Planning Your Visit
Melbourne is the capital city of the State of Victoria; the cosmopolitan cultural hub of Australia, renowned for food, fashion, music and the arts. Melbourne is known for its diverse cultural backgrounds that are reflected in its restaurants that serve a multiplicity of foreign cuisines. It also holds its own in being at the forefront in fashion, style and the arts in Australia. The city has thrice shared top position in a survey by The Economist of the World's Most Livable Cities on the basis of its cultural attributes, climate, cost of living, and social conditions such as crime rates and health care.
Melbourne is very sport focused and the locals are typically fanatics. This is reflected in the fact that Melbourne is the only city in the world that has five international standard sporting facilities (including three with retractable roofs) on the fringe of its central business district. The major sports are cricket, Australian Rules Football and horse racing.
Each year Melbourne plays host to tens of thousands of interstate and overseas visitors who come to see the Australian Open Tennis Championships, the Australian Grand Prix, the Australian 500CC Motorcycle Grand Prix, Spring Racing Carnival, and the Australian Football League Grand Final.
Getting There
Beyond Melbourne
Many visitors do not realise that there are hundreds of interesting destinations in other parts of Australia that are easy to reach and relatively inexpensive to travel to from Melbourne. Though Australia is a big country and it takes time to travel from one destination to another, with a little careful planning and some local knowledge, it is easy to fit other worthwhile destinations beyond Melbourne into your itinerary with little or no extra demands on your budget or time. By planning wisely and travelling overnight, some destinations can end up costing nothing to visit because you pay for your travel with the money you saved on that night's accommodation. And if you live in Melbourne, we show you too what each state of Australia has to offer as a holiday destination.Destinations Beyond Melbourne