Australian Travel Information "Designed by Travellers ... for Travellers"

Victoria Victoria may be Australia's smallest mainland state, but this does not stop it from still hosting some of the best National Parks and wonderful landscapes in the country. The population is relatively large in Australian terms with 4.6 million people living in an area of 228,000 sq km.

Melbourne is a truly wonderful city of Victoria. It is said to be the country's fashion, food and cultural capital and is Australia's second largest city after Sydney. Melbourne offers plenty of action and a great nightlife scene.

However, Melbourne also offers a number of spectacular buildings, as well as some beautiful parks that surround the city. Walking, cycling and relaxing along the Yarra River are all popular.

The states Wonderful coastal scenery, National Parks and rainforests can be found along the Great Ocean Road, from Geelong and the South West near the border of South Australia. North from here, in the West is desert land and beautiful wildflowers, where you will find the Sunset Country which is a dry semi-desert land.

The most southerly point is Wilsons Promontory National Park in the South East and along the coast you will also find Phillip Island with it's extraordinary views of tiny penguins waddling up the beaches at dusk. There are more spectacular landscapes and national parks continuing along the coast to the Far South East.

The Great Dividing Range is made up of the Victorian Alps, the Dandenongs and the Grampians. The good news for people who enjoy a good vintage is that many wineries can be found, complimented by historic river towns along the Murray in the North West and North.

If you have got a good eye then Gold can still be found today in the largest gold rush towns, Bendigo and Ballarat situated in the goldfields of the Mid West.

The general climate of Victoria is cooler than other parts of Australia. The Coast is generally humid, allthough inland it can get extremely cold. To contradict oneself, however, it is often hotter in Melbourne than other places during the summer, but can often suffer from very unpredictable and changable weather.

A Little History

The huge European interest in Australia encouraged a rather hurried settlement. On hearing that France had sent ships to explore the South coast, Britain quickly set up an expedition to build a colony, in 1803. The first settlement, lasting a year, was at Sorrento on Port Phillip Bay.

However, due to a lack of fresh water the group moved to Tasmania. The first permanent colony was at Melbourne, in 1835, by John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, who arrived from Tasmania. The state was named after the Queen of England, and the town was named in 1837, after her Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne. In 1851 the colony of Victoria was created. The settlement had a free-enterprise spirit, leading to clashes with Sydney, as they often turned away convict ships.

Gold was discovered, and inevitably the population grew rapidly to roughly double. Of course many of the gold diggers returned to their homeland, but those that remained built new settlements.

Points of Interest

Great Ocean Road This can only be described as one of the world's most impressive coastal routes. Victorian Alps A great place to ski, camp or bushwalk.

Full directory of things to do in Victoria

Victoria Facts

* Victoria Area: 227,416 square kilometres

* Victoria Population (2006): 5,078,500

* Victoria Capital: Melbourne

* Major Industries: Agriculture, Manufacturing, Property & Business services and Retail Trade

* Victoria Unemployment Rate (2005): 5.5%

* Average Weekly Earnings for Employees (2006): Males $983.4 Females $644.6

* Victoria Births (2004): 62,400

* Melbourne's Mean Maximum Temperature (Summer 2006): 27.7°c

* Melbourne's Mean Minimum Temperature (Summer 2006): 17.3°c

* Melbourne's Mean Maximum Temperature (Winter 2006): 14.3°c

* Melbourne's Mean Minimum Temperature (Winter 2006): 6.3°c

View more Australian Facts

Victoria Events (within the next 7 days)

