I just had an amazing super quick snapshot of Melbourne City over the weekend-and let me tell you, if you’re going to be in Australia, this one isn’t one to miss!
Giving me all of those sweet San Francisco vibes, Melbourne is really the hipster, mod, kitch place to be!
Now, I was only there for a couple of days (literally, a Saturday and a Sunday!) but from my short time here, these are my top places to see!
1. Old Melbourne Gaol
Growing up in Brisbane with parents who were so into folk Australian music, I felt absolutely obliged to visit this historical landmark! And in my personal opinion, if you see nothing else in Melbs aside from this-you will have had a very cultured visit!
In Australian history, there is a man named Ned Kelly (and hopefully I’ll have a post up shortly more about his history and why he was such a legend in Australia). Ned Kelly is like the Australian version of Robin Hood-but a little more violent from what I understand!
In the late 1800’s, Ned and his gang (known as the Kelly Gang) initiated a siege on the local police. All members of the gang were killed in the event, aside from Ned. Ned was taken to Melbourne Gaol, where he was hanged for his crimes.
There is a super spooky atmosphere walking through the jail in Melbourne-even more so than Alcatraz, some of the cells I actually felt physically ill in. But hey, you don’t know until you’ve seen it!
2. Hosier Lane Street Art
Pretty much the most screamingly hipster place you can visit in Melbourne City.
This lane is absolutely covered in graffiti, but not derogatory graffiti; beautiful, colourful and personable graffiti. Its more like an art installation than anything else and is an absolutely beautiful stop on your way through town (on your way to Aami park or Southbank perhaps?).
3. Southbank/Walking Along the River
The peaceful Yarra River runs through the heart of Melbourne City, and it is definitely worth a look!
I had the opportunity to walk alongside the river in the early-mid afternoon on both days I was in Melbourne and let me tell you, it made me stop and think “Hey, maybe I should move down here!”.
Alongside the river are a multitude of restaurants and bars, there’s even one called Ponyfish Island ON the river! (HOT TIP: They also brew their own larger, and it ain’t half bad!).
This walk (heading south-east) will also lead you to the Aami Park stadium and Olympic grounds-if you are so inclined!
4. Aami Park
I may be a bit biased here-the entire reason I was even in Melbourne was to see a football game (Broncos versus Storm) at Aami Park.
BUT! The grounds around this are actually amazing! Not to mention that at one point, this venue and its surrounding grounds was once an olympic venue-not really sure when this was but it was definitely before 1996!
At night, I found the park absolutely spectacular! While when we arrived in the afternoon I was thinking “A nice bottle of wine, some crackers and cheese would be perfect on the lawn in front of the MCG!”.
5. Brighton Beach
Or more specifically-the Brighton Bathing Boxes.
These things are like stepping back in time with a modern twist-I just love the cute atmosphere having little boxes on the beach where people were just hanging out and enjoying life on the weekend-it even helped ME to relax!
Sitting on a beach will always destress me and add an amazing gelato ice cream with sprinkles (I KNOW, BEST DAY EVER!) and cute little views of the boxes and calm, still water-and that’s a recipe for a perfect afternoon.
This special little spot also puts you right on the Bass Straight, which is the little slice of ocean which separates our good mates down in Tassie from the rest of Australia.
Look, Melbourne has so much to offer and I remember vividly from my last trip when I was there in my teens that country Melbourne is adorable and one of the cutest places I have ever been-so please don’t take this as gospel, as I am sure there are many, many other great places in Melbourne to see and other great things to do!
What is your favourite part of Melbourne?
