Melbourne Museum

The modernist Melbourne Museum is the largest museum complex in the southern hemisphere. Spread over six huge levels, half of which are below ground level, the museum draws on the latest technology to give an insight into Australia’s flora, fauna and culture.

Highlights include the Science and Life Gallery, which explores areas such as digital technology, biodiversity and geology, and how they have changed our perceptions of the natural world; Bunjilaka, a living cultural centre for the Koori community of south-eastern Australia; and the Australia Gallery, focusing on the vibrant history of Melbourne and Victoria – from Australia’s iconic racehorse Phar Lap to the kitchen set from the Neighbours TV show. Also of interest is the Evolution Gallery, which features life-size dinosaur skeletons and looks at how life changes over time, the Children’s Museum, where the brightly coloured cube-shaped ‘Big Box’ provides a fun and stimulating environment for children from three to eight years old, and ICE, Australia’s only interactive arcade-like cinema game.

One of the museum’s most striking exhibits is the Forest Gallery, a living interpretation of Victoria’s tall temperate forests, which features around 80,00 plants from more than 120 different species. It’s also home to more than 20 different vertebrate species, including snakes, birds, fish, frogs and hundreds of different insects.