Port Melbourne is a sunny inner-city bayside suburb with gleaming modern architecture rising up alongside restored workers cottages housing cafes and bars in typical Melbourne style.

Since the 1830s, Port Melbourne has been the arrival point for millions of shipping passengers. Station Pier is the docking point for the Spirit of Tasmania ferry service, and for the international cruise ships that dock between November and March each year. Head to the pier on a warm summer evening, pick up some fish and chips and sit by the water or find a seat at a hip Beach Street bar and imagine life on an enormous ocean liner in days gone by.

Make a reservation at a sophisticated restaurant in the Beacon Cove residential development and soak up the bayside way of life.

Tree-lined Bay Street has a fascinating collection of old fashioned pubs, hotels and historic buildings housing specialist retailers, galleries, boutiques, coffee roasters and contemporary eateries. You’ll also find film and recording studios, as well as publishers and production houses in the area.

Year-round, walkers, runners and cyclists pound the palm-lined path that hugs the Port Melbourne foreshore, and continues all the way through St Kilda to Frankston.

Take the number 109 (Port Melbourne) tram from Collins Street and within 20 minutes you’ll be sitting by the sea.