5 Things To Tick Off Your Bucket List in Melbourne

The lively southern city best known for its coffee culture, mad sports fans and hip arts scene is always a blast to visit. Wander Melbourne’s graffiti-laden laneways in search of cool bars, venture to St Kilda for beach vibes and the seaside, and look up the city’s packed events calendar to see what’s happening while you’re in town.

The eclectic cultural capital has something to entertain every type of traveler, and here are five unusual and bucket-list-worthy things to add to your Melbourne itinerary.

1. Street Art Tour

The laneways and arcades that snake through Melbourne’s CBD conceal a hidden city. If you know where to look you’ll find one of the world’s most renowned underground art and culture scenes. 
While you accidentally see glimpses of it walking around, an organised tour will lead you directly to the most striking art and locations and reveal the fascinating stories behind them. 

Once you learn about paste-ups, graffiti, yarn-bombing and blanking out, you’ll never look at any city the same way again.  

Get tips from your local guide and return after dark to see the laneways in a new light, when doors to the city’s coolest secret underground bars, restaurants and galleries fling open their doors.

2. Old Melbourne Gaol Ghost Tour

It’s a creepy enough building during the day, and that’s when it’s just a historical museum. At night, the echo-chamber passageways and thick cells of the Old Gaol reveal a far more disturbing atmosphere.

A convincing storyteller will share true-life ghost stories as you tour through the historic and grim cellblocks. Walk carefully in the dark or else you might trip over more than just your imagination!

The Old Melbourne Gaol is a chilling space that inspires the mind to wander off... The death mask of Ned Kelly, and other convicts hanged on site certainly add to the dark atmosphere.

3. Puffing Billy

Old world rail travel has always been romantic. When this narrow-gauge track was decommissioned in the 1950s it was reborn as a volunteer-run leisure railway, with steam locomotives taking visitors through Dandenong Ranges for picnics along the way. Bliss!

Climb aboard the Puffing Billy, a nostalgic memory for any Melbournite. On-board, it’s a festive and family-friendly atmosphere, with guests encouraged to sit on the edges of the open-air carriages swinging their legs in the breeze. 

Puffing Billy is a Greater Melbourne icon, and a great way to explore nature outside the city. Book a trip and create your own special memories together.

4. Melbourne Skydeck’s The Edge

Get your kicks at the highest public viewing deck in the southern hemisphere. The Melbourne Skydeck gives visitors stellar 360-views of the sprawling city, and the most popular attraction puts the streets (and the Oaks Southbank) literally beneath your feet. 

The first of its kind, The Edge is a glass cube that extends out from the 88th floor viewing deck, nearly 300 metres above the ground. Dare to step out into the suspended space, complete with sound effects of glass breaking adding to the thrills. 

It’s the perfect location to dare your mates, face your fears or plan a special moment… a proposal perhaps?

5. Melbourne Zoo’s Roar n’ Snore Overnight Camp

Some 10,000 people can pack into the world-renowned Melbourne Zoo every day, so imagine having the place to yourself at night when many of the dozy-by-day animals are actually awake. 

Melbourne Zoo’s Roar n’ Snore experience not only lets you behind the gates at night, it also takes you behind-the-scenes for a special tour with the keepers. 

As one of the “animals” sleeping at the zoo that night, you’ll be fed dinner and hear wild animal stories before settling in for the night in the historic Elephant Enclosure.

In the morning, wake to the call of gibbons and exotic birds and enjoy a quick breakfast before joining a keeper on an early morning run around the park. Get up close with your favourite animals and discover what the life of a zoo keeper is like.

If you’ve always wanted the chance to sleep in a canvas tent surrounded by the sounds of exotic animals, this is it. The following day you’ll have a pass to explore the zoo at your own pace. BYO sleeping bag, pillow and sense of adventure.