Guides · Australia
Melbourne tickets
Ticket and booking rules for Melbourne: timed entries, closing days and official links, checked September 2026.
Checked September 2026 against official sources
Melbourne
Bookings and opening rules
Follow the official link before you buy. Full walking days: Melbourne itinerary.
Opening hours and tickets
- NGV International at 180 St Kilda Road is open daily 10:00–17:00 with free entry to the collection; closed Christmas Day and opening at 13:00 on ANZAC Day.Source: National Gallery of Victoria · checked Sep 2026
- ACMI on Federation Square is open daily 10:00–17:00 (closed Christmas Day, 13:00–17:00 on ANZAC Day); its Story of the Moving Image exhibition is free.Source: ACMI · checked Sep 2026
- State Library Victoria is open daily 10:00–18:00; levels 5 and 6 of the Dome are currently closed.Source: State Library Victoria · checked Sep 2026
- Queen Victoria Market trades Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 6:00–15:00, Saturday 6:00–16:00 and Sunday 9:00–16:00, with specialty shopping from 9:00 on every market day; it is closed on Mondays and Wednesdays, apart from the seasonal Wednesday night market.Source: Queen Victoria Market · checked Sep 2026
- Melbourne Skydeck is open daily 12:00–22:00 with last entry at 21:30; general admission online starts at $33 for adults, $25 concession and $21 for children aged 4–16, up to 15% below walk-up prices.Source: Melbourne Skydeck · checked Sep 2026
- The Shrine of Remembrance is open 10:00–17:00 daily (last entry 16:30), closed Good Friday and Christmas Day; admission is free and no tickets or bookings are needed.Source: Shrine of Remembrance · checked Sep 2026
- Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne is open daily 7:30–17:30 and free; the visitor centre opens 9:30–17:00.Source: Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria · checked Sep 2026
- The St Kilda penguin viewing experience runs nightly after sunset in two free ticketed sessions of about 45 minutes, starting roughly 30 minutes and 90 minutes after sunset; bookings are essential, tickets are released every Tuesday at 10:00 for the following week, latecomers forfeit their place, flash must be off and takeaway food and drink are not allowed on the platform.Source: Phillip Island Nature Parks, St Kilda Penguins · checked Sep 2026
- Parks Victoria's new penguin viewing boardwalk at St Kilda Pier opened on 29 October 2025 with two free sessions each evening capped at 150 people; the penguins come ashore just after sunset, and flash photography, bright lights and phone torches are not permitted.Source: Parks Victoria · checked Sep 2026
- Old Melbourne Gaol is open seven days 10:00–17:00; general admission is $38 for adults, $30 concession, $22 for children aged 5–15 and $85 for a family of four, plus booking fees.Source: Old Melbourne Gaol, National Trust · checked Sep 2026
- Melbourne Museum is open daily 9:00–17:00; adult entry is up to $15 and children 16 and under have free general entry to all permanent exhibitions.Source: Visit Victoria · checked Sep 2026
On the day
What to watch at each stop
St Kilda Pier and the penguins
- Free penguin sessions ~30 and ~90 minutes after sunset, tickets online, released Tuesdays for the week ahead
Questions
Quick answers
Which days should I plan around?
Queen Victoria Market trades Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and is closed on Mondays and Wednesdays, so day one should be on a market day. Everything else is open daily: the NGV, ACMI, the State Library and the Shrine are free; the Skydeck opens at noon; the penguin viewing runs every night after sunset but needs a free ticket booked online, released on Tuesdays for the following week.
Do I need a myki card?
Not inside the Free Tram Zone, which covers the whole city grid and Docklands: trams there are free and you do not touch on. You need a ticket for the tram to St Kilda, and any other trip that starts or ends outside the zone. Fares are half price across Victoria from 1 June 2026 until 1 January 2027, with the full-fare daily cap at $5.70.
When do the penguins come out at St Kilda?
The little penguins of the St Kilda breakwater come ashore just after sunset. Since October 2025 they are watched from a new boardwalk in two free ticketed sessions each evening, about 30 minutes and 90 minutes after sunset, 45 minutes each, limited to 150 people; no flash, no torches and no takeaway food on the platform.
The days these rules belong to
3 days in Melbourne
Melbourne's centre is a walkable grid inside a free tram zone, so the plan needs only one paid ride. Day one is the grid: Flinders Street Station, Federation Square, the street art of Hosier Lane, coffee in Degraves Street, the arcades, the State Library and Queen Victoria Market, with dinner in Chinatown. Day two crosses the river to the NGV's free galleries, goes up the Skydeck, walks St Kilda Road to the Shrine and the Royal Botanic Gardens and takes the tram to St Kilda for the little penguins that come ashore after sunset. Day three is north of the grid: the Old Melbourne Gaol, the World Heritage Royal Exhibition Building and Melbourne Museum in Carlton Gardens, lunch on Lygon Street and an afternoon and evening in Fitzroy. Queen Victoria Market is closed on Mondays and Wednesdays, so keep day one off those days.
