The Best Travel Guide for Melbourne, Australia

The first thing you need to know when planning a visit to anywhere in Australia is that their seasons are directly opposite that of the US. When it is winter America, the land down under is experiencing summer. No dreams of a white Christmas here, folks. That does not mean they do not get into the holidays though. There are plenty of decorations up and lots of frolicking, along with the massive shopping sprees. It is just that shopping is broken up with bouts of lying around on the beach. If you are tired of the cold, Melbourne, Australia in the state of Victoria is a very good choice as far as get-away plans.

Melbourne is on the southernmost tip of the continent, so a bit further away from the equator than other cities in Australia. This means it is a little slower to warm up, but you still need to pack for spring and summer when visiting over the Yule season. Just be sure to pack a few sweaters for the milder evenings. Do not worry if you forget anything, though, because Melbourne has some of the best shopping in the world. There is nothing you need that you cannot find here.

Do not worry to much about renting a car. Melbourne has an awesome Tram system that will get you pretty much anywhere you want to go with relative ease. The trams are clean and run very frequently. Odds are you will not wait at any tram stop longer than 10 or 15 minutes. An all-day ticket is a mere $6.10 Australian for adults. If you are under 15 years of age you can get it even cheaper. Once downtown, you can take the City Circle Tram for free. This one does as the name implies: It runs around the perimeter of the downtown area, making shopping much easier on your feet.

If you happen to get lost, simply jump on just about any tram and head in to the Flinders Street Station. This is a grand old gorgeous building and you can get to anywhere from there, including hopping a train to go explore the outer areas of Southern Australia.

Currently, the Australian dollar is ringing in at about 77 cents on the US dollar. So when you see a price tag of 10 bucks, know that this is the equivalent of about $7.70 in American pricing.

Speaking of shopping, one of your first stops should be the Victoria Market. This is similar to the French Market in New Orleans, or the Swap Shop in Ft. Lauderdale only much, much bigger. There are over one thousand vendors hawking their wares at this massive open-air market, and deals abound. Do be sure to wear a good pair of walking shoes for this little outing. You can get there on the 55 tram.

If Victoria seems a bit daunting to you, take the number 1 tram over to the Melbourne Market instead. There you will find the same shops, but about overall it is about half the size of the Victoria Market. Both markets also have a very nice array of fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats.

Downtown Melbourne is rife with shops also. Bourke Street and Collins are on the upper end of the shopping scale, while Swanston is where you will find a ton of killer deals on all those souvenirs you will want to pick up. Also on Swanston are several basement factory outlets with unbelievably low prices on clothing. Any tram marked Melbourne College will get you downtown.

Another good shopping venue is Chapel Street. This is where you can start at the lower end for gobs of bargain shopping an work your way up to where the street name changes to Church. As you go up, so do the prices and the fru-fru value of the stores.

Hungry? Look around. Food is everywhere. If you crave the familiar, you can find a McDonalds pretty much every few blocks. Kentucky Fried Chicken also has a strong presence in Melbourne, and Burger King over here is called Hungry Jacks. Nobody seems to know why the name-change, but there it is. But really, while in Melbourne you should skip the fast food and pick any number of wonderful little restaurants. Every ethnicity is well represented, and in pretty much every price range.

The Melbourne Aquarium is across the bridge from the South Bank shopping & Dining mecca. The place is chock full of massive sharks and rays, sea horses and sea dragons, and just a wonderful mix of exotic fish. The gift shop is a bit pricey, but they do have two places to eat relatively cheaply inside.

The Royal Melbourne Zoo is a must-see no matter your age. Unless you happen to be planning a tour of the Australian Outback during your trip, you will not be seeing Kangaroos, Wallabies, Wombats, or Kualas unless you come to the zoo. The 55 tram will get you here, just past the Victoria Market. They have over 350 species of animal from Australia and around the world. You can even see those adorable Meerkats you have fallen in love with from watching Meerkat Manor.

Tram number 16 will get you to St. Kilda Beach, where all the cool kids hang out. There is a very long strand of beautiful sand, several nice restaurants, numerous inexpensive kiosks for ice cream and a quick sandwich, along with tons of tents set up along the sidewalk selling local arts and crafts. This is also where you will find the way-cool little Amusement Park; Luna Park. They have all manner of games and carnival rides, along with a nice wooden coaster that circles the park.

There is much to keep you amused in Melbourne, Australia. If you get bored, you have nobody but yourself to blame. If you run out of ideas, though, the Visitors Center across from Flinders Street Station will be happy to give you any number of brochures and make recommendations.

An edited version of my article appeared in the Dec 2006 issues of Teen Trend Magazine .