Melbourne Tour Packages

Melbourne sits on the south-east coast of Australia, covering Port Phillip Bay where the Yarra River cuts through the city. The boom in the 19th-century gold rush made the settlement transform into a wealthy city, with grand Victorian architecture. 

The quiet mornings here are all about local coffee roasters tucked away in the narrow graffiti-covered laneways. Meanwhile, the weekends come alive, with people heading to the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground. 

You’ll find a truly dynamic destination, with unpredictable weather that often gives you four seasons in one afternoon. This guide covers everything you need to know before booking your Melbourne tour packages.

Why Visit Melbourne?

People travel to this specific corner of Victoria to experience a lived-in urban culture. Add Melbourne to your travel bucket list for:

The Gateway to the Southern Coastline

You will notice that most tourists on Sydney tour packages treat the city as the primary launchpad for exploring the state of Victoria. The regional train and highway networks connect you directly to coastal road trips and mountainous national parks. You can spend the morning drinking coffee in a busy urban lane and the afternoon watching waves crash against limestone cliffs.

Coffee Culture With a Backstory

Melbourne's espresso obsession traces back to Italian and Greek migrants who arrived through the 1950s. They turned suburban milk bars into the city's first proper cafes. This history shapes the city’s central business district (CBD), where narrow laneways hide some of the country's most awarded coffee windows.

Home Ground for Australian Sport

The Melbourne Cricket Ground has hosted cricket, Aussie rules finals, and Olympic events since the 1850s. It still fills to capacity on Grand Final day. Melbourne hosts major global sporting events all year long, including the Australian Open and the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

A Base for Wine Country and Wildlife

The Yarra Valley, one of Australia's oldest wine regions with vines dating back to 1838, sits under an hour from the CBD. Head the other direction to experience unparalleled wildlife encounters in Phillip Island. It has thousands of little penguins waddling ashore at sunset.

What Makes Melbourne Special

Melbourne rewards travellers who slow down and participate in local routines. Here is what makes it different from every other Australian capital:

Laneways Built for Wandering

Hosier Lane and AC/DC Lane are the famous names, covered edge to edge in street art that changes every few weeks. This is because the council treats it as a living gallery. On Flinders Lane or Centre Place, you find third-wave coffee bars and tiny restaurants seating a dozen people, none of it visible from the main street.

Australia's First UNESCO Building

The Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens became Australia's first UNESCO World Heritage-listed building in 2004. Built in 1880 for Melbourne's first international exhibition, it also hosted the opening of Australia's first Federal Parliament in 1901. Its dome now opens for guided tours.

The Free Tram Zone 

Melbourne runs one of the few free tram zones in the world, covering the central grid and the Docklands extension. Hence, short hops between Flinders Street, Melbourne Central and Southern Cross Station cost nothing. Step outside that zone and you will need a myki card for the rest of the network, which also covers trains and buses across the wider city.

A Market Trading Since 1878

Open since 1878, the Queen Victoria Market is Melbourne's largest open-air market. It still runs on the same footprint of sheds and stalls. Through the warmer months, there is a Wednesday Night Market with food stalls and live music. Locals treat it as a casual weeknight outing.

The Melbourne Experience

Melbourne rewards different travellers in different ways. Design lovers on Melbourne tour packages gravitate toward the laneways and galleries. Sports fans build entire trips around the MCG and Rod Laver Arena.

Whether you are on your honeymoon or family retreat tour packages, here is what your first visit should include:

National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) and Federation Square

Australia's oldest public art gallery sits across St Kilda Road from the Arts Centre, with free entry to the permanent collection. Federation Square nearby hosts everything from weekend design markets to AFL final replay screenings on its stone forecourt.

Eureka Skydeck

At 285 metres up on the 88th floor of Eureka Tower, this is the highest public viewing point in the Southern Hemisphere. The lift covers the climb in under 40 seconds, and on a clear day the views stretch from Port Phillip Bay to the Dandenong Ranges.

Fitzroy and Collingwood

Walk north of the city to reach the suburb of Fitzroy. Brunswick Street serves as the main artery here. You will find endless rows of vintage clothing stores, independent bookstores, and vegan restaurants. The architecture consists of old Victorian terrace houses featuring cast-iron balconies. 

A Great Ocean Road Day Out

Most travellers cover the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, and the coastal town of Apollo Bay as a single long day. They either self-drive or take a guided coach tour. To skip the logistics, you can book a Great Ocean Road and Twelve Apostles day trip from Melbourne that also stops for koalas and rainforest walks.

Royal Botanic Gardens

This is spread across the southern bank of the Yarra. These gardens make an easy half-day stop for a picnic, a jog along the lake paths, or simply lying on the grass with the city skyline in the background.

Chinatown

Melbourne's Chinatown dates back to the 1850s gold rush. It is one of the oldest continuous Chinatowns outside Asia. Little Bourke Street still runs on family-owned restaurants that serve authentic dishes.

