Melbourne attractions

Federation Square, just across from Flinders Street Station, is Melbourne's beating heart and favorite meeting spot. Numerous city events take place here throughout the year, making it a must-visit attraction for all travelers. The square is surrounded by many bars and restaurants, and is home to the Ian Potter Centre, an Australian art museum.

First opened in 1912, Luna Park Melbourne is a slice of theme park history. Enter through the mouth of Mr. Moon and ride historic attractions, including the Great Scenic Railway wooden roller coaster. Old-time favorites, such as a ghost train and hall of mirrors, offer thrills to kids, as do bumper cars, carousels, and modern rides.

Located in the heart of Melbourne, St. Paul’s Cathedral is the only neo-Gothic building among a sea of modern structures in Federation Square. Built between 1880 and 1931 to commemorate the location of Melbourne’s first Christian service back in 1836, St. Paul’s features the 2nd-tallest Anglican spire in the world.

Boasting a prime location on the banks of the Yarra River, Melbourne Southgate is a shopping, eating, and entertainment complex. As well as offering one of the most diverse shopping experiences in the city, Melbourne Southgate is just a few minutes walk from Flinders Street Station and Arts Centre Melbourne.

Once forgotten but now an integral part of Melbourne’s cultural scene, Hosier Lane is home to some of the city’s best street art. The laneway, which cuts between Flinders Street and Flinders Lane, exhibits regularly changing graffiti alongside a series of light boxes that exhibit the work of up and coming contemporary artists.

Located in the bushlands of Mornington Peninsula, Moonlit Sanctuary is a wildlife conservation park that is home to native Australian wildlife, including koalas, wallabies, kookaburras, and dingos. The sanctuary is most famous for its night tours, which allow visitors to see nocturnal pythons, feathertail gliders, quolls, and more.

One of Victoria’s most significant landscapes, Point Nepean National Park spans more than 1,000 acres (560 hectares) on the pristine Mornington Peninsula. Visitors can immerse themselves in the coastal views and native grasslands while exploring the rich history of the park. What began as indigenous land became one of the earliest European settlements in Victoria during 1845, then a quarantine station before the site turned into a military center. In addition to its rich culture, the park is host to a world of marine life, including emerald-colored sea shrubs and invertebrates.Discover Victorian landmarks, such as the park’s highest point, Cheviot Hill, overlooking the jetty where Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared in 1967. History buffs can visit Fort Nepean for panoramic views and explore military fortifications used in both World Wars. Numerous hiking trails and beach walks of varied length start in the park. To get the most out of your trip, visit the park’s information center for a self-guided walk brochure or audio tour equipment.

Flinders Street Station is Melbourne’s most historic train station and a major transportation hub. Built in 1854, the station still features remnants of the past like the large clock on the facade, stained glass windows, and old-school flip displays for train departures. The station allows travelers to shuttle between the outer suburbs and the heart of Melbourne with ease.

Queen Victoria Market is Melbourne’s premier farmers market. It’s filled with fresh fruit and vegetables from local farmers, regional meats and cheeses, gourmet items, handicrafts, and much more. Since 1878, the market has been a gathering place for locals and tourists to peruse the stalls and relish delicious treats from stallholders.

Grampians National Park offers more than 646 square miles (1,673 square kilometers) of rugged sandstone peaks, with wildflowers, waterfalls, fern gullies, and vineyards. The park is known for its stunning natural landscape and many ancient Aboriginal rock art sites.

Open since 2000, in a contemporary building designed by Denton Corker Marshall, the Melbourne Museum is a cultural and natural history museum dedicated to life in the Australian state of Victoria. Science, nature, and humanities are combined for an immersive and modern museum experience.

Stark and solemn, the Shrine of Remembrance is Victoria’s memorial to Australians who have served in war or peacemaking operations. Located within the King’s Domain Parkland, the shrine combines Athenian and Turkish architectural styles, and also exhibits more than 800 artworks and historical artifacts.

