Victoria

Victoria is the smallest mainland state but the one with the most layered identity: Melbourne's coffee-and-laneway culture, the Great Ocean Road running west from the city, the cool-climate wine country of the Yarra Valley, and the alpine north where locals ski in July. It's Australia's European-leaning state — more cafe society than reef tourism, more cold-climate food than seafood, more trams than highways. Melbourne consistently ranks among the world's most liveable cities and its visitors tend to arrive for coffee and stay for the dinner bookings. Saltrove's Victoria coverage centres on Melbourne as a city you walk, the Great Ocean Road as the obligatory drive, and the smaller regional places — Daylesford, the Mornington Peninsula, Mallacoota — where Melburnians decompress. Two to three days minimum, ideally a week.