Victoria attractions

Spanning two city blocks and boasting more than 300 retailers across five levels, Melbourne Central is a prime shopping destination in downtown Melbourne. It features a historic shot tower once used to create lead bullets, surrounded by a 20-story glass cone. A museum about the structure is found behind the R M Williams shop.

Australia’s largest conference and exhibition space, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), spans more than 750,000 square feet (70,000 square meters). Perched beside the Yarra River, near the city’s Central Business District (CBD), it hosts conferences, meetings, exhibitions, concerts, and more.

Wine lovers can enjoy the combination of Aussie hospitality, French gastronomy, and viniculture at Dominique Portet Winery. Bringing nine generations of French winemaking traditions to Aussie soil, Dominique Portet Winery is the brainchild of Bordeaux-born winemaker Dominique Portet. It produces everything from Provence-style rosés to Bordeaux blend reds, all with a distinctive Aussie twist.

With national park information, wetland walks, and an award-winning cultural center devoted to the Jadawadjali and Djab Wurrung people, Brambuk the National Park & Cultural Centre is a great place to start your journey through Grampians National Park. There’s a gift shop, a café, a theater, an art room, and displays.

Victoria's Dandenong Ranges lie just east of Melbourne and overlook the Yarra Valley wine region, offering a mountain retreat on the city's doorstep. What the peaks lack in size—the highest are under 2,620 feet (800 meters) above sea level—they make up for in scenery, such as ash forests, valleys of tree ferns, and wild bushlands.

Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria is Australia’s largest and oldest art gallery. Since 1861, it has housed many impressive collections and works by homegrown talent as well as Asian, American, Oceanic, and European artists, including Rembrandt and Picasso. It features a large free permanent collection and rotating, ticketed exhibits.

Home of the Melbourne Cup Thoroughbred horse race, Flemington Racecourse dates back to the 1840s and is Australia’s premier horse-racing venue. The arena is a hive of activity during this prestigious annual event, whose significance is similar to the American Kentucky Derby.

A port town at the mouth of the Yarra River, Williamstown brims with colonial and maritime history. Its heritage landmarks have endured more than 150 years on the salty edge of Hobsons Bay and Port Phillip Bay; the bluestone Old Morgue was built by convicts in 1859, while the 19th-century Timeball Tower at Point Gellibrand continues to keep time today.

Phillip Island is famed for its free-roaming penguins and Australia’s largest colony of fur seals, but those are not the only types of wildlife you can see there. The Phillip Island Wildlife Park is home to more than 100 different species of native Australian animals. Visitors can see and interact with the wildlife living in the park.

Located in the Old Customs House, which dates back to the 19th century, the Immigration Museum reveals the multicultural customs that immigrants have contributed to life in Australia. In addition to learning about the lives of the first settlers in Australia, you can discover your family history by searching the museum’s archive of immigrant details.

Get a taste of life during Australia’s gold rush era with a visit to Sovereign Hill. A reproduction of an 1850s mining town, this outdoor museum is perched on the site of the Red Hill Mine. The mine shaft you see—as well as much of the equipment—is original.

Whether you want to sample Gippsland’s cool-climate wines or tuck into delicious seasonal cuisine amid verdant farmlands, Phillip Island Winery is the perfect spot to relax and unwind. The island’s oldest winery and one of only two cellar doors, the family-run business produces a range of boutique wines and ciders.

A Melbourne icon located in Port Phillip Bay, Brighton Beach boasts golden sand and 82 distinctive bathing boxes. The brightly painted, timber-framed huts date back to the Victorian ages and serve as one of the city’s most photogenic backdrops.

Covering a significant portion of Melbourne’s Southbank, Crown Melbourne is an entertainment complex with three hotels, spas, a cinema, a casino, and a number of bars and restaurants that overlook the Yarra River. The fun never ends at the casino, which is open 24 hours and welcomes guests with a dazzling water jet and fire show.

Get a glimpse into the lives of early Australian settlers and pioneer farming practices at Churchill Island. Located just off the coast of Phillip Island, Churchill Island was the first European agricultural site in Victoria. Today, it’s home to a historic working farm, the Churchill Island Heritage Farm.

On the western tip of the Mornington Peninsula, travelers come to the beautiful Point Nepean National Park to bike or hike along the coastal landscape and to learn more about the park’s history at the 50 heritage-listed buildings. The ocean views along one of Victoria’s most treacherous coastlines are also impressive.

