Things YOU need to know before you travel to Melbourne Australia. With a population of 4 million, Melbourne is Australia’s 2nd largest city and the capital of the state of Victoria. Melbourne has been rated the “Most Livable City” 7 years running.
Melbourne Weather
Winter is approximately 9 months long.
Melbourne is cold in the winter.
Rain unpredictable
40 degrees Celsius in the morning, 18 degrees by afternoon.
Wind can be really cold.
Bring Warm Clothing whatever season you visit.
Seasons flipped from the Northern Hemisphere
Melbourne Public Transport:
World’s largest streetcar network
Really don’t need a car
Trams free in the CBD
Tram 35 — City Loop for tourists
Buy a Myki
Also trains
Its extensive but slow
Taxis and Uber are plentiful in the city
Very walkable
Driving in Melbourne
Will need a car to drive Great Ocean road or 12 Apostles
Drive on the left
Types of traffic cameras in Melbourne
Point-to-point cameras that average out your speed over a long distance – Be careful!
Hook turns at tram intersections
Language in Melbourne
English… but some slang words to know:
Tomato Sauce = Ketchup
thongs = flip flops
togs/swimmers/bathers = bathing suit
chuck a u-ey = make a U-turn See our Australian Slang words article for more.
Money in Melbourne
Australian Dollar
1 AUD is 0.80 USD
Size of notes increases with value
No pennies — round to nearest 5 cent
$1 and $2 are coins
Get your money from ATM, they are plentiful
No tipping in Australia
Store Hours in Melbourne
They close really early
7pm for most stores
Except Thurs-Friday, then 9pm
Opening usually 10am
Exception Grocery, Drug Store, Restaurants, bars
Restaurants and bars often have hours of LATE
Food in Melbourne
A foodie city
Watch my video on cheap eats
Very international
Visit Queen Victoria Market
Lots of Asian Food in Chinatown
Pepper Lunch
Tim Ho Wan
24 hour Ramen and Kebab
But what about Australian Food?
Supermarkets: Woolworths, Coles
Coffee in Melbourne
World’s Best Coffee (so Melbourners say)
Espresso based drinks
flat white, a combination of espresso and steamed milk sans the froth; a
long black, a double shot of espresso added to hot water (the long black is the closest thing to standard American coffee)
a short black, a standard espresso
Water & Beer in Melbourne
World’s best tap water
Plenty of public drinking fountains
With bottle fillers
Best Water makes the best beer
Legal drinking age is 18
They love their beer
And it’s served everywhere
Also BYO
2 sizes of beer: Pot & Pint
Try Beer Deluxe at Fed Square
We hope you enjoyed this video titled Melbourne Travel Tips: 10 Things to Know Before You Go to Melbourne Australia. Though our video guides are designed to provide further awareness into what it might be like to live in the state of Victoria, we’re hopeful that this video will also help you to choose places to visit (or even call home) when living in Australia.
Have you visited Melbourne before?
Have you visited any of the locations featured in our video before? What did you think? Would you go back? Could you live there?
We’d love to hear your views so please share these in our comments below.
