Melbourne Iconic Attractions

Visitors to Melbourne are within a short walk to each of 60 Melbourne Iconic Attractions aboard the Melbourne Joyride (no longer active).

See Melbourne

Transport to see marvellous Melbourne include:

City Circle Tram | Free Tourist Tram

Melbourne Visitor Shuttle

Ideas and travel pass:

See Melbourne & Beyond Smartvisit Card

Best Ways to Discover Melbourne

1. Federation Square | NGV & Ian Potter Gallery**
2. Flinders Street Station**
3. Arts Centre/Southbank
4. National Gallery of Victoria
5. Kings Domain Gardens, Sidney Myer Music Bowl
6. Victorian College of the Arts**
7. Melbourne Theatre Company
8. Melbourne Recital Centre
9. ACCA - Australian Centre for Contemporary Art
10. Malthouse Theatre
11. Clarendon Street, South Melbourne
12. ANAM - Australian National Academy of Music
13. Australian Tapestry Workshop
14. South Melbourne Market
15. Athletics Victoria - Site of Melbourne's New Athletic Track
16. Albert Park - Australian Grand Prix Track
17. Albert Park Village, Bridport Street
18. MSAC - Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre
19. Albert Park Golf Driving Range
20. Middle Park Village, Armstrong Street
21. Fitzroy Street, St Kilda
22. Beaconsfield Parade
23. Catani Gardens
24. Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron
25. St Kilda Pier & Harbour
26. Penguin Tours
27. St Kilda Sea Baths
28. Stoke House & Donovan's Beachfront restaurants
29. Marine Parade
30. Espy Hotel
31. Historic Palais Theatre
32. Luna Park amusement park
33. Acland Street, St Kilda
34. St Kilda Town Hall
35. Junction Oval/St Kilda Cricket Ground
36. Wesley College
37. Belgian Beer Garden & Cafe
38. St Kilda Road - Australia's Premier Boulevard
39. Melbourne Synagogue
40. Latrobe's Cottage
41. Shrine of Remembrance
42. Royal Botanical Gardens
43. Domain Road Village
44. The Tan Track
45. Fawkner Park
46. Toorak Road, South Yarra
47. South Yarra Station
48. Chapel Street, Prahran
49. Church Street, Richmond
50. Swan Street, Richmond
51. Richmond Station
52. Rugby & Soccer Rectangular Stadium
53. MCG - Melbourne Cricket Ground
54. National Sports Museum
55. Melbourne Park Hisense Arena
56. Melbourne Park - Rod Laver Arena
57. Yarra River Walk
58. Birrarung Marr**
59. ACMI - Australian Centre for the Moving Image**
60. St Paul's Cathedral **

Joyride bid to save the Ws, for whom the bell tolls
October 10, 2010
Ruth Williams

THEIR image is for sale on souvenirs across the city - on fridge magnets, tea towels, postcards, mouse pads and oven mitts, in snow domes and embroidered on T-shirts.

There are several in cities around the world, ferrying passengers along the San Francisco waterfront, over the streets of Christchurch and through the Denmark snow.

But one day soon, they will be a rare sight in their home town.

The state government has announced that as new trams come on stream from 2012, the green and yellow W-class trams - the workhorses of Melbourne's public transport for almost 90 years - will start trundling off commuter routes forever. What will then happen to the Ws is anybody's guess, with the government yet to reveal any plan for their future besides keeping a dozen maroon Ws on the CBD City Circle route.

But as far as the National Trust, state tram union and businessman/activist Bill McHarg are concerned, this is not enough.

''The W-class tram is indelibly etched into Melbourne's DNA,'' Mr McHarg said. ''The sound of a W-class rattling across an intersection is as evocative to Melburnians as the smell of burning gumleaves is to most Australians.''In the lead-up to next month's state election, they have formed an alliance to push the case for keeping the Ws going - in a new ''hop-on, hop-off'' tourist service that would traverse Melbourne's inner suburbs.

