Melbourne Travel Guide - Getting There

By air: the airport provides services for more than 25 international carriers and also handles domestic flights. Many major cities have direct flights to Melbourne including Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, London, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, New York and Vancouver. Direct flying time from London is approximately 21 hours, 14 hours from Los Angeles, 22 hours from New York, 21 hours from Vancouver and 7 hours from Singapore.

By train: trains link many primary Australian cities and towns. The Overland departs four times a week from Adelaide to Melbourne taking about 11 hours. V/Line provides several services including three that depart from Albury in the morning, afternoon and evening, with a travel time of less than four hours; and two services from Bairnsdale, morning and evening, with travelling time of approximately four hours.

By bus: Australia is home to several bus operators that connect major cities and towns. Firefly operates a good value service between Adelaide and Melbourne. Greyhound bus services connect to 1,100 destinations within Australia daily and there are many services from several major Australian cities to Melbourne daily.

Premier Coaches also provides services from Sydney to Melbourne and Cairns to Melbourne. Buses usually offer a variety of ticketing options including three month travel passes, train and bus combinations and other options. Buses depart and arrive at the Melbourne Transit Centre which is near the top of Swanston Street.

By road: it isn’t difficult to drive to Melbourne from almost any area in Australia. However, the distances between cities can be long and arduous and it may be prudent to take along a companion driver. Make sure that you also take sufficient food, water and some spare petrol in case you get stuck in the bush. Driving in summer can be very tiring as the heat is often severe.