Melbourne is now one of my favorite cities in the world. I absolutely loved exploring the different neighborhoods and the chill vibes of the city. Highly recommend!
City by the Bay Tips:
If you are flying into Melbourne from abroad, prepare yourself for the easiest customs ever. I was so impressed with the systems in place, shout out to the Australian government, the rest of the world could learn a lot from their entry processes.
Depending on where you are staying in the city, the Skybus from the airport might make sense for you. It drops off in the CBD, the Southbank, St Kilda, and some of the city’s suburbs. It is quick and easy to use.
The city’s public transportation is great! The trams and buses are super easy to use. Get a Myaki card from a station and utilize it for both trams and buses. If you are running low on funds you can top up online, at stations, or at 7-Elevens around the city.
When you order a beer they are going to ask if you want a pint or a pot—a pint is 20 ounces, a pot is 10 ounces
Adventures & Ales Top Recommendations:
Stomping Ground Brewery: This was my favorite brewery in Melbourne, it is a very cool space, with tons of plants, a full food menu, a plethora of beers on tap, and a retractable roof. Snag a table first if you plan on ordering food so you know your table number for your order. Their sour series is great, especially the Watermelon Gose.
Carlton Gardens: Gorgeous park to spend some time relaxing in. This is where the Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building are located as well.
Fixation Brewing Co.: They are fixated on IPAs! Their entire tap list is IPAs—West Coast, New England, Milkshake, you name it. It is a bright, airy space to hang out in with a couple of sidewalk tables as well. If you are hungry you can get pizza delivered from next door.
Moon Dog Craft Brewery: A very eclectic taproom with tropical vibes. They have pizza, free popcorn, and couches to lounge on, plus a secret door that leads to their event space. Lots of delicious beers here!
Mountain Goat Brewing: A large industrial space with fun vibes. They also have pizza and delicious beers!
Pop down from here to walk along the Main Yarra Trail to soak in some river views
If you walk along the trail to where you see the highway you can pop out directly to Burnley Brewing
Burnley Brewing: More restaurant vibes than brewery vibes, but they’ve still got good beers. They have board games, a DJ on Sundays, and a full food menu
Take a day trip down The Great Ocean Road! Check out my blog post with recommendations here!
Stomping Ground Brewery
The Mill Brewing Co.: A small spot in Collingwood with an outdoor patio as well. The beers are delicious and the atmosphere is chill. They have a permanent onsite pizza van run with Fatboy's Food Trucks.
Eat Italian food on Lygon Street—namely at Zia Teresa, you won’t regret it!
Wander the Fitzroy Neighborhood, namely Brunswick Street. My favorite spots:
Slowpoke Espresso: Delicious food and coffee, plus a small back patio
Grub Fitzroy: An airstream turned restaurant with a cute indoor/outdoor space
Black Cat: A cozy coffee shop with a nice outdoor space
Tallboy & Moose: A brewery with an extremely colorful space, good beers, a nice patio, and a full kitchen
3 Ravens Brewery: This one is definitely off the beaten path but it is a cool converted space with really good beer. Worth the hike if you’ve got extra time!
Temple Brewing: This is located right off Lygon Street. It is a popular spot with a nice outdoor space. They’ve also got a full food menu and their nachos are delicious!
Brighton Bathing Boxes
The Kettle Black: An adorable coffee shop in South Melbourne, near The Shrine of Remembrance.
Ponyfish Island: A bar in the middle of the Yarra River! You access it via the pedestrian bridge. Surprisingly good prices for being right on the water. Great views of the city.
Henry Street Brewhouse: a cool neighborhood spot with indoor and outdoor seating. In Kensington. Lots of pale ales
Higher Ground Cafe: Another super pretty cafe, be sure to get here early, it fills up quickly. Located in the CBD.
South of Johnston: Sojo as the cool kids call it, is another great cafe. They’ve got $5 mimosas on Sundays
Gertrude Street around the corner is full of bars and restaurants to explore
Milk The Cow St. Kilda
The Classic Tourist Spots Actually Worth Visiting:
Brighton Bathing Boxes: These colorful beach huts are every Instagrammers dream. They are super cute, but prepare yourself to see a ridiculous amount of people and a ridiculous amount of photo shoots happening.
