Again, thanks to Simon Lyall who has allowed me to serialise his excellent "Linux.conf.au: First timers Guide" and to add relevant 2008 content.

This section is not in the first timer's guide, which is fair enough as every city is different, so here we go.

Traveling to Melbourne

Melbourne International Airport is the major international airport, and as Australia's second largest airport it receives large numbers of international flights, both direct and via Sydney.

Domestically all three main airlines (and even the new Tiger airlines) fly direct to Tullamarine, however JetStar doesn't do Melbourne-Sydney or Melbourne-Brisbane, those routes go via the Avalon airport so be aware to save yourself from getting stranded.

Major international carriers include Qantas (Duh), Virgin Blue (Pacific Blue), Emirates, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, China Southern & Eastern, and many others. Daily flights run from most major Pacific airports including LAX, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Auckland and Tokyo.[1]

To get from the Airport to the city there's a few options. First, there's the Skybus which is a $15 ($24 return) bus ride to Southern Cross (Spencer St) station; there is a hotel shuttle which can then take you to Melbourne Uni however it must be pre-booked. Otherwise Taxi's are available for roughly $40 door-to-door.

VLine is the Victorian state railway and they provide train services from regional Victoria and interstate services from Adelaide and Sydney. For our international readers please note that Australia doesn't have high speed trains like you find in Europe... the trip on the train between Melbourne and Sydney is a long one - possibly slower than driving (which is 8hrs nonstop).

If you are a rail fan you might enjoy the Australian epic train journey, The Ghan as something to do before or after the conference.

Lastly, various bus companies offer services to Melbourne from all over Australia.

Traveling around Melbourne

Getting around in Melbourne is fairly easy. The important things are nearby the conference, there are dozens of great restaurants and pubs nearby and the CBD is a 15 minute walk south. If you want more detailed suggestions I recommend Peter's post last week on the topic, alternatively use Web 2.0's finest success story MappyHour to see the pubs overlaid on Google Maps.

If you need to go further afield the extensive train and tram network should be able to get you where you need to go.

Here's a map of the inner-city area, Melbourne Uni, our venue is at the top of the image (Closest to the word "Tin" in Tin Alley)

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1: OK, I cheated with this, the research for this section was done in October last year when I was busy being ill instead of talking at the 2006 AUUG conference.