Review: Melbourne Sports Venues Tour
Top Oz Tours offers a great range of Melbourne tours and experiences. You can book this tour here.
To say Melburnians love their sport is an understatement.
Each year the city enjoys public holidays dedicated to the Australian Rules Football (AFL) grand final and Melbourne Cup horse race. Melbourne has previously played host to an Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, and fans regularly turn out in their tens of thousands for AFL, rugby league, soccer (football), cricket, and tennis matches. It’s not love; it’s an obsession!
Today I’m joining Show Me Melbourne on their popular Melbourne Sports Venues Tour, which takes guests behind the scenes at some of the city’s most impressive sporting facilities. And as a massive sports fan, I can’t wait to get started.
Watch our video of ten top things to do in Melbourne:
Top 10 Things to Do in MELBOURNE, Australia, 2026 | Ultimate Melbourne Travel Guide for First Timers
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I meet my tour guide and fellow guests at Federation Square in the CBD, and we board a modern mini bus for the 20-minute drive to our first port of call — an elevated viewpoint of Flemington Racecourse. Home to the Victoria Racing Club and world-renowned Melbourne Cup, the course looks spectacular and we’re able to pick out various key features from our position. Sporting venues like Flemington are incredibly special to the people of Melbourne; they’re places where we can come together to celebrate or commiserate the performance of our favoured champions, regardless of our social differences.
Our next stop is Albert Park, where we take a drive along the public road that becomes the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix racing circuit in late March each year. It’s hard to believe the transformation that takes place here in preparation for the Grand Prix. The only evidence is the row of permanent garages; otherwise, it’s just a picturesque lakeside park populated by ducks and swans.
From there, we make our way back across town to the mighty MCG — arguably Australia’s most revered sporting ground. We join a tour of the normally restricted areas, including the player change rooms and hallowed halls of the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC). Stepping onto the edge of the sacred turf provides a sense of just how daunting it must be to play at the MCG in front of 100,000 roaring fans.
Everything we’ve seen so far comes together at our final stop — the recently refurbished Australian Sports Museum in the MCG precinct. It’s packed with historic photos and memorabilia, but for me the highlight is the array of interactive experiences. You can kick a football, shoot hoops, or cycle in a simulated velodrome. There’s even the opportunity to have a go at match commentating.
Melbourne invites every visitor to share in its passion for sport, and the best way to do it is to buy a match ticket. But for those who aren’t fortunate enough to be here on game days, this Melbourne Sports Venues Tour is the next best thing!
The writer travelled as a guest of Show Me Melbourne. You can book this tour here.
Browse our full range of Melbourne tours and experiences here. We offer a Best Price Guarantee.
Additional images: Bigstock
About the writer
Stephen Hodges left his full-time career as a teacher to embark on a three-year overseas adventure. While travelling, he worked as a grouse beater in Scotland, a chicken farmer on a Kibbutz in Israel, and a camp counsellor in France. On his return to Melbourne, Stephen set up a travel business and ran it successfully for six years. He still has a passion for the industry, and believes that you can find memorable and meaningful experiences in the most unlikely places — if you look hard enough.
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