Melbourne is famed for its temperamental weather, but it doesn't have to ruin your plans. If you look hard enough, there are plenty of indoor attractions to occupy you on a rainy day, or at least for a few hours until it becomes sunny again.
Wet weather won't stop you from enjoying Melbourne.. Photo credit: Fernando de Sousa.
The Melbourne Museum is an ideal indoor venue for a rainy day. Photo credit: freeaussiestock.com.
Melbourne is home to plenty of museums, all of which are indoors and many of which are big enough that you could spend the best part of a day there. The
Melbourne Museum,
Scienceworks, and the
Immigration Museum are our biggest and best and have something for everyone. If you're already too familiar with those museums, there is a handful of
quirky museums in Melbourne that are worth a look at.
See a film
Palace Cinemas are an opulent choice, but any movie theatre will do on a rainy day.
Movie theatres always fill up fast in bad weather. Two hours of climate-controlled bliss is worth it even if you are seeing the latest romantic comedy that is indistinguishable from every romantic comedy made before it.
You could go to your local Hoyts or Village to catch mainstream films, or treat yourself to a more obscure arthouse experience at
Cinema Nova or
Palace Brighton Bay.
Go skating
Get your skates on to escape from Melbourne's weather. Photo credit: Elvert Barnes.
It may seem silly to go ice skating on a rainy day, but it's more practical than you think. It's freezing at the rink, so if you go on a warm day you need to bring extra clothes, but on a rainy day you are already rugged up in appropriate ice-skating attire. Melbourne has only two ice-skating rinks,
The Icehouse and the
Olympic Ice Skating Centre.
If ice-skating requires more coordination than you possess, try roller skating instead at one of Melbourne's indoor skating rinks.
Take the kids to a play centre
The play castle at Dizzy's.
Kids can get restless being cooped up inside. An indoor play centre is the perfect place for them to let out their energy without having to brave the weather.
Kids Space and
Kidzmania are two that have been reviewed by WeekendNotes. There are dozens more play centres all over Melbourne, so there's bound to be one in your vicinity. A lot of play centres are indistinguishable, having the same colour scheme and play equipment. For something a bit different,
Dizzy's Castle in Maribyrnong is medieval themed and has a special offer on most days, such as half price Tuesdays and disco dancing Fridays.
