Melbourne Travel Forum

Hi All,

I'll be visiting Melbourne in May for a week with a bunch of friends and we're all really looking forward to it!!!
We want to make sure we make the best of our holiday so I need some help :

1. Please suggest some places where I can rent an apartment/house at an affordable rate for a week (ard AUD150-250)
2. What are the top 5 things to do in Melbourne?
3. What's the weather usually in May? Do I need to invest in a good thick coat?
4. What are the most famous food/restaurants that I need to try out there?
5. What should I buy when I'm down there?

Thank you very much for your assistance!

Here is a site with a range of holiday apartments.

http://www.totaltravel.com.au/travel/vic/melbournearea/directory/apartments

But it doesn't seem possible to get one for UAD150-250 for a week. Though of course I don't know how many of you will be coming. It may be possible to get something for $100 a night, though that depends on how many of you there are.
They don't seem to have special weekly rates - though many have monthly rates.

It will more than probably be chilly and rainy in May - especially for you folks from Malaysia. Be sure to have waterproof and warm clothing.

melbourne can get really cold- colder than sydney in winter for instance and you feel the cold right through the soles of your shoes
may is late autumn in oz so yep it will be chilly
we are having a marvellous warm autumn in sydney so far - dont know what its like in melb at the mo

there are good factory outlets in melbourne
ask anyone for directions
good restaurants
quite a nice zoo
not my fav city but yeah it is a good destination - good to do both syd and melb for the contrast

Get a good thick coat and maybe a wooly hat as it is starting to get cold in May and possibly rain.

Not sure you can get an appartment for that price close to the city. Maybe check out Quest appartments out of the CBD but you will pay more like $140 per night. At least it is not high season.

Things to do in Melbourne. The Aquarium, The Zoo or the Healesville Sanctuary if you like furry animals of the Aussie variety, Eureka Tower observation deck, Botanical gardens and the Football at Etihad Stadium (thats footy, the football with the egg shaped ball).

Famous restaurants I can give you: The Flower Drum, Colonial Tramcar Restaurant (yes its a tram with a sit down restaurant that drives around the streets), Squires Loft (not world famous but the steak is really good)> I cant think of any other famous restaurants on the fly but I have been compiling a list of places I would recommend. Its a work in progress. If you can give me a style of cuisine you are interested I can make recommendations, be it Greek, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, French, Indian, Thai etc...you name it, we got it :)

What to buy is such a broad questions. Can you narrow the scope a little please, like, what are you interested in :)

Eggboy

If you check my Melbourne pages, you will find three really good restaurant tips. All of them I can highly recommend.

You will struggle to get to get a place for AUD150-200 for seven nights, but check out http://www.discount-apartments.com.au/plum-carlton/specialsSummary.jsp - they have some good specials on.
With regard to food I would agree with previous poster the Flower Drum is very good but very expensive, as an alternative you could visit Lau's Family Kitchen in St Kilda, its owned by the family that originally ran the FD but has much cheaper food which I found more interesting. Also some of the restaurants in Chinatown to look out for are, Spicy Fish Restaurant, Supper Inn both open until late, Shark Fin Inn and Kum Den. Around the corner in Swanston street you will find Cookie which serves good Thai food and has a good bar area to start the night off.
I would also look at eating at some of the restaurants along South Bank, Tuto Bene is good for risotto and other italian fare, Crown Casino precinct has some good well known names such as Nobu, Neil Perry's Rockpool Bar & Grill and many others.
Melbourne is full of good restaurants, cheap and expensive so it really does depend on what you are looking for.
I would bring a warm coat as it will be cold.
Shopping is good in Melbourne but you wont get anything here you can't get in a big city, if looking for something local check out the St Kilda Esplanade Market which is on every Sunday. For cheap souvenirs go to the Victoria Market.
Have fun.

Hi Clove88,

You can hop onto the free City Circle Tram that takes you around to see the highlights in Melbourne. Its easy to identify because its dark brown, and there's audio guide so you can listen and learn about Melbourne.
This is the link if you want to see which stops the tram goes by, and you can hop on hop off at no cost at all. http://www.whitehat.com.au/Melbourne/Other/GettingAbout.asp

The Queen Victoria market is also very popular for tourists, you can buy souvineers, clothes, bags, jewellery and even cheeses, fish, meat, fruit and vegies.. Weekends are the best time to visit it gets really busy and theres alot of food stalls too.
You can visit the website to organise a tour, check out the opening and closing times etc see http://www.qvm.com.au/

If seeing Melbourne from high up is something you want to do, then visit the Rialto or The Eureka Skydeck where at The Eureka you can step out onto a 360 degree viewing platform.

Melbourne Zoo is a popular place to visit but if your sick to death of seeing animals behind glass windows then maybe visit Werribee Zoo where you can see animals out in fields and you can go on Safari.

Take a short cruise along the Yarra River.. its nice to see Melbourne from another view. The cruises operate under the bridge near Federation Square and Flinders Street Station.

Crown Casino is a must do at night, be sure to check out the Fire Balls display! It runs Monday - Friday 9:00pm - Midnight, Saturday - Sunday 8:00pm - Midnight.

Hope this information helps!

Kind Regards,
Escape Travel Girl