Australia Independent Travel | Melbourne Travel | Melbourne Overview | City & Airport Transport (SkyBus) | myki Transit Card
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| Melbourne - Night view along the Yarra River |
Melbourne is located in the state of Victoria on Australia's east coast and is currently the country's second-largest city. The city is home to a huge number of Victorian-era buildings — second only to London worldwide — and because of the many large churches of all kinds left over from the Victorian period, it has also earned the nickname "the City of Churches."
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| St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne |
Melbourne's coffee culture is incredibly vibrant. Originally brought over by Italian immigrants, it flourished here, and the city is packed with cafés. Many famous roasters and coffee shops are based in Melbourne, and it's easy to stumble upon distinctive independent cafés and roasteries tucked away in the laneways — which is why the city is also known as the "coffee capital."
City Attractions and Restaurants
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| Flinders Street Railway Station |
- Australia Independent Travel | Melbourne Travel | Melbourne Overview | City & Airport Transport SkyBus | myki Transit Card
- Australia Independent Travel | Melbourne City Attractions | Flinders Street Station | Federation Square | Royal Arcade | Graffiti Lane | State Library Victoria | Queen Victoria Market
- Australia Independent Travel | Melbourne City Attractions | Queen Victoria Market | Seasonal Wednesday Night Market | A Market with a Century of History
- Australia Independent Travel | Melbourne City Food | Popular Brunch Spots and Cafés | Coffee Capital | The Hardware Societe | Higher Ground
Attractions Around Melbourne
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| Great Ocean Road - The Twelve Apostles |
- Australia Independent Travel | Melbourne Day Trips | Puffing Billy Railway | Vintage Coal-Fired Steam Train | Transport Info and How to Buy Tickets
- Australia Independent Travel | Melbourne Day Trips | The Great Ocean Road Day Tour | The Twelve Apostles and Otway National Park | Go West Tours
- Australia Independent Travel | Melbourne Day Trips | Phillip Island Day Tour | Rainbow Huts | Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Park | Penguin Parade | Go West Tours
Where to Stay in Melbourne
✈️ Airport to City Transport
To travel between Melbourne Airport and the city, you can take a public bus and transfer, or catch the SkyBus (the airport express shuttle bus). Of course, you can also just take an Uber — but for travellers, aside from Uber, the most convenient, fastest and most economical option is simply to hop on the SkyBus airport express!
- Airport to city: T4 -> T3 -> T1 -> City (Southern Cross Station)
- City to airport: City (Southern Cross Station) -> T1
| Trip fares | One way | Return |
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Adult
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$22.00 |
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Child
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$4.00 |
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Senior
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$18.00 |
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Airport to City
International flights arriving in Melbourne clear immigration at T2 (Terminal 2), while domestic flights come out at T4. That said, these terminals aren't especially large and they're all close to one another.
Buying tickets is easy too. Once you're through immigration you'll spot the SkyBus counter inside the terminal, with fares clearly displayed and plenty of ticket machines. Just make your selection and pay by card. Return tickets are cheaper, but remember to keep your ticket safe. For an even better deal, you can buy tickets in advance on platforms like Klook or KKday, where the price may be lower than buying on the spot.
Finding where to board isn't hard either — as soon as you step outside, the SkyBus stop is impossible to miss. Just take your ticket, join the queue, and you're set. No difficulty at all.
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| The lower deck has plenty of space for large luggage |
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| The drop-off point in the city |
City to Airport
The city boarding point is at Southern Cross Station — the same place where the airport bus drops you off (on the opposite platform). Inside the station there's also a SkyBus service centre and ticket machines, plus clear signage telling you which platform to wait at.
There are two services here, one to Melbourne Airport (MEL) and one to Avalon Airport (AVV). Since the platforms are right next to each other, pay a little attention while waiting so you don't board the wrong bus.
🚌 Getting Around the City
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| Tram |
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| Tram waiting platform |
The main forms of public transport in central Melbourne are trams, buses and trains. If you're sightseeing in the city centre, you'll mostly use trams or buses; if you're heading to the outer suburbs, you're more likely to need trains or buses.
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| Bus |
Free Tram Zone
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| from: www.ptv.vic.gov.au |
In the central city there's an area called the Free Tram Zone. Anywhere within this zone, riding the tram is completely free and no ticket is required! The Free Tram Zone basically covers all of Melbourne's city-centre attractions, so if your itinerary stays within the CBD there's no need to buy a myki card at all. Trams also run frequently, so getting around central Melbourne by tram alone is very convenient.
Free Tram Zone map: Free-Tram-Zone-Map-Map
(If the link is broken, go directly to the official site www.ptv.vic.gov.au)
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| Inside a tram |
Things to note when riding in the Free Tram Zone:
- No need to buy a myki card
- If both boarding and alighting points are within the Free Tram Zone, you don't need to tap (touch on or off)
- If either your boarding or alighting point is outside the Free Tram Zone, you must tap on/off
- There will be an announcement when the tram is about to leave the Free Tram Zone
- All transport other than trams requires payment, even within the Free Tram Zone
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| touch on or off (tapping your card) |
Introduction to myki
myki is Melbourne's universal transit card. All passengers using public transport must use myki; if you don't have one when boarding, you'll need to buy one on the spot, and you cannot pay cash for public transport. What's more, myki cards can't be refunded — they simply expire automatically after their 4-year validity period, which can't be extended. So it's not a particularly tourist-friendly ticketing system.
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| The service centre at Southern Cross Station |
To buy a myki, all major train stations have ticket machines or service centres. A small number of tram platforms also have ticket machines, and you can buy one at convenience stores as well.
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| myki purchase and top-up machine |
A myki card costs AU$6, and this can't be put toward fares or refunded... Before using myki, you should understand that there are two ways to load value: myki pass and myki money
myki money: divided into two-hour and daily fares. Within two hours you'll only be charged a fixed amount no matter how many times you tap on, and once you exceed two hours it becomes a day fare
myki pass: better suited to people living in Melbourne long term
How to Buy a myki
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| Choose whether to buy a new myki or top up an existing one (two different options) |
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| Buying a new card — select the Fare Type |
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| It then moves automatically to the top-up step |
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| The minimum top-up is AU$7 |
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| You can pay with cash or credit card |
Checking Services and Timetables
Melbourne's public transport website has a Journey planner feature that helps you plan routes and check timetables. In practice, though, the information on Google Maps these days is just as accurate and the interface is far easier to use than the PTV planner, so in the end I just used Google Maps and found it more than sufficient.
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