Discover a truly unique way to explore the bustling city of Melbourne by setting sail on a Yarra River cruise. Growing widely popular amongst tourists, Melbourne river cruises allow you to relax on serene waters while a live commentator shares historical tidbits and lesser known facts about the city’s iconic landmarks, including the Eureka Tower, the Royal Botanical Gardens, Herring Island and more.
From sightseeing cruises to luxurious dinner cruises and even convenient ferry transfers, we have curated the top Melbourne river cruise options for you to plan the perfect trip to the cultural capital of Australia.
You can usually find Yarra River sightseeing cruises available on both weekdays and weekends. Meal cruises, however, are usually held over the weekends.
The 1-2 hour Sightseeing Cruise on the Yarra River is the most affordable option, starting from AU$26.60.
Although both the Bottomless Brunch and the Spirit of Melbourne cruises serve alcoholic beverages, they also have mocktails, fruit juices and cold drinks for children. You can take your kids along on either of the meal cruises.
The Williamstown return ferry transfers have a 2-hour duration, sufficient time to take a quick tour of the suburb and return to Melbourne. However, if you wish to spend more time or stay the night, take a one-way transfer and a return ticket whenever you wish to head back.
Melbourne river cruises usually depart on time and will not be able to wait for you if you are running late. To avoid missing your cruise, we suggest that you plan early and arrive at least 15-20 minutes before its departure.
The cancelation policy for Melbourne river cruises vary from experience to experience. While some may allow cancelation up to 24 hours before departure, some cruises have cancelation up to 48 or 72 hours. Some cruises may also not allow cancelation but permit rescheduling. Read the cancelation policy of your ticket carefully before making the booking.
Melbourne river cruise combo tickets allow you to select the dates for each experience individually, so they’re valid until the day of your experience. You can check their availability and book whichever dates that are best suitable for you. However, keep in mind that you will be unable to modify your booking later.
Ticketing was easy to follow and information and maps for the three activities were good. The staff at all three were really helpful, pleasant and made the experiences fun. It was fun getting close to the animals at Churchill Island and the highlight was milking the cow. Walking around the koala reserve and again getting to see them up close was special. The highlight of the afternoon was the penguin parade, particularly getting to see them as they went to their burrows, from the boardwalk. We all agreed that we had a great day. We self drove.
The staff were so friendly and knowledgeable, making our experience a great one. And the penguins were so cute and adorable when they came into the beach.
Everything and it was great and my cousins loved seening the penguins as they were from America
A wonderful experience seeing the little penguins exiting the ocean under a full moon! Witnessing this natural phenomenon was a real privilege. The event was very well organised by the co-ordinators.
The ticketing experience was very disappointing I had so much trouble trying to downsize my group booking . It took so long to get any real answers & help as AI didn't understand my request. It was very frustrating and took so long to get answers that we ran out of time . The real person was very helpful explaining , however it was too late to change the booking by the time I got any sense in how to do it. Not her fault .. the company needs to improve their website re:!ticket changing and refunds.. I was frustrated and annoyed with the whole process ....but we did have a good trip even though the weather wasn't the best.
Both the Penguin Parade and the cruise were very good -- well organised, very well informed, and with friendly and competent staff. We enjoyed the information shared by the staff, seeing the penguins, and being out on the boat (and on a sunny morning).
I really enjoyed being out on the water, seeing the penguins. I thought the staff working both venues were amazing! So kind, welcoming and handled difficult people really well
The walk to watch the parade was very good, seating was really good, guides were great even when they had people still wanting to take photos they had great patience, the facilities where first clss, great evening that we recommending to all our family and friends.
My first time taking my 2 kids 12 and 8 to the penguins. The kids loved seeing the penguins up close and fearing their sounds as they found their burrows. . There were a lot of disrespectful people there standing up and taking photos and videos. It was a sold out evening so we barely got to see any penguins coming on to shore, maybe 4. Thank goodness their experience was made so much better as we walked back along the boardwalk. . The staff were great but constantly having to tell people to sit down and stop using their phones for photos and video.
I enjoyed the experience of waiting and watching the penguins to return home. I had no expectations, so it made the experience more joyful as I waited in anticipation for the arrival of their return. One of nature's amazing gift to us.
Ticketing via your website was very easy. Your commentary from Sue was fantastic, she knows her stuff. Thank you. We spoke to a few guides and they were all great to have chat about the penguins with.
It's a unique experience for sure and it was very special watching the wee guys gather together n make their way up the beach....hoping the seagulls wouldn't attack them. However, I would advise anyone going to wrap up warm as it was pretty chilly. We all loved the experience
Amazing as always.... HOWEVER, please get your wardens to supervise properly at Philip island and stop people from using camera and trying to climb over barriers to get to the penguins!! There was so many just stood around talking together it was very disappointing and to be honest will put us off from going again because it breaks your heart!
Ticketing was online, and seamless. However, disappointed that we saw a total of possibly less than 50 penguins. So not a parade, more like a small trickle.
The experience was quite good.
Seeing the penguins in their habitat.
it was great We arrived late but we saw them.. so beautiful ❤️
Not that too exciting. We couldn't see clearly
How close we got to the penguins, and how amazing the staff were
Ticket experience was smooth and the experience was memorable.
Was an amazing experience, the staff made it a great event.
All activities were good....as special my daughter like penguins there ..it was vary good experience...thanks
Great views and great service with exception of the head sets not working
We only saw about 6 penguins.
That is very good I wish agine we want visit this place
Dolphins by day, penguins by night!
