Melbourne Museum

A glorious, sprawling space filled with themed displays, interactive areas, Imax cinemas, postmodern art and no end of surprises, Melbourne Museum rewards first-time visitors and repeat patrons equally. For recent initiates, the sheer scope of the permanent galleries (including one just for children) can be intimidating, but for those who aren't intent on digesting it all on one visit, the greatest treasures can be the tiniest and, like history itself, the most enlightening of surprises lurk in the dimmest corners and darker recesses. Victoria's history is vividly evoked through artefacts, art and well-carved prose. Her ancient past rekindled in Bunjilaka, which presents indigenous stories through objects, music and the voices of those past and present. Her recent history – that familiar to fans of Neighbours – is equally enjoyable, with the stuffed hide of Depression-era hero thoroughbred racehorse Phar Lap still the most popular exhinbition with young and old alike. As well as the traditional pinned insects, reduxed dinosaur wings, there's an open-air atrium teeming with plants and animals absorbing and refracting light on Victoria's future as a garden state too. Stuffy this Museum certainly aint.