Melbourne, Australia was the last stop on our road trip with my mom. We planned three nights there to explore the city and spend time just hanging out. The weather wasn’t the best giving us rainy, chilly days. We made the best of it though and found some amazing spots.
This city is made for hipsters. Oddly themed bars, amazing vintage shops, great art and lots of cool coffee shops – those things all make me think “hipster” and they make me feel at home. Minneapolis and Brooklyn are both similar in this vibe. It reminded me of Wellington a little also. We wanted to share a few of our Melbourne favorites here.
If you have more than three days here, I would recommend at least one day trip as well. There are so many amazingly beautiful places under a two-hour drive from here. Phillip Island or the Yarra Valley would top the list for me.
Melbourne Favorites: A Hipster Collection
Queen Victoria Night Market
This outdoor market is right in downtown. Once a week, they have a night market, but it’s open daily as well. Each season, it brings something different. We visited the winter market with roaring fires, hot drinks and tons of amazing food. It was hard to pick what to try, so we visited multiple stands. My mom purchased some great locally made souvenirs here. Plus, they had great live music. It’s free to enter and hang out, so if you just want to do some window shopping – this is a great place to check out.
Here is their website and full schedule.
Street Art
We can’t mention Melbourne favorites without talking about the street art. It’s one of the things the city is most famous for. There are so many different places to look for it in the downtown area. Hosier Lane is a great place to start and then just walk circles around the blocks near there. Some streets were crammed with people and then others were completely empty.
There are tours that give you more history and information about the art if you are interested. We were pretty content just wandering and taking it all in.
Have Drinks at Cool Places
With the rain, we ended up spending a little more time indoors than we usually do. We did get to enjoy the Chuckle Park Bar on our first afternoon when the sun was shining. It’s a cool alleyway bar with mulled wine and great beers. On the rainy days, we tried out Holey Moley and did some mini golfing. The holes are hilariously decorated and it was a perfect rainy day activity. Since it was a weekday, we had the whole place to ourselves until the very end.
Eat Your Way through all the Laneways
Melbourne is a wonderfully diverse city. It is actually the 10th largest immigrant population among the world’s metropolitan areas. This means that you can find a huge variety of food in Melbourne. The laneways are perfect for snacking your way through the day. While walking around downtown, you’ll quickly notice that some streets are narrow and pedestrian only. Make sure to turn down every one you see. You’ll be greeted with all kinds of pastries, sandwiches, cafes and small food stalls. If you need somewhere to start, type Centre Place into your maps.
Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is the only item on our Melbourne favorites list that isn’t accessible by foot. It’s a 20 minute drive or train ride from downtown. We stopped here on our way into town and had lunch on the water.
This beach is famous for its colorfully painted beach huts – called bathing boxes here. There are 82 bright structures each painted with its own beautiful pattern. These huts are only able to be purchased by residents of the suburb and lack any amenities, but go for around A$200,000 (in 2008).
It is a very popular spot with tourists, but it’s pretty easy to see why. Even though you’ll be dodging quite a few cameras, it is still worth a trip. You can do some great people watching, take some photos of your own and then take your time picking which one would be yours.
Other Melbourne Info
Here is the link for the AirBnB we used. It was a perfect 2 bedroom that was comfortable and centrally located.
We returned our rental car as soon as we pulled into town. If you are planning on driving in Melbourne, make sure you read about right-hand turns because THEY ARE THE WEIRDEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN. Here is a helpful link with pictures.
If you are visiting in the warmer months, check out the beautiful parks and gardens. I wish we would have been able to spend a day wandering through Royal Botanic Gardens.
Are you planning a trip to Melbourne? Let us know – we would love to follow along!
