Melbourne is regularly named as one of the most livable cities in the world, and recently came third in the QS Best Student Cities 2018 ranking. Fortunately, studying or living here doesn’t mean you have to break the bank either.
With an array of art galleries, street art, music, theater, and historical landmarks, you won’t be short of culture or things to do in this bustling city. Here are some fantastic activities and attractions you can enjoy without spending a dime.
Ride the free tourist city tram
This is first on our list of free things to do in Melbourne because it should really be the first thing you do when you arrive in Melbourne. The City Circle Tram service not only provides a convenient way to get around the CBD, but also provides an audio commentary with information about major landmarks, history, and useful insider tips.
You can treat this bus as a hop-on, hop-off form of transportation, or take the whole loop around. Afterwards, you’ll know your ins and outs of the city and be better prepared for the remainder of your time in Melbourne.
Take a stroll through the Botanical Gardens
Conveniently located close to the city center, the Royal Botanical Gardens are home to spectacular landscapes, iconic buildings and a variety of beautiful vegetation. Located just outside the gardens is the Shrine of Remembrance, Victoria’s national war memorial, where you can pay your respects while admiring the panoramic view of the city. Enjoy a stroll through the gardens or bring a picnic and enjoy an afternoon in the sun.
Check out the endless number of galleries and museums
It’s no surprise that Melbourne has a hefty line-up of awesome galleries, a lot of which are free to enter. The National Gallery of Victoria and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, in particular, are two very popular institutions with several different exhibits that are always changing to keep you on your toes.
That’s just scraping the surface of the city’s free galleries and museums though, as there are over 100 galleries in Melbourne to explore, so you’re sure to get your hipster artsy fix.
Take a tour of Town Hall
If you’re into both history and architecture, a tour of town hall is an essential free thing to do in Melbourne. This institution has hosted guests such as Queen Elizabeth II, who came for tea in 1954, and The Beatles, who waved to thousands of screaming fans off the balcony in the 60s.
Both the immaculate stonework and fascinating history lesson will (hopefully) get you screaming with joy as well.
Travel to St. Kilda
Just a quick 20-minute tram ride outside of the CBD lies the beachside strip of St. Kilda, home to fine dining restaurants and quirky cafes, amazing shops and an abundance of European cake shops (seriously, there are like five on Acland Street alone).
Head to the oceanfront old-school fair of Luna Park if you’re seeking a thrill (although, those rides will cost you), or just take a stroll down the St. Kilda Pier and watch the penguins crawl up from the harbor at dusk.
There’ss also a market along the beach every Sunday that’s definitely worth travelling over to this breezy, sea front escape for.
Shop at Queen Victoria Market
Nearly seven hectares in size, the Queen Victoria Market is the largest air market in the southern hemisphere. From fresh produce to specialty shopping, this market has it all and is one of the top free things to do in Melbourne if you’re a real foodie. There’s also a night market that runs through the winter months.
Walk from St. Kilda to Brighton Beach
If you’re looking for free things to do in Melbourne and also want to stretch your legs, this two hour coastal walk (or shorter if you bike) from St. Kilda takes you to the world-famous Brighton Bathing Boxes. If you’re short for time, you can also make the journey by train, which takes approximately 30 minutes, but it will cost you a few dollars.
Once you arrive, enjoy a day on the beach, grab a treat from the ice cream truck, and take a picture with the iconic and unique huts.
Check out the legendary street art
As well as the city’s extensive range of galleries, art lovers can also enjoy Melbourne’s fantastic street art which covers almost every nook and cranny of the city. Opposite Federation Square, you’ll find Hosier Lane, home to arguably the best street art in the city with no surface left untouched. Stroll down the cobblestones and take it all in, and then check out all of the other street art locations in the city.
Discover your new favorite band
Melburnians love their live music, and no matter your personal tastes, you’re bound to find free gigs pretty much every day of the week. Whether you visit a famous rock venue such as Cherry Bar, or come across a local artist jamming in the street, you’re guaranteed to discover something you love.
Get your bookworm on at the State Library
We end our list of free things to do in Melbourne with the State Library, but this isn’t no ordinary library, let me tell you. Built in 1856, the building has an undeniable beauty due to its stunning architecture and the natural light that pours through the dome skylight.
It’s so easy to spend the day here poring over one of the 2,000,000 books, taking one of the free workshops, or grabbing a map and taking a self-guided tour of the exhibition galleries. There truly is no better place to dive into your favorite book.
Melbourne is one of the greatest cities in the world to be a student, but it's far from the cheapest. Here are some fantastic things to do in Melbourne which won't cost you any money.
Corporate finance: the words might evoke images of sharp suits and eggshell business cards, but you don’t have to actually resemble the cast of the Wolf of Wall Street to be successful in this field.
Shoumi Mittra proves that better than anyone. A 23-year old wunderkind from Mumbai, she’s already completed 14 months of internships in corporate finance and banking at three major international banks in Asia and Europe, despite the fact she still has a few weeks to go until graduating from business school.
