Melbourne Travels
To get in to Melbourne, air travel is the best way. The Melbourne Tullamarine Airport is just 22 km from the city center and is serviced by many domestic and international flights. Most international flights are connector flights that come from destinations across Europe and Pan Asian nations and may be going up to Sydney or Perth. The Melbourne Avalon Airport is another airport that services this place and is situated around 60 km from the South Western suburbs of Melbourne. it is mainly a local airport and is has flights to Sydney, Perth and a few other domestic places. It also offers a shuttle facility to the city center.
You can also get in here by train from Sydney and Victoria, and most intercity train travel takes around 10 hours. This is an economical option though. You can also get here by car from Sydney or Adelaide, which is slightly closer to Melbourne. Bus service is also fine as long as you can bear the long distances. Boat rides are a good and economical option, especially if you want to come to Melbourne from Tasmania.
Public transport within Melbourne is outstanding. The basic lay out of Melbourne town enables a tourist to maneuver his way through compact spaces offering large services, like the CBD, on foot, and can reach anywhere within Melbourne by trains or trams within a maximum of 20 minutes. Melbourne's public travel network is known as Metlink and comprises of buses, trains and trams. It is so good that even the locals feel that private travel is almost unwanted here. A metcard, much like the Octopus card in Hong Kong, serves as a single ticket for all these modes of transport. Other options with this card include the pre paid mode and certain bills that you can pay with this single master card. The "Met shop" is a good place for tourists as it provides all the Dos and don't s of public transport, tickets, maps and souvenirs.
For bikers, the Yarra river trail, the Bay trail and the Capital City Trail are few of the many biking trails one can find here. Biking is also a popular local mode of transport as it saves fuel and environment, as is often less time consuming than traveling by your private vehicle on the busy streets.