Melbourne 🐨

WHAT TO DO

  • Go to the Royal Botanical Gardens: “run the tan,” Moonlight cinema

  • Check out the National Gallery of Victoria

  • Walk along South Bank (Yarra River) and check out Crown Casino

    • Get drinks at Ponyfish Island Bar or Arborio Bar

  • Check out the graffiti lane ways in CBD (Hosier Lane, Degraves Place, Centre Place, AC/DC Lane)

  • Peruse Queen Victoria Market or South Melbourne Market (more local)

  • Peruse Prahran Market

  • Walk along St Kilda Beach and Chapel St

  • Check out the Brighton Bathing Boxes and Beach

  • Mount Dandenong

    • Get Devonshire tea at Sassafras Cafe

    • Hike 1000 Steps walking track

    • Visit Olinda and Dandenong Ranges Botanical Gardens (especially during Rhododendron season)

    • Visit William Ricketts Sanctuary

    • See the views at SkyHigh

  • Go to wineries in Yarra Valley and get lunch

    • TarraWarra Estate (best lunch) (includes art museum)

    • Coombe Yarra Valley

    • Yering Farm Wines

    • Helen and Joey Estate (wine only, incredible views)

    • Oakridge Wines

    • Levantine Hill

    • Stones of the Yarra Valley

    • Innocent Bystander

  • Go to wineries in Mornington Peninsula and get lunch

    • Montalto (includes sculpture park)

    • Point Leo (includes sculpture park)

    • Red Hill

    • The Rocks Mornington

    • Jackalope Hotel

  • See the koalas and other Aussie animals at Healesville Sanctuary (book an appointment)

  • Go to the Docklands and ride the Melbourne Star (Ferris wheel)

  • Check out the Eureka Sky Deck (tallest building in Melbourne)

  • Check out Collingwood for trendy bars, cafes and restaurants

  • Check out Bourke St Mall

  • Shop at Chadstone

  • Go to bars in Londsdale St and Swanston St

  • Walk down Frankston Pier

  • FEBRUARY: Watch an Aussie Open match

  • MARCH - SEPT: Watch an AFL game

  • DECEMBER: See the Christmas lights display in Ivanhoe

DAY TRIP

  • Half Moon Bay

  • Mornington Peninsular Hot Springs

  • Sorrento, Rye & Portsea

    • Dinner/drinks at Intercontinental Sorrento and Hotel Sorrento, swim with dolphins (Moonraker Dolphin Swim)

    • Lunch at Portsea Hotel

    • Hike Point Nepean National Park

ROADTRIP

  • Great Ocean Road: coast of Victoria

    • Torquay (go to Bowside Cafe for vanilla slice), Lorne (QDOS Fine Arts, Phantom Falls), Kenneth River (to see koalas), Apollo Bay (go to Apollo Bay Fisherman’s Co for lunch), Great Otway National Park (visit Wildlife Wonders), Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge

  • Ballarat: gold fields

    • Sovereign Hill, Art Gallery of Ballarat, eat lunch at Lola

  • Daylesford: mineral springs

    • Amazing Mills Antique Shops, The Convent Art Gallery, visit Mineral Springs (The Mineral Spa, Lake House, Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa), Lake Daylesford, coffee at Pancho Cafe, eat dinner at Sault Restaurant or Beppe, eat brunch at Cliffy’s, Boathouse Restaurant

  • Bendigo

  • Philip’s Island: Penguin march, Nobbies Outlook

  • Wilson’s Promontory

  • Geelong

    • Eat at Frankie Geelong, Restaurant IGNI

  • Queenscliff

    • Basils Farm, Lon Retreat & Spa

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