Please see the following information to help plan your travel for Rinpoche’s events in Victoria

Melbourne CBD

The events on Friday the 28th to Sunday the 30th of August (OK with not being OK and Stillness Within) happen in the Melbourne Central Business District area at the very centre of Melbourne. The event will happen at The Capitol Theatre located at 113 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000. There are plenty of accommodation options in walking distance. Melbourne also has robust public transport if you would like to stay elsewhere. https://transport.vic.gov.au/ is a great resource to test travel distances by public transport.

To get from the Melbourne international airport to the Melbourne CBD there are 2 options. The first option is to take the SkyBus https://www.skybus.com.au/ from the airport. This costs approximately $25AUD each way. It will drop you off at Southern Cross train station in the city. The second option is a taxi or ride share service. Uber costs about $60AUD each way and a taxi about $70AUD each way.

Melbourne (especially the city centre) has a lot of trams. These run very frequently. And depending on where you choose to stay all of your travel may occur within the free tram zone. If you are travelling from outside this zone you will need a MyKi ticket. https://transport.vic.gov.au/tickets-and-myki/myki/buy-a-myki

Here is a map of the free tram zone:

Bendigo

The Path of Liberation 1&2 from the 31st of August to the 4th of September event will be held in Bendigo. Bendigo is about a 2 hour train or car ride from Melbourne. If attending both the Melbourne and Bendigo events, we suggest a second accommodation venue in the Bendigo area for this portion of the retreat. We also recommend travelling to and staying in Bendigo on Sunday night after Stillness Within finishes. This will leave you less pressed for time to make it to the Path of Liberation check in on Monday.

To get to Bendigo by train you will need to take Melbourne’s regional train system, the V Line. The V Line departs from Southern Cross (the same place the Sky Bus drops you off). Ticketing can be done on a MyKi (as per above) or via an e-ticket. https://www.vline.com.au/Fares-general-info/First-time-users

Fares are currently $11.40AUD each way. The https://transport.vic.gov.au/ website also includes journey planning via the V Line and will include any local connections within Melbourne that you may need to make.

The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion where Path of Liberation is being hosted is itself a 20 minute drive from Bendigo. Our team is still discussing options to run a shuttle bus to and from the Stupa and Bendigo for those travelling from overseas or interstate without a car.

We are also looking at providing a forum to connect attendees together for car pooling purposes. To access these options it would be better to stay within the middle of Bendigo. Trip Advisor recommended the following hotels near The Great Stupa https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/HotelsNear-g255347-d3525347-The_Great_Stupa_of_Universal_Compassion-Bendigo_Greater_Bendigo_Victoria.html

If you need any further assistance with travel arrangements, email support@tergar.org.au