Introduction

Melbourne is renowned as Australia’s cultural capital. The city has a decidedly European feel, with neo-Gothic banks and cathedrals, much-loved department stores, art galleries and theatres around every corner, and some of the most modern architecture you’ve seen. And hidden among these buildings is a string of vibrant laneways given over to cafe culture and boutique shopping. Yet Melbourne wouldn’t be Melbourne without sport – seeing a footy match at the MCG is a must.

Melbourne was born in 1835. John Batman thought it was ‘the place for a village’, but Melbourne quickly became a city. With the boom of Victoria’s goldfields, unbelievable wealth was poured into public buildings and tramways, grand boulevards and High Victorian masterpieces. European fashions and seaside holidays were in vogue.

Today Melbourne’s population of around 3 806 000 still enjoys the good life, at the very centre of which is a love of good food and fine dining. You can find comfort food in a cosy corner pub or meals with a view and a waterfront setting – a trend in so many of the country’s coastal cities. A decade and a half ago, Southbank, the shopping and eating precinct on the Yarra River, became an extension of the city centre. Now Docklands has become the city’s latest waterside area, home to the Southern Star Observation Wheel.

You might come to Melbourne for the dining and the shopping; the gardens and the architecture; the arts and music; the football, cricket and tennis. The city has as much diversity as it has suburbs, and at last check these were marching right down the Mornington Peninsula.