Built in 1755, decades before the First Fleet brought colonizers and convicts to Australia, Cooks’ Cottage lays claim as Australia’s oldest building. Surprisingly, it wasn’t even constructed in Melbourne: In the 1930s, an industrialist by the name of Sir Russell Grimwade shipped the brick cottage over from Yorkshire, England, where it was once home to explorer Captain James Cook’s parents.

Put yourself in the picture at ArtVo, the first immersive art gallery, or “trick art” gallery, in Australia. Spanning 21,528 square feet (2,000 square meters), the Melbourne gallery displays more than 100 interactive, large-scale paintings on walls and floors that allow you to become part of the art through photos.

Best known as the home of the Formula 1 Grand Prix, which takes place in Melbourne every March, Albert Park is a leafy inner-city retreat that has a lake with swans, as well as sports venues, playgrounds, and a skyline view. Take a stroll along the lakeside boardwalk, or rent a boat to explore the lake.

Mainland Australia’s oldest surviving lighthouse, the Cape Otway Lightstation perches high on a cliff above the Bass Strait. A Great Ocean Road landmark, it offers spectacular views, including whale watching in season. Travelers can delve into history at the telegraph station and a World War II radar bunker or stay in heritage cottages on site.

Open since 2000, Marvel Stadium—traditionally known as Docklands Stadium—is mainly used for Australian Football League (AFL) games, but also hosts other sporting events such as soccer and rugby under its retractable roof. Non-sports fans can catch a concert by major musical acts; past performers have included AC/DC, Bon Jovi, and Taylor Swift.

Head to the Australian Sports Museum inside the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for all things Aussie sport. Learn about Aussie Rules Football, cricket, tennis, horse racing, and more. Australian sports heroes are brought to life using holograms and displays, which is fun for the entire family, sports enthusiast or not. You might leave inspired to take up a sporting challenge.

Dating back to 1859 and nicknamed "The Heath" after its original bushland race track, Caulfield Racecourse is one of Melbourne’s most legendary horse racing venues. Hosting prestigious events such as the Caulfield Cup—the precursor to the world-famous Melbourne Cup—it’s a top destination for a festive day at the races or a fun family outing.

Melbourne’s Princess Theatre is considered one of the city’s most beautiful buildings. Established in 1854 and rebuilt in 1886, the interior was refurbished in the 1980s but still retains many of its traditional flourishes, including red velvet curtains and crystal chandeliers. It hosts musical theater and other live performances and can seat up to 1,500 patrons.

Chugging its way through the thick bushlands, fern gullies, and ancient woodlands of the Dandenong Ranges, the Puffing Billy Railway is one of Australia’s most scenic train trips. The spectacular views of the Yarra Valley are just part of the experience; the historic steam engines and open-air carriages, which allow for dangling legs, along with the parks and dining options at Lakeside, make it a fun and memorable activity for the whole family.

Many people visit Phillip Island to see the penguins, but fewer people know about Churchill Island, just off the northern coast of southeastern Phillip Island. The 140-acre (57-hectare) Churchill Island Heritage Farm is a historic working farm with demonstrations and activities such as sheep shearing, cow milking, blacksmithing, and more.

Concerts, theater, weddings, and more grace Melbourne Town Hall, which has welcomed everyone from the late Queen Elizabeth II to The Beatles. Completed in 1870, this grand neoclassical building is at the heart of Melbourne’s city and cultural life. Although a working town hall, it opens to the public for prebooked tours several days a week.

Aromatic eucalyptus, ferns, and mountain ash surround the pool into which the 275-foot-tall Steavenson Falls plunge, with white water turbulence giving way to stillness. The lush area is marked by the black scars of the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009, but the region’s regeneration is proof of Australia’s fighting spirit.

A ride on the Arthurs Seat Eagle gondola whisks visitors to the 1,030-foot (314-meter) summit of Arthurs Seat—the highest point in the Mornington Peninsula. Spectacular views are guaranteed both during the climb and from the hilltop viewpoint, from which you can see Port Philips Bay and Melbourne on a clear day.

The City Circle Tram is a free tram service that runs in a circular route around Melbourne’s central business district and passes many of the city’s major attractions. Easily spotted thanks to its burgundy, green, and gold exterior, the tram is one of the few remaining heritage trams in operation in the city.