Melbourne's tram route 69 starts at Carlisle St in the salubrious suburb of St Kilda opposite Luna Park, where the terminus with waiting shelters and seats is situated in a large roundabout. Only one terminus track can be accessed from Carlisle St, the other can only be accessed from the Esplanade, where a crossover is provided, mainly used by short workings of routes 16 and 96.
Trams run along Carlisle St, which is a mainly residential area with some shops, motels and the National Theatre in Barkly St before arriving at St Kilda Rd, where route 67 to Carnegie is crossed and route 3 to East Malvern joins. The pointwork arrangement at this intersection is unusual in that route 3 trams branch off St Kilda Rd in the usual fashion and join a set of elongated points that join the Carlisle St tracks clear of the intersection, ensuring that trams do not block St Kilda Rd traffic if they need to change points manually.
Trams travel through the Balaclava shopping centre past the St Kilda library (where some of this book was written) and cross route 78 between Nth Richmond and Prahran, which runs along Carlisle St to St Kilda as route 79 at night, Saturday afternoons and most of Sunday, at Chapel St. The Sandringham railway line crosses overhead at Balaclava station and trams then travel through a large residential area where a lot of Jewish people live all the way along Balaclava Rd to Balaclava Junction, a Grand Union junction built in 1913 by the Prahran and Malvern Tramway Trust. Route 3 goes straight ahead, while route 69 turns left into Hawthorn Rd and is joined by route 64 from East Brighton until the Dandenong Rd corner, where route 64 turns left on its way to the City and route 69 turns right. A section of track is available in Dandenong Rd for access to Malvern Depot, making the junction triangular. Route 69 travels along a concreted reservation in Dandenong Rd for around 200 meters until it turns left into Glenferrie Rd.
In Glenferrie Rd, suburban railway lines to Pakenham, Cranbourne and Frankston are crossed at Malvern station as trams enter a large strip shopping centre, crossing route 5 to Malvern - Burke Rd at Wattletree Rd and passing the entrance to Malvern Depot at Coldblo Rd before arriving at the crossing of route 6 to Glen Iris at the High St corner, where Malvern Town Hall can be seen on the right. Connecting curves can be found at both Wattletree Rd and High St for access to Malvern Depot, which can be entered from either direction.
Heading on from High St, Kew trams travel through a mainly residential area interspersed with shops and small businesses, crossing route 72 at Malvern Rd, the turnoff to the terminus of route 8 at Toorak Rd, crossing the Glen Waverley line on the level at Kooyong station and passing the Kooyong Tennis Centre, former home of the Australian Open. Routes 70 to Wattle Park and 75 to East Burwood are crossed at Riversdale Rd, then the Glenferrie shopping centre is encountered with its overhead bridges carrying the Alamein, Belgrave and Lilydale suburban railway lines over Glenferrie Rd at Glenferrie station. Just up the hill from Glenferrie is the Kew - Cotham Rd terminus, which is single track with a safety zone, seating being provided on the footpath adjacent to the terminus. The tram line enters Cotham Rd in a double junction, allowing emergency access to Kew Depot. This junction was converted to its current format in 1998.

                               Kew              St Kilda
                            Cotham Rd            Beach

Monday to Friday

First tram                   5.32 am            6.10 am
Last tram                   11.58 pm           11.58 pm

Saturday

First tram                   6.05 am            6.10 am
Last tram                   11.58 pm           11.58 pm

Sunday

First tram                   7.58 am            8.12 am
Last tram                   11.07 pm           11.12 pm

Before AM Peak    AM Peak    Between Peak    PM Peak    Night
     10 min.      10 min.     12 min.        10 min.   20 min.

          Before 8 am        Daytime         Night
             15 min.          12 min.        20 min.

Sunday

         Before 10.30 am     Daytime         Night
             30 min.          20 min.        30 min.

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