Useful Links and Information
Melbourne is a large city sprawling, with a radius of some 20-30 kilometers, around Port Phillip Bay in the state of
Victoria.
It is a multicultural city with a population of over 3 million people and is among the most livable cities in the world having ranked 1st, 2nd and 17th for 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively in the Mercer Institute survey.
It is a vibrant city especially in summer with many special events and things to do.
Good sites to see what's on around Melbourne include
That's Melbourne
and
CitySearch.
A good starting place is the
Melbourne Visitor Centre at Federation Square.
Tourist Attractions
Some sights of interest around Melbourne include the
Melbourne Zoo, the
Botanical Gardens,
Queen Victoria Market,
South Bank and
St. Kilda Beach.
Some worthwhile day trips include
Phillip Island (
penguins, seals),
Yarra Valley wineries,
Healesville Sanctuary and the
Great Ocean Road.
Restaurants
Melbourne regards itself as the gastronomic capitol of Australia with a rich
ethnic diversity of cuisine on offer. While there are very good and expensive restaurants, you do not need to pay a lot to eat well in Melbourne. There are many restaurants nearby in
Lygon Street (mainly Italian but many other
restaurants).
Beyond Lygon Street, there are restaurants on
Brunswick Street (bohemian) and
Smith Street (feral).
There are also many restaurants at
Chinatown,
South Bank,
Docklands and at the
Crown Casino complex.
Cinemas
Cinema Nova is a nearby cinema complex at Lygon Court.
There are also many
cinemas in the city including Hoyts, Village and Greater Union cinemas.
Australian Open Tennis
The
Australian Open Tennis 2007 grand slam tournament takes place from 15-28 January.
Advance purchase tickets can be purchased over the internet. Ground passes can be purchased on the day for the early days of the tournament for AUD$29.
Australia Day Holiday
Australia Day is celebrated on Friday 26 January. A
Program of events culminates with fireworks at Federation Square at 9.15 p.m.
![The University of Melbourne [logo]](/template-assets-custom/images/custom_logo_crest_comb.gif){kind=logo}
