LANGUAGE

English

CURRENCY

Australian Dollar

BEST TIME TO VISIT

May to August

NEAREST RAILWAY STATION

Flinders Street Station (FSS)

NEAREST AIRPORT

Melbourne Airport (MEL)

EMERGENCY HELPLINE NUMBER

000

INTERNET ACCESS

Free wi-fi is available at central city spots such as Federation Sq, Flinders St station, Crown Casino and the State Library. Free wi-fi is now the norm in most midrange accommodation, although you sometimes have to pay in both budget and top-end places. Many cafes also offer free wi-fi.

If you’re not travelling with your own device, there are plenty of libraries around Melbourne with terminals, though you’ll need to bring ID to sign up and prebooking is recommended. The City, St Kilda and Prahran libraries all offer access.

VISA

All visitors to Australia need a visa. Apply online through the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

eVisitor (651)

Many European passport holders are eligible for a free eVisitor visa, allowing stays in Australia of up to three months within a 12-month period.

eVisitor visas must be applied for online. They are electronically stored and linked to individual passport numbers, so no stamp in your passport is required.

It’s advisable to apply at least 14 days prior to the proposed date of travel to Australia.

Electronic Travel Authority (ETA; 601)

Passport holders from those European countries eligible for eVisitor visas, plus passport holders from Brunei, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the USA, can apply for either a visitor Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) or business ETA.

ETAs are valid for 12 months, with stays of up to three months on each visit.

ETA visas cost $20.

Visitor (600)

Short-term Visitor visas have largely been replaced by the eVisitor and ETA visas. However, if you’re from a country not covered by either, or you want to stay longer than three months, you’ll need to apply for a Visitor visa.

Standard Visitor visas allow one entry for a stay of up to three, six or 12 months, and are valid for use within 12 months of issue.

Visitor visas cost from $130 to $1000.

HOTEL

For first-time visitors to Melbourne, one of the best places to stay is either the city center or Southbank, with its restaurants, cafés, and lively events calendar. These tourist-friendly areas are close to prime attractions such as Federation Square; the Royal Botanic Gardens; and the labyrinth of laneways and shopping arcades around Flinders, Collins, and Bourke Streets. There is a great range of accommodation in Melbourne, ranging from hostels with shared dorm rooms and bathrooms to luxurious, palatial boutique or international chain hotels. Most convenient options are located within the CBD, though several suburbs close to the city centre also offer accommodation options. Airbnb is also prevalent.

Here are some highly-rated hotels in these areas:

LUXURY

Park Hyatt

Crown Towers

Quay West Suites

St. Jerome’s – The Hotel

MID-RANGE

Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens

Alto Hotel on Bourke

Adelphi Hotel

BUDGET

City Centre Budget Hotel

Ibis Budget Melbourne CBD

Tune Hotel

COST OF LIVING

Melbourne is a classic city that reminds many visitors of San Francisco in some ways, as its art and food culture are notoriously the best in the country. Unfortunately, Melbourne can also be very expensive for international travelers. The strength of the Australian dollar has been volatile in the past few years, and in early 2010 it has approached record levels against the USD and the Euro, so things will be particularly expensive for most people until that changes.

Standards of everything are generally high so finding cheap hotels and hostels isn’t as easy here as it is in many other places. There aren’t many street-food options either so if you want a cheap meal then you’ll have to consider fast food or self- catering.

Fortunately, there aren’t a lot of must-see expensive attractions in Melbourne so if you are mostly coming to look around the city center and visit the various neighborhoods then things won’t get out of hand during the day. And you can still take the tram loop around the CBD that has running commentary pointing out the sights, for free.