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Beach huts on Bright Beach, Melbourne

© 123rf.com / Neale Cousland

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Australia

Travel to Melbourne

Flying to Melbourne

Flights to Melbourne are offered by a number of international airlines such as Qantas, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, American Airlines, V Australia and JetStar. Domestic carriers include Qantas, JetStar, Virgin Blue, Tiger Airways, SkyWest and Rex Airlines.

Cheap flights to Melbourne are available during the off-peak, winter months from June-August.

Flight times: 

From London - 22 hours 30 minutes; New York - 21 hours 30 minutes; Los Angeles - 16 hours 20 minutes; Toronto - 21 hours 15 minutes; Sydney - 1 hour 20 minutes.

Travel by road

Summary:

VicRoads (tel: (03) 9854 2666; www.vicroads.vic.gov.au) runs Melbourne’s road system. The legal driving age in Victoria is 18 years and traffic drives on the left. Speed limits are usually 50kph (31mph) in urban areas and 100-110kph (62-68mph) on country roads and highways. International Driving Permits are preferred to national licences.
Special road rules exist to accommodate Melbourne’s trams which often share roads. Cars must stop behind a tram when it stops in the lane in front and cars must queue on the left in order to turn right at intersections marked by ‘Safety Zone' signs (known locally as a “hook turn”).

Melbourne has two main toll ways feeding into the central business district - CityLink to the west and EastLink to the east. Both these toll roads are cashless, so you’ll need to arrange for a pass in advance or note the signage for the phone number to call (pay by credit card) within 48 hours of using either road.

VicRoads provides information of road safety and conditions and requirements for driving in Victoria (tel: 131 171, in Australia only; www.vicroads.vic.gov.au), as well as an emergency breakdown service.

Emergency breakdown service:

Royal Automobile Club Victoria (RACV) (tel: 131 111, in Australia only; www.racv.com.au) or VicRoads (tel: 131 170, in Australia only; www.vicroads.vic.gov.au).

Routes:

Melbourne has good road access to other main cities in Australia. The Western Highway (8) goes to Adelaide, the Hume Highway (31) and Princes Highway (1) to Sydney, and the Hume Highway (31) and Barton Highway (25) to Canberra.

Driving times:

From Adelaide - 9 hours; Sydney - 10 to 12 hours; Canberra – 8 hours.

Coaches:

Greyhound Australia (tel: 131 499, in Australia only; www.greyhound.com.au) operates extensive services throughout Australia, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Darwin.

Premier Motor Service (tel: 133 410, in Australia only; www.premierms.com.au) operates services linking Melbourne with Sydney, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Mackay, Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns.

Catch these bus services from Melbourne’s Southern Cross Bus Station on Spencer Street.

Travel by rail

Services:

Australian trains are modern and comfortable with sleeper cars for longer journeys.


All trains depart from Southern Cross Railway Station, Spencer Street, in Melbourne city centre.


Operators:

V/Line (tel: 136 196, in Australia only; www.vlinepassenger.com.au) operates Interstate Link services with connecting coach services, as well as an extensive train service throughout Victoria. Daylink services connect Melbourne to Adelaide by train from Melbourne to Bendigo and by bus from Bendigo to Adelaide. The Canberra Link connects Melbourne to Canberra, by train from Melbourne to Albury, then bus from there to Canberra.

Great Southern Railways (tel: 13 21 47, in Australia only; www.gsr.com.au) operates some of Australia’s luxury train journeys across Australia. ‘The Overland’ train runs three times a week between Melbourne and Adelaide, where you can get connections to ‘The Ghan’ (following the original telegraph route from Adelaide to Alice Springs and on to Darwin) and the ‘Indian Pacific’ (joining Perth and Sydney via Adelaide) trains.

Countrylink (tel: 132 232, in Australia only; www.countrylink.info) operates interstate rail and coach services connecting Melbourne with Sydney (and regional centres in New South Wales), Canberra and Brisbane.

Journey times:

From Adelaide – 10 hours; Canberra – 10 hours; Sydney – 12 hours.

Recommended Sites:

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