4 Days in Melbourne Itinerary: What I Actually Did

I had four days in Melbourne. No rental car, no local knowledge, no group to share the planning with. Just a myki card, a rough idea of what I wanted to see, and a city that turned out to be far kinder to the car-free visitor than most guides suggest.

This is the 4 days in Melbourne itinerary I followed: one day in the city, the Great Ocean Road, the Puffing Billy steam train, and an evening of wild kangaroos and penguins, all without a car. I have written a full guide to each of these, so this post gives you the day-by-day picture and links to the detail.

If you are arriving from overseas, my Melbourne Airport to city centre guide covers getting in from Tullamarine before any of this begins.

Is 4 Days Enough in Melbourne?

Yes. Four days is enough for a first visit if you want the city plus two day trips: one day for the CBD, its laneways and the State Library, one for the Great Ocean Road, one for Puffing Billy in the Dandenong Ranges, and one for wildlife, with free kangaroos at Westerfolds Park and the St Kilda penguins after dark. What four days won’t cover as well is Phillip Island, the Yarra Valley wineries or the Mornington Peninsula. Add a fifth day for one of those. With three days, drop one of the day trips.

My 4-Day Melbourne Itinerary at a Glance

Before You Start: Two Things You Need

A way to pay for transport. Inside the CBD’s Free Tram Zone, trams are free. For trains, buses and trams outside it, full-fare adults can now tap a contactless bank card, phone or watch, at the same fares as myki, Melbourne’s transport smartcard. Concession and child travellers still need a myki, which you can buy at the airport, 7-Eleven stores and train stations. Until 1 January 2027 fares are half price, so a full day of travel costs no more than A$5.70.

A CBD hotel. Every day in this itinerary starts from Melbourne’s Central Business District. Staying in the CBD or on its edge puts you inside the Free Tram Zone and within walking distance of every departure point. My where to stay in Melbourne guide covers the best areas and hotels at every budget.

Day 1: Melbourne City

Theme: free tram, laneways, State Library, Flinders Street

Transport: on foot and inside the Free Tram Zone, so no fares all day

Cost: close to nothing

Start the morning on the free City Circle Tram (Route 35), which runs daily from 9:30am to 5pm, about every 12 minutes, clockwise around the edge of the CBD. Board at any City Circle stop, such as Flinders Street, Docklands, La Trobe Street or Spring Street, and ride the full loop, which takes about an hour. There is no ticket and nothing to tap. It is more than a budget trick: the vintage tram passes many of Melbourne’s landmarks in turn, with audio commentary, and by the time you step off you will understand the shape of the city.

After the loop, walk to Flinders Street Station, Melbourne’s ochre-domed railway hub on the corner of Swanston and Flinders Streets and one of its most photographed buildings. Cross the road to Federation Square, whose angular architecture divided the city when it opened in 2002 and has since won most people over.

From Federation Square, head north up Swanston Street to the State Library Victoria, one of the most beautiful free experiences in Melbourne. The La Trobe Reading Room alone, with its domed ceiling and desks radiating out from the centre, makes the walk a highlight. Allow at least an hour. Full details are in my State Library Victoria guide.

In the afternoon, lose an hour in Melbourne’s laneways: Hosier Lane for street art, Degraves Street for coffee and Centre Place for the atmosphere the city is known for. None of it costs anything, and all of it is within about ten minutes’ walk of the State Library. For a slower, photography-focused walk past many of the same landmarks, see Melbourne Through Its Landmarks.

End the day at Southbank. Cross Princes Bridge over the Yarra River and walk the riverside promenade as the city lights come on. The stretch from the Arts Centre to Crown is Melbourne at its most cinematic in the early evening, and my guide to where I ate in Melbourne has dinner ideas nearby.

