The lay of the land
Victoria fits a lot into a small footprint. Greater Melbourne sits at the centre with a genuinely comprehensive public transport network — metro trains, the world-famous trams and buses, all on the Myki card, with a free tram zone in the city centre. You can spend a whole Melbourne trip without ever needing a car.
The regions radiate out within easy reach: the Great Ocean Road along the south-west coast, the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges on Melbourne's doorstep, the Grampians to the west, Phillip Island and Gippsland to the south-east, and the spa country around Daylesford. V/Line trains and coaches connect the major regional centres, but the scenic touring routes are really made for driving or a guided tour. The sections below run through each option.
💳 Myki & fares
Victoria's public transport runs on Myki, a tap-on, tap-off smartcard used across Melbourne's trains, trams and buses, on regional town buses and on V/Line commuter services. You can use a plastic Myki card or a mobile Myki on Android. Contactless bank-card and phone payments are being introduced from 2026, starting on some metro rail lines — but for now, trams, buses and most journeys still need a Myki, so a physical card is the safe bet for visitors.
tram
zone
Central Melbourne trams are free. Within the Free Tram Zone — the CBD, Docklands and around the Queen Victoria Market and Melbourne Museum — you ride the trams for nothing and don't even touch on. It's one of the best deals in any Australian city. Travel beyond the zone and standard Myki fares apply, with daily and weekly caps that keep costs down.
Buy a Myki at the airport, train stations, 7-Elevens and many newsagents, then load travel money onto it. Fares are zone-based and capped daily, so frequent travel in a day never costs more than the cap.
🚆 Trains
Melbourne's Metro trains run on sixteen lines radiating from the City Loop in the centre out to the suburbs — the backbone of getting around greater Melbourne, all on Myki. Trains are frequent on weekdays and run late on weekends.
For the regions, V/Line operates regional trains from Southern Cross Station to the major centres, with connecting coaches to towns off the rail lines:
- Geelong — around 1 hour, the gateway to the Great Ocean Road and Bellarine.
- Ballarat & Bendigo — the goldfields cities, roughly 1.5–2 hours.
- Traralgon & the Gippsland line — east toward the Gippsland Lakes.
- Seymour, Shepparton & Warrnambool — the north and the far south-west coast.
🚊 Trams
Melbourne's trams are an icon — and at around 250 kilometres of track, the largest tram network in the world. They're the most characterful way to move around the inner city, gliding past the grand boulevards out to St Kilda, the beaches, the universities and the inner suburbs.
Two things every visitor should know: trams are free inside the Free Tram Zone in the city centre, and the City Circle tram is a free heritage service that loops the CBD's main sights. Beyond the free zone you'll need a Myki — touch on as you board. No other Victorian city has trams; this is a Melbourne speciality.
🚌 Buses & coaches
Buses fill in the gaps across Melbourne and the regional towns, included in the same Myki fares and caps. They're most useful for the outer suburbs and areas the trains and trams don't reach.
Between regions, V/Line coaches extend the rail network to towns without a station, and private operators run longer-distance services, including connections toward the coast and interstate. For the great scenic routes, though — the Great Ocean Road, the Grampians, the wineries — a guided coach day tour is usually the easiest way to see the highlights without driving yourself.
✈️ Flights
Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine) is the state's main gateway and one of Australia's busiest, with domestic and international flights. Avalon Airport, between Melbourne and Geelong, handles additional domestic services and is handy for the west of the state. Regional airports at Mildura and Albury (on the NSW border) serve the far corners.
Getting to and from Melbourne Airport is by road — there's no train link, so the SkyBus express coach to the city and Southern Cross Station, taxis, rideshare and pre-booked transfers are the options. The SkyBus runs around the clock. Most of Victoria is compact enough that you'll reach the regions by road or V/Line rather than flying.
🚗 Driving
For the touring that makes Victoria special, a car is the way — and the distances are friendly, with most highlights within a couple of hours of Melbourne:
| Route | Distance | Approx. drive |
|---|---|---|
| Melbourne → Torquay (start of the Great Ocean Road) | ≈ 100 km | 1.5 hrs |
| Melbourne → Yarra Valley | ≈ 60 km | 1 hr |
| Melbourne → Phillip Island | ≈ 140 km | 2 hrs |
| Melbourne → Daylesford | ≈ 115 km | 1.5 hrs |
| Melbourne → Grampians (Halls Gap) | ≈ 260 km | 3 hrs |
The Great Ocean Road itself is one of the world's great drives — slow, winding and spectacular, so allow far more time than the distance suggests and don't try to rush it. A few practical notes: Melbourne's CityLink and EastLink motorways are tolled with electronic tags, country roads see kangaroos at dawn and dusk, and the High Country and Great Ocean Road can be slow going in wet or winter conditions. Car hire is available at the airports and across the city.
The Twelve Apostles are about 2.5 hours west of Torquay by the coast road — but the drive is the attraction. Many visitors make it an overnight loop, returning inland via the faster Princes Highway, or take a full-day guided tour so they can watch the coast rather than the corners.
🚕 Taxis & rideshare
Taxis and rideshare (Uber, Didi, Ola and others) operate across Melbourne and the larger regional cities, handy for airport runs, late nights and trips the trains and trams don't cover. Availability thins out in smaller country towns, so pre-book where you can rather than relying on an app being free. For airport pickups and group travel, a fixed-price transfer takes the uncertainty out of it.