Degraves Street is a short, narrow laneway that runs between Flinders Street and Flinders Lane in the heart of Melbourne.Though named for two pioneer merchants who moved from Hobart to Melbourne in 1849 – Charles and William Degraves – Degraves Street is more often attributed to William alone, who served as a member of Victoria’s Legislative Council. Degraves Street is one of Melbourne’s more unique arcades.Bluestone cobbles and an otherworld charm are the characteristics of Degraves Street. Tall, old-style buildings frame the street, with shops, bars, cafes and more lining the ground level, and apartments up above. Dining on Degraves Street tends towards Italian. Degraves Espresso is said to be one of the most quintessentially Melbourne café experiences. The Degraves Street underpass was built in the 1950s, connecting Flinders Street Station with Degraves Street. The underpass, much like the street it connects to, is full of character. The Platform Artists Group calls the underpass home, and have a frequent turnover for their underground exhibitions.Other big attractions on Degraves Street include the Parisian-style restaurant Majorca House, the stationary and paper shop Il Papiro, bakery Little Cupcakes and children’s bookshop The Little Bookroom.

Boasting a prime location in the heart of Melbourne CBD, the Block Arcade is a heritage shopping arcade that dates back to the 1800s. The arcade offers a boutique shopping experience that’s enhanced by carved-stone ceilings, a glass canopy, and mosaic-tile flooring. Highlights include Haigh’s Chocolates and Hopetoun Tearooms, renowned for its window display.

With more than 74 acres (30 hectares) of natural bushlands and hundreds of animal residents, Healesville Sanctuary is one of the best places in Victoria to spot native Australian animals. Kangaroos, koalas, dingoes, platypus, emus, and Tasmanian devils are just some of the many creatures that call the sanctuary home.

First opened in 1856, the Parliament House of Victoria is home to the state parliament of Victoria, and its grand colonnaded frontage makes it a Melbourne landmark. The Parliament House steps are a popular spot for wedding photos—and for protesters, although the lawmakers here operate at local level and sit relatively infrequently.

Opened in 1892, the Royal Arcade is Melbourne’s oldest shopping arcade. It’s a visual feast, with a lofty glass ceiling that streams natural light onto the delicate Victorian metalwork, and home to a choice selection of boutiques, jewelers, chocolatiers, and cafes.

See thousands of marine animals without leaving the city at the SEA LIFE Melbourne aquarium. Boasting more than 10 themed zones, the aquarium features penguins, sharks, rays, crocodiles, starfish, and much more. The ocean’s diversity and marine conservation efforts are the focus at this popular family attraction.

Since opening in 1977, the Arts Centre Melbourne has established itself as the epicenter of the city’s performing arts scene. With the building’s dramatic spire, the complex has become a cultural landmark within the Southbank arts and culture precinct.Hamer Hall is the main concert hall, while the Theatres Building contains several performance spaces underneath the Arts Centre’s iconic spire. Each is linked by a number of landscaped walkways. The complex also comprises dedicated gallery spaces, including Gallery 1 (formally the George Adams Gallery) and the St. Kilda Road Foyer Gallery.The Arts Centre hosts a diverse mix of local and international performances throughout the year, as well as offering guided tours, exhibitions, and an onsite restaurant and cafe. There’s also a Sunday market held each week from 10am to 4pm, which sees local artists fill the Arts Centre Lawn with unique, handmade crafts and foodstuffs.

The coastal outcropping of Wilsons Promontory is Australia’s southernmost point. Towering granite peaks and white-sand beaches dominate the scenery in the area known as The Prom by locals. Look out for kangaroos, koalas, and penguins in this remote-seeming area that's not far from Gippsland.

The building that once held Victoria’s most notorious criminals is now one of Melbourne’s oldest surviving structures and a museum devoted to its past. From 1845 to 1924, hundreds of violent criminals were jailed and hanged at the Old Melbourne Gaol, including the infamous bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly and gangster Squizzy Taylor.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Royal Exhibition Building and surrounding Carlton Gardens were built for the 1880 International Exhibition. Designed by Joseph Reed, the building is an eclectic, photogenic piece of architecture. The site still houses a range of exhibitions today, including the Melbourne International Garden and Flower Show.

