Top Things to do in Central Business District
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Top 5 History Museums in Central Business District, Victoria
Lovely, laid-back Melbourne has something for everyone: family fare, local and international art, haute boutiques, multicultural dining, Australian and Aboriginal history, spectator sports, and pulsing, swanky nightlife. Cruise on the free City Circle Tram loop to check out unique attractions like the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Healesville Sanctuary, which buzzes with local animal species.
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1. Immigration Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,520 reviews
Explore Australia's history and culture. Journey through Melbourn's history and explore stories of people who have migrated from all reaches of the world. From the reasons for making the journey, to the impact on indigenous communities, these stories are sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but always engaging. Located in the Old Customs House in the heart of the city - an easy walk from Flinders St Station or Southern Cross (or catch the free City Circle Tram).
Reviewed By ingenuec - Lee's Summit, United States
Coming from America where we are presently struggling with the subject of immigration this was an enlightening museum. There is definitely room for growth and adding additional information regarding Australian history I believe they are off to a wonderful start. Museum dealt with very difficult topics regarding identity. I congratulate the curators for addressing real issues.
2. Museum of Chinese Australian History
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 163 reviews
Located in the heart of Melbourne's Chinatown, the Chinese Museum's five floors showcase the heritage and culture of Australia's Chinese community. Our purpose is to operate a museum, to promote and preserve Chinese Culture and history - especially of Australian-Chinese history in Australia.
Reviewed By Leatraveler - Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne's Chinese history is really interesting. The unspoken yellow tax of Australian's history is revealed here. In the heart of China town and free on Chinese New Year.
3. The National Opal Collection
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 53 reviews
The award winning National Opal Collection is amongst Australia's most fascinating attractions, where you will discover the incredible link between opal and the dinosaur. As you enter you are surrounded by dioramas of Australia's outback and then taken through time from the dinosaur age to modern day opal production. Exhibits show how bones of prehistoric creatures can become opalised. Adjoining the museum is the spectacular showroom with Australia's largest range of opals and opal jewellery. Here you can purchase tax-free from a large range of Australian opal products.
Reviewed By LDWegener - Buffalo Grove, United States
Wow, this place is amazing!! If you’re in the market for Opal, this is the place! Hands down the best selection I have personally ever witnessed. The thing I liked the most was the "no pressure" to purchase attitude - it made for a real nice experience, to just go, look around, and get educated on opals. Toped off, with “off the charts” (Monica) service, kindness, and friendliness. Our family experience started out at Lightning Ridge Opal Shop, in search of a boulder ring, for our 21yr old daughter. While we liked Lightning Ridge, and their sales staff, they had a very small selection of set boulder opal rings. Thankfully, they were kind enough to refer us to The National Opal Collection (NOC). For a competitor to make a referral like this, spoke volumes to me. Sarah greeted us at NOC and provided kind and honest assistance, as we compared and contrasted the beautiful (but different) opals in front of us. However, it was Monica, who treated us with care and the most excellent of guidance! She asked us questions to determine what suited our needs best. She also provided Valuable Information on ring sizing of opals, when our daughter fell in love with a ring that didn’t fit the finger she wanted to wear it on! In addition she educated us on finding the right jeweler to set our loose opal purchases back home, since unfortunately, we waited until the last day of our trip to visit NOC - when it should have been our first! Upon landing home (USA) with 2 beautiful loose opal purchases, in addition to a ring, I realized, in our rush to shop, on our last travel day, that I had neglected to ask for the history of our specific opal purchases and request an appraisal for insurance purposes. So, I sent an email to Monica. Monica not only replied timely, but kindly provided us details and appraisals for all our purchases! Even when “all” were not at the AUD value requirement necessary to appraise. We truly appreciated that she didn’t wash her hands of the sale after we left (“the other side of the world”) and was there for us! There needs to be more “Monica’s” in the world, that love what they do, and understand what customer service is all about! Thank you - you, and NOC, are the best! ????
4. Hellenic Museum
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 62 reviews
A cultural hub supporting arts, film, and visual performance Australia wide, with a Hellenic flavour. Housed in the historic Former Royal Mint building, the Museum is home to the long-term collection Gods, Myths & Mortals: Greek Treasures Across the Millennia from the iconic Benaki Museum, Athens. The collection provides a snapshot of Greek history, from Classical, to Byzantine, Post-Byzantine, and Neo-Hellenic, winding through 8,000 years of Greek civilisation around the ground floor of the Mint, including the original gold vault. From October 2015 the Museum will be the new home to Sean Godsell's award-winning MPavilion. The Museum holds events throughout the year, from the popular Summer Cinema program, to theatre, live music, and lectures. The first floor is currently closed due to infrastructure works, set to reopen mid-2016.
Reviewed By saronic - Zurich, Switzerland
When travelling in Greece, especially the islands, I regularly meet Greek-Australians from Melbourne visiting the home of their ancestors. And in Greece they say that Melbourne were the 3rd largest Greek speaking city in the world, after Athens and Thessaloniki. On my first evening in Melbourne I happened to be served at a restaurant by a Greek-Australian lady, who told me that there were over 150'000 Australians of Greek origin living in Melbourne. A visit to the Hellenic Museum was definitely a must for me and I didn't regret it, although I had expected to find mainly information about Greek immigration to Australia, when it was more a general museum about Hellenic culture from antiquity till the creation of the modern Greek state in the 19th century. The Hellenic Museum, which opened in 2007, is housed in the former Royal Mint, an attractive Neo-Renaissance building from the 1870's. The number of exhibits on two floors is small, but there are some choice items: from a Cycladic figurine to Corinthian and Attic pottery to sculptures from the Roman period to Byzantine religious objects, to textiles and jewellry from the Post-Byzantine period (in fact the time of the Ottomans) to the 19th century War of Independence. With this wide span of periods covered the museum reminds one of the much larger Benaki Museum in Athens, with which there is apparently a collaboration. There is also modern art, inspired by antiquity, to be seen, such as the sculpture of a winged female by Sam Jinks and photos by Bill Henson. At the back is the cafe restaurant 'Arcadia' and there is also a souvenir shop.
5. Royal Historical Society of Victoria
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 9 reviews
Reviewed By platypus150 - Melbourne, Australia
The current exhibition concerns the West Melbourne Swamp. It was a food treasure for the indigenous inhabitants until European settlement turned it into a waste disposal. They later re-routed the Yarra and drained the swamp for the establishment of a port. the exhibition explains the history, with newspaper articles, photos, maps, and accounts from the period. Entry is gold coin donation.
