How many days should you spend in Melbourne?
Melbourne is worth more than a quick Great Ocean Road staging night. Give it time for food, coffee, neighbourhoods, galleries, sport or music, then decide which day trips genuinely earn the distance.
Answer
Melbourne is less about one obvious icon and more about rhythm: laneways, markets, coffee, galleries, sport, neighbourhood dinners and weather that can change the mood fast. Two days gives a taste; three or four lets the city work properly before you start leaving it for coastal drives or wildlife tours. If every Melbourne day becomes a side trip, you may have chosen Melbourne as logistics rather than a place. That is fine, but be honest about the trade-off.