It would be a shame to travel as far as Melbourne without factoring in some time for exploring. Tamara Thiessen makes some suggestions.
Though Sydney is more of an attention-grabber, Australia’s second-largest city is considered by many to be the country’s cultural and culinary capital, with the highest quality of life in the world.
“Sydney has the wow factor because of its location and iconic attractions, but Melbourne gets under your skin,” says Michael Bourne, general manager of the Hilton Melbourne South Wharf. “It has such depth to its offering – world-class cultural attractions, big sporting events [such as the Australian Open and F1 Grand Prix] and international festivals, from food to fashion.”
In August, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked it the best of 140 cities to live in, based on factors such as infrastructure, healthcare, culture, education, environment and political and social stability. It scored 97.5 per cent in the biannual ranking, winning the title held for nearly a decade by Vancouver. Survey editor Jon Copestake attributed Melbourne’s success to low population density and relatively low crime rates, which make it “highly attractive… despite the rising cost of living driven by the strong Australian dollar”.
With its European flair and classical chic, the city provides travellers with a stylish environment in which to spend downtime. The central business district (CBD) is a hub of high-end shopping, dining and hotels, of grand Victorian buildings and huge city parks set against skyscrapers, landscaped riverside walkways and iconic galleries and museums.
“Melbourne has gained a reputation as a welcoming city with a distinct sense of style and some of the best eating in Australia,” says Zoe Shurgold, senior media officer at Tourism Victoria (tourism.vic.gov.au).
“Visitors like exploring the inner city laneways and arcades and checking out the different precincts, from beachside St Kilda to eclectic Fitzroy.”
With an efficient privatised transport system of tram, train and bus, Melbourne’s Metlink (metlinkmelbourne.com.au) provides quick city transits. “It’s very connected,” Shurgold says. “Melbourne airport caters for more than 28 million passengers a year, is serviced by 27 international airlines, and is Australia’s only curfew-free airport, operating 24/7.”
She adds: “The CBD is compact and easy to navigate. Its modern hotels and venues are crowned by the new Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.” The centrepiece of an AU$1.4 billion (£900 million) South Wharf development completed two years ago, the centre was the first to receive a six-star Green Star rating from Australia’s Green Building Council.
If you want to explore other parts of Victoria, you can do so easily. “It’s a compact state with an excellent network of roads and public transport,” Shurgold says. “Within a 90-minute drive, you can end up in landscapes ranging from wine regions and nature parks to surf coast and snowfields.” Here are some ideas for what to see.
IN TWO HOURS
Art-gaze at the National Gallery of Victoria (180 St Kilda Road, ngv.vic.gov.au, open
10am-5pm Wed-Mon, free for most exhibitions). A free guided tour of the gallery’s permanent collection starts at 11am daily, taking in highlights such as Tiepolo’s Banquet of Cleopatra, Rembrandt’s Two Old Men Disputing, Monets and Manets, as well as late 19th-century works by Australian artists Tom Roberts and Frederick McCubbin. A current exhibition, “Art of the Pacific”, runs until the end of next year.
Melbourne’s layout allows for “an easy mix of work with impulse shopping”, says Amanda Thompson, executive assistant manager of sales and marketing at the Langham Melbourne. “Collins Street [one of the city’s main thoroughfares] has a mix of international designers, global corporations and financial institutions,” she adds.
The “Paris end” of the street boasts heritage landmarks such as the Old Treasury Building and luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Prada and Rolex. “Or for a very Melbourne experience, get lost in the laneways between Flinders and Collins Streets and check out the historic Block and Royal shopping arcades,” Shurgold says.
Next, head to Chinatown and one of Australia’s most famous Chinese restaurants, the Flower Drum (17 Market Lane, flower-drum.com). Or opt for modern French with giddying city views at Vue de Monde on the Rialto Building’s 55th floor (525 Collins Street, vuedemonde.com.au). Espresso fans shouldn’t miss a touch of Fellini at Pellegrini’s (66 Bourke Street).
