Thing To Do & See

Hidden Secrets Tours

Walking tours of around three hours that cover laneways, art and design or wine with small groups and knowledgeable guides.

Eureka Skydeck 88

A wild elevator ride takes you to the top of this residential tower built in 2006: 88 floors in less than 40 seconds. If the vertiginous views leave you wanting more, there's 'The Edge' (costs an extra around A$12/around A$8/29), not a member of U2, but a slightly sadistic glass cube that propels you out of the building; you've got no choice but to look down.

Balloon Sunrise

Although perhaps not fully awake (the tour leaves before dawn), you’ll certainly feel dreamy floating above the building tops and peering into backyards from a hot-air balloon. This tour includes an hour’s air time, plus a champagne breakfast at the Langham Hotel Melbourne, from where tours depart. Balloons go up every morning (weather permitting) except Christmas and New Year’s Day, though you’ll need to book a few weeks ahead. Children must be over six years old. They also go up in the Yarra Valley.

Ian Potter Foundation Children’s Garden

This whimsical and child-scaled place invites kids and their parents to explore, discover and imagine. The various mini-environments are often directed by the seasons and many plants have been chosen to delight kids with their intrinsic weirdness or strong colours. Programs run in the school holidays; see website for details and book ahead. Note that it is closed for two months each winter.

Bats About Melbourne

See and hear the city's significant colony of grey-headed flying foxes wake up and take flight for the night. Clamber aboard the Batty Bus (they're not strictly bats, but Grey-headed-flying-fox Bus doesn't have quite the same ring to it) for a trip to Yarra Bend Park where around 20,000 animals do what they've been doing on this continent for over two million years.

Collingwood Children’s Farm

The Collingwood Children’s Farm is a bucolic spot right by the Yarra River, with grazing goats, cows, lambs and ponies, all of which tolerate tiny petting hands. The farm also runs a Farmers’ Market, where you can stock up on local organic produce.

Scienceworks & Melbourne Planetarium

Scienceworks & Melbourne Planetarium incorporates three historic buildings and keeps inquisitive grey matter occupied with interactive displays. Figure out the mysteries of the universe (or your own anatomy) by poking buttons, pulling levers, lifting flaps and learning all sorts of weird facts. The planetarium splashes the universe onto a 16m-domed ceiling.

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