Australian Open 2027: Ground Pass Deals, Opening Week and How to Plan a Melbourne Trip

Ground Pass and Opening Week

Opening Week is 11 to 16 January. The main draw starts on 17 January, and the final weekend is 30 and 31 January. The $49 pass covers the outside courts and the practice sessions. It also covers the festival zones, including Grand Slam Oval and AO Ballpark. John Cain Arena is included when there is room.

You can scan out at the gates and come back in on the same pass. Break for lunch in the city and come back for the evening session. The grounds are about a 10-minute walk from the CBD, across Birrarung Marr or the Tanderrum Bridge.

Music plays most nights on several stages at AO LIVE, and the 2027 line-up isn't out yet.

A morning in Yarra Park

The Australian Sports Museum is in Yarra Park at the MCG, a few minutes' walk from the tennis. Older guides call it the National Sports Museum. A combined ticket with the guided MCG tour is $50 for an adult and $22 for children aged 5 to 15, and under-5s are free. Either one on its own is $38, or $17 for a child.

It's open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The tour takes about an hour and goes through the stands, the players' areas and out at ground level. Allow two hours for both. Tours and the museum don't run on some MCG match days. The cricket season is on through January, so check the opening-hours calendar for your date.

NGV Triennial on St Kilda Road

The NGV Triennial 2026 fills all four floors of NGV International at 180 St Kilda Road. It's a short walk or tram ride from the CBD and from Melbourne Park. It's on from 13 December until 11 April, so it covers the whole tournament. Entry is free and you don't need to book. The gallery opens daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There's film and large installation work on every floor, plus an interactive commission for children called 'Squish, Twist, Fizz' on the ground floor. The headline pieces draw queues by mid-afternoon, so come in the morning.

Riverside and rooftop drinks

Afloat is moored on the Yarra at 2 Flinders Walk, about five minutes' walk from Flinders Street Station. Older bookmarks call it Arbory Afloat. It's a pontoon deck with palm trees and a shallow wading pool. The food this season is Greek: meze, gyros and grilled seafood. It opens daily at 11 a.m. and closes at 11.30 p.m., 12.30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and 11 p.m. on Sunday. Walk-ins are fine, or book a table or a daybed online. It's only there for the summer, which covers the tennis.

Rooftop Bar is seven floors up in Curtin House at 252 Swanston Street, and Melbourne Central is the nearest station. There are deckchairs and picnic tables on a bare roof, with a view over the middle of the city. It's open every day from midday to 1 a.m., and the Burger Shack kitchen serves until 9 p.m., 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Book online for a warm evening, because the roof fills fast. The same roof runs a seasonal outdoor cinema.

The cinema and the Skydeck

Moonlight Cinema sets up on the Central Lawn of Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, within walking distance of the courts. The season runs from 2 December until 11 April. Tickets are $27.50 and you have to book. Gates open 90 minutes before the film, and start times shift through the season, so check yours when you book. Go in through the Domain Road Gate off Birdwood Avenue, and bring your own food and wine. It's on grass in the open, so bring a rug and check the forecast.

Melbourne Skydeck is on the 88th floor of Eureka Tower at Riverside Quay in Southbank, looking down the Yarra and out to Port Phillip Bay. Through summer it's open daily from midday to 10 p.m., so it works after a day session. Adult admission runs from $31.60 to $45.50 online, children aged 4 to 16 from $20.40, and under-4s go free. Prices rise with demand, so book online. Bar 88 is up there if you want to stay for sunset.

Breakfast and the night market

Queen Victoria Market is where to eat breakfast cheaply and buy a picnic for the cinema. It trades 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. It's shut on Monday and Wednesday. The Summer Night Market takes the Wednesday slot from 6 January to 10 March, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., which covers three Wednesdays during the tennis. Entry was free last season.

Dinner for a group

Chin Chin at 125 Flinders Lane takes walk-ins at any time, and you can book online too. It's open for lunch and dinner seven days from 11 a.m. until late. The kitchen cooks South East Asian sharing plates, like kingfish sashimi and caramelised sticky pork. Most people spend $40 to $100 a head, and there's a 10% surcharge at weekends. Six or more all eat the Feed Me banquet.

Stomping Ground Brewery & Beer Hall is a converted warehouse at 100 Gipps Street in Collingwood, with the door on Islington Street. The beer garden has a retractable roof, so it works in sun or rain. There's a big timber play fort in the middle for kids. The beer is brewed on site, the food is pizzas and burgers, and the front bar is the quieter end. It opens at 11.30 a.m. daily and closes at midnight, 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Book online. Brewery tours are at midday on Saturday and Sunday.

St Kilda after dark

Tram 16 from Swanston Street and tram 96 from Bourke Street both run to St Kilda. Luna Park Melbourne is on the Lower Esplanade there. Entry with unlimited rides is $57 for ages 13 and over, $47 for ages 4 to 12, and free for under-4s. Entry with one ride is $30. It's open every day through the January school holidays. Hours change with the weather, so check on the day. Outside the holidays it's shut most weekdays, so don't cross town on spec.

The St Kilda Penguin Viewing Experience is free, but you need to plan a week ahead. Take tram 12 from Collins Street, or the 16 or 96. The platform is about 450 metres out along the pier. Tickets are released every Tuesday at 10 a.m. AEDT for the following week and go within minutes. Set a reminder before you fly. Cancelled tickets are sometimes re-released, so keep checking. The first session starts about 30 minutes after sunset, the second about 90 minutes after, and both move through January. Turn up 10 minutes early or you can lose your place. Allow 45 minutes to watch the little penguins come ashore and head for their burrows. Keep your voice low and don't use a flash.

One day out of the city

Chandon Australia is at 727 Maroondah Highway in Coldstream, about an hour's drive away in the Yarra Valley. Some guides still call it Domaine Chandon. A 45-minute guided tasting is $25, the sparkling brunch over the Yarra Ranges is $75, and an hour of blending your own is $90. Walk-ins are taken where there's space, but book at weekends and over the holidays. No public transport reaches it and taxis are thin out there, so arrange a driver or a tour.

If you want the coast, the Twelve Apostles stand in Port Campbell National Park, 275 km from Melbourne. That's about four hours each way on the Great Ocean Road, or two hours 45 minutes inland on the Princes Highway. It's seven hours of driving in a day, so leave the CBD by 6 a.m. Coach tours take about 13 hours door to door and give you around 45 minutes at the stacks. Skip it if you have tennis tickets that evening, or if it's your only free day.

Before you go

Book the Ground Pass before the early-bird cutoff, the cinema in advance, and the penguin platform in a Tuesday release. Check the MCG calendar and Luna Park's hours for your date. See the Melbourne guide and the Melbourne hotel search.