3 Days in Melbourne: First-Timer Plan
Three days covers the CBD, the MCG, and two of Melbourne’s best inner neighbourhoods, Fitzroy and Carlton. Sort your entry before you fly: an ETA (subclass 601, about AUD $20) for most passports, or the free eVisitor for EU/UK. There’s no airport train, so budget the SkyBus (about AUD $25.90) or a taxi from Melbourne Airport.
Day 1: CBD and the laneways
Start at Federation Square, then work through the laneway network: Hosier Lane’s street art, a coffee stop on Degraves Street, and a walk through the 1892 Block Arcade and the 1870 Royal Arcade. Visit the Ian Potter Centre (NGV Australia) at Fed Square, free, and ACMI next door, also free. Note that NGV International, the gallery’s other building with the Waterwall and the Leonard French glass ceiling, sits separately on St Kilda Road, so save it for tomorrow rather than trying to fit both today. This whole day sits inside the Free Tram Zone, so trams here cost nothing.
Day 2: MCG, Queen Victoria Market and St Kilda
Morning: a Melbourne Cricket Ground tour (about AUD $38, including the Australian Sports Museum). Afternoon: Queen Victoria Market, running since 1878, for lunch and a wander through the stalls. Evening: tram out to St Kilda (Myki needed once you leave the Free Tram Zone) for Luna Park and the little penguins on the breakwater at dusk, free but book the timed viewing slot ahead.
Day 3: Fitzroy, Carlton and the arts precinct
Spend the morning at NGV International on St Kilda Road (free permanent collection), then walk the Royal Botanic Gardens next door, free entry, and the Shrine of Remembrance nearby. If you want a view, add the Eureka Skydeck in Southbank (about AUD $30-40, with “The Edge” glass cube as an extra).
In the afternoon, head to Fitzroy on Brunswick Street for street art and vintage shopping, then cross to Carlton’s Lygon Street, “Little Italy” and the birthplace of Melbourne’s espresso culture, for dinner. A pasta dinner here runs roughly AUD $30-45 a head.
Concrete tip: book the MCG tour and the penguin viewing slot before you land; both sell out on short notice in peak season.
For more days in the city itself, see the 4-day itinerary, or the full Melbourne guide . If Victoria’s day trips interest you more than a fourth city day, the Melbourne, Australia 3-day itinerary uses this same city base to reach the Great Ocean Road instead.
Before you fly: confirm your ETA or eVisitor, and buy a Myki for day 2 onward.