With kids · Melbourne · Australia
Melbourne with kids
Family-tested sights, a calm base and the practical details that make travelling with children easier.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Quick answer
Melbourne is easy with children: free CBD trams, big parks, a children's garden at the Botanic Gardens and museums built for families. Zoos Victoria usually lets children in free at weekends and during school holidays, and Phillip Island and Puffing Billy make excellent family day trips. Top picks: Melbourne Zoo, SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium and Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building. Families usually base themselves in Southbank.
Key facts
- Family picks
- 7
- Best area for families
- Southbank
- Rainy-day options
- 3
- Busiest months
- January
Best things to do with kids
Zoo · Parkville
1.Melbourne Zoo
Opened in 1862, Melbourne Zoo is Australia's oldest zoo, set in mature gardens in Parkville about 4 km north of the CBD. Its Australian bush area has kangaroos, koalas, wombats and platypuses, alongside gorillas, orangutans, big cats and a butterfly house.
Children usually enter free at weekends, on public holidays and during Victorian school holidays; tram 58 from the CBD stops near the entrance.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Nature
- Outdoors
Aquarium · Melbourne CBD
2.SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium
On the north bank of the Yarra at the corner of Flinders and King Streets, the aquarium has king and gentoo penguins in a sub-Antarctic zone, a large oceanarium with sharks and rays, and tunnels and touch pools for children.
Visit on a weekday morning outside school holidays to watch the penguins without a crowd at the glass.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
- Nature
Museum · Carlton
3.Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building
In the Carlton Gardens, the Melbourne Museum covers natural history, First Peoples culture and the city's own story, with a living forest gallery, dinosaur skeletons and Phar Lap, the champion racehorse. Across the forecourt, the 1880 Royal Exhibition Building is one of the few surviving 19th-century great exhibition halls and is UNESCO World Heritage-listed.
Check the museum's site for guided tours of the Royal Exhibition Building's interior, which is otherwise mainly used for events.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Rainy day
- History
- Architecture
- Nature
Garden · South Yarra
4.Royal Botanic Gardens
Thirty-eight hectares of lawns, lakes and plant collections stretch along the Yarra south of the CBD, with a fern gully, an arid garden and Guilfoyle's Volcano, a restored reservoir planted with succulents. The Ian Potter Foundation Children's Garden has water play and tunnels for younger kids. Entry is free.
Walk part of the Tan, the 3.8 km running track around the edge of the gardens, or join locals picnicking by the Ornamental Lake.
- Time needed
- 1–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Outdoors
- Kids
- Nature
- Couples
Waterfront · St Kilda
5.St Kilda foreshore and pier
St Kilda's palm-lined Esplanade and beach look across Port Phillip Bay, and the pier leads out to a breakwater where a colony of little penguins nests among the rocks. The giant face at the entrance of Luna Park, open since 1912, and the cake shops of Acland Street are a short walk away.
Arrive around dusk to see the little penguins return to the breakwater; keep your voice down and never use a camera flash.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Kids
- Outdoors
- After dark
- Couples
- Nature
Museum · Federation Square
6.ACMI
ACMI at Federation Square is Australia's museum of film, television, video games and digital culture. Its free permanent exhibition, The Story of the Moving Image, mixes film history with hands-on displays and playable games, and its cinemas screen new releases and retrospectives.
Pick up a free Lens at the entrance to bookmark exhibits as you go, then look them up online later.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Rainy day
- Kids
- Art
Historic site · Abbotsford
7.Abbotsford Convent
A former convent complex on a bend of the Yarra, now an arts precinct with studios, galleries, cafés and gardens. Entry to the grounds is free, markets and events are held regularly, and the Collingwood Children's Farm is right next door.
Combine it with the Collingwood Children's Farm next door, where children can meet farm animals beside the river.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Off the beaten path
- Free
- Art
- Kids
- Outdoors
Rainy-day ideas
- Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building — Check the museum's site for guided tours of the Royal Exhibition Building's interior, which is otherwise mainly used for events.
- ACMI — Pick up a free Lens at the entrance to bookmark exhibits as you go, then look them up online later.
- SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium — Visit on a weekday morning outside school holidays to watch the penguins without a crowd at the glass.
Where families should stay
$$$$ · Best for couples, luxury, culture and first-timers
Southbank
Across Princes Bridge from Flinders Street, Southbank lines the Yarra with restaurants and bars and holds Arts Centre Melbourne, the Melbourne Recital Centre and NGV International on St Kilda Road. The Crown casino complex anchors the western end. It suits travellers who want river views and a short walk to both the CBD and the Royal Botanic Gardens.
- Good
- River views and walking access to the CBD; Close to the NGV and the gardens; Many modern hotels
- Watch out
- Feels corporate away from the river; Crowds and noise around the casino at night
- Nearby
- NGV International, Arts Centre Melbourne, Eureka Tower, Royal Botanic Gardens
Family travel tips
- The Ian Potter Foundation Children's Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens has water play and hidden paths for younger children.
- Scienceworks in Spotswood and the Melbourne Museum's children's gallery are good wet-day options.
- Low-floor trams make strollers easy on many routes, but older trams have steep steps; the PTV app shows which type is coming.
- Pack layers and sunscreen together: Melbourne weather can swing from hot sun to cold rain in the same afternoon.
- Book the Phillip Island Penguin Parade ahead in summer and school holidays, when viewing areas fill up.
Day trips for families
- Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles (About 4 hours each way along the coast) — The Great Ocean Road winds along cliffs and surf beaches from Torquay through Lorne and Apollo Bay to the limestone stacks of the Twelve Apostles in Port Campbell National Park.
- Phillip Island (About 2 hours by car) — Phillip Island is best known for its Penguin Parade, when hundreds of little penguins come ashore at dusk at Summerland Beach while visitors watch from grandstands and boardwalks.
- Yarra Valley (About 1–1.5 hours by car) — Victoria's best-known wine region around Healesville and Yarra Glen has cellar doors pouring Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and sparkling wine, plus Healesville Sanctuary, a native wildlife park run by Zoos Victoria.
- Dandenong Ranges and Puffing Billy (About 1 hour by train or car) — Puffing Billy, a restored steam railway dating from 1900, runs from Belgrave through fern-filled forest in the Dandenong Ranges, with passengers sitting on the open carriage windowsills, legs dangling.
- Ballarat and Sovereign Hill (About 1.5 hours by train) — Ballarat grew rich in the 1850s gold rush, and its grand Victorian streetscapes still show it.
When to go with children
The best months overall are February–April and October–November. January is the busiest, so book the big sights early. Weather by month.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Melbourne good for kids?
Melbourne is easy with children: free CBD trams, big parks, a children's garden at the Botanic Gardens and museums built for families. Zoos Victoria usually lets children in free at weekends and during school holidays, and Phillip Island and Puffing Billy make excellent family day trips.
+What can kids do in Melbourne?
Melbourne Zoo, SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium, Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building, Royal Botanic Gardens and St Kilda foreshore and pier.
+Where should families stay in Melbourne?
Southbank: Riverside promenade, the arts precinct and high-rise hotels across the Yarra.