Melbourne

General information about Melbourne

Arrive at the main Melbourne airport and getting into the city and your hotel is very simple as there is a regular airport bus service and when you arrive at the bus station you then transfer to a small shuttle which will drop you at your hotel or apartment.

Getting around the city is also easy buy a Myki card from the visitor’s centre which already has money preloaded or buy it at one of many outlets and top it up there and then. It covers the fabulous trams, buses and trains BUT you must keep a minimum of 10 cents on the card at all times, at weekends there are reduced rates for travel.

The Myki card can also be used outside the city, on this most recent visit we used it to travel to the Mornington Peninsula and around the peninsula on local buses.

Hotels in Melbourne

There are loads of option for hotels and apartments as usual check the web sites www.booking.com and www.venere.com we chose an apartment with a company called Punthill who have several options. We opted for the ones they have in the heart of Chinatown and thought they were great value and the staff really helpful, the web site is www.punthill.com.au.

On our most recent visit we stayed at Punthill Manhattan on Flinders Lane a great location and the large loft style apartments were excellent value.

Restaurants, Bars & Cafes

Restaurants

Melbourne is such a foodie city that you would have to make a serious error to end up with a bad meal, there are places in all price ranges and all types of food as the city has a very varied ethnic mix, all of whom are represented.

Attica, 74 Glen Eira Road, Ripponlea, is in the Pellgrino Top 50 restaurants and after dinner there you know why. Booking up to three months in advance is recommended, we were lucky enough to go on a Tuesday night when Ben Shrewy tries out his new dishes therefore the 5 course set menu is much less expensive than other nights. With the wine pairings it was a truly memorable night out. Although in the suburbs it is easily reached in fifteen minutes by train from Flinders Street.

The Arbory, Flinders Street Station, CBD, is located on what was an old platform at the station and we found it on our most recent visit initially for a beer to sit and look over the Yarra River.  We soon realised that 80% of the customers were tucking into or ordering burger and chips, not put off by the 30 minute wait we ordered and sipped wine while waiting for what turned out to be a knockout burger. Excellent service, service friendly but slightly chaotic on a lovely day.

Bottega, 74 Bourke Street, CBD, was a real find on our first visit to the city, it is still highly rated but could not see any sign of the excellent value pre-theatre menu on this visit so more of a spurge meal.

Movida, Hosier Lane, CBD,  does tapas but not as you may know them, this is seriously good food and we were lucky enough to get seats at the bar without a reservation, although it was a very wet Sunday and we had to come back in an hour. It was worth it, the food was brilliant, great advice on the number of dishes from the staff and excellent wine.

The Mitre Tavern Steakhouse Restaurant, Bank Place,CBD, the steak house is on the first floor above the bar, which also does food, but the steaks are the thing and they truly were top notch. Best beef outside Argentina but do read the menu on how they cook them as their rare, medium-rare etc. are different to what we would order in the UK. This was recommended by a local who loves his steak and wine and did not disappoint.

Stalactites, 177-183 Lonsdale Street,CBD, is a Melbourne institution and is open 24hrs a day. A local friend told us we had to go and we went at lunch time and thought the food was excellent, would have liked to go in the evening but sadly too many places to try.

Spring & Summer, 192 Barklay Street, St Kilda, is an Asian restaurant with a Thai focus, the chef is well known in Melbourne foodie circles and he and is wife run a lovely restaurant. We went with local friends and had an excellent menu of small dishes and mains all shared and all fabulous. A great evening and lovely hospitality.

Le Roche, 185 Acland Street, St Kilda, was a real find at lunchtime, their all day special breakfast was very good quality and incredible value, friendly staff and also happy hour beers on offer, what is not to like.

Tiamo & Tiamo 2, 303 Lygon Street, Carlton, this area is known as Little Italy and is packed full of restaurants, I think you would be hard pushed to find better quality food than in Tiamo. It was full the lunch time we went and the food was super and very reasonably priced. It is also BYO and there is a great wine shop just up the street.

Halong Bay, 82 Victoria Street, is one of dozens of eateries in this street which had been recommended by a local friend as a great area to try good Asian food in mainly BYO places. We chose Halong Bay as it was the busiest and were not disappointed, excellent Vietnamese rice paper rolls followed by great soup noodle dishes could not be faulted and incredibly good value.

Grace Darling Hotel, 114 Smith Street, Collingwood, this was another area we were recommended to visit for it’s wide variety of bars and restaurants. We had dinner in the restaurant area and thought the food was very good, friendly service and  good value. Check out some of the bars in the area mentioned below.

Bars

Pick up the leaflets on Bars and Laneways and you are all set to find Melbourne’s great bars and cafes, and the street art. You will also to have great fun finding some of these places.

Kodiak Club, 272 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, an excellent cocktail bar recommended by someone who knows about these things, try the Dark & Stormy with their own home made ginger beer.

Naked for Satan, 285 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, pinxtos to eat and a good selection of drinks downstairs and a great terrace rooftop bar doing food, just the sort of place you would want in your neighbourhood.

Goldilocks, Level 4, 264 Swanston Street, CBD, a new rooftop bar, quiet the night we went but give it a try.

Eau de Vie, 1 Malthouse Lane,CBD, this is one of the better known ones in the city and does a great range of cocktails. On a return visit this time we found the service to be less than impressive.

The Melbourne Supper Club, Upstairs 161 Spring Street, CBD, old school bar, so popular at weekends they queue down the stairs.