Yarra Valley Wine Tasting

An hour northeast of the city, the Yarra Valley offers cellar door tastings with the Dandenong Ranges' cooler air and the heritage Puffing Billy steam train. It runs its original narrow-gauge track through the forest from Belgrave to Gembrook.

Phillip Island

Tourists on the self-drive tour packages can drive 2 hours south of the city to reach Phillip Island. The wind off the Bass Strait hits you hard the moment you step out of your vehicle. The island hosts the famous Penguin Parade. 

Planning Your Melbourne Trip

Melbourne rewards a slightly longer stay because its best experiences are as much outside the city as inside it. Here is how to plan your Melbourne holiday:

A 6-Day Melbourne Itinerary

• Day 1: Land in Melbourne, settle into the CBD, and spend the afternoon wandering Hosier Lane, AC/DC Lane, and Degraves Street.
• Day 2: Visit the National Gallery of Victoria, walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens, and catch sunset from Eureka Skydeck.
• Day 3: Full-day Great Ocean Road tour covering the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge.
• Day 4: Day trip to Phillip Island for the Koala Conservation Reserve and the Penguin Parade at dusk.
• Day 5: Yarra Valley wine tasting tour, with lunch at a working vineyard.
• Day 6: Morning at Queen Victoria Market, tram ride to St Kilda Beach, and departure.

How to Reach Melbourne

Melbourne Airport (MLB) is approximately 23 km from the city centre. Air India operates direct flights to melbourne from major cities in India. Alternatively, you can fly via Singapore on Singapore Airlines or via Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines. 

Indian passport holders need a Subclass 600 Visitor visa. Australia does not offer visa-on-arrival for Indian citizens. You apply online, and processing may take 20 to 30 days, longer in the September-to-December peak season, so start six to eight weeks before you lock in Melbourne tour packages.

Getting Around the City

You must buy a Myki card to use public transport outside the free tram zone:

• The physical plastic card costs ₹350 (AU$ 6) just to purchase, and then you load money onto it. 
• You tap the card on the electronic readers when you board a train or bus. 
• If you travel strictly within the CBD tram grid, you do not need the card. It’s free. 
• For travel outside the city, the regional V/Line trains connect you to country towns. You can check exact timetables on the official Public Transport Victoria website.

Budget

A mid-range 5 to 6-night Melbourne trip, including flights, hotel, local transport and one full day trip, usually runs ₹1,80,000 to ₹2,40,000 per person.

• Round-trip flights from India: ₹65,000 to ₹95,000 in economy, higher across December and January.
• Mid-range: hotels in melbourne: ₹10,000 to ₹17,000 per night in the CBD or Southbank.
• Meals: ₹1,000 to ₹1,700 for a casual meal, ₹2,700 to ₹4,000 for a sit-down dinner.
• Transport: The SkyBus airport transfer costs about ₹1,300 each way. The daily cap on the Myki card limits your public transport spending to about ₹600 per day within the city zones.
• Attractions: General museum entry remains free, but special exhibitions cost around ₹1,500. Guided day tours to the coast range from ₹6,000 to ₹9,000 per person.

Best Time to Visit Melbourne

Autumn and spring in the city offer the best balance of weather and price. But sports fans often plan their holiday around the AFL Grand Final or Australian Open regardless of season. Book Melbourne tour packages around the shoulder seasons if predictable weather matters more to you than event dates.

Here is a breakdown of what each season looks like in Melbourne to help you plan your visit: 

Things to Know Before You Go

Melbourne operates on its own set of unwritten rules regarding daily dining, public transport, and retail trading hours. Before you finalise your trip, keep these points in mind:

• Tap water in Melbourne is safe to drink straight from the tap, unlike several other Australian day-trip stops.
• Restaurants commonly add a 10 to 15 percent surcharge on Sundays and public holidays as a standard practice.
• Tipping is not expected, though rounding up or leaving small change for good service is appreciated.
• If you tap your card on a tram inside the free zone, the system will charge you for a two-hour ticket unnecessarily. Only tap on when leaving the zone.
• Book AFL or Australian Open tickets well ahead if your dates overlap with the season.
• Do not expect to shop for clothes or souvenirs after 5:30 pm. While cafes and bars stay open late, retail stores close in the late afternoon, except on Fridays when they stay open until 9:00 pm.

Plan Your Melbourne Trip with EaseMyTrip

Melbourne rewards travellers who slow down enough to notice the details, from a laneway mural to a cafe serving an aromatic espresso. Pair a few city days with a Great Ocean Road trip or a Yarra Valley afternoon, and you get a trip covering both Victoria's coastline and its cultural capital.

At EaseMyTrip Holidays, we bring together flights, hotels and local transfers into a single booking, with zero booking fee on flights. Start planning your trip today by browsing our Melbourne tour packages and locking in your travel dates before peak season rates kick in.