Melbourne Tourism

Geographically situated in south eastern Australia, Melbourne is one of countries most populated cities with 4 million residents and only second in size to Sydney. Melburnians are a multi-cultural mix of people from around the world that help make Melbourne tourism one of the largest businesses in the city. Attracting visitors from around the world tourism in Melbourne has everything to offer including restaurants, attractions, transport and entertainment. Melbourne Australia is definitely one of the best holiday destinations in Australia and well worth getting to know a little better before your arrival.

Built alongside the Yarra River, which has its origins high in the Yarra Ranges and extends through the city before flowing out into protective Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne is one of the most significant cities for culture, sport and business. The Melbourne Central Business District (CBD) is home to a large number of corporate offices and the outer suburbs, shires and rural cities are the location for a variety of industries.

Melbourne was settled in 1835 and soon after gold was discovered in the nearby goldfield regions which set off the massive Victoria Gold Rush attracting immigrants and prospectors from around the world. By the 1880's Melbourne had rapidly grown into a significant city. Immigrants continued to arrive from China, Ireland and other parts of Europe and the population and infrastructure quickly grew. After the 1901 federation of Australia Melbourne was named the National Capital for the Commonwealth of Australia. A position it held until 1927 when Canberra was built and adopted as the Australian Capital.

Well known for its cultural significance, Melbourne was home to Australia's impressionist art movement at the Heidelberg School. Today there are many museums and galleries in Melbourne as well as other Arts based interests. For this reason Melbourne is well regarded as the cultural capital of Australia. It is also considered the sporting capital of Australia and each year hosts a number of international sporting events. Melbourne was also host to the 1956 Olympic Games and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

One of Melbourne's iconic tourist attractions is its network of trams that rattle through the city and out into the suburbs. There is a free city circle tram that conveniently stops near many of Melbourne's major tourism attractions. There are a number of universities within the central Melbourne area and together with its cafes, restaurants and entertainment precincts has regularly featured amongst the five most liveable cities in the world. Weather in Melbourne is comfortable year round though it is often said that Melbourne can delivery summer, autumn, winter and spring all in the one day.

Melbourne can be easily reached through the Melbourne international airport and Melbourne vacations can be planned by getting proper Melbourne tourist information. Tourism in Melbourne and things to do in Melbourne are so much and so exciting that it would be difficult to include all of them in one single article. Hence, they are presented in greater detail in subsequent articles. It is suffice to mention here that Melbourne holidays and Melbourne guide will be presented comprehensively by our experts to make your Melbourne tours huge fun and enjoyment.

Article Source: TravelFreeGuides.com

About the Author

Learn more about Melbourne Tourist Information. Visit Jasmine Zahara's site where you can find out all about the best Melbourne Tours for you.

by: Jasmine Zahara

Total views: 6 Word Count: 527 Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2010 Time: 7:35 AM - 0 comments

Publish/Share this article

To use this article on your site click here to get the HTML code |
Remember: The article body, title, author bio and links may not be changed or removed. By publishing this article, you agree to all the terms in our Terms of Service.

Rating: Not yet rated