claire_c

Hi,

I will be going to Melbourne with my sis (only 2 of us) in mid of Sep. We are planning to rent a car to travel around. Is it advisable for 2 ladies to drive or follow the tours?

Following will be some of the places that we have in mind to visit :

1) Great Ocean Road
2) Phillip Island
3) Mornington Peninsula
4) Puffing Billy
5) Tessalaar Tulip Festival
6) Prahran market
7) Yarra valley

Would appreciate it if you guys can shed some light on how much time to spend on a place and any recommendation on any nice places to visit.


Thank you in advance.

CounterClifton

Overall, I think you have a reasonable list, though you may want to trim it a bit so that you have a few days in Melbourne itself. It's a lovely city with a real cafe culture and even having lived here over 6 years myself (moved from the US), I'm rarely bored on a walk around town. You can spend days wandering tiny laneways and arcades

Personally, I prefer the Queen Vic market over Prahran (though the latter is nice and all). The QV is more accessible from the centre and just larger overall.

Being springtime, you might like the Royal Botanical Gardens, plus it's kind of cool to have a peek in at the State Library, the Museum of the Moving Image at Fed Square, the Block Arcade, the National Gallery and all the street art, especially in Hosier Lane. Take the trams. They're somewhat famous and free in the centre itself.

Driving outside the CBD is easy as roads are excellent and well signed. Just the matter of being on the left of course. Do avoid driving in the CBD (city centre) if you're not comfortable with city driving. It's congested and there are very unusual "hook turns" on streets with trams... where one must pull far left in front of waiting traffic and wait for a change of light in order to make a right hand turn. This is to get out of the way of the passing trams and

The Great Ocean Road is probably best as an overnighter. Yarra Valley and Puffing Billy and the Dandenong route in between is a doable single day... but if you're planning on tasting at the wineries, a tour would be best.

We just got back from a week on the Mornington Peninsula. It's nice. We stay all the way in Sorrento and love Point Nepean and all that. But it's at the very end. The rest of the Peninsula is again known for wine, like Yarra Valley is, and speciality farming but IMO, not as scenic away from the beaches. I'd pick either Philip Island (which can be a long day trip) OR Mornington Pen.


Enjoy the visit.

CounterClifton

Oh, and I've never been to the Tulip Festival but it's pretty much on the south edge of the Yarra Valley, in Silvan... which is another route one could take to get from the YV to Belgrave for the Puffing Billy.

marg

Are you planning to stay in a city hotel and do day trips, or are you prepared to take off with a car for two or three days?
If the latter, then I'd suggest you drive to Philip Island and stay overnight (the penguins don't come in until its getting dark so it would be a very late night by the time you get back to the city).
From there, drive across to the Mornington Peninsula for a wander, and then head across the hills to Puffing Billy and the tulips. The tulip festival is best at weekends as there seems to be more happening then than during the week. From Silvan it's easy to get to the Yarra Valley, about 30 minutes by car.

claire_c

Hi counterclifton, thank you for your details information. I might need to fine tune a bit my itinerary after your comments. Really appreciate it.

Hi marg,thank you for your comment. I'm planning to rent the car for a few days and not planning for day trip as I worry day trip will be very tiring and not enough time to enjoy.

marg

Hi Claire, agree with you that lots of day trips can be very tiring.
If you are planning to do some retail therapy while you are in Melbourne, have a wander around the Emporium, the new shopping mall in Lonsdale Street. The Queen Victoria market is terrific for people watching and buying souvenirs to take home.
We have two terrific art galleries in Melbourne - the National Gallery in St Kilda Road and the Ian Potter Centre in Federation Square (Australian art - some great aboriginal paintings).

claire_c

Hi

Is there any recommendation accommodation to stay at GOR & Phillip island?

Thanks.

shandy

I would also second that you need to be allow some time for the city itself and a new day trip every day can get very tiring.

In regards to the Tulip Festival, I think you can safely give that a miss unless you are really into tulips. I went two years ago and I wouldn't bother to go back again. There certainly were lots of tulips but I thought it was very overpriced for what you get and was a bit tacky.

I think the National Rhodendron Gardens at Olinda (not far up the road from where the tulip festival is and which are free I think) are much, much nicer and they would be looking a treat in September.
The villages of Olinda and Sassafrass on the Mt Dandenong Tourist Road are both good places to stop for a fossick around amongst the shops.