Travel

Travel Note

Visa required

In addition to a passport you will need a type of visa called an ETA to enter Australia. The process of applying is easy and costs about $20 AUD. You will need electronic or physical proof of this to board your flight to Australia.

Flight

Cities that offer flights to Australia

Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Honolulu offer direct flights to Melbourne (United, Qantas, and Jetstar). There are other options if transiting through Sydney to Melbourne, with cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, and Honolulu flying direct to Sydney. These airlines include but are not limited to: United, Delta, Qantas, Jetstar, and Hawaiian. The possible flight routes to finally arrive at Melbourne are plenty, but using Hopper will show you the options. These options can be listed in order of price (cheapest to more expensive), or convenience (shorter travel times with either direct flights or less stops and layovers).

Hotel

Hotels in Melbourne

Being a big city, Melbourne offers countless hotels to stay at. The easiest way that we have found to book hotels is through a website such as www.booking.com or www.expedia.com. These websites can list many hotels in order of price, stars, reviews, etc. and a lot of listings offer hotels with free cancellation options up until days before your arrival. Some hotels on these websites also offer bookings without needing to pay until the day of your stay. These options are especially helpful to secure dates in advance without needing to immediately commit to spending money right away.

House Or Rental

Want to stay in a big group with other family members?

www.airbnb.com is also widely used in Australia, and can be a great option for those who would like to rent out a house with several bedrooms. If you have a lot of guests staying in a large house or apartment together, this can often be a more cost effect option compared to a hotel, not to mention that you will all have a place to spend time together too!

Hotel

Staying in the area of the wedding

The wedding will be held in the Yarra Valley, the state of Victoria's oldest wine region. Yarra Valley is within an hour from downtown Melbourne. While you may prefer to stay in Melbourne for most of your trip to Australia, staying closer to the wedding on the night (and night before) can be a nice option. There are several places to stay, all around 15 minutes from the location. Many offer a free shuttle service to surrounding wineries including our venue: Immerse Winery. Some of these accommodation options recommended by Immerse include: Balgownie Estate RACV Healesville Yering Gorge Cottages More affordable options that can be found using websites such as www.booking.com or www.expedia.com

Hotel

Immerse Accommodation

Immerse Winery has limited accommodation on site too, and this can be a great option for close family to just walk to their rooms after the reception. This accommodation is only available on the night of the wedding, and rooms are limited. If you are an immediate family member or part of the bridal party, you will see an invitation to confirm your interest when you RSVP. The couple will notify you if you are interested and rooms become available.

Rental Car

Renting a car?

Renting a car to be a great option to explore Melbourne and its surrounding areas. Websites that you would use in the US to search for car rental (such as www.kayak.com) will also work for Australia. Some things to note while renting a car in Australia: -Australians drive on the left side of the road (This may seem strange to drive on the other side, but most adjust quickly) -International travelers are permitted to drive in Australia with a foreign driver's license, provided that the license is in English. If a driver's license does not have a photo, drivers are required to carry another form of formal photo identification with them -Speed limits are enforced much more strictly in Australia. Driving only a few kilometers (a mile or two) an hour over the limit is enough to be pulled over and fined, and on top of that, there are speed cameras at almost every intersection. It is common among drivers in Australia to drive slightly under the speed limit at all times

Travel Note

Don't feel comfortable renting a car?

Melbourne has a large public transport system including a train network and buses. Uber is also largely used, and taxis are also an option. Note that just like in the United States, taxis are far more expensive than Ubers. If you have any specific transport questions, please feel free to contact us and we will gladly help!

Shuttle

Staying in downtown Melbourne and want to travel together to the wedding venue?

March 6, 2022 1:00 pm - 12:00 am

(Please note that the above time is not correct. This will be updated if we do end up booking a private shuttle.) For those that choose to stay closer to downtown Melbourne and wanting to travel to the wedding venue on the day, we can organize a bus for everyone to travel together. There are several charter companies that can transport a large group in a private bus. If you are wanting to go down this route, feel free to contact us and we will gladly help to organize this.