2 Days in MEL - Itinerary Help

Old Sep 19, 2018, 11:38 am
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2 Days in MEL - Itinerary Help

I'll be visiting Melbourne for 2 days in late October on a MR. We'll be arriving early morning and leaving late evening the next day. We'd like to make the most of our time there. Any recommendations? I've been considering just staying downtown and enjoying restaurants/parks, or perhaps renting a car and driving to the Yarra valley for the night. Any tips would be appreciated.
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Old Sep 19, 2018, 8:03 pm
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Don't bother going to the Queen Victoria Market for one thing. It's just cheap stuff and trinkets you can get anywhere.
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Old Sep 19, 2018, 9:15 pm
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Originally Posted by lax.sea.jnu
I'll be visiting Melbourne for 2 days in late October on a MR. We'll be arriving early morning and leaving late evening the next day. We'd like to make the most of our time there. Any recommendations? I've been considering just staying downtown and enjoying restaurants/parks, or perhaps renting a car and driving to the Yarra valley for the night. Any tips would be appreciated.
For two days I would stick to Melbourne city itself, driving will be one day lost already. The Melbourne running festival is on the weekend of October 14 so make sure you miss that.
As for places to go:
Victoria Market - for the fresh produce, the food stalls in the market to try a traditional Australian vanilla slice and pie.
Fitzroy along Brunswick Street for a coffee and head to Lune for a pastry.
Lunch at Rossetta on the boardwalk outside Crown if it is a good day.
Dinner at Attica.
Late night snack at Cumulus
Breakfast at Two Birds One Stone in South Yarra
Lunch at Stoke House in St Kilda by the beach
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Old Sep 19, 2018, 10:48 pm
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Originally Posted by lax.sea.jnu
I'll be visiting Melbourne for 2 days in late October on a MR. We'll be arriving early morning and leaving late evening the next day. We'd like to make the most of our time there. Any recommendations? I've been considering just staying downtown and enjoying restaurants/parks, or perhaps renting a car and driving to the Yarra valley for the night. Any tips would be appreciated.
Mid week or weekend? It could make a difference
For example Victoria Market has the fresh produce & the food stalls mid week, but more tourist trinkets/clothing at the weekend.

Late October has the Caulfield Cup & Cox Plate (Moonee Valley) horse racing on the last 2 Saturdays, so will put some pressure on hotels. Oct 26 to Sunday 28 Oct has the Australian Motor Cycle GP at Phillip Island. A lot of people will stay in Melbourne for that.

A drive will take 2-3-4 hrs to get anywhere interesting (depending on destination). The Yarra Valley and the airport are on opposite sides of the city (= traffic)
The airport side to the west has Daylesford and the small cities on Bendigo & Ballarat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylesford,_Victoria
https://www.visitvictoria.com/region...ons/daylesford
https://www.visitvictoria.com/regions

Last edited by Mwenenzi; Sep 20, 2018 at 12:10 am Reason: spelling
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Old Sep 20, 2018, 12:00 am
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Thanks to you both! Dates are October 20-21 (weekend), and made the decision to stay downtown. Hopefully we will get some nice weather and get to enjoy as much of the city as possible

Last edited by lax.sea.jnu; Sep 20, 2018 at 9:39 am Reason: Wrong month
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Old Sep 20, 2018, 12:09 am
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Originally Posted by lax.sea.jnu
Thanks to you both! Dates are August 20-21 (weekend), and made the decision to stay downtown. Hopefully we will get some nice weather and get to enjoy as much of the city as possible
Presumably you mean October 20-21.
You will find plenty to do in the city centre area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Circle_tram
https://www.skybus.com.au/ For 2 people a taxi may be as good a value
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Old Sep 20, 2018, 9:40 am
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Originally Posted by Mwenenzi
Presumably you mean October 20-21.
You will find plenty to do in the city centre area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Circle_tram
https://www.skybus.com.au/ For 2 people a taxi may be as good a value
Yes, thank you! Edited the month. Is Uber available at Melbourne airport or no?
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Old Sep 20, 2018, 1:18 pm
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Originally Posted by lax.sea.jnu
Is Uber available at Melbourne airport or no?
Google search:---> https://www.uber.com/en-AU/airports/mel/
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Old Sep 20, 2018, 5:46 pm
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One night in Melbourne. So many possibilities!

If you are staying in the CBD, then I would recommend the following:
- Visit some historic shopping arcades
- Have some coffee in the laneway cafes
- If you are interested in some history, the Old Treasury Building is free entry, a quick visit, and has some great gold rush period photos and information. it's closed Saturday but open Sunday.
- I think Cookie is a great example of what Melbourne restaurants can be like. Thai-inspired food, Australian-style bar, unique atmosphere
- Chinatown is a nice walkthrough or a place to sample some authentic Asian food
- Queen Vic market can be good, make sure you go indoors to the meat & specialty shopping section, not just the outdoor goods hawkers. Outdoors it can be difficult to pick the junk from the gems but there are some good vendors around there too.
- Suburbs: Fitzroy for hip and edgy, I like Naked for Satan rooftop bar, but lots of choices. St Kilda for beach vibes, go to the pier and look for little penguins at dusk (sometimes hiding in the rocks at daytime too).