Make sure you also climb aboard one of Melbourne’s charming trams. The free City Circle tram (yarratrams.com.au) will take you past some of the CBD’s main sites. The circular route runs 10am-6pm Sun-Wed and 10am-9pm Thurs-Sat, and links in with regular suburban lines.
IN FOUR HOURS
With more time to spare, head by foot or tram along St Kilda Road to the Royal Botanic Gardens (open 7.30am to sunset daily, free entry, rbg.gov.vic.au), which stretch between the city and the exclusive inner-east suburbs of South Yarra and Toorak. Thompson advises guests to join active Melbournites in their outdoor lifestyle. “It is a sports-loving city – the botanical gardens are ideal for jogging, the Yarra River for sculling, or cycling around Albert Park Lake.”
Hop on the tram from St Kilda Road and head to trendy Toorak Road to dine in style. The 1km-long stretch of boutiques, bookshops and cafés intersects with Chapel Street, Prahan. For 25 years, France-Soir (11 Toorak Road, france-soir.com.au) has served up top French staples – onion soup, beef bourguignon, pepper steaks and blazed-before-your-eyes crème brûlée – in a lively bistro atmosphere.
Take a taxi or tram (number six, Glen Iris) to High Street Armadale, home to posh boutiques, antique stores and bakeries. Phillippa’s (number 1,030, phillippas.com.au) uses only slow-fermented dough for its breads, and fresh cream, Belgian chocolate and free-range eggs in its pastries and cakes.
IN ONE EVENING
Melbourne is a patchwork of villages, each with its own distinct character. Depending on your preference, head to one of the fantastic “eat streets”. Acland Street in beachside St Kilda, south of the city (tram 96, St Kilda Beach), is famous for its continental cake shops, cosmopolitan cafés and laid-back evening atmosphere.
Monarch Cakes (number 103, monarchcakes.com.au) is the most famous cake shop – Melbourne’s multicultural set has been coming here since the 1930s for the Polish cheesecakes, poppy seed and plum cakes. From the traditional to the trendy, Golden Fields (157 Fitzroy Street, goldenfields.com.au) is a new open-kitchen restaurant for Asian fusions from barramundi with miso butter to lobster rolls.
The inner north district of Fitzroy is a more eclectic late-night mix of tapas bars, boutique coffee roasters, bookshops, independent galleries and multi-ethnic eateries. After years of the action being focused on Brunswick Street, a new hub of hip has shot up on nearby Gertrude Street. Melbourne designers such as Spacecraft, Obus and Alice Edgeley mingle with sleek café De Clieu (number 187) and quirky cocktail bar Rue de Fleurus (number 153).
On bohemian Brunswick Street, you’ll find Afghani, Japanese and Thai eateries. At number 533 is Matteo’s (matteos.com.au), serving audacious Italian-Asian hybrids – tempura zucchini flowers filled with feta or coconut milk gelato with lime syrup.
Lygon Street in Carlton, just north of the city centre, is a must for all Italophiles. The “Little Italy” has traditional café-bars such as Tiamo (number 303), gelaterias, pizzerias, trattorias and Italian designer shops. The new Carlton Wine Room (172-174 Faraday Street, thecarltonwineroom.com.au) combines top nosh and a great selection of Italian and Victorian wines in a restored 19th-century building. Carlton also sports top Thai restaurants, such as Lemongrass (174-178 Lygon Street, lemongrassrestaurant.com.au).
IN ONE DAY
While there are some regional train lines, outside the city the best bet is to take a tailor-made tour or hire a car. Upmarket Mornington Peninsula, an hour’s drive south, dangles into Port Phillip Bay like boot-shaped Italy. The “Melbourne Riviera” has great golf courses including Cape Schanck (racv.com.au/resorts), seaside resorts and day spas. Visit wineries such as Phillip Estate (portphillipestate.com.au), Red Hill Estate (redhillestate.com.au) or the boutique-style Foxey’s Hangout (foxeys-hangout.com.au). Most are open 11am-5pm. Amour of the Grape (amourofthegrape.com.au) organises bespoke trips from Melbourne for two to six people for AU$165 (£107).
