What to Do From a Melbourne Base
Treat the city as a fast two-day warm-up and Victoria’s day trips as the real second half of the trip, and Melbourne’s “things to do” list gets a lot longer than most city guides suggest. Here’s what earns a spot in those two city days, and why the day trips beyond them are the actual point of basing yourself here.
Day one: Federation Square and the laneways
Start at Federation Square and the Ian Potter Centre (NGV Australia, free), then ACMI (also free) next door. Work the laneway network from there: Hosier Lane for street art, Degraves Street for coffee, and a slow walk through the 1892 Block Arcade and the 1870 Royal Arcade, Australia’s oldest. If you have a spare hour, NGV International on St Kilda Road, the gallery’s other, separate building, holds the permanent collection, also free to enter. For a view over the city, Eureka Skydeck in Southbank runs about AUD $30-40; skip the Melbourne Star observation wheel, which is currently closed for restoration.
Day two: the MCG, the market and St Kilda
An MCG tour (about AUD $38) covers Australia’s largest stadium and the Australian Sports Museum. Queen Victoria Market, running since 1878, is worth a slow browse around lunch. In the evening, St Kilda has Luna Park, the world’s oldest continuously-running amusement park, and the little penguins that come ashore on the breakwater at dusk, free to watch but requiring a booked timed slot that fills up fast.
Free things to do
Between the two paid highlights, Melbourne stacks up plenty that costs nothing: both NGV buildings, ACMI, the domed reading room at State Library Victoria, the Shrine of Remembrance, the Royal Botanic Gardens, and every tram ride inside the Free Tram Zone covering the CBD and Docklands.
Then the day trips take over
Once those two days are done, the city core is genuinely covered, and Victoria’s day-trip radius becomes the main event: the Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles, Yarra Valley wine country and Healesville Sanctuary’s wildlife, Phillip Island’s dusk Penguin Parade, the Dandenong Ranges’ heritage Puffing Billy train, and Ballarat’s gold-rush history at Sovereign Hill, all within one to four hours. This is the actual reason a Melbourne base outperforms a standard city break.
Read more: our 7 Victoria day trips guide covers each of those in full, and the Melbourne, Australia guide ties the whole trip together.
One concrete tip: book the little penguins’ timed St Kilda slot as soon as you land, alongside anything for Phillip Island, since both fill up well before you’d think to check.