Discovering Melbourne

Melbourne is a city of great events, food and wine, and a dynamic arts scene. Explore the city's elegant streetscapes, lavish parks and gardens, striking architecture and world-class attractions, galleries and museums.

A Sense of Place

Melbourne has preserved a strong sense of history in its celebration of its Indigenous traditional owners, gold-rush architecture, historic parks and tree-lined streets, trams network, and cobblestone laneways and historic arcades.

Contemporary architecture sits comfortably beside the historic, and includes the iconic Federation Square - a public plaza where people gather to meet, for events, or to browse the galleries. It is within sight of the spires of the Arts Centre, the new Melbourne Recital Centre and Melbourne Theatre Company buildings.

See the City

Gain some altitude and see the grid-like city, green spaces, distinctive architecture and the iconic Yarra River winding its way to Port Phillip Bay. Melbourne 360 - the Melbourne Observation Deck at Rialto - is on level 55 of the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere, the Rialto Towers Building.

Get in on the Act

Good design, great food, fashion and the arts - Melbourne is passionate about its sensual life. Get in on the act at theatres and venues, in galleries and the city's famous bars, restaurants and cafés. Musicians, actors, dancers and entertainers take to the stage every day to perform in historic theatres, clubs and pubs and state-of-the-art venues.

Renowned as a sporting city, Melbourne is the original home of Australian Rules Football and attracts sporting stars and their fans to tennis, equestrian, motor racing, surfing and other competitions. It has world-class facilities, including the new Rectangular Stadium being built as a home ground to the Melbourne Victory soccer team.

Melbourne hosts a busy calendar of community events and international festivals that celebrate fashion and design, words and ideas, film, comedy and the arts.

Melbourne is the door to Australia's cellar, with approximately 100 wineries within 100 kilometres of the city. Order a Victorian drop at one of more than 3,000 places to eat and drink throughout the city.

Melbourne Aquarium has opened its new Antarctica development, which includes an Antarctica penguin exhibit, and which has expanded to include improved retail, food and education services, as well as a stunning new function space.