Melbourne · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Melbourne rewards the frugal — free trams in the centre, cheap laneway food, and constant live sport.
Sleep in the CBD
Hostels sit in the grid around Flinders and Elizabeth Streets, with a scruffier, cheaper cluster in Fitzroy and along the St Kilda foreshore.
What a day costs
Dorms A$30–55, food A$25–45, myki fares A$5–11 with a daily cap. Budget A$70–120 a day, roughly $45–80.
Getting around cheap
Trams are free inside the CBD's Free Tram Zone; beyond it a myki card caps the daily fare, and SkyBus is the cheap airport transfer.
Free by day
The permanent collection at the NGV, the laneway painting on Hosier Lane, and the Royal Botanic Gardens along the Yarra. Federation Square screens sport free.
St Kilda and Brunswick Street
Hostel bars on St Kilda's Fitzroy Street and the pubs along Brunswick Street are the default meeting grounds, with free comedy most weeknights.