A website* was launched on Friday, and ads will run in newspapers this week seeking interest from potential operators, advertisers and sponsors for ''Melbourne's Joyride'': a circuit taking in 60 Melbourne attractions via the Arts Centre, South Melbourne Market, St Kilda and Richmond.

The plan's backers hope to present their proposal to the government and convince Premier John Brumby the W-class trams have a future. ''They say 'new services, new trams - it's all part of the plan','' said National Trust conservation manager Paul Roser, referring to the government's transport slogan.

''Our question is: where are the Ws in that plan? At the moment, it just seems to be to remove them completely, except running around the City Circle.''

Transport Minister Martin Pakula has agreed to look at the idea, saying on Friday the Ws are an ''iconic symbol'' of Melbourne.

Transport Department spokesman Stephen Moynihan said: ''W-class trams operate at lower speeds than other trams and are not suited to most commuter routes, but we recognise that many people feel passionately about the W-class tram fleet.

''The Government would certainly look at the proposal, particularly for a service outside peak times.'' The opposition has also promised to consider the idea.

Under the plan, tourists would be charged about $25 for a 24-hour ticket on the service, which would use up to 20 trams, with conductors as entertainers and hosts.

Mr McHarg, a property consultant and heritage advocate, said the ''Melbourne's Joyride'' proposal aims to create a ''popular, financially viable, cash-positive and unique tourist attraction''. It would be another version of the City Circle service - but not free.

''Tourists will be only too happy to pay for the uniqueness and convenience of being shown around an unfamiliar city,'' he said. ''London has a hop-on, hop-off double-decker tourist bus,'' he said, which charges up to $85.

Mr McHarg said problems with W-class trams - including that they delay other trams and are difficult for disabled and elderly people to board - could be overcome. The new service would operate after morning peak hour and run non-stop along St Kilda Road. The conductors could help people on and off the tram, and wheelchair lifts - fitted to W-class trams in the American city of Savannah - could also be considered.

Mr McHarg said the restaurant trams' operation could serve as a model for the Joyride, with the government owning the rolling stock and tracks, Yarra Trams operating the trams and a commercial operator managing the business.

Introduced in 1923, there are now 38 W-class trams still in service on routes in the city, along Chapel Street and on the City Circle route, used by an average of 7000 people a day. Another three have been converted as Colonial Tramcar restaurants, run by a private company.

Government agency VicTrack says 180 retired Ws are stored at Newport Railway Workshops and another 20 at Preston Tramway Workshops. Of those at Newport, 36 are ''carriage shells'' that have been scavenged for spare parts, and VicTrack said it was finalising plans to dispose of them.

Proposals to use the Ws for expanded tourist routes have been around for decades. One, travelling north to Melbourne Zoo and south to the St Kilda Baths, was put forward in 1986 before Australia's bicentenary.

The National Trust has been pushing its own ''Grand Circle'' route since 2004, while the Rail, Tram and Bus Union's tram division put a plan for an ''outer circle tourist route'' to the state government in February.

But the trust and the union have decided to join forces with Mr McHarg, hoping that a united front has more success.

Union secretary Lou Di Gregorio said it was crucial the Ws were restored. ''You can argue the point about retaining the W-class trams, but you have to spend some money on them or they will eventually fall apart.''

The idea has the in-principle support of the four mayors whose municipalities would host the Joyride, including Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle. ''My ideal would be to have them painted in the original livery with authentic fitting and without advertising,'' Cr Doyle said.

* melbournejoyride.com.au
In 2015, we found the web site melbournejoyride.com.au was no more

So, what next?

Transport to see marvellous Melbourne include:

**

City Circle Tram | Free Tourist Tram

Melbourne Visitor Shuttle

Ideas and travel pass:

See Melbourne & Beyond Smartvisit Card

Best Ways to Discover Melbourne