Melbourne City Highlights River Cruise 2 Hours

Southbank Promenade and Princes Bridge

The cruise boards at Berth 2 on Southbank Promenade, the riverside walk that runs along the south bank of the Yarra opposite Flinders Street Station, lined with restaurants, buskers and the Southgate complex. This is the heart of modern Melbourne, and from the water the view takes in the gold-topped towers of the central business district, the spire of the arts centre and the long span of Princes Bridge, the 1888 bluestone and iron crossing that links Swanston Street with St Kilda Road.

Because both legs of the Melbourne river cruise start and finish here, Southbank is also where the short pause between the two halves happens; you may change to a second boat at the same berth. It is a convenient place to meet, a few minutes on foot from Flinders Street Station and the free city tram, and the promenade cafés are open before and after the cruise.

Downstream: South Wharf and the convention centre

Heading west from Southbank the river passes under the pedestrian bridges to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and South Wharf, where a nineteenth-century iron-hulled tall ship sits in a dry dock as a museum beside the old cargo sheds, now restaurants and outlet shops. The commentary explains how this stretch of the Yarra was Melbourne's working port for a century, with wool stores and wharves where the promenade now runs.

This is the part of the cruise where the city's history as a port is clearest, and a good moment to step onto the open back deck: the skyline sits behind you, the bridges frame the river ahead and the water is wide enough for photos without the glare of glass. A Yarra River cruise in Melbourne that only goes upstream misses this stretch entirely, which is why the two-hour version is worth the extra hour.

Docklands and Victoria Harbour

The downstream leg ends in Docklands, the former shipping docks west of the city that have been rebuilt since the late 1990s into a district of apartment towers, offices, the large stadium and marinas around Victoria Harbour. From the water you see the Bolte Bridge with its twin towers, the observation wheel, the yachts moored along the harbour and the sculptures and public art on the promenades.

The boat turns here, giving a wide view back up the river to the city, before returning to Southbank. Travellers who search for a Docklands cruise usually want exactly this angle: the new Melbourne seen from the harbour it was built around. The round trip downstream takes about an hour, and then the upstream half begins after a brief pause at the berth.

Upstream: the sports precinct and the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Leaving Southbank in the other direction the boat passes under Princes Bridge beside Federation Square and the riverside parkland of Birrarung Marr, then enters the sports precinct that makes Melbourne the sporting capital of Australia. The Melbourne Cricket Ground, opened in 1853 and holding about a hundred thousand spectators, rises above the trees on the north bank, with the tennis arenas of Melbourne Park and the stadium and athletics track of Olympic Park, built for the 1956 Games, grouped along the river beside it.

The commentary covers the great matches and events held here, and the rowing sheds and boathouses along the bank explain why early mornings on this stretch are full of rowers. From the water the scale of the stadiums is easier to appreciate than from the street, and the river is narrow and calm, so the open deck is pleasant even on windy days.

Herring Island and the Royal Botanic Gardens

Beyond the sports precinct the Yarra narrows and turns green: on the south bank lie the Royal Botanic Gardens, laid out from 1846 on 38 hectares of lawns, lakes and plant collections, and ahead sits Herring Island, a small artificial island created in the 1920s when the river was straightened and now an environmental sculpture park reached only by boat. Herons, cormorants and the occasional water rat are seen along the banks, and the city towers disappear behind the trees.

This is the quiet end of the two-hour cruise and the turning point of the upstream leg, before the boat drifts back past the gardens and the sports precinct to Southbank. It is a calm way to end a Melbourne sightseeing cruise, and if you still have energy, the gardens themselves are a short walk from the berth across Princes Bridge.