For a drink or meal, head to the Long Table (159 Shoreham Road, Red Hill South, thelongtable.com.au) – the tapas wine bar seats 30 along one table, while the à la carte restaurant serves freshly shucked oysters and farm-fresh Jerusalem artichokes with nashi pear and nasturtium. It’s open Wed-Sun evenings and weekends for lunch.
To unwind amongst nature, take a dip in the 37-43°C tubs at the Peninsula Hot Springs (140 Spring Lane, Rye, peninsulahotsprings.com). Private treatments including hot mineral spring baths, massages and salt exfoliations are also available.
OVERNIGHT
For a taste of Australian mountain mineral springs and gold-era history, head 90 minutes along the Western Freeway or M8 to the “spa country” towns of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs. They’re situated in the eucalyptus forest foothills of the Great Dividing Range.
Healing mineral waters bubble up from below the region, which was settled by Swiss-Italian miners who came to “take the waters”. Spas offer a range of hydrotherapies, including mineral baths, salt therapy and relaxation pools. The Hepburn Bathhouse and Spa (hepburnbathhouse. com) was established in 1895.
Spend some time soaking up the historic streetscapes and art galleries – the light-filled 19th-century Convent in Daylesford (corner of Hill and Daly streets, open 10am-4pm, entry £3, conventgallery.com.au) offers fine art, penthouse accommodation, a café and bar. After a stroll through the neighbouring Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens, dine on market fish at the Lake House (King Street, Daylesford, lakehouse.com.au) or try Wild Birch (124 Main Road, Hepburn Springs, peppers.com.au), which grows its own herbs and vegetables.
For a plush natural retreat, visit Hepburn at Hepburn (2-8 Range Road, Hepburn Springs, hepburnathepburn.com.au). The villas have oak, marble and dark timber fixtures and forest-facing decks.
If you have the next day free, continue 70km to Bendigo and take in its 1860s gold-town Victorian architecture. Take in the 19th-century Australian and European collections at the Bendigo Art Gallery
(42 View Street, open daily 10am-5pm, free entry, bendigoartgalllery.com.au), before returning to Melbourne on the Calder Highway, through the Macedon Ranges – Picnic at Hanging Rock country where, according to the book and film, a group of schoolgirls and a teacher disappeared in 1901, never to be seen again. Stop off at one of its Shiraz or Pinot Noir-Chardonnay “Macedon Sparkling” wineries (macedonrangeswine.com.au).
IN A WEEKEND
The 243km Great Ocean Road is like a tentacle spreading along Victoria’s magnificent southwest coast. Start out with surf culture immersion in Torquay (southwest of Melbourne along the Surf Coast Highway) and the white and wild Bells Beach, the birthplace of iconic Aussie brand Rip Curl.
Continue along the coast through Anglesea and Aireys Inlet to the pretty café and boutique-lined seaside resort of Lorne, which is hemmed in by the bird-filled rainforests, waterfalls and fern gullies of the Otway Ranges (the 30-metre-high Erskine Falls are an 8.5km drive from Lorne). Sip on a latte from Moon’s espresso bar (108 Mountjoy Parade) and lap up the ocean views with fish and chips at Lorne Pier Seafood Restaurant (Pier Head). Stay the night in grand old dame the 1875 Grand Pacific Hotel (268 Mountjoy Parade, grandpacific.com.au), or for a personal touch and sensational bush-and-sea location, La Perouse bed and breakfast (26A William Street, laperouselorne.com.au).
From Lorne, hit the most spectacular cliff-top skirting leg of the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay. Drive another hour to the 12 Apostles, 45-metre-high pillars of eroded limestone jutting up from the Southern Ocean swells. Catch them at sunset before returning to Apollo Bay’s solar-powered eco-retreat Great Ocean Ecolodge (greatoceanecolodge.com). “Here you can venture out into the bush with researchers to help save endangered species, or just relax in the shade of the eucalyptus, watching koalas in the trees above you,” Shurgold says.
