Melbourne sits astride the Yarra River and is located at the top of Port Phillip Bay.  Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city, being just a little smaller than Sydney, and is the major gateway to the state of Victoria. It is a city with a blend of modern high rise towers, preserved, historical Victorian era architecture and lots of attractive parks and gardens. Melbourne takes pride in being labeled as Australia’s sports capital as well as the nation’s food and drink capital.

The choices of Melbourne hotels and apartments are many and varied, ranging from backpacker budget to top of the range 5 star luxury . Melbourne has an excellent selection of smaller boutique hotels. Many of Melbourne’s popular attractions lie in the fringe areas contained within a 100km radius of the city. A Melbourne rental car is a smart choice for seeing the best this region has to offer.

There is no shortage of attractions to delight visitors to Melbourne and nearby Port Phillip Bay.  The city has a vibrant ethnic population mix of Anglo Saxon, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese and Greek (to name a few) and this cosmopolitan mix is evident in the variety of restaurants and eateries dotted throughout the city centre and surrounding precincts . The very popular annual Melbourne Food & Wine Festival is held during the months of March/April and it is a foodies fantasy come true. .

Take a ride on a yellow and green tram through Melbourne or out to St Kilda with its pier and pavilion or appreciate Melbourne by taking a free City Circle tram ride Flinder Street Station, a popular meeting place, is also well worth visiting

Visiting the outer areas of Melbourne  you will find Weeribee Park Mansion, gardens and zoo and the adjoining Victorian State Rose Garden.  In addition there are numerous historic sites to discover such as the Como Homestead which overlooks the South Yarra River, Ripponlea located nearby at St Kilda, The Old Melbourne Goal or Captain Cook’s cottage in Fitzroy Gardens. For another interesting visit try the Air Force Museum at Point Cook. Point Cook is home of the Air Force Museum and is well worth visiting.

Sport lovers can absorb the experience and crowd atrmosphere of the Melbourne Cricket Groung (MCG) by going to an AFL football gabe or an internation cricket match .  For some different type of entertainment try your luck at the Crown Casino.

For those who love to walk , there are numerous walking tours in and around the city. Make sure your walk takes in St Pauls Cathedral, the Rialto Towers observation deck with its great views of the city, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Myer Music Bowl, the Victoria Arts Centre and the Queen Victoria Markets. 

So there you have it.. a snapshot of things to see and places to go when you visit Melbourne.