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Melbourne, Australia, offers a wonderful mix of Victorian architecture with world cultures. From its favored site on the banks of the Yarra River, Melbourne offers travelers some of the best shopping and theater in Australia, a varied arts scene, top-notch food and wine with restaurants to fit any taste and budget, and excellent hotels.

Melbourne also has a thriving fashion industry, sporting and leisure activities, a greenbelt of parks and boulevards with a distinctly European feel, and an unrivaled festival calendar. Its dynamic and varied lifestyle, cafe culture, affordable cost of living and low crime rate make it one of the world's most livable cities.

Must See or Do

Sights—The views from Eureka Tower; Old Melbourne Gaol; Queen Victoria Market; Chinatown; Federation Square; Fitzroy Gardens.

Museums—The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art; the Ian Potter Centre at Federation Square; the Heide Museum of Modern Art; Australian Centre for the Moving Image; National Gallery of Victoria; the Immigration Museum; State Library of Victoria.

Memorable Meals—The Flower Drum, for its Cantonese take on local ingredients; supreme pizza at Ladro; degustation delights at Vue de Monde.

Late Night—A bite to eat and a bottle from the vast wine list at The Melbourne Supper Club; absinthe on the rooftop at Transit bar; a live music show at The Toff in Town.

Walks—Strolling around Albert Park Lake; exploring the Yarra Trail; a walk along St Kilda Beach; wandering through the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Especially for Kids—Scienceworks and its interactive exhibits; observing the sharks at Melbourne Aquarium; riding the roller coaster at Luna Park; milking cows at the Collingwood Children's Farm; Roar 'n' Snore at Melbourne Zoo; watching films on the world's third-largest IMAX screen at the Melbourne Museum; riding Puffing Billy, Australia's oldest steam train, through the Dandenong Ranges.

Geography

Melbourne's city center sits on the banks of the Yarra River, about 4 mi/6 km upriver from Port Philip Bay. The portion on the north bank is known as the Central Business District (CBD), and the portion south of the river is called Southbank. The ambitious 495-acre/200-hectare Docklands project is extending the western border of the city.

The sprawling metropolitan area is made up of suburbs. Surrounding the city center are the communities of West, North, East and South Melbourne. To the south are Albert Park, South Yarra and, along the bay, St Kilda; Williamstown is on the western side of the bay. To the northeast are Collingwood and Fitzroy. The suburb of Carlton lies to the north, Footscray to the west, and Abbotsford and Richmond are to the east. All of these suburbs are nearly as old as the city center and are known as "inner suburbs." You can reach them from the CBD by foot, train or a short tram ride. To reach the "outer suburbs" (truly on the fringe of the urban area), you'll need a car or a longer train ride.

No matter what suburb you're in, Melbourne is relatively flat. In contrast to this flatness is a chain of hills to the east of the city. The Dandenong Ranges, 40 minutes by car from the city center, are a cool getaway as is a trip to the wineries of the Yarra Valley. To the southeast of the city, a string of golden beaches stretches more than 30 mi/50 km down the Mornington Peninsula to the head of Port Philip Bay.

History

Melbourne was home for the indigenous Koori people for 50,000 years before the arrival of Europeans in the 1800s. The newcomers established a town, but it remained a small settlement until the middle of the century, when a gold rush in central Victoria saw Melbourne grow to become Australia's financial capital and most glamorous city. The boom gave the town its magnificent public architecture, gracious parks, tree-lined boulevards, opulent mansions and the nickname "Marvelous Melbourne." The city developed so successfully that it was the original capital of the Australian Federation. (Melbourne relinquished this role to Canberra in 1927.)

Though it was no longer the capital, Melbourne continued to be one of Australia's leading cities. It took the next step—to world-class city—when it hosted the Olympic Games in 1956. Melbourne has since attracted large numbers of immigrants from China, India, Sri Lanka, North Africa, Lebanon, Vietnam, Italy, Malta and Greece (Melbourne has one of the largest Maltese populations in the world and the largest population of Greek origin in the world outside of Greece). Annual festivals such as the Italian Lygon Street Festa, the Greek Antipodes Festival and the Chinese New Year celebrate the cultural diversity of modern-day residents.

Melbourne has become a vital international business location, with world-renowned research universities and local companies developing groundbreaking technology in biological sciences, information technology, security and communications. The Port of Melbourne is considered a world-class hub for shipping and cargo.

Potpourri

For a short time in the early 1800s, the city was known as Batmania, after John Batman, one of its founders. Later it was briefly known as Bearbrass before finally settling on Melbourne.

Melbourne has its own hard-rock lane. ACDC Lane is a block and a half off Swanston Street near Flinders Lane. (Swanston Street was also the setting for the Aussie band's video for "Long Way to the Top.")

The bionic ear and the black-box flight recorder were invented in Melbourne.

The first ever frozen-embryo baby, a girl, was born in Melbourne in March 1984.

The world's first polymer (plastic) banknotes were developed and printed in Melbourne in 1988.

Melbourne's tram system is the fourth largest in the world and is the largest outside of Europe. It has 152 mi/244 km of track and 450 trams.

The National Gallery of Victoria features the world's largest stained-glass ceiling. It measures 167 ft/ 52 m long by 49 ft/15 m wide.

The world's first feature film, The Story of the Ned Kelly Gang, was made in Melbourne in 1906.

Melbourne has the world's second largest Greek population, behind Athens.