llama travel guide to melbourne

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Welcome

G'day and welcome to the Llama Guide to Melbourne.

Find out everything you need to know about getting to and hanging out in Australia's capital of arts, sports and fashion.

basic information 


Melbourne
is the capital city of the state of Victoria and is the second largest city in Australia with a population of 3.8 million.

Melbourne has a temperate climate with warm to hot summers and cool winters. Whilst Melbourne is known for its "four seasons in one day" climate, it actually receives less annual rainfall thans Sydney. The best times to visit are from November through April.

Melbourne is the unquestionable sporting capital of Australia, being home to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australian Open Tennis (January), Australian Formula One Grand Prix (March)and the Melbourne Cup Carnival (November).

The unofficial religion in Melbourne is Australian Rules Football ("Aussie Rules" or simply "footy") being the second best attended domestic club league in the world with average crowds of over 35,000 to fixtures.

Melbourne has a more relaxed feel, European feel compared to its larger northern rival, Sydney, and prides itself as the creative capital of Australia.

So what are you waiting for ? This LLAMA guide to Melbourne will give you all the links and information you need to plan your trip of a lifetime !!

getting there - visa requirements 

Visit this lens for more information about visa requirements for Australia.

melbourne photo cards from cardart 

getting there - flights 

Most international carriers fly to Australia or have affiliations with carriers that do. There are several major carriers flying direct to Sydney from the US.
  • Qantas - Australia's national carrier with daily flights from New York and Los Angeles.
  • V Australia - Australia's newest international airline commenced daily flights from LA to Australia from April 2009.
  • American Airlines

 

travel agents

Of course, check out your local and on-line travel agents for cheap fares to Australia:

find cheap deals to melbourne 

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in-flight reading 

books from or about australia

Shantaram: A Novel

Amazon Price: $10.19 (as of 01/05/2010) Buy Now
Used Price: $6.94

Illywhacker

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Monkey Grip

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In a Sunburned Country

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Used Price: $2.81

getting around - map of melbourne 

Google Maps - Melbourne
For your on-line research, you can't beat google maps.

Whereis.com
whereis.com is a local Australian wesbites for maps & directions. This site also includes links at the top of the page to Australia's whitepages and yellowpages.

where to stay in Melbourne 

ausssie hotel search sites

Local websites for booking hotels in Melbourne include:
Wotif
Wotif.com travel & accomodation website

Zuji
Zuji.com.au travel & accomodation website

Oz Hotels
Ozhotels is a group of independently owned and non-related hotels, motels and serviced apartments providing accommodation located across Melbourne.

recent flickr photos of melbourne 

Trieu 2 by Trieu P Nguyen

Trieu 2

Just Me again by Trieu P Nguyen

Just Me again

Off Goes the hair 12/12/09 by Trieu P Nguyen

Off Goes the hair 12...

Trieu 1 by Trieu P Nguyen

Trieu 1

Me & 7D by Trieu P Nguyen

Me & 7D

At the Cherry Farm by Trieu P Nguyen

At the Cherry Farm

Me before I shave my head by Trieu P Nguyen

Me before I shave my...

Assistant!!! 12/12/09 by Trieu P Nguyen

Assistant!!! 12/12/0...

Checking out Something by Trieu P Nguyen

Checking out Somethi...

Toe Smash. by Joe Miranda

Toe Smash.

Roll1_B024399-R1-09-28 by Joe Miranda

Roll1_B024399-R1-09-...

Roll1_B024399-R1-07-30 by Joe Miranda

Roll1_B024399-R1-07-...

automatically generated by Flickr

melbourne is australia's sporting capital

have you say about melbourne 

if you've visited or live in melbourne, let us know your thoughts

What's the best & worst things about Melbourne

Loading Fetching blurbs now... please stand by

The best thing about Melbourne is . . .

The worst thing about Melbourne is . . .

 

melbourne guide-books 

Melbourne (City Guide)

Amazon Price: (as of 01/05/2010) Buy Now

Pocket Map and Guide Melbourne (Eyewitness Pocket Map & Guide)

Amazon Price: (as of 01/05/2010) Buy Now

Wallpaper City Guide: Melbourne (Wallpaper City Guides) (Wallpaper City Guides (Phaidon Press))

Amazon Price: $8.95 (as of 01/05/2010) Buy Now

Australia (Country Guide)

Amazon Price: $21.59 (as of 01/05/2010) Buy Now

where to eat in melbourne 

With almost 35% of Melbourne's population born overseas, Melbourne has a great diversity of restaurants. Migration from Greece, Italy, India, Vietnam and China, amongst others, combined with the quality of fresh Australian produce and meats spoil the visitor for choice.

For premium dining, you have to check out the The Age Good Food Guide Awards 2008 (see page 2 for listing) with Rockpool Bar & Grill taking the best restaurant award.