Originally Posted by Annalisa12
Don't bother going to the Queen Victoria Market for one thing. It's just cheap stuff and trinkets you can get anywhere.
The Queen Vic Market does have a lot of rubbish geared towards tourists. But it also has a lot of great unique things too, and the meat / delicatessen parts of the market are historical and full of terrific items. These indoor parts are easy to miss, maybe you didn't see them if you visited. As a local, I shop there. However, the South Melbourne Market is probably a better one (just further from where I live, and further from typical tourist spots).
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Old Sep 20, 2018, 7:34 pm
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Originally Posted by CPMaverick
The Queen Vic Market does have a lot of rubbish geared towards tourists. But it also has a lot of great unique things too, and the meat / delicatessen parts of the market are historical and full of terrific items. These indoor parts are easy to miss, maybe you didn't see them if you visited. As a local, I shop there. However, the South Melbourne Market is probably a better one (just further from where I live, and further from typical tourist spots).
There are two indoor markets, one for fresh meat and seafood which is visible from the main outdoor market and then there is the charcuterie section which is slightly hidden away. That place is a gem.

It has a bit more stuff than the Prahran Market.
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Old Sep 23, 2018, 1:26 am
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Originally Posted by CPMaverick
....- I think Cookie is a great example of what Melbourne restaurants can be like. Thai-inspired food, Australian-style bar, unique atmosphere
- ,,,
Cookie is quintessential Melbourne, also has a great wine cellar (with some bargains at the high end). The next floor up in the same building is a pretty good night club and on the roof there is an open-air cinema .... this is on Swanston street directly across from the Grand Mercure hotel. Dine on one of the balconies at Cookie and enjoy the show. Melbourne is a city made for walking, exploring and eating/drinking. ALso worth a visit as a tourist is the bar at Vue de Monde, which makes great cocktails at same price as everywhere else, and this is the former Observation deck in Rialto tower so you get a nice view of Melbourne, for 10% of the cost of dinner there.
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Old Sep 23, 2018, 8:48 pm
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I learn so much about my city from these destination threads.
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Old Sep 24, 2018, 10:16 am
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If the weather is good, check out Arbory, a great gastropub overlooking the Yarra, built on a disused rail track behind Flinders St station. You can't get more Melbourne than that! By the time you arrive, their floating summer bar on the Yarra (Arbory Afloat) should also be open.

I visit South Melbourne Market regularly. My favourite stores there are Agathe Patisserie (IMO the best croissants in town - run by a French lady - also has a location inside the Royal Arcade in the city centre), Padre Coffee, and Tea Drop. There's also a wonderful Austrian influenced bakery-cafe called Austro, which has just opened opposite the market. If in the area, you could also pop down to South Melbourne Beach. Just up the street from the beach, there's a wonderful local ice cream shop called Jock's Ice Cream.

If you find yourself at Prahran Market, don't miss the cheese shop Maker and Monger, which is quite well-known locally. Near Prahran Market, the Windsor/South Yarra area around Chapel St has plenty of great eats. One of the best cafes in Windsor is Journeyman. Two of the most popular gourmet gelato shops in town also have locations around there - Gelato Messina and Pidapipo.

A few more of my favourite food/drink places - Tipo 00 (and its sister restaurant, Osteria Ilaria) (Tipo is very popular, book well in advance if intending to go), the Beechworth Honey shop inside Block Arcade, Hophaus, Kisume, Embla, 1806, the restaurant and bar at Denmark House...the possibilities are endless!

At the upper end of the food scale - I have been to both Vue de monde and Attica, the most common suggestions for fine dining here. I loved VDM, but found Attica quite overrated. Some fine dining places my friends have been to, and raved about, in recent times include: Lume, Ides, Navi.

You could also check out the National Gallery of Victoria, State Library, Botanic Gardens, Rippon Lea house and gardens, Albert Park Lake. Also the City Circle tram, for a quick rundown of the key sights. Speaking of trams, much of the CBD and parts of the CBD fringe are covered by a free tram zone.

Happy mileage running and enjoy your stay!

Last edited by FlyingJoy; Sep 24, 2018 at 10:23 am
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Old Sep 25, 2018, 5:48 am
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As others have said, the traffic over to the Yarra valley would makes things tiresome. You'd be better off heading out towards Daylesford or Mt Macedon regions over on the North Western (Tullamarine) side of the city.

That said, there's plenty to do in Melbourne for only two days so I wouldn't try to cram in too much. Many hotel options right in the middle of Melbourne's beating heart. It's also a great city to walk around and the local trams also make getting to nearby suburbs like Brunswick and easy hop. However, inner city trams within the main section of the CBD are free.

For sure, dining options abound and I'm sure everyone will give you different hints. My personal favourite is a Sardinian restaurant on Lonsdale St up near East Melbourne and the Parisian end of the CBD, called Pomodoro Sardo. Very authentic in more ways than one, as is a great little coffee stop at the famous family-run Pellegrini's Bar in the upper end of Bourke Street. It hasn't changed in decades.

If you want to get out of the city, St. Kilda has become relatively upmarket in recent years and makes for a nice beach-side stroll (although don't expect surf waves lol).
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Old Jan 4, 2019, 5:47 am
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Originally Posted by Catweazle
- That said, there's plenty to do in Melbourne for only two days so I wouldn't try to cram in too much. Many hotel options right in the middle of Melbourne's beating heart. It's also a great city to walk around and the local trams also make getting to nearby suburbs like Brunswick and easy hop. However, inner city trams within the main section of the CBD are free. -
Hello, if I may continue the thread... I'm planning our first trip to Melbourne. Regarding the CBD trams, does the fare from Southbank cover getting only to the stations on Flinders St? Once there, I can freely ride all day long within the free tram zone?
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