Victoria (Australia)
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Travel Guide > Oceania > Australia > Victoria
In this Article
- Introduction
- Geography
- Cities
- Sights and Activities
- National Parks
- Events and Festivals
- Weather
- Getting There
- Getting Around
- Eat
- Drink
- Sleep
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Introduction
Victoria is small by Australian standards, but it makes up for its size deficiency with a heavily urbanised population who celebrate their food, sport and drink with typical Australian passion. Roughly 70% of Victorians live in Melbourne, the capital city and Australia's second largest city.
Geography
Victoria is located in Australia's south-east, sharing borders with the state of South Australia in the west, New South Wales in the north and the island state of Tasmania in the south. Victoria in fact even shares a small land border with Tasmania on Boundary Islet. [2]
Victoria's landscape varies across the state. Australia's Great Dividing Range stretches across the north of the state and ends in the Grampians in far western Victoria. It is at its highest at Mount Bogong, in the Alpine National Park, reaching almost 2,000 metres. In the east, the primarily rural region of Gippsland is wet and temperate, which has made it an ideal place for much of the state's agriculture. It is also home to the state's major coal power stations and numerous tourist highlights, including Wilsons Promontory, the Gippsland Lakes and Phillip Island. In the state's west and north, there are extensive semi-arid plains with some minor hills scattered throughout.
The total land area of Victoria is 227,416 km², making it Australia's second smallest state, only larger than Tasmania.
Cities
Melbourne
Melbourne is the cosmopolitan heart of Victoria, home to the majority of its population and the big events to match. Whether you're a sport fanatic, a keen shopper, a food and wine connoisseur, or a pub crawler, Melbourne has the attractions, shops and culinary appeal to draw you into its stylish charm.
Other Cities
- Ballarat was once the largest city in Victoria, during the 1800s gold rush.
- Bendigo is a regional centre in central Victoria.
- Geelong, the gateway to the Great Ocean Road
- Mildura lies at the centre of Victoria's Food Bowl in the Sunraysia region in the northwest of the state.
- Mornington a regional hub for the Mornington Peninsula
- Shepparton
- Warrnambool
- Werribee
- Wodonga and its sister city Albury lie on either side of the New South Wales / Victoria border in the state's north-east
Other smaller cities and towns in Victoria include Ararat, Beechworth, Benalla, Bright, Castlemaine, Daylesford, Halls Gap, Hamilton, Healesville, Horsham, Lakes Entrance, Lorne, Marysville, Meredith, Morwell, Myrtleford, Portland, Queenscliff, Sale, Sassafras, Swan Hill, Sorrento (Victoria), Traralgon and Wangaratta.
Sights and Activities
Victoria is a diverse region, located in Australia's south-eastern corner. While Melbourne is a modern city, the rest of Victoria features a remarkable variety of landscapes, from the alpine highlands along the northern border, to the serene beauty of untouched wilderness areas such as Wilsons Promontory and the striking harshness of the southern coast line along the Great Ocean Road.
Yarra Valley
If you fancy yourself a wine connoisseur, make sure you visit some of the great wineries in this region to the north-east of Melbourne. Read more about the Yarra Valley
Dandenong Ranges
Approximately 40kms east of Melbourne lies the Dandenong Ranges, 500m high hills that are richly covered with eucalyptus and lush fern forests.
Great Ocean Road
The Great Ocean Road is one of Australia's most popular road trips - and with very good reason. The dramatic cliff edge drive is enthralling, even before you make it to the 12 Apostles. Read more about the Great Ocean Road
Phillip Island
Phillip Island is about 1.5 hours outside Melbourne and hosts some very diverse attractions: the Penguin Parade, some of Australia's best surf beaches and the Australian MotoGP. Read more about Phillip Island
Grampians
The Grampians are a mountain range in western Victoria and home to one of the state's most popular national parks. Read more about the Grampians
Mornington Peninsula
Only an hour from Melbourne the Mornington Peninsula offers spectacular coast, wineries world-renowned for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, 18 golf courses, hundreds of surf beaches, hot springs and anything that is synonymous with relaxation. The Mornington Peninsula is where beaches meet vineyards.