The sand here is a little rough, St Kilda is softer if you want to soak up some rays.
There is a nice trail connecting the beaches that I recommend walking (Brighton to Elwood to St Kilda)
Keep your eyes peeled for the Brighton Dog Park if you are a dog lover, it is filled with pups enjoying their off-leash beach time.
Watch the sunset from St Kilda Beach, and don’t miss the penguins at the end of the pier.
St Kilda also has lots of bars and restaurants down Fitzroy Street. I HIGHLY recommend Milk the Cow. They have got awesome flights of cheese, wine, beer, cider, gin, you name it.
Immigration Museum: Interesting and informative museum on the history of immigration and immigration policy in Australia. $15 AUD to enter, worth it.
Fitzroy Gardens: A huge public park that is a popular spot to stroll through or picnic. I would say skip Captain Cook’s House unless you are right near it or extremely interested. It’s your typical old shack that you have to pay to tour one bedroom.
Fixation Brewing
Shrine of Remembrance: A war museum in the Queen Elizabeth Gardens. Admission is quite expensive. Be sure to wander the gardens while in this area.
Flinders Street Station/St Paul Cathedral/Federation Square: These are all in one area along the river, you’ll want to wander by at some point. The station is incredibly old and beautiful from the outside, but otherwise it’s just a train station. The Cathedral is gorgeous. The Square is essentially a public park with some cool architecture.
Hosier Lane: A trendy graffiti-filled street
People will tell you to go to the Block Arcade—it’s essentially just a pretty mall. I did not find it at all interesting or worthwhile, but perhaps you will enjoy the old architecture.
Similarly, people will tell you to go to the State Library. The dome of the library is pretty, but it is not impressive enough to make it a worthwhile visit. It is just a library, nothing special.
Queen Victoria Market: A massive market with so. many. stalls. It is relatively organized which was a nice surprise compared to most markets. Go earlier in the day for the best experience!
Melbourne Museum: I didn’t love the Melbourne Museum personally. I expected it to be more informative specifically about Melbourne and Australia, but most of the museum was not related to either. There is one exhibit on the history of the city that was interesting, but the remainder of the exhibits were about unrelated topics.
The Great Ocean Road
Other ideas:
Explore the Thornbury Neighborhood, namely High Street
Welcome to Thornbury: Fun bar with food trucks. Lots of outdoor space, inside there are arcade games
Hopscotch Melbourne: An urban beer bar near the river with retractable doors for indoor and outdoor seating
Thunder Road Brewing: Located right off of Lygon Street, this brewery has a fun outside space, permanent food truck onsite, and average beers.
Westside Ale Works: Located in Southwest Melbourne, this brewery has got a tonnn of beers on tap. It is a pretty small spot overall, but they are moving across the street soon to larger space. They have pizza, lots of IPAs, board games, and even a brewery pup!
Degraves Street: A pedestrian-only street with many bars and restaurants. It’s pretty touristy but worth venturing down.
Little Cupcakes: Adorable little cupcakes… oh did you see that coming from the name?! Yummy cupcakes right at the Flinders Street side of the street
Walk through Degraves Street north to Centre Place, another street with the same concept. Very European-style street seating
Hardware Lane is another pedestrian-only street filled with bars and restaurants
PSA the happy hour at Claypots Barbarossa starts earlier than the other restaurants and has great deals
Rooftop Bar: Yes that’s the name of it. A little tricky to locate—it’s inside the Curtain House, take the elevator to level 6, then take the stairs up to level 7. Overall a cool spot, but the chainlink fence kills the vibes a bit. They’ve got a burger shack onsite.
Bonehead Brewing: A pretty small brewery with solid beers. They frequently have food trucks for your hunger needs. The industrial space has a retractable door and wood burning fire pit. Located in the Kensington neighborhood.
Aunty Peg’s: If you are really into coffee, this is a super unique spot for specialty pours
