Best Beach in Portarlington

"From here it’s a 15 minute cab ride (or 30 minutes by tram) to St Kilda beach, where you can stroll along the esplanade and historic St Kilda Pier, and enjoy a cake at one of Acland Street's famous patisseries. AfternoonFrom St Kilda it's a half hour tram ride back to the city centre. Visit Australia's oldest gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), which hosts a wide range of local and international artists, exhibitions and events. Or you may like to see Melbourne from a new perspective aboard a cruise along the Yarra River."

"Melbourne’s most famous beach is perfect for a quick afternoon trip to the beach, and you can conveniently combine it with a visit to Luna Park (for the kids) or a dine and wine along Carlisle Street. In fact, St Kilda in itself has a lot to offer that will put it in one of the top positions for families visiting Melbourne. The Botanical Gardens, Catani Gardens, the historic Palais Theatre and the Esplanade Markets on Sundays are perfect to keep the whole family entertained."

"The calm waters of Elwood Beach make it great for swimming, and sometimes there’s enough surf for some boogie boarding. There’s the Bayside Trail bike and running track if you fancy a walk or cycle, plus cafes a’plenty. Getting there: Elwood Beach is 9km from the city centre."

"A little bit further south, Elwood Beach comes with plenty of parking and is less crowded than its famous neighbour St Kilda. Elwood has a great beachside vibe with quaint little shops and cute cafes. The promenade is great for prams and scooters."

"Another easily accessible from Melbourne CBD via their light rail system within around fifteen minutes, Port Melbourne Beach is an easily-reachable relaxed experience for a lazy day outdoors. With many narrow grass lawns that are dotted with lovely green palm trees, wide plains of sand and shallow temperature waters sum up what this beach is all about. Low sand dunes for lazing on offer a great level of wind protection, and the beach's pedestrian path is popular with cyclists and rollerbladers alike."

"Thanks to its close proximity to the city centre of Melbourne, Port Phillip Beach is the easiest to access for short-term visitors and families that don’t have their own transport while in Melbourne. It is actually hard to believe that a beach as pretty as this would be so close to a major city. Port Melbourne beach offers the full package of sand dunes, historic buildings such as the Princess Pier, restored workers’ cottages and the beachside rotunda."

"Albert Park, a suburb located right in the south-central of Melbourne, is home to a lovely little beach featuring a sandy, narrow stretch of coastline with safe, sheltered waters that makes it a great choice of beach destination in Melbourne with kids, especially due to how easy it is to reach from most major accommodation spots in the city. Accessible via public transport within around 20 minutes from the Melbourne CBD and situated next to the tram terminal on Victoria Ave, Albert Park Beach eases gently into the shallow and calm waters of Port Phillip Bay, making for ideal swim conditions for kids. The beach is a popular location for all beach-going purposes; not only swimming but sunbathing, windsurfing, kite boarding and walks along the road pier are all viable options to pass the time on the beach, while there are also many walking and bicycle paths that are popular with those rollerblading or simply going for a stroll."

"A little bit further south, Half Moon Beach is less accessible by public transport and parking fees can be shocking. Nevertheless, Half Moon Beach is a very attractive location and the trip down Beach Road on a hot summer’s day might be worth your while. Here you can see Australian’s nature at its best."

"For a really quirky interaction with Melbourne’s artistic scene, head to the eastern suburb of Kew to Lyon Housemuseum. The gallery consists of two distinct sections; the first being the original house museum, which is where founders Corbett and Yueji Lyon live and which can only be visited on pre-booked tours held on certain days of the year. The second space is the newly-opened public Housemuseum Galleries."

"This remarkable family home is also one of Australia’s most unique exhibition spaces. Lyon Housemuseum belongs to art patrons Corbett and Yueji Lyon, who open it up for pre-booked tours on select days of the year so that people can enjoy their exquisite private art collection. In 2019 they also opened a completely public gallery showcasing national and international exhibitions."

"What makes the Lyon Housemuseum so interesting is that it truly is both the things the name suggests – a house and a museum. It’s now made up of two adjacent sections. The first is the original Housemuseum that’s the private home of the founding patrons, with residential areas blending with exhibitions."

"A lot more than you might think, as this 1980s building extends five floors underground and includes three theatres. Take a peek inside Hamer Hall on the virtual tour, or watch a clip about the iconic performing arts collection. The collection includes over 500 pieces of Australia’s performing arts history, including Kylie’s famous hot pants!"

"Spend the day hopping between eclectic cafes and small shops, and explore iconic places such as the State Parliament buildings, Shrine of Remembrance, Federation Square, Arts Centre, Yarra River, Fitzroy Garden and St Patrick’s Cathedral. Take advantage of the free tram service around the City Circle loop to get around!"

"This is one of those spots which only really works when there is some cloud in the sky to light up. With the sunsetting to the far left, when conditions are right the colours in the sky over Flinders Street Station, St Paul’s Cathedral and high rises beyond can be spectacular."