Melbourne travel info

Under the yellow walls of Flinders Street Station, a row of clocks hangs over the entrance, and Melburnians still arrange to meet 'under the clocks'. Across the road in Degraves Street, folding chairs line the walls of the lane and people sip small coffees with a croissant bag on their knees. When a green-and-white tram dings past, conversations pause for a second.

Trams criss-cross a downtown laid out in a neat grid, and inside that grid they're free. Step off the main streets into the lanes and you find walls buried in graffiti, bars with no sign and cafes that are full with ten people inside. A few tram stops out of the centre are Fitzroy's vintage shops, Richmond's strip of Vietnamese pho joints and the beach at St Kilda.

The weather, though, has a mind of its own. It's T-shirt weather at breakfast, a cold wind blows in at lunch and a shower rolls through in the afternoon, which is why 'four seasons in one day' follows the city around like a nickname. Keep a light jacket in your bag.

Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine) (MEL)