Melbourne Strategies

Melbourne Federation Square Visitor’s Center +61 3 9658 9658.

Arriving in Melbourne I need to think about rest stops. There are websites with listings of rest stops and they are located here and here and here and here and here and here.

My Melbourne Attractions Map is located here. Go to the Art Museum. It’s ranked #20 on Most Visited List.

While I won’t be flying into Melbourne, I will be flying out of Melbourne and I need to return the rental car to the airport and then I’ll head into town and do a little sightseeing for a couple of days. I’ve found that the most economical local transportation to and from the airport is the train and the bus. The SkyBus is the most used commonly used method of getting to and from the airport, but costs $35 AUD R/T. Public bus Routes 901 and 902 go to the airport and getting there using public transportation is cheap. It is capped at a few dollars a day. To catch the bus to the airport I first need to get to the Broadmeadows Rail Station, a station about 12 miles north of Melbourne and the one closest to the airport. I’ll need to start at the Flinders Street Railway Station downtown and catch a train to get there. To get from the airport into town I need to use the reverse route. There is a timetable for Route 901 here and a route map located here. It goes to Terminal 4. Public buses 478 and 482 supposedly go there as well. There is a Journey Planner located here for public transportation around the city. Is public transport travel capped at $6 for all day?  As far as fares are concerned, it looks like the full fare using myki Money (good explanation here) is capped at $8.10 AUD for the weekdays and $6 AUD for the weekend. Is there a free Tourist Shuttle bus that runs in the Central Business District? Yes and there is a map of the Free Tram Zone located here. ”The Melbourne Visitor Shuttle is a great way to explore Melbourne’s top attractions, including the Melbourne Cricket Ground, National Gallery of Victoria, Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne Aquarium and Docklands. With buses departing every 30 minutes, you can ride in air-conditioned comfort, make use of the free Wi-Fi and hear audio commentary about our city’s past and present.” – a quote from the website. The website is here.

There are 30+ hostels in Melbourne and about a dozen within a mile of Federation Square. Think about $20-$25 USD for a typical price and $15 USD for the cheapest ones. I picked the highest rated hostel in the city. I paid $30 USD. It’s within a couple of blocks of Federation Square and in the Free Tram Zone.