When it comes to the two largest cities in Australia, the comparison is inevitable. Not many people know, but almost the whole reason why Canberra exists is that no one can decide whether Sydney or Melbourne will be Australia's capital. While we all love both cities, it might be better to give a few reasons why Victoria's most significant city may have an advantage over Sydney.
Where is Melbourne?
It is located on the southeast coast of Australia, on the banks of the Yarra River. In the 170 years that the city has existed, it has grown from a small village to one of the most populated cities in Australia. Melbourne attracted many gold miners, bankers, and others during the Victorian era, hunting too easy prey people from all regions. When the gold rush gripped the world, Melbourne was the capital of the Australian Federation. There were many ancient buildings and the Treasury built in the style of an Italian castle in memory of that time, it still decorates the city center, but already like a museum. Great, where is Melbourne? We understand!
The sights of Melbourne
The city is full of attractions and beautiful places from which I chose the most popular.
Royal Botanical Garden
These stunning 38 hectares of gardens offer a set of giant green lungs in the city center from the air. Attracting more than two million visitors each year is considered one of the best examples of Victorian landscape art. Here you will find global plantings and a variety of Australian flora. The mini-ecosystems, herb gardens, and aboriginal rainforest are situated in the middle of vast meadows, convenient for picnics and ponds with black spots.
Shrine of Remembrance
One of Melbourne's icons, the Shrine of Remembrance, is a majestic monument to the Victorian people who served in the war and peacekeeping operations, especially those who died in World War I. Built between 1928 and 1934, most of which are associated with depressive relief works, its stoic, classic design is based in part on the mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. The sanctuary's upper balcony offers an epic Instagrammable view of the Melbourne skyline and the Swanston Street tramway.
NGV International
Located in a vast, brutally beautiful bunker-like building, the international branch of NGV has an extensive collection, from ancient artifacts to the most modern. Regular blockbuster exhibitions (prices vary) attract crowds, and free 50-minute tours of major Melbourne attractions are held daily from 11 am to 2 pm. This is an obligatory ritual of touching the water wall at the entrance.
Queen Victoria Market
With over 600 traders, Queen Victoria Market is the largest open-air market in the southern hemisphere. Visit it early in the morning to buy fresh produce, taking delicacies, and avoiding the screams of stallholders with barbs. The beautiful art deco delicatessen room includes everything from soft cheeses and Polish sausages to Greek sauces and kangaroo biltong.
Melbourne Cricket Ground
With a capacity of 100,000 people, the "G" is one of the most excellent sports facilities in the world, hosting cricket in summer and AFL (Australian Football League) in winter - for many Australia people, it is sacred land. Come to the game if you can. Otherwise, you will be waiting for non-match tours, which will take place in the stands, areas for media and coaches, changing rooms, and lounges for club members.
Melbourne Zoo
Founded in 1862, this compact zoo remains one of the most popular Melbourne attractions of the city and continues to innovate, becoming the world's first zoo with zero carbon content. Located in beautifully landscaped gardens, the enclosures seek to simulate animals' natural habitat and allow them to hide if they want (gorillas and tigers play exceptionally well in hard-to-reach places). Well, the sights of Melbourne are clear to us, now let's decide:
1. Melbourne is full of culture
Art prevails on every corner where you turn with brightly painted frescoes, live performances, hidden rooftop bars, world-class restaurants, and a hole in the wall, a snack bar serving delicious dishes at any time of day or night.
It seems that there is no other city with so many festivals and special events, from international sports games to comedy and music festivals and small festivities organized by seemingly every minority in the city, it would be no exaggeration if Melbourne always has something to do.
However, you don't even have to go to events to get your cultural dose. Every day, Melbourne attractions can be turned into a culinary, artistic, and musical adventure, with all the museums, lanes, and neighborhoods to explore, street art to find, and restaurants to try. The fact that Melbourne has ONLY GOOD places makes it a cultural wonder. The culture of the cafes here, for example, is just crazy. Brunch is a real hobby among gourmets.
It seems that many of these places are very well aware of their aesthetic presentation and go through excellent means to make their space and dishes very instinctively clear.
In Sydney, you will not be bored or hungry either, but it is the same as any other city in restaurants, bars, and standard cultural offers. In other words, you probably will not travel to Sydney Australia, specifically to look for things like Melbourne.
Sydney has the Sydney Opera House, numerous festivals, and of course VIVID, but Melbourne's vibrant musical culture is strong and resilient. As the festival venue behind Sydney's closure, Melbourne enjoys the title of "Capital of Living Music of the World," as it was named in a recent study. Melbourne has more concert halls per capita than any other city, including New York, London, and Berlin. And the good news is that the audience is growing from year to year.
