So we’ve just flown in from Melbourne, and boy are our livers tired. Fantastic weekend, and a much needed reminder that there’s a very European city (at least relative to Sydney) just an hour or so away. Just one thing, though, how the hell does your tram system work? We tried to get all Malcolm Turnbull and take public transport everywhere, but were defeated by the mere act of buying tickets (what’s a “myki”?). And when we did successfully board, we would get to a transfer point and then discover that the tram we needed doesn’t run on weekends. So, taxis it was!
Full report of the Pricks’ trip coming soon, including thoughts on Cutler & Co.
Prick With A Fork 
Myki (smart card) is the system that’s replacing the current MetCard (mag stripe). You can still buy MetCards and as a tourist that’s your only practical choice for now. Eventually MetCard will disappear and Myki will rule the earth.
I haven’t caught a tram for ages, but you should still be able to buy a daily/two hour ticket on one. You can often buy them at petrol stations, newsagents, convenience stores, etc. near stops.
BTW. there are a few iPhone apps:
Metlink Classic, and Tram Tracker
Now you tell us! Cheers
Those trams are an intelligence test. When you’ve never seen anything resembling them, in fact never seen public transport before, it is impossible to work out. I managed to make a few journeys, but tickets? I never worked out if you need ’em or not.
Just working out how to get on one is difficult enough. There is nothing to indicate to the layman where the things stop, or even if they stop.
Thank heavens for those twin rails, at least you can work out where trams go.
Sorry about the Myki nonsense (I feel sorrier about it every day). If you want to get somewhere quick though *don’t* get a tram. They’re just rattly-clanky fun, and fairly good for getting somewhere if you’ve got a bit of time to spare.
Public transport covers a good deal of the city but sometimes you’ll have to do curious changeovers that turn what was a simple task into a complex one.
I don’t drive so when I visited a work friend on the weeekend recently I had to catch a train-tram-bus combination to her house…!