Australia — Come say G'day

MELBOURNE HIGHLIGHTS - 4 Days / Tour Code H24

Capital of the state of Victoria, Melbourne prides itself on being a great city. It's hardly surprising, with its spectacular combination of old and new architecture, elegant streetscapes, ethnic communities and lavish parks and gardens. Add Australia's best eating, an excellent transit system and a packed events calendar and you have all the ingredients for one of the most enlightened and liveable cities in the world.

Melbourne has a lively passion for eating and drinking, which is reflected in thousands of restaurants serving up gastronomic experiences from around the world. What's more, everywhere you look you'll find an array of fashionable cafés, where you can enjoy Melbourne's fantastic coffee culture to the full.

Melbourne is a style-setter with some of the best shopping and nightlife in Australia. Whether you're searching for haute couture or vintage clothing, skincare products or sparkling chardonnay, über-chic bars, clubs or jazz venues, Melbourne has it all. Melbourne's standing as the cultural capital of Australia is recognized in a non-stop program of festivals, major art exhibitions and musical extravaganzas. The city also boasts sporting spectaculars and a range of crowd-pleasing events – from the high-octane excitement of the Australian Grand Prix to the beautiful floral displays of the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.

And if you venture outside Melbourne, diverse regional areas and attractions proffer dramatic coastal vistas, outback wilderness, vineyards, rugged peaks and thrilling wildlife. Attracting visitors from far and wide, they are all easily accessible, making your Melbourne experience even more rich and rewarding.

Some examples:

Drive along the dramatic coastline of the Great Ocean Road and discover the shipwreck coast. Wild weather has carved huge rock sculptures from the soft, sheer limestone cliffs leaving a series of stacks and formations. These monoliths are known as the Twelve Apostles.

Just 90 minutes from Melbourne, Phillip Island Nature Park offers a unique Australian wildlife experience and is home to the famous Penguin Parade at Summerland Beach. From the viewing stands and boardwalk, visitors can watch Little Penguins emerge each night from the surf and waddle to their burrows on the foreshore.

One of Victoria's most popular tourist attractions, Sovereign Hill is a fabulous re-creation of the hustle and bustle of life in Ballarat in the 1850s. Set on a former goldmining site, the compound has more than 60 buildings, while over 200 people volunteer to dress in period costume on a regular basis.

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