Melbourne Travel Forum

Hi there,

I will be going to Melbourne with 2 others on a conference trip in mid June. We will be arriving at Melbourne airport on a Friday morning around 8am and we just need to be back in Melbourne city by Saturday night. Can anyone recommend a good winery tour, a nice B&B stay in the countryside, and anything else we can fit within the 2 days? We wouldn't mind renting a car to drive around.

Thanks!

You have many choices within a couple of hours from Melbourne.

I still visit wineries on the Mornington Peninsular when I go to Victoria (but have never stayed there - if I stay I stay on the coast) and the nearby coastal scenery is terrific.

http://visitor.com.au/wineries.html

I also lived in the High Country (Mansfield) for 5 years and spent many a day visiting local wineries - again not staying overnight, but there are many places nearby to stay:
http://www.delatitewinery.com.au www.mansfieldonline.com.au

The weather will be nicer to you (unless you are into snow) on the Peninsular in June

Hi

Yes, Mornington Peninsular is the place and if you are after nice accommodation within a winery try the following: http://www.lindenderry.com.au/

Not cheap though!

Also note that Melbourne (and surrounds) will be cold at that time of the year so bring the woolies.

Have a nice time
John

I come from a lovely area in Victoria. Daylesford/Hepburn Springs.
This area is a delight to visit and has some wonderful places to stay and play.
Please check out my Hepburn/Daylesford pages.
You have many places you can go for dinner, massage and shopping.
From the airport Hepburn/Daylesford is approx 1hour 20 minutes. You can check out different styles of accommodation at dayget.com.au
June will be a little chilly, but so will everywhere else.
There are a number of wineries in this area.
Mount Macedon/Hanging Rock and Woodend areas ( half an hour from Daylesford) have some great wineries also.
Cheers
Anne

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions! Will definitely do some research on the places you all recommended.

By the way, are the wineries open through winter? And does it usually snow in Melbourne during that time of the year? I'm terribly afraid of the cold!

Hi
No snow in Melbourne! In June, night time temp is about 4-8 degrees and about 12-15 during the day. You need to go to the mountains for snow. Wineries are open during most of the year, however the main activity usually is during Harvest (Feb-March). Wineries usually have tours, tastings and the bigger ones have a cafe or restaurants. A large wine growing area not far from Melbourne (there are bus tours from the city) is the Yarra Valley. Several large wineries are situated there including Domaine Chandon who's parent company (Dom Perignon) in France make the famous Champagne. The Yarra Valley company also makes a good sparkling (we are not allowed to call it Champagne) and do tours all year. There are several B&B's and motels in the area details from:
www.yarravalleytourism.asn.au/

Have a nice time
John