← Ballarat Marathon·3 nights

Melbourne: Three Nights in the City

A train ride from the finish to a city of laneway cafés, free galleries and a botanic garden, three nights before the flight home.

Duration3 nights
TransitV/Line train from Ballarat to Southern Cross, about 90 minutes
DepartsBallarat station

After the Ballarat Marathon: Melbourne

The Route: Ballarat → Melbourne Southern Cross → central Melbourne → Melbourne Airport Logistics: V/Line train, about 90 minutes, several services a day. Trams, trains and walking in the city. Marathon Month: April Duration: 3 nights

Ballarat station ──(approx. 90 mins V/Line)──> Southern Cross, Melbourne
                                                       │
       Melbourne Airport (MEL) ◄──(approx. 30 mins SkyBus)┘

The Ballarat Marathon finishes outside the Town Hall in late April, and most runners flying home will be flying from Melbourne. Three nights in the city before the flight turn a long journey into a short holiday, with everything the legs need close at hand: trams, flat streets and a great deal of coffee.

April in Melbourne is autumn, often the city's most settled weather: mild days, cool evenings and less of the wind and heat that make its summers unpredictable. The trees in the parks and along the boulevards turn in late April and May. The AFL season is under way, and a game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is a very Melbourne way to spend an evening sitting down.

V/Line trains run from Ballarat to Southern Cross station throughout the day, taking about 90 minutes. Use a myki card or buy a ticket at the station; check times at vline.com.au. From Southern Cross, trams run through the city, and travel inside the central free tram zone costs nothing.

Nights One to Three: Melbourne

Melbourne grew on the proceeds of the same gold rush that built Ballarat. In the 1880s it was one of the richest cities in the world, and the grand banks, arcades and hotels of the city centre date from that decade.

The first day should be flat and short. The city grid of the Central Business District is level, and the laneways and arcades that cut through it, Degraves Street, Centre Place and the Block Arcade among them, are lined with cafés and small restaurants where sitting down is the point. The free tram zone covers the whole grid.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, across the Yarra River from the city, cover 38 hectares of lawns, lakes and collections, with paths that are mostly gentle and benches everywhere. Entry is free. The running track around the outside, the Tan, is 3.8 km of gravel with a hill; walk the gardens inside it instead.

The National Gallery of Victoria on St Kilda Road, a short walk from the gardens, has free entry to its permanent collection, with a stained-glass ceiling in the Great Hall best seen lying on the floor, which post-marathon legs will not object to. The Ian Potter Centre at Federation Square holds its Australian collection, including gold-rush paintings.

The Queen Victoria Market, in the north of the city grid, has been trading since 1878. It closes on Mondays and Wednesdays, so plan around it.

Where to stay: The Langham, Melbourne, on the Southbank promenade by the river, puts the gardens and gallery within a flat walk. QT Melbourne, on Russell Street in the city centre, is close to the laneways and trams.

Where to eat: Pellegrini's Espresso Bar on Bourke Street has served coffee and plates of pasta at a long counter since the 1950s. Flinders Lane, a few blocks south, has the city's densest run of restaurants, from dumplings to long Italian lunches; book for dinner.

Getting to Melbourne Airport

Melbourne Airport (MEL) is about 30 minutes from Southern Cross station on the SkyBus, which runs frequently through the day. Taxis and rideshare take 25 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. Allow extra time on weekday afternoons.