Full guide: Tram 35 City Circle: route, hours and stops

Day 1 practical notes:

• Everything on this day is free or very cheap
• Wear comfortable shoes: you will walk 8 to 10 km
• The laneways are best in the morning, before they fill up
• Southbank is busiest on Friday and Saturday evenings

Day 2: Great Ocean Road

Theme: one of the world’s great coastal drives, as a day trip from the CBD

Transport: a booked tour with pickup in the city

Cost: the tour price, which varies by operator and group size

The Great Ocean Road runs 243 km along the Victorian coast and is often called one of the world’s great scenic drives. Every guide tells you it needs a car. It doesn’t. It needs a tour, which I think is the better option anyway: someone else drives the narrow, winding coast road, and a guide explains what you are looking at.

Book a full-day tour from Melbourne. Most leave the CBD around 7am and get back in the evening, 11 to 14 hours later. The classic route covers the Surf Coast around Torquay, the Otway Ranges rainforest, the Shipwreck Coast and the Twelve Apostles, the limestone stacks rising out of the Southern Ocean that are just as dramatic in person as in photographs. My tour ran the route in reverse, heading straight to the Twelve Apostles first thing to beat the crowds and then working back east. Along the way the guide pulled over to point out a koala in a tree, and the last stop was a golf course near Torquay with kangaroos grazing on the fairway.

👉 Book a Great Ocean Road full day tour from Melbourne

You get back to Melbourne in the evening. Plan nothing for after this day: you will be tired and happy.

Full guide: Great Ocean Road Tour: Why I Did It in Reverse

Day 2 practical notes:

• Book ahead, especially from December to February, when tours can sell out
• Bring layers: the coast is often cooler and windier than Melbourne
• Choose a full-day tour: the Twelve Apostles are more than three hours’ drive from the city, so shorter trips miss the best of the coast
• Most tours include pickup from central points; confirm yours when you book

Day 3: Puffing Billy and the Dandenong Ranges

Theme: a heritage steam train through mountain forest

Transport: Uber or the Belgrave line train from Flinders Street, then Puffing Billy

Cost: a train fare or an Uber, plus your Puffing Billy ticket

Day 3 is the most purely enjoyable day of this itinerary, and it needs no tour, just a ticket booked in advance.

Puffing Billy leaves from Belgrave, at the end of the Belgrave line from Flinders Street. The train takes about 75 minutes. I found the train times less convenient than I had hoped on the way out, so I took an Uber, which took about 45 to 55 minutes, and came back on the train, which was fine. Get to Belgrave about an hour before departure: you must collect your physical ticket at the counter, and it closes 30 minutes before the train leaves.

Puffing Billy is a narrow-gauge steam railway that opened in 1900 to serve farming communities in the Dandenong Ranges. The open carriages wind slowly through ferny mountain forest, and the tradition is to sit on the sills and dangle your legs out of the side. It is quieter and more beautiful than you expect. It isn’t only for children, and it isn’t a theme park ride: it is a living piece of railway history running through lovely country. I rode from Belgrave to Lakeside and back, which I recommend for first-timers.

👉 Book Puffing Billy tickets

👉 Book a guided Puffing Billy tour from Melbourne

If you have time afterwards, the mountain ash forests, fern gullies and hill villages like Sassafras and Olinda are close by. Return to Melbourne on the train in the evening.

Full guide: My Puffing Billy review: best route and what to expect

Day 3 practical notes:

• Check the timetable before you go: Puffing Billy doesn’t run all day
• Weekends and school holidays are busier, so go midweek if you can
• Bring a layer: the Dandenong Ranges are noticeably cooler than the CBD
• Belgrave to Lakeside is the classic section; the full line to Gembrook takes most of a day

Day 4: Wild Kangaroos and Wild Penguins

Theme: two of Australia’s best-known animals, in the wild, in one afternoon and evening

Transport: bus 905 to the kangaroos, tram to the penguins

Cost: public transport fares only; the penguin viewing is free but must be booked

This is the day that surprises people most. Wild kangaroos and wild penguins on the same afternoon and evening, without a car, for little more than your bus and tram fares.

Afternoon: Wild Kangaroos at Westerfolds Park

Take bus 905 from the CBD, which stops along Swanston Street and near Southern Cross Station. The ride to Westerfolds Park in Templestowe takes about 40 to 50 minutes. Get off at the Fitzsimons Lane / Porter Street stop and walk about five minutes to the park entrance.

