budget travel asia

Geographically situated in south eastern Australia, Melbourne is one of countries most populated cities with 4 million residents and only second in size to Sydney. Melburnians are a multi-cultural mix of people from around the world that help make Melbourne tourism one of the largest businesses in the city. Attracting visitors from around the world tourism in Melbourne has everything to offer including restaurants, attractions, transport and entertainment. Melbourne Australia is definitely one of the best holiday destinations in Australia and well worth getting to know a little better before your arrival.

The city of Melbourne lies at the estuary of the river Yarra, which ends in a large natural bay called Port Phillip. The Melbourne city centre is known as the CBD but the greater Melbourne metropolitan area includes another 30 municipalities, which are known as 'shires' and 'cities'.

After several failed attempts to settle Melbourne, the earliest being in 1803, Melbourne was finally established in 1835. From that date forward there was no turning back and when gold was discovered in various locations throughout the State in the 1850's the Victoria Gold Rush took off. Within months stories of significant gold finds spread around the world and soon prospectors from around the world began to arrive. For a short time Geelong, located west of Melbourne, looked like it may overtake Melbourne in size as many of the prospectors first landed there, but this soon stopped. With all the new arrivals and gold be discovered Melbourne soon grew into Australia's largest city with large infrastructure projects being completed through to the 1880's. Melbourne was temporarily named the National Capital for the Commonwealth of Australia after the countries federation in 1901. It remained the Capital of Australia through to 1927 when Canberra was purposely constructed as the Australian Capital.

Melbourne is known as the 'sporting and cultural capital' of Australia. The Melbourne Cricket Ground, lovingly called as MCG, is one of the largest sports stadiums in the world and it is also home to Australian Rules football. The impressionist art movement of Australia known as Heidelberg School, as well as the contemporary dance of Australia that includes the New Vogue and Melbourne Shuffle styles, are the proud symbols of the cultural heritage of this city.

Very few people would know that the largest tram network in the world is in Melbourne. The Economist magazine had been ranking Melbourne as one of the Most Liveable Cities in the world consistently. UNESCO had classified Melbourne as City of Literature, while RMIT had ranked Melbourne as one of the top five cities having highly rated universities. The moderate oceanic climate of Melbourne can suddenly change due to the varying wind patterns and pressure systems. Even though the citizens of Melbourne call the city climate as 'four seasons in one day', it is a city of moderate weather most of the time and Melbourne tours are always relaxing.

The central Melbourne tourism area includes parks, beaches, statues, impressive historic and modern buildings, art and cultural exhibitions, theatre performances, sports and a host of Melbourne attractions. Melbourne can easily be reached by road, air or sea and is only 23 km's from the Melbourne International Airport. Melbourne tourism and a Melbourne tourist information desk is located at the airport. Due to the large number of international events hosted in Melbourne, accommodation should be booked early.