4 Days in Melbourne: First-Timer Plan
Four days is enough to properly finish the Melbourne city core: the CBD and laneways, the MCG, Fitzroy and Carlton, and now Brunswick, Richmond, and the bayside suburbs too. Get your ETA (about AUD $20) or free eVisitor sorted before you fly, and expect no train from Melbourne Airport, just the SkyBus (about AUD $25.90) or a taxi.
Day 1: CBD and the laneways
Federation Square, the Ian Potter Centre (NGV Australia, free), and ACMI (free) start the day. Walk the laneways, Hosier Lane, Degraves Street, the Block Arcade and Royal Arcade, and finish with dinner in one of the CBD’s laneway restaurants. This whole day is inside the Free Tram Zone.
Day 2: MCG, Fitzroy and Carlton
Morning: an MCG tour (about AUD $38) and the Australian Sports Museum. Afternoon: Fitzroy’s Brunswick Street for street art and boutiques. Evening: dinner on Carlton’s Lygon Street, Melbourne’s “Little Italy” and the historic home of its espresso culture, roughly AUD $30-45 a head.
Day 3: Arts precinct and St Kilda
Morning: NGV International on St Kilda Road (free) and the adjoining Royal Botanic Gardens (free). Afternoon: tram to St Kilda (Myki required outside the Free Tram Zone) for Luna Park and the beach. Stay through dusk for the little penguins on the breakwater, free but book the timed slot ahead.
Day 4: Brunswick, Richmond and the bay
Morning: Sydney Road in Brunswick for multicultural cafes and live-music venues. Afternoon: Victoria Street in Richmond, Melbourne’s “Little Saigon,” for Vietnamese food, then decide between Williamstown, the historic seaport across the bay, or the Brighton bathing boxes, about 13km from the CBD in Melbourne’s own bayside, not on the Mornington Peninsula. Evening: a farewell dinner back in the CBD or Southbank.
Concrete tip: the Brighton bathing boxes and Williamstown both work as a half-day, so pick one rather than rushing both on your last afternoon.
City core done, four days deep: for a longer stay that starts adding Victoria day trips, see the 5-day itinerary or the full Melbourne guide . If you’d rather spend day 4 on the Great Ocean Road instead of the bayside suburbs, the Melbourne, Australia 4-day itinerary reshuffles this same trip around Victoria.
Before you fly: confirm your ETA or eVisitor, and keep your Myki topped up once you’re outside the Free Tram Zone.