Things to do in Melbourne

Best things to do in Melbourne

Melbourne, Australia, is one of the greatest cities in the world. Whether you're looking for places in Melbourne to visit with your family, Melbourne's beautiful places, attractions for family and cool places to go in and nearby Melbourne, we've got you covered!

Some of Melbourne's best things to do with family and kids:

• Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne
• Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium
• Queen Victoria Market foodie tour
• Spend a day at Melbourne Zoo
• Visit Melbourne Museum, Carlton Gardens and the Royal Exhibition Building
• Explore Flinders St Station and Fed Square Melbourne
• Spend a day at Werribee Open Range Zoo
• Explore St Kilda
• Visit Fitzroy Gardens East Melbourne
• Explore famous Melbourne street art
• Take a Yarra River cruise or explore the Yarra Trail
• Yarra Valley Things to do
• Phillip Island Things to do
• Mornington Peninsula things to do for families.

Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens are right in the city centre. Being so accessible, these beautiful botanic gardens make for a great picnic, to let off steam or a family walk! The botanic gardens offer peace and greenery to Melbourne's city centre with over 8500 plant species that will capture anyone's eye!

Royal Botanic Gardens are one of the popular Melbourne scenic places and one of the best city places to visit for tourists and locals alike and are very popular amongst families with toddlers and older kids due to Ian Potter Centre at The Children's Garden at Royal Botanic Gardens that offers super fun things for kids.

Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium

Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium in the city centre is a must-see for all ages! You can explore the world's aquatic environments, from tropical reefs to arctic waters. For starters, you'll be able to explore King and Gentoo Penguins, sea dragons, luminous jellyfish and discover over 10,000 animals on display.

There are also other animals like sharks, so spending some time in the shark tunnel at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is highly recommended. You can sit or lie on the floor and watch the prehistoric giants drifting overhead. You can even book a party space at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium!

Queen Victoria Market foodie tour

Queen Victoria Market is one of Melbourne's popular places in the city centre and is home to delicious foods and delicatessens. You'll find excellent cheeses, olives and smoked meats there. The building is a gorgeous example of Victorian architecture.

You'll find many artisanal crafts made by local creatives there. Queen Victoria Market has become one of the Melbourne famous places for tourists and locals alike due to its range of fresh produce, meat, dairy products, small goods, souvenirs, all at affordable prices!

So if you're looking for a great variety of delicious foods, then Queen Victoria Market will have what you need! Keep in mind, though, that it's closed Monday and Wednesday.

Spend a day at Melbourne Zoo

So the next time you need to entertain your kids all day long or find the best things to do in winter, spend your day at Melbourne Zoo! Melbourne Zoo is right outside Melbourne city centre and offers a great variety of animals on display.

Walkthrough Trail Of The Elephants, Leopard Lodge and other Melbourne Zoo animals and exhibits while getting fabulous photos with zoo inhabitants. It's serious fun for the whole family! What more could anyone ask from their day out with the kids?

There’s always something happening at the zoo whether the Zoo Twilights concerts throughout summer, keeper talks or high teas at the zoo. You can even book in for a Roar And Snore, a Melbourne Zoo sleepover to camp in the historic elephant exhibition.

Visit Melbourne Museum, Carlton Gardens and the Royal Exhibition Building

Melbourne Museum is a great place to take kids not just to learn and discover but take a stroll at the beautiful Carlton Gardens. Being one of the top attractions in Melbourne, Melbourne Museum sparks creativity and curiosity in visitors with its great exhibitions of natural history, culture, art gallery spaces to name just some.

The museum also offers interactive exhibits about Indigenous culture, the Bunjilaka Aboriginal. Bunjilaka was developed to empower Aboriginal people to explain their cultural legacy to people with different heritage - Indigenous and non-Indigenous. So you and your kids have a great opportunity to learn rich history via art, storytelling rituals and artworks.

Being on the UNESCO World Heritage Register, the Carlton Gardens complex includes Melbourne Museum, the Royal Exhibition Building and IMAX cinema. You can easily walk there from Melbourne's CBD. Take the whole family out to enjoy a stroll in the beautiful Carlton Gardens observing a diversity of Australian and international flora, great architecture and fountains!

So if you're looking for things to do on Sunday or a rainy day, the Museum and the Carlton Gardens are the best places to visit.

Explore Flinders St Station and Fed Square Melbourne

Flinders Street Station is one of the most famous buildings in Australia and is a cultural symbol of Melbourne. Flinders Street Station building was built back in 1910. Flinders Street Station building is also listed on the Victorian heritage register - which means you can be sure that this beautiful building won't ever change anytime soon.

Federation Square Melbourne, another cultural symbol, with a unique and fascinating architectural design is just across the road from the Flinders Street Station. When you're on Federation Square, don't forget to visit the Australian Centre of the Moving Image which displays gorgeous aboriginal art and is home to the Ian Potter Centre art gallery.

If you're peckish, enjoy great food at the cafes at the Australian Centre of the Moving Image building and on Fed Square, the Flinders St Station shopping area or at the Federation Square restaurants.

What to do at Werribee Open Range Zoo

Werribee Open Range Zoo is a fantastic safari-style zoo that allows you to get very close to many exotic animals. The Werribee Zoo is one of the best Melbourne nearby places to visit, 32 kilometres south-west of Melbourne, Victoria.