2. Prices
Forgive Sydney, but all your beauty is costly. According to a recent survey, the cost of living in Sydney is 11% higher than their southern neighbors (ouch!). Rent is 27% higher (there are no surprises), food is 4% higher, and entertainment is 12% higher. Do not worry, Sydney, and you are still 12% cheaper than living in London?
3. Melbourne is more isolated
Melbourne people furiously love their city and their friends. Many of them grew up here and stayed here throughout their adult lives because, well, Melbourne is very livable (it is called continuously one of the best cities in the world). So they already have family and friends here, and although they are entirely lovely and friendly to other people, they don't want to add them to their social circles. If you manage to get into the immediate environment of a local Melbourne resident, you will learn about all the underground events taking place here, and you will be guaranteed a good time with them.
On the other hand, Sydney is more of an international city: Sydney population is slightly more expatriate, and it attracts almost twice as many expatriates every year as Melbourne.
If you want to have more experience in the local market and are willing to make an effort to find friends, Melbourne is where you should be; but if you are happy to connect with foreigners, you can easily do so in Sydney.
4. Weather
Returning to the question: Which city is better Sydney or Melbourne? The average annual maximum temperature in Sydney is a pleasant 22 degrees, and the minimum is 13.8 degrees, which enhances the overall comfort you can experience during your trip. Rainfall is surprisingly more substantial than in Melbourne, but it is more likely to fall during severe seasonal thunderstorms than during drizzling rain throughout the year in summer. The weather consistency certainly makes planning easier and lets you know what to expect during your travel to Sydney Australia. But before the journey, please check Australia visa requirements for your nationality on our website.
5. Excellent streetcar system Melbourne
Even better, the city allows a free passage zone, so you can jump on board without worrying about buying an electronic travel card, "Myki". Peak hours should be avoided, although not surprisingly, the journey outside of this time is pleasant. Like the streets around CBD, the grid makes it easy enough to move around, unless you need to make one of these terrible "hook" turns to avoid oncoming streetcar traffic. Still, if you are a tourist, you are likely to stay in the central area, where walking is a sufficient and much easier way to explore the city, there are also enough streetcars if you need them.
6. Melbourne is better for biking
Sydney is a city dominated by a harbor: the harbor was the first place, and the town was formed around it. As a result, Sydney's streets do not have a mesh structure, and they are usually quite hilly and poorly adapted for occasional bicycle rides. Many people still ride bicycles in Sydney and use the new bike lanes that have emerged around the city, but overall it is not very common. Melbourne, on the contrary, is an absolutely bicycle city. The city is created by man, with the streets, which tend to pass through the bars and most often lined with bicycle paths. Melbourne has free pumps for evening bikes and a spacious bicycle parking lot located next to most railway stations, which allows you to come to Melbourne daily by bike. Several of the main roads leading into the city have separate bike lanes, which run right through the centre, utterly different from traffic. Best of all: beautiful Instagrammable bike paths that amaze you with a healthy dose of nature when you want a little break from the city. The trails that run along the Yarra River, the Maribyrnong River, and the coastline are particularly excellent.
7. Coffee in Melbourne
You can find equally fantastic coffee in both Sydney and Melbourne. The difference is that in Sydney, you need to know where to find it, while in Melbourne, any cafe you go to serves coffee that will not leave you indifferent. There is much more coffee in Melbourne, and the cafes' culture is an integral part of this city.
8. Life after dark
While Sydney has many fantastic rooftop restaurants and bars, Melbourne wins in bets thanks to its weather and flavor! Life after dark changes into small, cozy, lair-like bars all over the city. For a minute, you can imagine that this is Barcelona and New York combined. Down hidden alleys and inside collapsing industrial buildings, bars, and nightclubs, life thrives. You'll find themed bars, clubs in the neighborhood, AFL friendly pubs, and Speakeasies, and all this will last until the morning. There are no laws on blocking, guys.
9. Instagram
You would think that Sydney will win a beauty contest with incredible beaches and a beautiful harbor (not to mention the Bridge and Opera). However, Melbourne's fresh strips, filled with graffiti, cafes in the European style and hidden bars will conquer Instagram profiles all over the world. And for a good reason, Melbourne feels more like Europe than any other Australian city (hello, cold weather...). So take a strong coffee (Melbourne serves the best drink) and start catching your moments on camera.
10. New acquaintances
We don't have any official data on this at the moment, but Melbourne seems to have an advantage in dating. Talk to anyone who meets in both cities in Australia, and you will inevitably hear some of the following reasons why dating in Melbourne is more fun (and ultimately successful). In Melbourne, more attention is paid to nightlife, bars open later, in Melbourne it is cheaper to meet (fact), it is more common to talk to strangers in bars, cafes and even on public transport and more attention is paid to getting friends to meet them.
