72 Hours in Melbourne, Australia

Stately city of the south and a vibrant, elegant melting pot with its roots in the great Gold Rush of the 1850s...

Think Australia and most people usually think Sydney Opera House, Red Centre, Great Barrier Reef. They think kangaroos, deserts and shrimps on the barbie.

But these days savvy travelers also think Melbourne, stately city of the south and a vibrant, elegant melting pot with its roots in the great Gold Rush of the 1850s Melbourne, capital of the southern state of Victoria, has about four million inhabitants and is set on the shores of Port Phillip Bay. Less raucous than Sydney, Melbourne is Australia's home of 'old money' and has a quieter way of life with a strong focus on culture and fine food.

Which is not to say there isn't all the glamour and excitement a visitor would need to pack into three or four days. Sure, Melbourne rocks – but with style.

The city is laid out in a large rectangle and has a lively and cosmopolitan pulse. A river runs through it – the slow moving Yarra, with its headwaters in the nearby mountains. As much as the bayside beaches, the river and its adjoining parks are the city's playgrounds.

Melbourne is big and modern – it has the world's tallest residential building - but it reveals the heady days of 19th century in its massive public and private buildings, many dating from a shining, golden moment when this was the richest place in the world.

The city has many faces – elegant and luxurious in what is known as the 'Paris End' of the business district; head-jerking in the many ethnic enclaves – Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Chinese, Spanish and other communities who have made their home in one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. Some of these enclaves are just a lane or two, while others cover the banks of the Yarra or a busy CBD street. One glance at a map and it's obvious that Melbourne is a planned city: a tidy, balanced grid of neatly angled streets. But beneath this sense of everything in its place restraint lies a restless creative energy constantly pushing back at the city's