Westerfolds Park has a resident population of wild Eastern Grey Kangaroos, one of the largest kangaroo species, grazing freely on the open grassland. There are no fences, no entry fee and no booking. The kangaroos are most active in the late afternoon, when the light through the eucalyptus trees is beautiful.

Important: bus 905 runs infrequently at night. Check the return timetable before you leave the city and know when your last bus is. Missing it in the dark is easier than you think.

Full guide: Where to see kangaroos in Melbourne without a car

Evening: Wild Penguins at St Kilda Pier

From Westerfolds, head back to the city and take tram 12, 16 or 96 to St Kilda, about 25 to 30 minutes from the CBD. The breakwater at the end of St Kilda Pier is home to a colony of around 1,400 wild Little Penguins. The free viewing is run by Phillip Island Nature Parks in two sessions a night, starting about 30 and 90 minutes after sunset. Each lasts about 45 minutes and is capped at 150 people, and you must book.

The penguins are small, quick and unbothered by the people watching from the viewing area. They waddle past at ankle height, pick their way over the rocks and disappear into the gaps. Sightings aren’t guaranteed, as this is a wild colony, but it is not something you expect to find at the end of a public pier in a major city.

👉 Book free St Kilda penguin tickets on the Phillip Island Nature Parks site

Want a bigger penguin experience? The Phillip Island Penguin Parade, about 90 minutes’ drive from Melbourne, is the paid version: a much bigger colony with purpose-built viewing stands. A day tour with pickup in the city is the easiest way to get there without a car.

👉 Book a Phillip Island Penguin Parade day tour from Melbourne

Full guide: St Kilda penguins: free tickets and how to get there

Day 4 practical notes:

• Book your penguin session first: tickets are released every Tuesday at 10am Melbourne time for the following week and go fast in summer
• Getting from Westerfolds to St Kilda takes well over an hour, so if you stay with the kangaroos until sunset, book the later session
• Aim to be on the bus to Westerfolds by about 2pm, or earlier in winter when the sun sets around 5pm
• St Kilda is outside the Free Tram Zone, so tap on when you board the tram

My 4 Days in Melbourne in Summary

• Day 1, Melbourne city: Tram 35, Flinders Street, Federation Square, State Library, laneways, Southbank. Free.
• Day 2, Great Ocean Road: full-day tour with pickup. The one big paid day.
• Day 3, Puffing Billy: train or Uber to Belgrave plus a Puffing Billy ticket.
• Day 4, kangaroos and penguins: bus and tram fares only.

Two of these four days cost almost nothing, and the Great Ocean Road was the day I enjoyed spending money on most. For more ideas without a car, see my day trips from Melbourne without a car.

How to Adjust This Itinerary

If you have 3 days: drop Day 3 and spend the time exploring the inner suburbs, such as Fitzroy, Carlton or St Kilda, on foot and by tram.

If you have 5 days: add the Brighton Bathing Boxes (Sandringham line train to Brighton Beach station, then a short walk to Dendy Street Beach) and a slow morning in St Kilda. Or spend the day on a Phillip Island tour, which usually combines wildlife stops with the Penguin Parade.

If you have 2 days: do Day 1 (city) and Day 4 (kangaroos and penguins). Two completely different sides of Melbourne, both close to free. If Melbourne is part of a longer trip, my one-month Australia itinerary shows how it fits with Sydney, Tasmania and Cairns.

4 Days in Melbourne FAQ

Melbourne is one of the easiest cities in Australia to visit without a car. Four days is enough to see it properly: the city, the coast, the mountain forest and two wildlife encounters you would not expect so close to a major city. You need a way to pay for transport, a tour booked for Day 2, a Puffing Billy ticket for Day 3, a penguin session for Day 4, and the presence of mind to check the last 905 bus home.

The rest takes care of itself.

PS: every experience in this itinerary has its own full guide with transport details, timings and photography tips, linked throughout this post.