Melbourne

Australia's second city: graffiti laneways and coffee bars, free trams in the centre, the MCG and the Australian Open, galleries and markets, and the best food scene in the country. Phillip Island's Penguin Parade is the classic evening trip (about two hours each way), and the Yarra Valley wineries and the Dandenong Ranges are an hour out. Indian travellers will find Foster Street in Dandenong and plenty of Indian restaurants in the city. The weather is famously changeable: pack a layer in any season.

Highlights

• Laneway coffee and street art (Hosier Lane, Degraves Street)
• Queen Victoria Market
• Free City Circle tram
• Phillip Island Penguin Parade at dusk
• MCG tour or a match
• St Kilda pier and its little penguins
• Puffing Billy steam train
• Yarra Valley wineries
• Indian food on Foster Street, Dandenong

Things to do

• Laneways, arcades and street-art walkMorning · 2h 30m
• Queen Victoria MarketMorning · 2h
• Phillip Island Penguin Parade (evening trip)Evening · 7h
• Royal Botanic Gardens and the Shrine of RemembranceAfternoon · 2h 30m
• Puffing Billy and the Dandenong RangesMorning · 6h
• MCG tour and the National Sports MuseumAfternoon · 2h
• NGV International and Federation SquareAfternoon · 2h 30m
• Melbourne Museum, the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton GardensMorning · 2h 30m
• State Library Victoria's domed reading room and the Old Melbourne GaolMorning · 2h
• Fitzroy: Brunswick Street cafés, vintage shops and street artAfternoon · 2h 30m
• St Kilda foreshore and the little penguins at the pier at duskEvening · 2h 30m
• Brighton bathing boxes and the bay beachAfternoon · 2h
• Indian dinner on Foster Street, DandenongEvening · 2h

Tours & tickets

When to go

Best time: October – April

• Melbourne Cup · 3 Nov — "The race that stops a nation", at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November, a public holiday in Melbourne. Racing runs the week before and after; hotels fill and prices rise.
• Australian Open (tennis) — The Grand Slam at Melbourne Park over the second half of January. Ground passes are affordable and sold at the gate on weekdays; central hotels are dear for the fortnight.
• Boxing Day Test (cricket), MCG · from 26 Dec — The traditional Test match starting on 26 December at the Melbourne Cricket Ground; India's tours draw huge crowds of Indian fans. Book tickets as soon as the summer's fixtures are announced.
• Diwali in Sydney and Melbourne — Australia's Indian communities celebrate in the weeks round Diwali: stalls, music and fireworks in Harris Park and Parramatta in Sydney and at community fairs in Melbourne. Flights from India are dearest around the holiday.