Other recommended restaurants include:

Gingerboy
With it's south east asian influences, Gingerboy provides some of the most exciting food you'll find anywhere.

Va Tutto
Modern Italian food with hints of Asian influence will have you wanting more.

Ezard
Ezard is one of Melbourne's leading restaurants located in Flinders Lane at the base of the Adelphi Hotel offering "Australian free-style cuisine" with the primary influences the cuisines of Asia.

Number 8 restaurant and wine bar
As Crown's flagship modern Australian restaurant, Number 8 restaurant and wine bar is committed to serving the finest local and seasonal produce prepared in a stylish yet simple manner.

Nobu Melbourne
Nobu, the world's most recognized Japanese restaurant known for its innovative new style Japanese cuisine, is now open at Crown Melbourne

For more Melbourne restaurant guides and reviews check out Melbourne Restaurants , eatability.com or Melbourne citysearch.

Also check out the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival if you're visiting in February / March.

melbourne in a minute vid 

Melbourne, Victoria

Runtime: 62
202377 views
1072 Comments:

curated content from YouTube

concerts, theatre & sports in melbourne 

Why not buy some tickets to a band, sporting event, concert or theatre show for your stay in Sydney. The main ticketing outlets are:

Ticketek

Ticketmaster Australia

For more information on what's on in Sydney, check out The Age's What's On Guide.

where to shop in melbourne 

Melbourne promotes itself as the premier destination for shopping and the fashion capital of Australia.

From the better known Chapel St and open-air markets, to "shopping secrets" you won't find it hard to part with your money in Melbourne.

In the CBD, other areas to visit include:
- Collins Street for high fashion stores
- Melbourne Central shopping mall
- Swanston Street and Bourke Street Mall which houses David Jones and Myer department stores

Follow these links for designer fashion and melbourne CBD stores.

recent flickr photos of melbourne sports 

MCG New Years Eve by joshjanssen

MCG New Years Eve

091217 j Liberia Security Sector Reform Sgt, 1st Class Dedraf Blash by US Army Africa

091217 j Liberia Sec...

091217 k Liberia Security Sector Reform Sgt, 1st Class Dedraf Blash by US Army Africa

091217 k Liberia Sec...

091217 b Liberia Security Sector Reform Sgt, 1st Class Dedraf Blash by US Army Africa

091217 b Liberia Sec...

Fireworks MCG by joshjanssen

Fireworks MCG

Fireworks MCG with lightning by joshjanssen

Fireworks MCG with l...

automatically generated by Flickr

getting out - domestic flights from melbourne 

Wedding

If you wish to extend your vacation to Melbourne to seeing more of Australia or the region, the following is a list of domestic airlines flying from Sydney:
Qantas
Qantas flies domestically throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Jetstar
Qantas' budget airline.

Regional Express
Services regional Australian locations.

Tiger Airways
Tiger has flights from Melbourne's secord airport, Tullamarine, to a number of Australian cities and Singapore.

other useful info about melbourne 

Public holidays in Melbourne
Aussies love a long weekend - check out when public holidays fall in Victoria.

Worldwide Tipping Guide
Australians do not have a custom of tipping but tend to generally "round up" rather than tip - and when they do tip its to a maximum of 10% in fine restaurants only. Taxi drivers do not expect tips, but it is usual to `round-up' the fare to the nearest dollar or two. Waiters and waitresses do not rely on tips for their income - there is no need to tip the barstaff when you're ordering drinks at the pub.

Australian Dollar exchange rates
The currency in Australia is the "Australian Dollar" (AUD) comprising 100 cents. Click the link above for the latest exchange rates with major currencies.

what's making news in melbourne 

A380 grounded in Melbourne in latest glitch
SYDNEY ? A brand new Airbus A380 super jumbo was grounded at Melbourne airport on Monday due to a mechanical fault, the latest in a series of glitches for ...
Indian student stabbed to death in Melbourne
Nitin Garg (21) was brutally stabbed in the abdomen near a Melbourne restaurant where he worked part-time on Saturday night. Garg managed to stagger 300 ...
Players, coaches next on agenda
THE Melbourne Super rugby franchise could be up and running as early as next week. After months of dispute about the financing and structure of the fifth ...
Melbourne Housing Authority meets Wednesday
The Melbourne Housing Authority will conduct its regular and annual meeting at 10 am Wednesday, one hour earlier than usual. The board meets at the South ...

 

news websites

Follow the links for Melbourne's two newspapers and The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
The Age
Melbourne's major newspaper.

The Herald Sun
Melbourne's tabloid newspaper.

ABC News
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

other useful melbourne guide websites 

In planning your travels, check out:

other llama travel guides 

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did you know . . . ? 

Did you know Melbourne hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1956. Click here for more Olympic information at the Ultimate Olympics Group Lens.

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