lizzyq

I'm a British Expat living in the USA heading to Melbourne on a business trip for a week at the end of this month. I'm hoping to wrap-up my business stuff in 2 or 3 days and have a bit of free time at the end of the week. What shouldn't I miss on my first trip to Australia & Melbourne?

PS Please tell me it won't snow while I'm there.....

PPS mods please move this if I've put it in the wrong section, thanks!

Dorothy

It won't snow in April in Melbourne.

Sorry, that's all I can offer in regards to Melbourne. I'm on the other side of the country.

Alfresco

Have dinner at Rocos's Tavern in St. Kilda. Great food.

Rosco's @ Cherveron

bcworld

It's on St Kilda Rd...but it's not in St Kilda.

Alfresco

Thanks. Fixed below. Melbourne is bigger than I thought.

***************

Have dinner at Rosco's Tavern on St. Kilda road. Great food.

Rosco's @ Cherveron

bcworld

It actually doesn't make any sense. For some reason that corridor of St Kilda Rd is in the suburb of 'Melbourne' but is not even connected to the CBD which you would actually think of as 'Melbourne'.

GarryP

Here's the thing. Melbourne loves to say it's cultured etc., but much of it is pretty ho hum and if you stick in the city it won't necessarily feel much different to the US (coffee is better). So i'd look to get out of the city to see some of the country - maybe a day trip, maybe Healesville, maybe the penguins, etc. One of the things of Australia is just how empty and big it is (the US is big, but with more population) - and it's difficult to really get an appreciation of that without a roadtrip.

And no, no snow, temps will still be in the 20C range at the end of the month.

Alfresco

Yep, only been there a few times and it is a bit confusing indeed.

ozzieeagle

It depends on your tastes I'd say. For instance, if your into Grunge/Bohemia, then there are probably not that many Cities better served than Melbourne around the world. If you are you head to the Inner North.

Here's a clue.... Not one that I subscribe to personally probably slightly overstated..... However, let's just say it has a very lively music/nightlife scene, great restaurants everywhere as well.... especially Ethnic ones.

Melbourne is the live music capital of the world, study says - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)


You can also see penguins around St Kilda pier and they are actually doing tours now albeit unofficial and manned by volunteers, so no need to travel 2 hours each way to Phillip Island.

Or put another way, if your a known DJ in Melbourne you will almost certainly walk into a gig in Berlin.

Kooky.

City - Art galleries. Immigration Museum. We generally go down (from Sydney) for exhibitions so that's all I can think of apart from food Food - Taxi Kitchen, Coda, The French Brasserie, nope...brain gone... Visit St Kilda, see the penguins.

If you can escape the city: Mornington Peninsula - lots of wine, Ten Minutes by Tractor, beautiful B&B George's at Arthur's Seat. Yarra Valley wine, Healesville Sanctuary. Other direction - Great Ocean Road.

lizzyq

Thank you all for the varied suggestions, much appreciated.

scrubbedexpat094

We liked visiting Melbourne Gaol, I say liked but it was a wee bit spooky. It was interesting though. The botanical gardens are lovely to walk round on a nice day. I enjoyed the shopping but that's because it's rubbish in NZ. Some great cafes around the laneways with French patisseries.
If you like theatre then there's usually a decent show on at one of the theatres. Some good restaurants south of the Yarra. We did a day trip to go on Puffing Billy and visit a wildlife park and I seem to remember some wine tasting happening too!

There's James Cook's house in one of the parks too. It was his parent's house really and he never actually lived there because his parents moved in after he left home to go to sea. But it's nice to see a bit of Blighty down under.

Enjoy and don't work too hard!

rammygirl

The old treasury building is worth a look too. Inside is a small museum and exhibits about the gold rush. You can even stand over millions of dollars worth of gold ingots.

lizzyq

Just to say I had a very pleasant stay in Melbourne and thank you for all the excellent suggestions. My business bit was wrapped up fairly quickly, I attended the dawn ceremony on Anzac Day and visited the shrine the day after when it was quieter. Spent a lovely afternoon in the Botanical Gardens, saw penguins on/in the St Kilda breakwater, ate fish'n'chips by the sea, paddled in said sea and headed home with the intent to visit Australia again sometime and see more than just one small corner of your amazing country.

Dorothy

If you get to the west coast letme know. We have 2 spare rooms