Here are the available villas for rental in Melbourne.

Melbourne: The food capital of Australia

I visited Melbourne in April after two previous attempts to see the city fell through due to ill health.
The flight from Heathrow took 13 hours to Singapore, then we had a one hour 45 minute re-fuel stop (during which we all disembarked and had a stroll in fabulous Changi Airport) and then it was another seven hours to Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport.
On arrival I got the Skybus to Spencer Street Station in the city centre — great value at $13 one way. It was then just a short taxi drive (or a 15 minute walk) to my hotel on Little Collins Street, right in the heart of the city.
Victoria Hotel is the largest 3.5 star hotel in Melbourne and, although it's a bit shabby in parts it's excellently located and was very clean. It's a great choice if, like me, you're on a tight budget but don't want to rough it too much at a backpacker hotel. I paid £32/night for a single en-suite. If money had been no object then I'd definitely have plummed for the fabulous looking Park Hyatt!
Less than five minutes walk from the hotel was the Town Hall, which was hosting an international Comedy Festival, and Federation Square where there's a huge tourist information centre.
I booked myself trips along the Ocean Road, to the old gold-mining town of Ballarat, and a very fun 'tongue in cheek' trip to Ramsay Street, where the TV programme 'Neighbours' is filmed.
City centre highlights included Melbourne Zoo, the old Victoria streets in Carlton, the Botanical Gardens, Victoria Market – a mecca for food lovers! – and St Kilda beach area, just a 20 minute tram ride from the city centre.
Although the gridded street layout is easy to follow, the city is quite sprawling and some of the streets quite steep. So I made use of the excellent and extensive tram system.
There's a free City Circle tram which runs around the outside of the central area of the city between 10am to 6pm; for the other tram routes make sure you have lots of change on you for the ticket machine on board.
Melbourne deserves it's reputation as the foodie capital of Australia: there are masses of cafes, delis, smoothie bars, restaurants and food courts to suit every taste.
On a limited budget I'd recommend: Porchetta's on Victoria Street for cheap and filling Italian meals; giant-size muffins from Muffin Break (various branches); satay at Golden Orchids restaurant on Little Bourke Street; huge slabs of cheesecake at Café Trevi on Lygon Street; Acland Street for its pastries and gelati; and the food court below Hotel Sofitel. The best supermarket I found was Safeway, near the State Library on Londsdale Street.
A week in Melbourne was plenty long enough to see all the sights and surrounding areas of interest. I felt perfectly safe as a female traveller on my own; I wouldn't say I found people particularly friendly but they were unpretentious and what you see is what you get.
I'm glad I finally made it, but there are too many other tempting places to see in Australia for me to imagine returning to Melbourne again. ... more

Melbourne: Great for city slickers

Melbourne is an attractive city divided by the Yarra River. To the north lies a variety of retail outlets from souvenir shops to elegant department stores. There are theatres, cinemas, banks, in fact everything you would expect of a major city.

An abundance of restaurants graces the streets — fast food diners, most types of ethnic cuisine and Chinatown.
Victoria is known as the garden state. Melbourne has large expanses of parkland, like the Royal Botanical Gardens, which lead into Kings Domain where you'll find the Sydney Myers Music Bowl.
The Domain is also the site of the Shrine of Remembrance, a memorial to Victorians who lost their lives in the First World War.
There are numerous tours and the Tourist Information Centre displays short films of most of the attractions.
One of our favorite tours was the Penguin Parade at Phillip Island. Every evening at sunset, thousands of tiny penguins emerge from the sea and cross the beach to their nests in the surrounding sand dunes.
Other favourites were a trip through the Dandenong Range on the Puffing Billy steam train and panning for gold at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat, a recreation of a gold mining town.
We also travelled along the Great Ocean Road to see the 12 Apostles, stunning outcrops of limestone at the base of the cliffs.
Hiring a car is an option. Plan your journey in advance though because the toll road is expensive.
Melbourne's suburbs have plenty to offer as well. Take the tram to Little Italy, walk along Lygon Street and experience its culture, not only in language but also in food.
For those interested in literature, browse in Readings, an old established bookstore or cross the road to the more modern Borders, complete with its own cafe.
Treasury and Fitzroy Gardens separate east Melbourne from the city and are a short walk from the centre.
Children will enjoy the model village and fairy tree carved and painted with pixies, kangaroos and possums.
See Captain Cook's cottage, his former Yorkshire home which was transported to Melbourne and reconstructed stone by stone.
For cricket and Australian Rules football fans, Melbourne Cricket Ground is close by.
South of Melbourne are two beach resorts. St Kilda, with its promenade for roller skaters and tempting cake shops, is only a short distance by tram. Brighton Beach, with its quaint bathing boxes, is further around the bay.
Our Christmas holiday in Melbourne was a great success.
It's impossible to see everything in one visit and we can't wait to return, not only to see our son, but to see some of the attractions we missed. ... more

New Year Down Under

A beautiful, cosmopolitan city, full of restaurants, parks and great shopping. I went in December, and spent New Year's Eve in the centre of Melbourne. It was spectacular, but the fireworks weren't as good as those we see in Sydney harbour.
With a wide choice of dining available, the Chinatown area is particularly good, but seafood restaurants win hands down. If you're idea of fun is people-watching, try the cafes in Acland Street, where all the beautiful people hang out.
For a getaway from city life, the Mornington peninsula, south of Melbourne, is very picturesque, with great scuba diving, amazing beaches, wineries galore and many other activities to keep you busy.
It's where the Melbournites go on their weekends and holidays, though, so it's best to avoid it in the holiday season.

Sports-mad city

Melbourne has great parks and gardens - the Royal Botanic gardens were beautiful and we had cream tea by the lake, sheltering from the blistering heat under a shady tree.
In Fitzroy Gardens we were a bit confused to see Captain Cook's cottage - brought over brick-by-brick from Yorkshire, strange but true.
My sports-mad man couldn't rest until he'd been to the national gallery of sport and the Olympics, but even I had to admit it was quite interesting. We also trolled round Melbourne cricket club, where you can browse yourself or take a guided tour.
I loved the art deco buildings downtown - they are beautifully preserved and kept up.
I had to get some huge blisters on my feet pierced by a doctor who had an office in one of these architectural gems and it helped take the edge off my discomfort.

Slow down and don't do too much

Australia is enormous - don't try to pack in too much. It's a temptation when you've gone all that way, but you'll end up not enjoying anything because you'll be too tired.
Don't expect to "do" cities like Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and certainly not Sydney in anything less than three days.
It's also great to get a perspective on things by not flying everywhere, but slowing down and taking a train journey.
We took a 32-hour trip from Brisbane to Cairns and it was brilliant to just chill out and enjoy the scenery - sleeping on the train was very relaxing - and I liked being woken up by the chirpy steward with my morning cuppa.