Being a part of Zoos Victoria which includes Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary, Werribee Open Range Zoo is famous for its various events, so it's great for both kids and parents alike!

On your visit, you'll see a beautiful Victoria State Rose Garden and Werribee Park Mansion there, which are just next door to Werribee Open Range Zoo.

What to do in St Kilda

The National Gallery of Victoria, the modernist building on St Kilda Road, is known nationally and internationally for its modern art exhibits ranging from classics to contemporary talents and aboriginal art. The National Gallery of Victoria is also one of Australia's most popular art galleries.

The National Gallery of Victoria on St Kilda Rd showed works by Van Gogh, Dior, Dali, MoMA, French Impressionists, and the free NGV Triennial, which returned to The National Gallery in 2020 with Quantum Memories, Marine Mutants, Tomoaki Suzuki Sculptures and more!

The National Gallery of Victoria is one of the best Melbourne indoor attractions for kids and adults alike!

One of Melbourne's fun places and the most famous landmark in St Kilda is Luna Park, Australia's oldest amusement park. You can enjoy Luna Park original rides, including Scenic Railway, which opened up back in 1912, and the Luna Park iconic merry-go-round opened in 1913. St Kilda is a bohemian suburb in south Melbourne that offers eclectic culture, fun things to do and scenic places.

Head down Jacka Boulevard to St Kilda Pier to see little penguins there all year round, with the best time to view them in summer after sunset.

Fitzroy Gardens East Melbourne

Fitzroy Gardens with their natural landscape and historic sites are worth a stroll. There’s something for kids and adults - the miniature Tudor Village, Playground and Fairy Tree are perfect for kids, the original Captain Cook Cottage that was brought from Yorkshire and more!

Don't forget to visit The Conservatory. It exhibits five floral displays annually blooming all year round with a mix of hydrangeas, fuchsias, begonias, cyclamens and calceolaria. You won't be disappointed with Fitzroy Gardens as they are surely one of Melbourne's best places to visit.

Explore famous Melbourne street art

Melbourne's amazing street art is a huge draw for locals and tourists alike! The City Council approves designated Melbourne locations where street artists can paint street art without restrictions. The high quality and regular repaints make the street art spots attractive places for street art lovers.

Check out some of the famous Melbourne street art spots by exploring lanes throughout the Central Business District, including the AC/DC, Hosier Lane and Croft Alley, which are the awesome Melbourne sightseeing places.

Melbourne's amazing street art offers a great Instagram opportunity! To get the photo at the best Melbourne street art spots, we recommend waking up and getting there early.

Take a Yarra River cruise or explore the Yarra Trail

How would you like to take a cruise down the beautiful Yarra River to see Melbourne's interesting places? Yarra River separates Melbourne city centre from Melbourne and allows one to get a grasp of Melbourne's stunning views.

There are many options for cruises that suit families with kids, so it's easy enough to pick one based on your needs or budget! You can also go on kayak tours where you can explore all about this part of Melbourne.

You can also green up your life on a weekend by walking or cycling along the river! There are heaps of ways to approach this 20-km trail, which winds from West Gate Bridge all the way through the Melbourne suburb of Templestowe. Allow enough time for stops when doing so because you'll want to explore what each Melbourne nice place offers before continuing onwards towards Collingwood Children’s Farm and Abbotsford Convent, which itself is one of Melbourne's attractive places.

So why not take a Yarra River cruise or explore the Yarra Trail and the Melbourne attractions CBD to see most of the Melbourne city places to visit on weekends or on school holidays?

Yarra Valley things to do

Yarra Valley is a must-see for families! There are so many things to do and places worth visiting in this area near Melbourne. It usually takes less than an hour's drive from Melbourne's city centre.

Some of our favourites are the Warburton Rainforest Gallery, Lillydale Lake Park and Playground where there's an accessible playground that'll keep them entertained all day long, beautiful Maroondah Reservoir Park, a stunning flower garden - Blue Lotus Water Garden In Yarra Junction and more!

Phillip Island things to do

Enjoy visiting Phillip Island and the famous Penguins Parade! Phillip Island is a popular destination and is about a 2-hour drive from Melbourne that will take you to a wildlife wonderland!

There are plenty of relaxing places and things to do near Melbourne Victoria for families and kids including a chocolate factory, Ventnor Beach and playground, Erehwon Point Reserve and playground, San Remo Playground at the Park, Cowes Beach, Swan Lake Trail for birdwatching, parks filled with native animals and the famous Phillip Island Penguin Parade in the evening!

Don't miss out on letting off the steam at the nature parks and playgrounds there and seeing the little penguins when they come back after spending hours out hunting food waddling up the beach to their homes.

Mornington Peninsula things to do for families

The Mornington Peninsula is a beautiful coastal region of Victoria, just a 1.5-hour drive south of Melbourne Central Business District. With beautiful beaches and Mornington Peninsula National Park and Cape Schanck walks, the area will keep the whole family busy during a day trip!

A stop at Mornington Peninsula Hot Springs and spa make a great substitute when on a long weekend or school holidays here. The Arthurs Seat provides a thrilling lift to enjoy the scenic coastline while Ashcombe Maze and Lavender Gardens invite you to walk through their beautiful gardens.

On the way to the Mornington Peninsula, don’t miss a stop at either McClelland Sculpture Park, Cranbourne Botanic Gardens or Ray Bastin Reserve. These family-friendly parks are the perfect place for the kids to explore their imaginations.