Shoumi caught her lucky break after winning an Eiffel Scholarship, a merit-based government grant given to hundreds of international students from around the world to pursue a master’s degree in France. She used that scholarship to pursue a master’s in management at EDHEC Business School in Nice, a two-year course with a placement year and the opportunity to specialize (Shoumi is on the financial economics track, specializing in corporate finance and banking).
After she graduates this summer, she aspires to work in corporate finance, a field she says she particularly enjoys because it involves financial planning as well as business strategy.
Shoumi Mittra
One thing that’s likely to help Shoumi on her way to that dream career is the extensive amount of work experience she’s been able to amass through internship opportunities. The list of internships on her already impressive resume is mind-boggling.
After spending the first six months of her placement year in Singapore at DBS Bank working in equity capital markets, she spent another six months in Paris at Citibank, where she worked in corporate banking. As if that wasn’t enough, she managed to find time for a 10-week summer internship in London at Bank of America Merrill Lynch working in debt capital markets.
Over the phone, Shoumi gives the impression of cheerful confidence - which is unsurprising given she has every reason to be optimistic about her future.
However, she knows corporate finance will be a challenging profession. She says: “You’re up against people who are the best of the best, and there’s always something new coming your way or something more and more challenging.”
The best moments in corporate finance, she says, come when you finally get to prove yourself. The highlight of her placement year was when she was involved in a particularly high pressure deal.
“There was one moment where I was involved in a really high profile deal because my senior team member thought I could handle it, and it was such a high-stress, fast-moving situation,” she says.
“I’d never experienced that kind of deal before. It was a bond issuance with one of our clients and it was their first bond issuance and it was extremely high pressured and we had to do very well.
“I was constantly learning new things every single second and I was attempting to make sure I was supporting my team in the right way. By the end of it, because they were so impressed by how I was performing, they actually said they’d offer me a full time job if a position became available.
“That was so rewarding because you want to do an internship to learn, but you also want to do it to get a job in the end, and the idea they actually thought I was worthy of getting a full-time offer...It was a highlight.”
Shoumi came to corporate finance with very little knowledge of the industry and her master’s gave her the foundation and tools she needed to approach the job market.
She says: “I didn’t know anything about finance before I started the course, and I knew I needed to get some skills before I would be able to pursue a career.
“I knew I was interested in finance having had a class on it in the final year of my bachelor’s degree. It was the first time I ever felt a connection with what I was doing, and I actually saw myself doing something related to that for the rest of my life.
“The EDHEC course taught me all the basics of finance and I needed that experience. I also didn’t have any work experience, and I knew that if I wanted to pursue a career in finance, it would be great to have some good internships.”
Clearly, Shoumi is smashing it. Will you follow suit?
One of the six indicators used to compile the recently released QS Best Student Cities 2019 is employer activity, a measure of which cities are the most sought-after as recruitment grounds for graduate employers. It looks at the opinions of both domestic and international employers, who identified at least one university in the city as producing high-quality graduates.
Arguably, studying somewhere employers are looking to recruit from is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing where to apply.
Here’s a closer look at the top 10 cities with employers.
Up 14 places in the employer activity indicator this year, Hong Kong is known for being one of the world’s leading financial centers. Home to over seven million people, it also features at an impressive joint 10th place overall in the QS Best Student Cities index.
Climbing four places to rank within the top 10 for the employer activity indicator this year is Sydney. Home to the world famous Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour and a multitude of gorgeous beaches, Sydney also ranks ninth overall in the Best Student Cities index this year.
Graduates from Sydney’s universities can enjoy Australia’s low unemployment rate and strong economy, with plenty of large international firms having offices in the city, and consequently high graduate employability.
Ranked eighth for employer activity, and seventh overall in the Best Student Cities ranking, The City of Lights has captured the hearts of students around the world. Paris has one of the highest numbers of internationally ranked universities in the index at 12, earning it fifth place in the rankings indicator. 93 percent of HEC Paris School of Management’s graduates accepted job offers within three months of graduating, and the city, including the surrounding Île-de-France region, accounts for 30 percent of France’s GDP.
Up three places to rank seventh for employer activity this year and third overall, Melbourne is Australia’s best-performing entrant in the QS Best Student Cities ranking and also receives a very high score for student view, an indicator based on our student survey, in which one question is whether students had stayed (or were planning to stay) in their city after graduation.
South Korean capital Seoul is another prosperous Asian city and the country’s major hub for business, finance and technology. Also ranked joint 10th overall, it hosts many of the country’s most prestigious institutions, including Seoul National University, which is ranked in the global top 50.
Zurich comes fifth in the employer activity and eighth overall in the Best Student Cities index this year, with top-50 positions for all the indicators except affordability. Consistently voted one of the best cities in the world for overall quality of life, Zurich’s high score for employer activity is helped by the presence of ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), which appears in the top 10 of the World University Rankings. Respondents in our student survey also commented on the ‘many job opportunities’ available in Zurich.
