Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

The Melbourne Cricket Ground, universally known as the MCG, has stood in Yarra Park since 1853 and now holds more than 100,000 spectators, making it the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere and the largest cricket ground in the world by capacity. On non-event days, visitors take a guided stadium tour led by former players or club staff, walking through the members' pavilion, the players' race onto the arena, and where access allows, the changing rooms, before finishing in the adjoining National Sports Museum, which covers the history of the MCG itself alongside Australian cricket, AFL, the Olympic Games of 1956, and the Australian Institute of Sport's collection. A combined tour and museum visit runs 90 minutes to two hours; the museum alone can be seen in about an hour. The best photo vantage point is from the top tier of the members' stand looking down across the full oval, and from pitch level looking up at the light towers and the Great Southern Stand. Crowds are heaviest on AFL and international cricket match days, when tours are suspended or restricted to a limited route; the ground is calmest and tours run most freely on weekday mornings outside the football and cricket seasons. Attending an actual match -- an AFL game in winter or a Test match, One Day International, or Big Bash game in the cricket season -- is a different and far louder experience than the daytime tour, with the roar of a full house considered one of Australian sport's defining atmospheres.