With many fun and free things to do, Melbourne should be one of the top cities on your Australia Bucket List. Melbourne is the capital city of the state Victoria and with a population of over 4.8 million people it is the second largest city of Australia.
I personally LOVE Melbourne. As a European I feel Melbourne is the closest any Australian city gets to the European vibe. And with many free things to do Melbourne suits every travellers budget, wishes and needs.
Here are 8 fun and free things to do and see in Melbourne.
1. Hosier Lane
Melbourne is well-known for its beautiful street art. While you’ll find the prettiest graffiti all over the city, one of the most famous places to see the epic Melbourne wall art from up close is Hosier Lane. The art here often changes so if you’re visiting Melbourne more than once it is always worth checking out Hosier Lane again 🙂
2. See wild Kangaroos
Wait, what?! Wild kangaroos?! In Melbourne?! YES!!!
I had a friend from overseas visiting, and seeing kangaroos in real life was one of her Aussie bucket list wishes. I coincidentally came across this article by Walk My World and we decided to give one of the options a try. And with success!
We took the bus from Melbourne CBD to Westerfolds Park in Templestowe. We wandered around the park for a little bit, hoping we’d suddenly see one of those iconic Aussie animals jumping around. It took a while, but then we saw the first kangaroo. Oh, and there was the second one. Whoohooo, and the third! Later on we even saw entire mobs of kangaroos hopping around. They were literally everywhere!
Even though I’ve been living in Australia for over three years seeing kangaroos will never get old. So if you’re in Melbs and you’ve got the time, definitely pay a visit to Westerfolds Park 🙂
3. Check out St Paul’s Cathedral
I’m not religious, but for me there’s something enchanting about churches. I love how majestic they are, and there’s always a certain feeling that captivates me when I walk into a church.
St Paul’s Cathedral’s foundation stone was laid in 1880 and it was finally consecrated in 1891. 2016 marked the 125th year since the consecration. To find out more about St Paul’s Cathedral and about visiting hours, please click here.
4. State Library of Victoria
The State Library of Victoria was established in 1854. It is Australia’s oldest library and one of the first free libraries in the world.
If you love Harry Potter vibes then you can’t miss the SLV. Wander around the beautiful library or book a free Dome to Catacombe tour. For more information, please visit their website.
5. Flinders Street Station
Flinders Street Station is a railway station on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Street and the busiest station of Melbourne. It’s iconic and well-known for it’s five clocks hanging at the entrance. They if you want to impress a Melburnian,you have to tell them to “meet you under the clocks”. Only true Melburnians understand this means at Flinders Street Station 😉
6. Federation Square
Now you don’t need a heap of time to visit Federation Square, but it’s one of those places you can’t miss when you’re in Melbourne. And if you’re already paying visit to St Paul’s Cathedral and Flinders Street Station, you might as well check out Fed Square as it is just around the corner 🙂
According to the website of Federation Square it is anything but square 😉 Visit one of the world-class art galleries and installations, try some food and drinks or visit one of the events. Or if you don’t want to spend a buck and just wander around that’s totally fine as well 🙂
More info: Fed Square website.
7. St Kilda Penguins
If you can’t get enough of animals then do yourself a favor and go down to St Kilda for sunset. 30 minutes after sunset you’ll see tons of cute little penguins come out of the water.
The best spot to view them is from the boardwalk (source). If you want to take photos that’s fine, but please make sure you don’t use a flash. Also make sure you don’t touch the penguins and give them enough space, because no matter how cute they look, they can bite 😉
8. Free for students: Immigration Museum
If you’re a student or if you have a bit of cash to spare I’d highly recommend visiting the immigration museum. I wandered around this museum for a good two hours, learning all about the history of Australia. Did you know Australia estimates there will be 50 million people living here by 2050?
More info about opening hours and where to find the immigration museum here.
I hope this article gave you some inspo on where to find fun & free things to do in Melbourne 🙂 Enjoy!
All pictures in this article are edited with Eef’s Presets – get yours here.
❤ Eef
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