Bar Americano, 20 Pesgrave Place, CBD, this is one that needs work to find but boy is it worth it, a tiny place with ace Italianish cocktails, pricey but great, no photos allowed. The staff had changed since our last visit but were as welcoming and friendly as before and it really is a gem.

Madam Brussels, Level 3, 59 Bourke Street, CBD, well known and rather kitsch, again on a quiet night it was a bit disappointing although the barmen and waiter’s outfits did not disappoint.

Embla, 122 Russell Street, CBD, was recommended by Melbourne bar professional as one of the best wine bars in the city and it did not disappoint. Wonderful wine selection, very knowledgeable staff and incredibly popular, another place that we wish we had been able to visit again.

Tazio, 66 Flinders Lane,CBD, is an Italian bar & restaurant which offers excellent happy hour special both to drink and eat, very friendly staff.

Garden State Hotel, 101 Flinders Lane, CBD, is a very large complex of bars and eating places that always seems to be busy and is handy for a refreshment in this area.

Above Board, 306 Smith Street, Collingwood, fairly hard to find but would expect nothing less from Hadyn Lambert who used to preside over Bar Americano. With a cool Japanese feel, we let Hadyn work his magic and had fantastic cocktails, great to see him on this visit in his own place.

Smithward, 48 Smith Street, Collingwood, we found this by chance, enticed in by a special of white port & tonic, and found an excellent wine bar run by a lovely couple. Excellent cold meats on offer, just wish we hadn’t had a dinner booking.

Aviary Hotel, 271 Victoria Street, Collingwood, is a great stop for a pre or post dinner drink if you are heading to any of the many good Asian eateries in this street.

Big Mouth, 168 Acland Street, St Kilda, a very friendly well run bar in an area packed with places to eat, it also does food but we did not try it as we were heading elsewhere.

For somewhere totally different you can sign yourself into the St Kilda Bowling Club for a very cheap beer and watch the bowls matches, very popular with locals at the weekends and at their prices that is no surprise.

Drink

Melbourne is in Victoria which despite its small size has more wineries and regions than South Australia next door. There are four or five main areas close to the city, the best known are the Yarra Valley, famous for pinot noir, chardonnay and sparkling wines and the Mornington Peninsula with again pinot noir and chardonnay but also well known for pinot gris, pinot grigio as we know it.

We did not have time to visit the wineries here but there are many companies doing tours from the city so like any other choice do the homework, see the comments and what suits your time and your pocket.

The area is famous for it’s locally produced food and many of the tours will give you a chance to try local delicacies and visit markets, gourmet shops as well as lots of wine tasting.

Culture

A great city, there is so much to see and the local neighbourhoods like Fitzroy, Carlton, Collingwood and St Kilda are fun to explore, the centre is full of wonderful architecture and lovely gardens so if you can drag yourself out of the fantastic restaurants and bars you will have a great time.

There is a free historic tram service that you can jump on to go round the city and also a bus which explores further afield for which there is a small charge.

Do not miss Victoria Market, this has one of the best displays of foodstuffs that I have seen outside the Bocqueria in Barcelona.

ANZ ‘s Gothic Bank, entry from either Queen’s or Collin’s streets, what a building, do not miss going in and pick up the leaflet to make sure you see the various parts.

Yarra Valley

A great day out is to do a winery tour to the Yarra Valley, it is only an hour from the city and there are around 160 wineries in the area. We booked a tour through The Australian Wine Tour Company www.austwinetourco.com.au and were very impressed with the quality of the guide who had taught wine appreciation and of the wineries that we visited.

Mornington Peninsula

This is where the Melbourne people like to weekend and holiday, it is only 40km from the city but the peninsula is like another world, beautiful beaches, around 60 wineries, national parks, sporting facilities and great places to eat.

Most people will arrive by car but we travelled by train and bus, all covered by our Myki card, and stayed in Mornington itself, the capital of the peninsula. The public transport is good, not frequent perhaps but reliable and allowed us to visit Sorrento and Dromana.

The highlight of our visit was a day tour of five wineries with Amour of The Grape, www.amourofthegrape.com.au and Paul Gough the owner. Paul is an ex-sports journalist and is great company and well known in the area which made the visits to the various cellar doors even more enjoyable.

Mornington itself has a wide variety of bars and restaurants, but early in the week many are shut, by the end of the week and at the weekend there is a much wider choice. Recommended places are listed below.

D.O.C., 22 Main Street, an offshoot of the well-known Melbourne restaurant, cafe and deli, the pizzas are excellent and the service was very good.

Assaggini, 1C Albert Street, is another Italian eatery and so good we went twice. They have midweek pasta & risotto evening as well as a wide a la carte menu. Top quality food and service.

Ask Albert, 32 Main Street, is a burger place and the burgers and fries were good and the service very friendly.

Morgans Fish & Chippery, Esplanade, Sorrento has to be mentioned, it is arrached to a very smart restaurant and wine bar, and is the most up-market fish & chip shop I have ever been in. A fridge packed with champagne gives you some idea of the place, a good selection of fish, excellent salads and you can bring in your wine from next door.

Seven day forecast for Melbourne

Melbourne
AU
6.37 m/s 44 %
moderate rain
20.8°C
5.82 m/s 44 %
few clouds
21.4°C
3.24 m/s 52 %
few clouds
21.9°C
5.42 m/s 42 %
sky is clear
28.2°C
5.34 m/s 60 %
sky is clear
22.4°C

Last Visited 2017 & Last Updated 2017