Getting to Melbourne Park — Tram, Train, Walk

The single most useful fact about getting to the Australian Open: your match ticket is also a free tram ticket on the day you're using it. Tram routes 70 and 70a run between Docklands and John Cain Arena, and Australian Open ticket holders ride free on the day printed on their ticket — no tap-on, no separate fare, just show up with your AO ticket. The nearest stop to grab it from the CBD is the corner of Flinders Street and Swanston Street, right outside Flinders Street Station.

Walking is just as viable and arguably faster once you factor in tram queues during peak arrival times. From Flinders Street Station, it's about a 10-minute walk along the Yarra to the Birrarung Marr entrance at Melbourne Park — a genuinely pleasant riverside route rather than a slog through traffic, and it avoids queuing for a tram entirely on the busiest match days.

If you're coming by train from outside the CBD, Jolimont Station on the Hurstbridge and Mernda lines sits closer to the precinct's northern entrances, while Richmond Station on the Dandenong, Frankston, Sandringham, and Glen Waverley lines serves the southern approach past the MCG. For non-AO-ticket public transport — getting to Flinders Street or Jolimont in the first place — you'll need a myki card, Victoria's standard transit card, tapped on and off at any station or tram.

After play finishes, trams run back to the city for about an hour past the end of night sessions specifically to clear the crowd, and Victoria has run extra late trains and buses during past tournaments to help spectators get back to outer suburbs once the last match wraps. Driving is the option to actively avoid: Melbourne Park's car parking is limited and expensive relative to the free tram option, and traffic around the precinct backs up hard in the hour after a night session ends.

For anything beyond the free AO-ticket tram ride, a myki card is Victoria's standard transit card and it's genuinely simple to sort out on arrival. Myki cards and top-ups are available at over 800 retailers across Victoria, including every 7-Eleven, the customer service counters at major train stations, myki machines at all stations and major tram/bus stops, and the visitor centres at Melbourne Town Hall and on Bourke Street. Load myki money once and top up as needed via station machines or the myki app — the simplest approach for a short tournament visit rather than trying to work out exact fares in advance.