Beijing has one of the most prosperous and developed economies in Mainland China, with 52 Fortune Global 500 companies based here, the most in the world. Key industries in Beijing include finance, tourism, electronics, mining and machinery.
Ranked as the best city in the world for the second time in a row this year, London also features in first place in the rankings indicator, thanks to its 18 internationally ranked universities, including UCL (University College London) and Imperial College London.
London’s economy is so strong, it’s comparable to the size of Sweden or Iran, and graduates of its universities generally enjoy high employment rates and graduate salaries (although arguably this is necessitated by the city’s high cost of living).
In this year’s student survey there were many comments about the opportunities available in London, with one student saying that they loved “the many employment prospects available – the city contains most major banks/law firms and media companies.”
Boston is ranked second in the world for employer activity, surpassing all other US cities, including the global financial hub of New York City. Also ranked 12th overall, Boston is home to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, which consistently place in the global top five of the world rankings.
According to a recent ranking by US News and World Report, Harvard Business School graduates have the one of the highest starting salaries in the country, at $159,314.
The highest-ranked student city for employer activity continues to be Tokyo this year, and the city also ranks second in the world. The University of Tokyo was ranked 19th in the latest QS Graduate Employability Rankings, the third highest-ranked institution in Asia, earning its best scores for the graduate employment rate and employer reputation indicators.
Tokyo has the largest metropolitan economy in the world and is Japan’s leading industrial center, holding its own against competing financial centers like Singapore and Hong Kong.
Which student city would get your vote? Let us know in our survey, and have a say in next year’s results.
Why the Commute from Manly to Sydney is the Best in Australia (If Not the World) main image
Is there anything more miserable than commuting? Just mention the word to somebody and it instantly conjures up images of early starts, dark mornings, late evenings, and packed public transport full of fellow commuters, all of whom are just as miserable as you.
Commutes, by definition, aren’t an enjoyable experience. It’s all about getting from A to B, from home and to work, with thousands of other people, at an uncomfortable, irritable time of day.
But what if your commute didn’t have to be like that? What if it was, you know, exciting?
Well, I’m here to tell you that there’s a commute out there that is positively heavenly If you’re lucky enough to experience it, it will almost make commuting not seem all that bad anymore.
The journey I’m talking about is from Manly to Sydney CBD, known by many to be “the best commute in the world”. Why? Well, largely because of its unique form of transport, stunning views, and the fresh sea air.
Before we go any further, I should point out that there is technically a boring version of this commute. Take the 151 bus from Manly to North Sydney, followed by another connecting bus, and you’ll still get to the CBD, but that’s no fun. If you really want to have a good time however, you need to make the journey by ferry.
The ferry commute is honestly one of the best commutes ever. It starts off at Manly wharf, an excellent place to grab a last minute coffee or morning juice. Try the fabulously fast Gloria Jean’s Coffee, which is located close to the entrance. Next to it is the fresh and fantastic Stone + Peel, which makes smoothies, juices, and fresh fruit bowls - perfect for those in need of a healthy fix early in the morning.
Just before the wharf ends, there’s also a chocolatier & cafe, called Chocolate by the Bald Man, Max Brenner. Their cappuccinos are extraordinary; foamy coffee, topped with melted drizzled chocolate. If it’s a takeaway cup, they add chocolate chips to the lid! Simply superb.
When it’s time to actually start your commute, you have two options: the Manly Fast Ferry, or the slower ferry. Both are beautiful, but the fast ferry is ten minutes quicker, so if you’re running late, it’s ideal. It leaves every 20 minutes in rush hour, so you’ll be at your destination in no time.
Needless to say, the views on this commute are unreal. Make sure you take a seat outside on the upper deck to fully take them in on sunny days. As you leave Manly you’ll see the port, with its tranquil waters sprinkled with sailing boats and yachts. As you move further away from the wharf, you’ll be able to see more of the parkland and bush that surround the harbor area. Then, you leave land behind for that fresh sea air. For the next 15 minutes it’s sea, sea, and more sea. This hands-down beats any normal commute spent on trains or stuck in traffic.
En route, you’ll see Watson’s Bay, Taronga Zoo, and Rose Bay to name a few. As you approach Sydney, make sure to keep your head up as you head into the famous Sydney Harbour. You’ll pass Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, Garden Island, and the Botanical Gardens, before heading on towards the Harbour Bridge and the iconic Sydney Opera House.
Do you know what makes this commute even better? Manly is an excellent place to live. It’s a beautiful seaside town, with three incredible beaches: Manly beach, which is the largest, Shelly beach, and Freshwater beach. The town is big enough to have everything you could possibly want, but small enough to have the atmosphere of an idyllic seaside getaway.
It’s hard to imagine a better way to have the city of Sydney on your doorstep and yet be able to easily escape the hustle and bustle of the largest city in Australia when you need to. If you’re looking for somewhere to live while working or studying in Sydney, you’ll be hard-pushed to find anywhere nicer.
