What you see
Landmarks you see from the Yarra
The places along the Yarra in central Melbourne: Southbank, Princes Bridge, Flinders Street Station, Federation Square, Rod Laver Arena and the gardens.
Book the Yarra dinner cruise ↗Quick answer
From the Yarra in central Melbourne you look at Southbank Promenade, Princes Bridge, Flinders Street Station and Federation Square, Birrarung Marr, the Rod Laver Arena precinct and the Royal Botanic Gardens. The dinner cruise ticket names Federation Square, Flinders Street Station, Rod Laver Arena, Riverside Park and the gardens. The boat's route and the lighting change by night, so use this as a map.
How to read the river
A river cruise shows a city from its back door, and in Melbourne the back door was rebuilt in the last thirty years. The cruise ticket names several waterfront sights, and this guide adds the places between them so you know what you are looking at. The route, the order and what is lit change with the boat and the night. Treat what follows as a map of the central reach of the river, with each landmark described by the facts that do not change.
Southbank and Southgate
Southbank Promenade was completed in 1990 and designed by Denton Corker Marshall. Southgate, the restaurant and shopping precinct beside it, was built in stages between 1990 and 1993, and its Ophelia sculpture by Deborah Halpern has been used to represent Melbourne in tourism campaigns. The promenade and Southgate form one of Melbourne's major entertainment precincts. Behind them the district is dominated by high-rise towers, among them the Eureka Tower, completed in 2006. The cruise starts here, so the first thing you see is the south bank in lights. The promenade and the Evan Walker Footbridge together won an urban design award in 1991.
Princes Bridge
Princes Bridge carries road, tram and pedestrian traffic between Swanston Street on the north bank and St Kilda Road in Southbank. The present bridge opened on 4 October 1888, in time for the second International Exhibition in Melbourne, and it is on the Victorian Heritage Register. It is built on bluestone piers with Harcourt granite columns and three iron girder arch spans, and its lamp standards crown each pier. Because of its position it is often a focal point for celebrations on the river, including New Year's Eve. The bridge is 120 metres long and 30 metres wide.
Flinders Street Station and Federation Square
Flinders Street Station opened in 1854, and the current Edwardian building, with its dome, arched entrance, tower and clocks, was completed in 1909. The Melbourne saying meet me under the clocks refers to the row of clocks above the main entrance. Across the street, Federation Square opened on 26 October 2002 and covers 3.2 hectares above railway lines, with cultural institutions including the Ian Potter Centre, ACMI and the Koorie Heritage Trust. Both stand opposite each other at the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets. The station has 13 platforms, and its main platform is the second longest in Australia.
Birrarung Marr and Rod Laver Arena
Birrarung Marr is an eight-hectare park on the north bank between Federation Square and Melbourne Park, opened in 2002; its name means beside the river in the Woiwurrung language. Melbourne Park is home to the Australian Open, and Rod Laver Arena, its main venue, opened on 11 January 1988 and took its present name on 16 January 2000. It was the first tennis venue in the world with a retractable roof. The ticket names Rod Laver Arena among the waterfront sights. The park's Speakers' Corner, established in 1889, is on the Victorian Heritage Register.
The Royal Botanic Gardens
In 1846 land on the south side of the Yarra was reserved for a botanic garden, and Charles La Trobe chose the site. Melbourne Gardens now covers 38 hectares and slopes down to the river, with trees, garden beds, lakes and lawns. The gardens have been on the Victorian Heritage Register since 1982. From the water they are the quiet end of the central reach, a band of trees after the city's lights, and the ticket names them among the sights of the cruise. The National Herbarium of Victoria there holds the largest herbarium collection in Australia and wider Oceania.
Docklands and the western reach
Downstream of Southbank, the river runs past Docklands, where an urban renewal project began in 2000 with housing, offices and recreational boat moorings at the disused Victoria Dock and on the south bank. The Polly Woodside National Trust museum stands in the South Wharf precinct beside the river, in the old Duke and Orr drydock. These western sights are named on the two-hour highlights cruise, not on the dinner ticket, so do not expect them on the dinner route. They show how far the working river reaches beyond the lit-up centre.
Frequently asked questions
Which landmarks does the ticket name?
Federation Square, Flinders Street Station, Rod Laver Arena, Riverside Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens, among the waterfront sights.
Does the boat take the same route every night?
Not necessarily. The route, the order of sights and the lighting depend on the boat, the tide and the night.
When did Federation Square open?
On 26 October 2002, opposite Flinders Street Station.
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