Covering a significant portion of Melbourne’s Southbank, Crown Melbourne is an entertainment complex with three hotels, spas, a cinema, a casino, and a number of bars and restaurants that overlook the Yarra River. The fun never ends at the casino, which is open 24 hours and welcomes guests with a dazzling water jet and fire show.

Dating back to the 14th century, St. Patrick’s Cathedral is a recognizable feature of Melbourne’s skyline. As well as being hailed as one of the finest examples of Gothic-Revival architecture in the world, the cathedral is the tallest and largest Christian structure in Australia. It’s also home to an organ that boasts 4,500 pipes.

Technically, over 5,000 miles separate Melbourne from the Chinese city of Shanghai. When standing on the corner of Swanston Street, however, in Melbourne’s CBD, and looking west down Little Bourke Street past rows of Chinese shops, it’s easy to forget you’re still in Australia—rather than Shanghai itself. With the lone exception of San Francisco, Melbourne’s Chinatown is the oldest of its kind in the entire Western world. Established in 1851 by laborers in Victoria’s gold rush, Melbourne’s Chinatown has thrived as the center of the city’s Chinese community. Walking beneath the towering red arch that marks the Chinatown entrance, the smell of dumplings and Sichuan cuisine seems to waft, lift, and rise above each narrow alleyway entrance. While once notorious for its opium and brothels, modern Chinatown is known for its food and colorful, cultural cuisine. Haggle with a vendor selling bright pink dragon fruit or cups of steaming green tea, and feast on miniature dim sum plates full of classic Cantonese flavor. If you ever come up for air between meals, visit the Chinatown Visitor Center and accompanying Chinese Museum, which explores the Chinese community’s history from gold miners up through today.

With its 30,000 square meters of open space and a bold approach to modern architecture fused with green design, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) is an engineering marvel. Nearly everyone who visits these enormous buildings is here for a large convention, as the exhibition center is the largest of its kind in the entire southern hemisphere. At the center’s famous Plenary hall, public shows such as ballets and theater are also open to the public. The room can accommodate up to 5,500 people, or can also be divided into three different rooms of approximately 1,500 people. Aside from the shows and conventions themselves, the buildings are lauded for their innovative advances in modern green design, and it’s the world’s only venue to ever receive a 6 star Green Star environmental rating.

Victoria's Dandenong Ranges lie just east of Melbourne and overlook the Yarra Valley wine region, offering a mountain retreat on the city's doorstep. What the peaks lack in size—the highest are under 2,620 feet (800 meters) above sea level—they make up for in scenery, such as ash forests, valleys of tree ferns, and wild bushlands.

Dating back more than 150 years, Fitzroy Gardens is an historic addition to Melbourne’s green spaces. The park is conveniently located near Melbourne CBD and features notable attractions such as Captain’s Cook Cottage, which was transported from England, the richly decorated Fairy Tree, and a model tudor village.

The Koala Reserve on Phillip Island is a fun and informative place to learn more about the popular Australian marsupial. Stroll elevated boardwalks through eucalypt woodland as you observe koalas in their natural habitat.

Visiting Melbourne Central is a trip that can literally take days. Even if you spent only 10 minutes in each of the 300 shops, it would still take over 50 hours before the shopping was through. Granted—while it’s impractical to visit every shop—there’s still the time it takes to visit the sights within the center. Take, for example, historic Shot Tower—a bullet making facility from 1889 that’s housed within the shops. To protect the original structure from crumbling, an enormous, 20-story, cone made of glass protects the entire tower—a feat of architectural engineering that’s the largest of its kind in the world. While exploring the maze of eateries and shops, be sure to keep an eye on the time as it approaches the top of the hour. Every hour, on the hour, the famously oversized Marionette Watch sounds a version of “Waltzing Matilda,” an old bush ballad that’s considered the unofficial national anthem of Australia.