Melbourne is the capital city of the state of Victoria in the country of Australia. The city itself is a mix of modern architecture alongside beautiful buildings which are centuries old. One of the best examples on this can be found on Flinders Street. The key feature here is Flinders Street Station, which was was first constructed in 1910 and is instantly recognisable with its archway entrance and dome-capped roof. Sitting happily next door Federation Square with its bold blend of geometric shapes and across the road lays both the Young & Jackson pub (running since 1861) and St. Paul’s Cathedral (built in 1884) against a backdrop of office buildings. This mix of new and old is the key to the city's beauty, but if you want to escape the stone and cement you can head north to the beautiful Carlton Gardens or south to the massive and outright amazing Royal Botanical Gardens, home to thousands of plants and animals, including the grey-headed flying fox (fruitbats), long-necked turtles, kookaburras and both brush-tailed and ring-tailed possums.
Melbourne has a thriving entertainment industry and has many significant cultural exports. The Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne was where stop-motion animator Adam Elliot studied before creating his short, Harvie Krumpet, and his feature film, Mary and Max. Meanwhile RMIT produced Leigh Whannell and James Wan, respectively the writer and director of the original Saw movie. Films shot in Melbourne include Where The Wild Things Are, Chopper, Crackerjack and of course, The Story Of The Kelly Gang, which was shot in 1906 and was the first feature film ever made. Melbourne’s cultural productions also extend to theatre, dance, music and other visual arts with The Arts Centre, The Melbourne Theatre Company and the National Gallery Of Victoria.
Australia itself is famous for its unique wildlife, beautiful environments and cities and friendly, outgoing people and we like to think Melbourne embodies these traits.
For shopping, you shouldn’t go past Bourke Street, a store populated road which is restricted to pedestrians and trams. This should be one of the first destinations especially for people going clothes shopping, perhaps followed up by Melbourne Central or QV. Melbourne is also home to pop culture and comic stores such as Minotaur, Classic Comics and Comics R Us and music stores like Missing Link.
Melbourne is a multicultural city, which has many benefits including a wide range of food. There is literally too many choices to list, but a well organised online guide can be found here.
Lastly, Melbourne is very accommodating for visitors with plenty to see and do within reasonable walking distance, a city loop of train and the world’s largest network of trams.
For more information on what else you can see and do in Melbourne, one of the best resources is the Only Melbourne website.