Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
Melbourne Cricket Ground
A 100,000-seat temple of Australian sport, host of the 1956 Olympics, and the stage for AFL grand finals and Boxing Day Test cricket. It houses the Australian Sports Museum.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG, known to locals as "The G") sits in Yarra Park on the eastern side of the CBD. It opened in 1853 and holds 100,024 people, making it the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere. It was the main stadium for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and the main venue for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. It is the spiritual home of Australian rules football, the AFL, and a sacred ground for Test cricket. There are several ways to experience it. 1) Watch a game: AFL matches are played almost every weekend during the season, from March to September. Tickets cost about AUD 30 to 50 and can be bought through Ticketek. Australian rules football is a religion for Melburnians, and the atmosphere at the ground is electric, so it's worth experiencing even if you don't know the rules. The Boxing Day Test on December 26 draws up to 90,000 spectators. 2) MCG tour: On non-event days, tours run several times daily between 10:00 and 15:00. Each lasts about 75 minutes and takes you into the players' changing rooms, the MCC Long Room, the media area, and the sidelines of the pitch. Adults pay about AUD 35, or about AUD 45 with museum admission. 3) Australian Sports Museum: Located inside the MCG, the museum has interactive exhibits, histories of Olympic and cricket sport, and the AFL Hall of Fame. Admission is about AUD 30. Nearby are Melbourne Park, home of the Rod Laver Arena and the Australian Open in January, and AAMI Park for soccer and rugby. You can walk 15 minutes from Flinders Street Station along the Yarra River or cross the William Barak Bridge. Getting there: take a train to Richmond or Jolimont station, or tram routes 70 or 75 to the Rod Laver Arena stop. On match days, the free tram zone is extended. Notes: tours are not available on match days. Buy tickets for major matches in advance, since AFL grand final tickets are nearly impossible to get. Bringing alcohol into the stadium is prohibited. Inside the museum, you can try a simulated kick of an Australian rules football.
Opening hours
Tours and museum 10:00–17:00 (except match days)
Nearby sights
- Fitzroy Gardens & Cooks' Cottage
- Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria
- St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
- Shrine of Remembrance
- National Gallery of Victoria (NGV International)
- Hosier Lane
- City Circle Tram (Route 35)
- Flinders Street Station & Federation Square