Need advice on Melbourne
 

I will be in Australia for three weeks in December/January 2003, spending the first week at Great Barrier Reef, the second in Sydney. How many days should we plan for Melbourne? We'd like to see the city, with day trips to the Yarra wine country and the Great Ocean Road. I would also appreciate advice on what section of the city to stay in...cost is not an issue, I hate hotel chains, love neighborhoods, but want to be convenient to the major sights. Como and Apartments of Melbourne have piqued my interest.

Robert,<BR>You could see a fair bit of the city area of Melbourne in a day. You could visit the Queen Victoria Market, Rialto Tower, take a free City Circle tram ride, walk along the Yarra River near Southbank and the Casino precinct, pop into David Jones department store to see their terrific fresh food section and end up watching the possums at dusk in Fitzroy and Treasury Gardens. If you have extra time, you could catch a ferry from Southbank to Williamstown for lunch, stopping at Scienceworks if that appeals.<BR>Two or three days for the Great Ocean Road would be great but if you don't have that sort of time, you could see some of it in a day. Lorne is a very popular place on the GOR for lunch or to stay the night. The road is windy and narrow so you might want to join a tour so you can concentrate on the scenery.<BR>A day trip to the Yarra Valley wineries could be combined with a trip to Healesville Sanctuary, (sort of like a zoo) that specialises in Australian animals. They have specific times for koala feeding etc (I think on their website).<BR>Good neighborhoods close to the city would be St Kilda, Fitzroy, East Melbourne and South Yarra. South Yarra is more upmarket, St Kilda can be a little seedy, Fitzroy is arty/bohemian and East Melbourne has some grand old buildings. Robinsons by the Sea in St Kilda seems popular also Kings in Carlton in a grand bluestone 1890's building (both upmarket B&B's), . <BR>Kay

We just got back and loved the Como in South Yarra. <BR>We spent one night at the Windsor and found it stuffy and unappealingly located at the very edge of town.<BR>We spent three nights in Melbourne and really could have used a 4th. I suppose you can jam a lot into each day and "do" it all in a weekend, but then you don't really get a feel for things. <BR>The tram system is great, but it's handy having a car as well. South Yarra is really the most alive place at night- downtown is like a morgue after hours - we were surprised at that.<BR>You'll want to spend a day (time it for the weekend crafts market) in St. Kilda/Acland Street and leave time for the endless seaside path.<BR>

P.S.<BR>The Great Ocean Road requires a full day to get even close to the interesting part. You'll want to overnight and then it's another full day's driving back to Melbourne, so tack on two days.

Re the Great Ocean Road - our favourite place for an overnight stop is Port Fairy. It's a little old fishing port -lots of nice B & Bs, places to eat etc. You could visit Tower Hill, have a look at the Maritime Museum at Warnambool. Another alternative would be to travel back to Melbourne via the Grampians - good opportunity to see koalas, kangeroos, emus etc in the wild plus great walks.

Thank you all for the excellent advice...you've helped tremendously.

G'day Robert, <BR>plenty of good info in the previous messages. <BR>Here is a link that you may like to check out before your visit: <BR>http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/greeterservice/ <BR>All reports I had from my customers agree that this is a fantastic service. <BR><BR>Enjoy, <BR>Mike