EVENT NAME LOCATION RATES (AUD) from Story Time at Rippon Lea Estate (Event) 01 November 2009 - 26 March 2010 Elsternwick $Various Jesse Mitchell Live @ Grinds and Vines (Event) 16 January 2010 - 28 March 2010 Olinda FREE Narkoojee Food and Wine Events (Event) 05 February 2010 - 28 March 2010 Glengarry FREE Twilight Cinema at Werribee Park (Event) 13 February 2010 - 27 March 2010 Werribee $Various National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) (Event) 22 February 2010 - 26 March 2010 Prahran $Various Festivals Latrobe (Event) 26 February 2010 - 26 March 2010 Morwell FREE Paella Dinner at Brandy Creek (Event) 27 February 2010 - 27 March 2010 Drouin East $Various Wellington Produce Month - From Paddock to Plate (Event) 01 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Sale FREE AUD25 Luscious Lunches (Event) 10 March 2010 - 26 March 2010 Olinda $Various Melbourne Food and Wine Festival 2010 (Event) 12 March 2010 - 23 March 2010 Melbourne CBD $Various Eaglehawk Dahlia and Arts Festival (Event) 14 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Eaglehawk FREE At the Sans Hotel (Event) 16 March 2010 - 27 March 2010 St Kilda $Various Melbourne Queer Film Festival (Event) 17 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Melbourne CBD FREE Art is... festival (Event) 19 March 2010 - 27 March 2010 Horsham FREE 'arty deerlicious' (Event) 20 March 2010 - 27 March 2010 Lillico $Various Opera in the Market (Event) 22 March 2010 - 24 March 2010 Melbourne CBD $Various Universal Insights New Age Health and Wellbeing Expo (Event) 22 March 2010 - 22 March 2010 Croydon $Various Australasian Schools Cycling Cup (Event) 23 March 2010 - 25 March 2010 Elsternwick FREE Melbourne International Comedy Festival (Event) 24 March 2010 - 18 April 2010 Melbourne CBD $Various Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (Event) 24 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Carlton FREE 2010 FORMULA 1(TM) Australian Grand Prix (Event) 25 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 South Melbourne FREE Al Di Meola (Event) 25 March 2010 - 25 March 2010 Southbank FREE Farm World (Event) 25 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Warragul $Various Lunching and Listening Program 2010 (Event) 25 March 2010 - 27 May 2010 Elsternwick $Various Vincent Lyce's Final Curtain (Event) 25 March 2010 - 17 April 2010 Southbank $Various Apollo Bay Music Festival (Event) 26 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Apollo Bay $Various Buninyong Gold King Festival (Event) 26 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Buninyong FREE Lake Bolac Eel Festival (Event) 26 March 2010 - 27 March 2010 Lake Bolac FREE The Euroa Arboretum (Event) 26 March 2010 - 26 March 2010 Euroa FREE A Dinner to Die For (Event) 27 March 2010 - 10 April 2010 Abbotsford $Various Ballarat Dancesport Festival (Event) 27 March 2010 - 27 March 2010 Wendouree FREE Ghost Seekers Tour (Event) 27 March 2010 - 27 March 2010 Melbourne CBD FREE Great Ocean and Otway Classic Ride (Event) 27 March 2010 - 27 March 2010 Torquay $Various Harvest Feast 2010 (Event) 27 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Seville $Various Jungle Book: The Concert Show (Event) 27 March 2010 - 11 April 2010 Melbourne CBD $Various Murray to Moyne Cycle Relay (Event) 27 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Mildura FREE The Gigalees Crazy Circus Show (Event) 27 March 2010 - 11 April 2010 Albert Park $Various The Italian Spectacular (Event) 27 March 2010 - 27 March 2010 Bulleen $Various Anderson's Mill Festival (Event) 28 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Smeaton FREE Annual Open Day at the Wineries (Event) 28 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Glengarry FREE City of Casey Tricodes Race Day (Event) 28 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Cranbourne FREE Lara Food and Wine Festival (Event) 28 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Lara FREE Spoil Me High Tea (Event) 28 March 2010 - 29 August 2010 South Yarra $Various Tri X series (Event) 28 March 2010 - 28 March 2010 Anglesea FREE Wild Dog at The Grayn (Event) 29 March 2010 - 29 March 2010 Pakenham $Various

VIEW ALL VICTORIA EVENTS

Featured Victoria Dvds and Videos

VICTORIA - Australias Garden State BUY ONLINE VICTORIA - State of Contrasts BUY ONLINE MELBOURNE - Australias Garden City BUY ONLINE

Popular Victoria Travel Destinations

PLEASE NOTE: The Victoria travel destinations outlined above are only a small selection from the tens of thousands of Australian travel information pages available on Australian Explorer. A comprehensive list of destinations for Victoria Holidays can be found on the main Victoria Holidays location guide.