Outdoors

Take a Walk

With so many great restaurants and bars in Melbourne, why not make the most of your time and try more than one in an evening? The Hidden Secrets Sommelier City Walk takes in three premium restaurants. Participants sample three dishes and matching wines, learning from the resident expert sommelier. Guided by a local with food and wine knowledge, the walk also takes in city landmarks. Or go behind the scenes of Federation Square on a Hidden Secrets Beyond the Square tour for VIP access to rarely seen walkways, the rain garden, and back-of-house areas.

For a walk with a culinary twist, take the Chocoholics Tour. Sample handmade Belgian style chocolates, French inspired pastries, and delicious hot chocolate as you learn the secrets of making chocolate delights from some of Melbourne's finest purveyors. Self-confessed chocoholic Suzie Wharton leads this walk around the CBD on Fridays and Saturdays.

Explore Local Indigenous Culture

Find out more about the local Kulin people. Join a Koorie Heritage Trust Walkin' Birrarung guided walk through Kulin ancestral lands. The tour begins at Enterprize Park and follows the river upstream, stopping to discover sites and landmarks of significance to the Kulin people and the colonial settlement of Melbourne.

Take the Aboriginal Heritage Walk and find out more about the Boonwurrung and Woiwurrung (Wurundjeri) people who once lived in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Visitors are welcomed with a traditional smoking ceremony, followed by an introduction to traditional uses of plants for food, medicine, tools and ceremony.

Green Spaces

Melbourne has a long tradition of beautifully designed public parks and gardens which encircle the city. Cycle or stroll around the lake in Albert Park, explore Melbourne Zoo (located within Royal Park, Parkville) or wander through the Royal Botanic Gardens, a cool, green oasis on the edge of Melbourne's CBD.

Art and Heritage

Climb aboard the free burgundy and gold coloured City Circle tram as it makes its way around the CBD, past parks, museums and historic sites including the State Library of Victoria, Parliament House, Federation Square and the Old Melbourne Gaol, where infamous bushranger Ned Kelly was hanged. The National Gallery of Victoria is the state's main public gallery and home to 70,000 artworks housed in two magnificent city buildings located within a short stroll of one another.

Melbourne's Waterways

The Yarra River winds its way from the Dandenong Mountains, through the suburbs and the city, eventually flowing into beautiful Port Phillip Bay. Its banks are lined with bike paths, historic boat sheds and cafés. Hire a paddleboat along the quieter reaches of the river near the Fairfield and Studley Park boathouses, or enjoy a coffee by the water at Riverland behind Federation Square. Wander over historic bridges to Southbank, Crown Entertainment Complex, or Docklands and find a table for dinner with a waterside view.