Inclusions Phillip Island Cape Woolamai Morning Cruise
1-hour Cape Woolamai morning cruise
Wildlife spotting and bird watching
Tea & coffee with cake
Expert local commentary
Phillip Island Nature Parks Penguin Parade
3 Parks Pass (if option selected)
Entry to Koala Conservation Reserve
Entry to Churchill Island
Exclusions Phillip Island Cape Woolamai Morning Cruise
Phillip Island Cape Woolamai Morning Cruise
Nature Parks Penguin Parade
Great view, I love the small balcony that I can be outside in the wind!
Great experience if it's your first time in Melbourne. Amazing view!!
It was enjoyable. We opted for the upstream and downstream tours. There was a half hour break between the two and the boat returns to the pickup point between them for the half hour and we needed to disembark for the duration of the break. There is a toilet on board and the seats are relatively comfy. Unfortunately the rain came down during the downstream tour so we couldn't get any good photos as the windows were covered in droplets but, that's Melbournes weather. All in all it was an enjoyable ride and we got to see Melbourne from a different perspective.
Nice weather great crew commentary
Impressive view from the 88th floor of the Eureka, you can see the whole city. A visit not to be missed by anyone passing through Melbourne. You can also buy souvenirs of your visit. I bought our tickets through Headout which allowed us immediate entry, you just have to show the QR at the entrance.
We loved learning about the history of different parts of the Yarra,it was very informative.Loved our female skipper,she was amazing to watch how she manoeuvred the boat into various places and we loved her commentary,she was witty !!!
Inclusions Melbourne Skydeck
Yarra River
Melbourne Skydeck
Melbourne River Cruise
Being able to sit outside, and see the sights on the banks properly. The commentary was good. The good weather helped also!
We liked wht we could hear of the commentary. Easy to book and find strt off point
The trip wasn't great... though the company can't control screaming kids, it was very hard to hear any of the information over the speaker. Also, I guess Melbourne (Yarra River) isn't as beautiful as the river cruise we took in Brisbane. I guess I missed the 'Docklands' destination description when I booked.
The tour should show the dockland area but they cancelled it .
I didn't like the attention given and the lack of information about the trip,
Fantastic way to see the lower Yarra. Lovely crew, comfortable boat, great views with an informative commentary. Spend time on the stern deck if the weather is good but don't forget to duck for the bridges.
The ease of booking was vey good. Quality of cruise was good. The audio is very poor. It should be heard to understand what is happening and which aites are we visiting.
It was very good experience i mean its very smooth you dont have to wait about anything.
The ferry on the Yarra was packed with people so with a little vhild hard to move around. A hot day but the window near me wouldn't open. The 'guide' was a recording and a t times hard to hear. And, I thought I had booked the tour upstream but it went out to the Ports.
When we buy the ticket, the likelihood of going downstream or upstream for the booking time should be known so we can decide whether to proceed. Telling us only when we have arrived is not helpful.
Unfortunately the cruise was cancelled due to storms in Melbourne - waiting for outcome of a refund request.
Inclusions
1-hour Yarra River sightseeing cruise
Complimentary tea/coffee
Exclusions
Was nice scenery. Not cramped at all. Just wished the commentary was there like it was meant to be. Would have been good to have been told something.
The boat was in good condition, clean etc and staff helpfull with drinks etc but there was NO engagement with the passengers. We got a very brief welcome and not a word more, nothing about where we were going, or any commentry about the harbour and Yarra river , just silence! I havent done many of these but the on the occasion I have there was some commentry. Regards Neal Still
I thought there would be a bar on board - there wasn't (that's why i booked the tour) and i thought the bought would be bigger - i understand that one it was a small crowd but nevertheless would've felt really fancy being on a big boat with not many people
The sunset, the view, the boat, the capitain
We paid $60 per head, too much, No narrator to tell us what place are we! all the building sorounds us, what was that. Also the crew did not even offer to get us a group photos. No narrator at all
Excellent tour. Highly recommended. Favio was very friendly and showed great knowledge of the city.
Inclusions
1.5-hour sightseeing cruise on Yarra River
Small group of up to 25 guests
Onboard commentary
Expert skipper
Exclusions
It was enjoyable. We opted for the upstream and downstream tours. There was a half hour break between the two and the boat returns to the pickup point between them for the half hour and we needed to disembark for the duration of the break. There is a toilet on board and the seats are relatively comfy. Unfortunately the rain came down during the downstream tour so we couldn't get any good photos as the windows were covered in droplets but, that's Melbournes weather. All in all it was an enjoyable ride and we got to see Melbourne from a different perspective.
Nice weather great crew commentary
We loved learning about the history of different parts of the Yarra,it was very informative.Loved our female skipper,she was amazing to watch how she manoeuvred the boat into various places and we loved her commentary,she was witty !!!
Enjoyed the cruise. However due to high tide only could one way for 1 hour. Manager said has out request through for partial refund to headout. Expecting this back
We loved seeing the beautiful buildings and sites from the water view. The boat stopped halfway to pick up and drop off passengers. The entire ride on the boat was less than 2 hours.
The first hour down the South Yarra was calm and clearly informative. During the second hour, there were a number of passengers who were totally disinterested in the commemtary and proceeded to converse loudly amongst themselves! It might be an idea to make a comment before departure to be considerate of those who want to enjoy the whole experience!
very informative,nice cruise up and down the yarra
Ticketing experience was very straightforward. The whole trip was enjoyable and very informative.
Everything was great from the boat trip to the staff on the afternoon trip.
Inclusions
Exclusions
You can cancel these tickets up to 29 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
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