Re: Brisbane is.................
 

We went to Melbourne a few summers ago for a proper holiday and had a great time. Never visited in the winter so that might be more difficult. I really liked the state library, the laneway art, buildings, historical arcades, cafes, patisseries etc (did a laneway tour so I could find them all), the cool little shops (even the fashion ones :blink:), the trams which are great for short tourist trips (my 5yo fell in love :wub:) and the greeter tour was good to learn the history of all the victorian architecture, local stories and to get orientated.

Got up early some mornings and rode my push bike through the laneways and into the inner suburbs and looked at all the great inner city residential architecture, talked my way past a sleeping security guard into the botanical gardens before it opened and that was nice and stopped at little cafes who made nice coffee. The childrens little water park inside the gardens was great fun to return to on a sunny day and the whole area nice to walk around. Docklands was a miss (needs far more time to develop), st kilda shops, markets, beach and fun park i could skip next time (probably a better place to live than to visit but people watching was good), southbank was nice and was interesting getting pushed out the side of the Eureka tower in a glass box :) As tourists we got stuck looking at tat in the queen vic markets and i think they would be a lot better with a local guide.

Also went out into the burbs and talked my way into a tram depot and the 5yo had a fun free tour :thumbsup: Good to see nice public buildings stretching quite far into the older suburbs. The small grounded brown brick houses look cold and strange to a qld eye as I'm sure ours do in reverse. Noticed it is a lot easier to pick architectural styles though on brick houses as they match the textbooks a lot better :). The other noticeable difference to brisbane is how flat it is in the city/suburbs and dry looking outside the city. Went past the old suburbs into the newer areas...noticed the mcmansions were more squashed together than brisbane which maybe most don't like but I think is a good thing as increases density and chances of service provision. I think the inner suburbs with eat streets, shopping streets, eclectic shops, trams and vibe really make Melbourne. Shame the good part of Melbourne is so expensive to buy into but that's life I guess.

We enjoyed ourselves and have all agreed we would like to go back for another holiday...specially the 5yo :)

Re: Brisbane is.................
 

Yep - couldn't agree more and I'm really glad you guys enjoyed yourselves. It was the CBD that made me choose Melbourne when first doing my reccie. The trams, wide tree lined streets and parks really sold it to me.

The outer suburbs obviously have less to do - this is in common with any city I reckon, I remember struggling to advise someone who needed to kill 2 hours near our house in outer West London of anything to do at all in the local area.

I also think that just outside Melbourne, less than an hours drive from the city, there is also so much to do, Healsville Zoo, Werribbee zoo, the Dandenongs with all their unique attractions, Cranbourne Botanic Gardens and slightly further afield the stunning Mornington Peninsula with its vineyards, beaches and alternative arty stuff, the Yarra Valley vineyards which are astounding for a day trip (nice to have a sober driver...) and the coastal towns close to Geelong, slightly further still but within 2 hours is the amazing Lake Eildon and even the snow in the right season - I can't see how anyone could get bored here.

BB