Whilst not traditionally thought of for scuba diving, Port Phillip Bay is actually one of the world's best locations for wreck scuba diving, home to over 600 wrecks. One of the most popular departure points for scuba diving in Victoria is Portsea on the Mornington Peninsula.
National Parks
Full article: National Parks in Victoria
Victoria is spoiled to have some of the most amazing, unspoiled parkland in the world, preserved by Parks Victoria. Including a diverse range of eco-systems, the National Park network in Victoria spans more than 3.9 Million hectares. Parks Victoria manage approximately 16% of the land and waterways within Victoria and encompass caves, marine parks, gorges, mountains, aboriginal heritage sites, coastal reserves, light houses and gold-digging sites. [3]
Some of the best known National Parks in Victoria include:
Events and Festivals
Victoria, but particularly Melbourne, is home to a never ending stream of events and festivals. No matter what day you find you find yourself in Melbourne, you can be sure that there is at least one event or festival on. Check out the Melbourne Festival website for an up-to-date listing.
- Outdoor Music Festivals. Throughout the year, but particularly during January and the Summer season, Victoria comes alive with many outdoor music festivals and concerts.
- The Melbourne International Comedy Festival features comedians from around the world and runs for several weeks each year. It is widely considered one of the top 3 comedy festivals in the world, along with the comedy festivals in Montreal and Edinburgh.
- The Spring Racing Carnival is held during spring (October/November), culminating in The Melbourne Cup, which takes place on the first Tuesday in November. It is a public holiday in Melbourne.
For a listing of events in Australia by month, including more events & festivals in Victoria check out Events and Festivals in Australia
Weather
Victoria, apart from Tasmania, has the biggest differences between the wintermonths of June to August and summermonths of December to February. It can be very hot during summer, even as south as Melbourne, with temperatures hitting 40 degrees Celsius or more on some days. In winter, especially the south, has cool and rainy conditions, but this certainly is the best time for skiing in the mountains east of Melbourne.
Rain is spread out quite evenly throughout the year, generally decreasing the further north you go in Victoria.
Getting There
By Plane
Melbourne Airport (MEL) is the most likely point of entry for visitors arriving by air. Avalon Airport (AVV) has also emerged as a significant airport in the last few years and is a likely point of arrival for visitors arriving on domestic budget airline Jetstar. Avalon is in fact closer to Geelong than Melbourne, so depending on your destination in Victoria it may not be as convenient as Melbourne International Airport.
Air Asia now services Melbourne from Kuala Lumpur as well, offering low cost flights.
By Train
Train services run from Adelaide to Melbourne and from Sydney to Melbourne. The Overland links Adelaide with Melbourne 3 times a week in both directions. XPT links Melbourne with Sydney.
By Bus
Bus services run between major towns throughout Australia. The dominant operator is Greyhound.
By Car
From Sydney:
Drivers from Sydney generally have to make a choice between the more straightforward Hume Highway (approximately 10 hours to Melbourne) or the much more scenic coastal route, which could easily double the travel time.
From Adelaide:
Drivers from Adelaide are faced with a similar choice between the direct Western Highway (approximately 8 hours to Melbourne) or the winding stunning coastal route along the Great Ocean Road, which begs several days of sightseeing.
By Boat
Getting Around
Victoria's road network is adequate and will get you to most major attractions.
There are also a number of train routes that run from Melbourne to rural points across Victoria. These are operated by V/Line. Within Melbourne itself, it is fairly easy to get around by tram within the inner city.
The Overland stops in several towns en route between Melbourne and Adelaide, including Geelong North Shore, Ararat and Horsham.
CountryLink/XPT has a few stops north of Melbourne en route to Sydney as well.
Car hire is available at Melbourne Airport and throughout the city. Available from:
Eat
Drink
Sleep
References
- 1 (June 2006 est.) Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
- 2 Geoscience Australia
- 3 http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au
This is version 58. Last edited at 21:17 on Feb 9, 10 by Utrecht (-2). 46 articles link to this page.
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