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Victoria

Destination guide

Melbourne

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Hosier Lane.
Room with a view … Crowne Plaza Geelong.

The $120 million hotel changing the face of this regional city

This Victorian industrial hub has been undergoing a gradual but deliberate metamorphosis. But until now, it has lacked top-tier stays.

  • Julietta Jameson
Hannah St Hotel, Southbank.

The verdict on Melbourne’s glam new Manhattan-style hotel

Tucked next to a major highway and likened to New York’s iconic Flatiron Building, Hannah St Hotel might be the city’s most convincing slice of the Big Apple.

  • Katherine Scott
Luxury studio rooms overlooking the vines.

A country escape without leaving Melbourne’s city limits

A rural reset in Melbourne’s deep north – and without the crowds of the Yarra Valley? This is a one-stop shop of good wine, food and accommodation.

  • Belinda Jackson
Milawa offers the simple life city dwellers dream about.

We found a dream escape during COVID. Five years on, we keep going back

After eight months of inner-city lockdown, home-schooling and curfews, an escape to rural Victoria was a breath of fresh country air.

  • Penny Watson
Savour a summer’s day in Fitzroy Gardens.

I dreamt of Disneyland, but a park became my real dream destination

Every summer our friends disappeared to the coast in caravans, or road-tripped to Surfers Paradise. We were stuck at home, until my mum had an idea.

  • Julietta Jameson
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The Victoria’s impressive chandelier and a central staircase.

As a travel writer, here’s where I stay in Melbourne when I’m paying

Built before the era of big gyms and pools, this CBD hotel is cosmopolitan, unpretentious, calm – and very affordable.

  • John Borthwick
Kata Tjuta.

Australia’s 100 all-time greatest destinations

Natural beauty, cultural hotspots, amazing food and wine: it’s not hard to find 100 amazing places in our own backyard. The tricky bit? Deciding what to leave out.

Flat, flat, flat … Melbourne is a cyclist’s paradise.

A cancelled flight led me to an unlikely new Melbourne highlight

Stranded, with a day to kill, I set off on a bicycle mission into Melbourne’s heart of brownness – the Yarra River.

  • Matt Teffer
Melbourne’s Albert Park Lake is home to the city’s Formula 1 Grand Prix track.

Melbourne makes New York Times’ 2026 must-visit list – for specific reason

A Formula 1 milestone and a sacred waterfall caught the attention of The New York Times judges in the annual 52 Places to Go list.

  • Katherine Scott
Cyclists must push bikes around the must-see panorama of Loch Ard Gorge walking tracks.

No car, no crowds: The new way to do one of our greatest road trips

From volcanic craters to towering redwoods and secret rail trails, the best way to experience the Great Ocean Road is by venturing off the bitumen.

  • Tracey Croke