Melbourne travel deals

Melbourne travel deals - Insight Guides Melbourne Product Description A revolutionary new travel guide from Insight Guides, the pioneers of the illustrated guidebook. Packed with expanded editorial coverage, a bounty of practical information and fresh, exciting photography, graphics and mapping, the next generation of Insight Guides sets the new standard by which travel guides will be judged. Melbourne travel deals Situated on the Yarra River, Melbourne has the prettiest skyline in Australia. One of the highlights of Melbourne is that you can fit into the crowd here with ease. This is because Melbourne has a multi-cultural population and a laid back environment. Tourists visit Melbourne mostly to attend different types of sporting events or as their starting point for visiting other popular attractions like the Grampians National Park or the Great Ocean Road. The weather in Melbourne is far different from most of the Australian mega cities and sometimes people even say that Melbourne can have all the 4 different seasons in a single day. Melbourne is good throughout the year except in October when the sky literally pours down. Travel to and around Melbourne Once you are in Melbourne, you can use one of the many transport options available. The options are: Train: Melbourne is connected to other cities in Australia by Country Link services and VicLink. The main train station is known as the Southern Cross Station. Car: If you are traveling from Sydney by car then you can take the Hume Highway and reach Melbourne in 9 hours. Adelaide is 7 hours from Melbourne while Brisbane is a good 20 hours drive. Bus: The Greyhound bus services and Firefly Express are the best way to reach Melbourne from other cities. If you are coming from Victoria then you can take the V/Line. Flights: The Melbourne Airport is well-connected to the rest of the world as well as other important cities in Australia. From the airport, you can take the Skybus to reach the central business district. Avalon Airport is situated in the suburb of Melbourne and is connected by mostly local flights. Ship: You can reach Melbourne by taking a boat from Tasmania. Melbourne has an extensive public transport system called Metlink and it operates buses, trains, and trams within the city. All you will need is a Metcard that will provide you access to all the three types of transport. Attractions in Melbourne If you are looking for good adventure and fun then rent a bike and head to The Yarra River Trail, The Capital City Trail, or the Bay Trail. The Melbourne city center is a hot spot for families because it offers plenty of street side cafes, departmental stores, and a concoction of modern and Victorian architecture. If you are looking for museums then head for Carlton where you can find the Melbourne Museum and the UNESCO world heritage site of Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens. The Melbourne zoo is a great place for children as there are several animal enclosures. If you want beach fun then head straight to St Kilda, which is a beach side suburb of Melbourne. You can visit the St Kilda Pier for fishing or just for a simple walk or head to St Kilda Esplanade for sunbathing and skating. In order to enjoy the best of Melbourne, you need to find the best of accommodations. Most motels in Melbourne have family friendly staff and offer consistent & predictable quality. The Budget Motel Chain offers a range of accommodations in Australia and New Zealand at over 300 motels. Each motel has its own unique character. Located in major tourist destinations including Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane in Australia and Christchurch, Wellington, Rotorua, Queenstown, Hamilton in New Zealand. http://budgetmotelchain.com.au/ ========================================== Melbourne has an integrated public transport system promoted under the Metlink brand. Originally laid out late in the 19th century when trains and trams were the primary methods of travelling to the suburbs, the 1950s saw an increase in private vehicles and freeway construction. This trend has continued with successive governments despite relentless traffic congestion, with a resulting drop in public transport modeshare from the 1940s level of around 25% to the current level of around 9% Melbourne's public transport system was privatised in 1999. Melbourne has the largest tram network in the world. Melbourne's is Australia's only tram network to comprise more than a single line. Sections of the tram network are on roads, while others are separated or are light rail routes. Melbourne's trams are recognised as iconic cultural assets and a tourist attraction. Heritage trams operate on the free City Circle route, intended for visitors to Melbourne, and heritage restaurant trams travel through the city during the evening. The Melbourne rail network consists of 16 suburban lines which radiate from the City Loop, a partially underground metro section of the network beneath the Central Business District (Hoddle Grid). Flinders Street Station is Melbourne's busiest railway station, and was the world's busiest passenger station in 1926. It remains a prominent Melbourne landmark and meeting place.The city has rail connections with regional Victorian cities, as well as interstate rail services to Sydney and Adelaide, which depart from Melbourne's other major rail terminus, Southern Cross Station in Spencer Street. Melbourne's bus network consists of almost 300 routes which mainly service the outer suburbs fill the gaps in the network between rail and light rail services.Melbourne has a high dependency on private cars for transport, with 7.1% of trips made by public transport. However there has been a significant rise in patronage in the last two years mostly due to higher fuel prices, since 2006, public transport patronage has grown by over 20%. The largest number of cars are bought in the outer suburban area, while the inner suburbs with greater access to train and tram services enjoy higher public transport patronage. Melbourne has a total of 3.6 million private vehicles using 22,320 km (13,870 mi) of road, and one of the highest lengths of road per capita. Major highways feeding into the city include the Eastern Freeway, Monash Freeway and West Gate Freeway (which spans the large Westgate Bridge), whilst other freeways circumnavigate the city or lead to other major cities, including CityLink, Eastlink, the Western Ring Road, Calder Freeway, Tullamarine Freeway (main airport link – no rail link) and the Hume Freeway which links Melbourne and Sydney. The Port of Melbourne is Australia's largest container and general cargo port and also its busiest. In 2007, the port handled two million shipping containers in a 12 month period, making it one of the top five ports in the Southern Hemisphere. Station Pier in Port Phillip Bay handles cruise ships and the Spirit of Tasmania ferries which cross Bass Strait to Tasmania. Melbourne has four airports. Melbourne Airport located at Tullamarine is the city's main international and domestic gateway. The airport is home base for passenger airlines Jetstar and Tiger Airways Australia and cargo airlines Australian air Express and Toll Priority and is a major hub for Qantas and Virgin Blue. Avalon Airport, located between Melbourne and Geelong, is a secondary hub of Jetstar. It is also used as a freight and maintenance facility. This makes Melbourne the only city in Australia to have a second commercial airport. Moorabbin Airport is a significant general aviation airport in the city's south east as well as handling a limited number of passenger flights. Essendon Airport, which was once the city's main airport before the construction of the airport at Tullamarine, handles passenger flights, general aviation and some cargo flights.