Melbourne is the capital of Victoria and is Australia’s second largest city. Melbourne is a city of style, fashion, food, architecture, theatres, galleries, trams and gardens. From the cafes and riverside Southgate to the designer fashion stores of South Yarra, Melbourne is a city of style and sophistication. Marvel at its fantastic architecture, excellent hotels, outstanding galleries and theatres. Enjoy fine cuisine and superb local wine in award wining restaurants. The city is home to more than 3000 restaurants serving over 70 national cuisines.

Shopping in Melbourne is within easy reach by public transport. Shopping tours are popular and are available to suit any budget. Step into the city and you’ll find all the major department stores. For hip fashion, endless cafes and designer everything, you can’t go past Chapel Street.

Melbourne’s ability to handle events is second to none. It has a superb range of venues accommodating up to 100 000 visitors with over 18 000 rooms within 5 kilometres of the city. Some of the world famous sporting events held here are including The Melbourne Cup, the Australian Tennis Open and the Bells Beach Surf Classic.

Known as the Arts and Culture centre of Australia, visits to Melbourne is not complete without experiencing a show at one of the many live theatres as well as live music and comedy clubs.

Melbourne's main streets are Collins and Bourke streets crossed by Swanston and Elizabeth Streets. This area is Melbourne’s main shopping centre, with the Bourke Street block becoming a pedestrian and tram mall.

Melbourne is full of parks and trees and is well known for its 19th-century architecture. One of the best known emblems of the city is the network of green and yellow trams, which takes passengers across the whole metropolitan area.

Just north of the city centre is Carlton with its characteristic terrace houses of the late 19th-century. Carlton is also famous for Lygon Street, a street full of Italian restaurants and pavement cafes.

Victoria's average temperatures in summer and winter are only a few degrees lower than Sydney's but is generally far less humid. The states annual rainfall is also less than Sydney and Brisbane. The only problem with the climate in Victoria is that it is so unpredictable, especially in the spring. In the capital of Melbourne you can sometimes experience the four seasons in one day, so always expect the unexpected when in this state.

Even thought the climate is generally cooler in Melbourne there is rarely times when a big heavy jacket is needed. However, when you venture inland to places such as Ballarat or the mountain regions it can get quite cold. The nights can be very frosty and cold even if the days are clear and warm. In the summer months the whole of Victoria warms to very pleasant temperatures. There can be heat waves in the months of December and January and these can make temperatures reach almost 40C.