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Melbourne activities

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Eureka Skydeck (2 hrs)

Melbourne Eureka
If you like to watch Melbourne from the southern hemisphere’s highest viewing platform, you should go to Eureka Skydeck. It is located adjacent to the Yarra River at the top of Eureka Tower at 7 Riverside Quay. The entrance fee for the Skydeck is $18,50. The opening hours are daily from 10 am to 10 pm.

You can also experience The Edge. This is a glass box, which moves three metres out of the building. You can look 300 metres straight down from there. This five-minute experience costs $12 and $17 for a picture. It's not allowed to use your own camera equipment there.

Included in the normal entrance fee is a walk outside on The Terrace almost 300 metres above the ground. Not for the feint hearted as it can be cold and very windy out there.

Middle Brighton Beach (½ - 1 day)

Melbourne Brighton
Melbourne doesn’t have beautiful beaches like Sydney, but there are a few really nice ones. Middle Brighton Beach is the beach with the iconic colourful Brighton Bathing Boxes and it’s a great beach to spend some time.

Don't mistake it for Middle Brighton Pier, as that is the beach next to the one with the beautiful houses. The beach has no restaurant though, so if you want that, you have to go to Middle Brighton Pier.

If you pass the beach, further away from the city, you'll get great picturesque moments with the bathing boxes and Melbourne's skyline behind.

You can go there by train to Middle or South Brighton. Middle Brighton station is in walking distance to Middle Brighton Pier. South Brighton Station is nearby the south point of Middle Brighton Beach, the point where you get the great view.

St Kilda (½ - 1 day)

Melbourne St Kilda
The nearest beach to downtown Melbourne is St Kilda. Besides the beach there are a lot of restaurants, shops and bars in St Kilda town. It's a great spot to enjoy the beach, or make a walk. End or start your walk in St Kilda for lunch or dinner. Have a drink at Hotel Esplanade or the Prince of Wales.

There's a lot to do in St Kilda from early morning to the next early morning. For the kids there is also the famous Luna Park, which opened in 1912. More information can be found on their website.

You can go to St Kilda by Tram 96 from downtown (from Bourke Street) or tram 16 (from Swanston Street).

Melbourne by bike (½ day)

Melbourne Yarra River
Melbourne is one of the great places in Australia where you can go biking. There are several options to do an organized tour at Melbourne by Bike for example or Real Melbourne Bike Tours.

You can do it yourself as well. If you don’t have a bike, rent one in downtown at Real Melbourne Bike Tours for example at #2 Swanston street. It is near Birrarung Marr and from there you can bike along the Yarra River.

Make a stop at The Convent in Abbotsford for lunch or a drink. Every Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm there's a tour through the convent. Tours leave the St Heliers street store and gallery.

Bike the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail (1-2 days)

Melbourne Yarra Valley
If you think biking the Yarra River is not exciting enough, you should go outside Melbourne and bike through the Yarra Valley. This is an area with beautiful nature and a lot of vineyards.

A great tour to do is the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail, which starts in, surprisingly, Lilydale. From Melbourne you can take a train to Lilydale, this will take you about an hour. You can rent your bikes in Melbourne (see tip: Melbourne by bike) and you can bring them along in the train.

The advantage of doing this trail is that it’s not too steep, as it is a former rail trail. One way to Warburton is 40 kilometres. During the ride you will see beautiful scenery and you have the option to visit some wineries.

Some of the vineyards are closed during harvest season or only open during the weekends so make sure they are open before you pedal there. A very nice one is Seville Hill in Seville.
In Woori Yallock you have to try an award winning pie and in Warburton are several options to stay overnight.

Melbourne museum (2-3 hrs)

Melbourne Museum
Melbourne Museum showcases Australian social history, indigenous cultures, science and the environment. Located adjacent to the world heritage listed Royal Exhibition Builing and Carlton Gardens, and home to IMAX Melbourne.

It is a great museum with interesting things for adults and great things to see and to do for kids. Go to their website for more details about the museum and their temporary exhibitions.

The entrance fee is $10, a ticket including IMAX costs $17,50. The admission for children is free. The museum is located at 11 Nichelson Street Carlton and it is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm. You can go there with the free circle tram to Victoria Street.

Old Melbourne Gaol (2 hrs)

Melbourne Gaol
The Old Melbourne Gaol is a museum and former prison. It consists of a bluestone building and courtyard, and is located next to the old City Police Watch House and City Courts buildings.

It was first constructed starting in 1839, and during its operation as a prison between 1845 and 1924, it held and executed some of Australia's most notorious criminals, including bushranger Ned Kelly and serial killer Frederick Bailey Deeming.

In the police house you can experience what happened when you got arrested, examined and locked up. The former prison is now a three-storey museum, which displays information and memorabilia of the prisoners and staff, including death masks of the executed criminals.

The Old Melbourne Gaol Crime and Justice Experience is located on Russell St (between Victoria and La Trobe St). It is open daily from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm and the admission fee is $23.

Graffiti Laneways (1 hour)

Melbourne Graffiti
Graffiti really is art in Melbourne. In many of the small laneways between Swanston Street and Exhibition Street you will find the most beautiful pieces of art. These laneways are for example Hosier La and there are some laneways off Flinders La, like Duckboard Pl and ACDC Lane.

Just walk in a bit further down the alley or just around the corner. If you're lucky you will see the artists at work. You can go there anytime, but the artists are working mostly late afternoon and early evening.

Great Ocean Road (1-3 days)

Melbourne Great Ocean Road
One of the most beautiful routes to drive from Melbourne is the Great Ocean Road in the direction of Adelaide. Just rent a car in Melbourne, drive to Geelong, from there to Torquay, and from there the beautiful scenery will start.

There are some great towns where you can stay overnight. Lorne and Apollo Bay are great places. The part of the Great Ocean Road between Torquay and Apollo Bay is the most beautiful part. But you have to continue to see Cape Otway and of course The Twelve Apostles near Princetown. The road to Warnambool is more inland, so not really Ocean Road.

You can easily spend two or three days in this area, enjoy the scenery, watch some wildlife and enjoy food and drinks in the lovely towns.


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Language of the world

Of course you like to speak a few words of the local language onboard the plane or at your destination. Here you find some simple basics of the main language spoken in Melbourne.