes surrounding the square, as well as the city’s Visitor Center. Spend an hour or two around the square and then head up to the Eureka Skydeck for jaw-dropping views around the city. If you’re feeling adventurous, step out on the Edge, a glass cube extending from the skydeck that will give you a view 935 feet straight down!

How you spend the rest of your time in Melbourne will depend a lot on your interests. You might get a taste of Australian and Aboriginal art at the National Gallery of Victoria before heading to the State Library of Victoria and the St. Paul Cathedral. Or, make your way to the quirky suburb of St. Kilda to ride the rollercoaster at Luna Park, stroll along the pier and soak up some sun on St Kilda Beach. Others may enjoy simply walking by the Yarra River and exploring the Royal Botanic Gardens or the Melbourne Zoo.

Shopping aficionados will also want to check out Little Collins Street, Collins Street, Brunswick Street and the Queen Victoria Market.

Just north of Melbourne’s CBD, is Lygon Street, the main street in the city’s old Italian quarter.

Still referred to by some as ‘little Italy’, Lygon Street was once the epicenter of Melbourne’s café culture and more than part way responsible for the city’s enduring caffeine obsession. Victorian terraces still line the street and several Italian restaurants continue to beckon passers-by to eat and drink at their street-side tables.

As you walk along Lygon Street you get a sense of its diversity: Italian-influenced restaurants, cafes, cake shops and gelati bars still dominate the scene but you will also discover a whole swathe of mainstream and boutique clothing stores, one of Melbourne’s best independent bookstores (Readings Books & Music); La Mama Theatre and Cinema Nova, Melbourne’s largest and most treasured arthouse cinema.

Faraday Street intersects Lygon Street at its northern end and it’s here that you’ll find Brunetti’s, a long-standing Carlton institution that serves the best cakes and gelato in town.

One of nature’s most humbling aspects is the indifference towards human existence. Whether us humans were here or not, waves would still crash, sunsets would still glow, and hundreds of clumsy Little Penguins would storm Phillip Island at sunset. Of all the Phillip Island Nature Parks, the Penguin Parade is inarguably the most popular due to this evening show. Each night at dusk, hundreds of these penguins waddle up the beach to rest and feed their young, and since 32,000 of the Little Penguins live on Phillip Island, it’s believed to be the largest colony of the world’s smallest penguin. Arrive early and have a drink at the coastal penguin café, or tour the informative visitor center to learn about the curious critters. As dusk approaches, make your way towards the multi-tiered seating and keep your eyes on the shoreline, and when the first penguin comes rolling ashore and shakes the water of its back, it will soon be followed by hundreds more as they shake, waddle, and roll. 

Melbourne Museum provides a great experience for adults and children alike. A series of permanent exhibitions relating to the culture, history and the environment of Melbourne and Victoria are housed in several galleries including a lush Forest Gallery, an Aboriginal gallery and a Children’s area.

Exhibitions include Science and Life, Melbourne Story, Evolution, Mind and Body, and many more. Get to see bones and displays of Australia’s mega fauna (giant animals), experience the Dinosaur Walk, Bugs Alive!, Amazing Animals and The Human Body.

Temporary exhibitions run about twice a year and cover a variety of themes. The Museum also houses a good café, an IMAX center and – the museum’s most popular object – a taxidermy original of Australia’s most famous racehorse, Phar Lap.

Housed in a striking building with a huge glass façade, Melbourne Museum is not immediately visible if you approach from the CBD as it stands behind the impressive Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens.

Animals from Australia and around the world have called the Melbourne Zoo home since 1862, making it Australia's oldest zoo. Surrounded by landscaped gardens, the zoo is a popular location for picnics and evening concerts during the summer.

Star attractions at Melbourne Zoo include the colorful inhabitants of the Butterfly House, families of gorillas at play in the Gorilla Rainforest, and native animals like kangaroos, wombats and koalas in the Amazing Australians exhibits.

Most famous of all is the Trail of the Elephants, the Asian village home of the zoo's five elephants, including recent addition baby Mali. Orangutans are viewed from elevated boardwalks, and penguins and seals swim in the Wild Sea display. Don’t miss feeding time and Meet the Keeper presentations.

Old Melbourne Gaol is a former prison turned museum at the top of Russell St in Melbourne’s CBD. A solid and formidable looking bluestone building, the jail is famous for having housed many of Victoria’s most notorious and infamous criminals, including the bushranger Ned Kelly.

During the Gaol’s operation as a prison between 1845 and 1924, a total of 135 people were hanged here and today’s museum displays the death masks, information and memorabilia that belonged to the prison and its unfortunate inmates.

Rumored to be haunted, the Gaol capitalizes on its reputation by offering night tours and stages a live performance each Saturday relating to the life and death of its most famous inmate, Ned Kelly.

The Old Melbourne Gaol also gives visitors the chance to ‘stand in the shoes’ of a prisoner or a judge inside the City Watch House and the Old Magistrates’ Court. The City Watch House Experience is the chance to be ‘arrested’ and locked in a cell for a short period, while in the Old Magistrates’ Court you can be play at being the accused, judge or jury.