Hi all, I have 2-3 batches of visitors from overseas visiting throughout this year. Would love to hear some suggestion for touristy thing to do around Melbourne that won't cost a fortune :)
Things like: free entry to the Abbotsford Collingwood Children's Farm when the farmer's market is on.
My parents were here a couple of weeks ago and had to fill in a week and half with things to do. Firstly look for festivals and events on and arrange around that.
FREE:
Botanic Garden - Melbourne ( couple of hours)
Circle Tram (couple of hours)
Tourist Bus (1-2 hours)
Go up to the top of the Sofitel, look out bathroom windows (less than 1 hour)
Fed Square, usually a festival or event on
Yarra Valley Wine Tasting (Free as long as you have a car, full day)
Walk along St. Kilda boardwalk (couple of hours)
Go to the end of the pier at night, penguine sanctuary (free, less than 1 hour)
Vic Market (couple of hours)
Shrine of Rememberance (less than 1 hour)
Drive around albert park pretending to be F1 (a few minutes)
12 Apostles (Free if you have a car, full day)
Brunswick St. Fitzroy (Cool shops/cafes, couple of hours)
Smith St, Collingwood (Cools shops/cafes, couple of hours)
St. Patrick's Cathedral (less than 1 hour)
Block Arcade, Bourke St (less than 1 hour)
Laneways around melbourne (up to you)
State library (couple of hours)
NGV (Free I think but some exhibitions are extra)
Phillip island (Free as long as you have a car, full day)
Walk around Yarra river (couple of hours)
Chapel Street (Not my thing but boutique stuff may interest some)
CHEAP
Acland Street, St. Kilda (Reasonably price pastries/coffee)
Mt. Dandenong (Small fee at the lookout)
Melb Museum (Cheap for a museum and you can combine with imax movie)
NOT SO CHEAP
Eureka tower (There is a 10% discount voucher you can get from various places)
Melb Aquarium
Melb Zoo
Sovereign Hill
Puffing Billy
Take them to themed bars: Luwow, Berlin Bar, Madam Brussels
Eating out pretty much anywhere.
You can try Entertainment book, RACV, discounts. You can find vouchers on eBay.
I'd probably steer clear of Smith St, Collingwood, theres many undesirables frequent the street that may not be such a good thing for making a good impression on visitors
I work near there, it's really not a big deal and it's gotten a lot better over the years. It's just around Woolworths where the drunks hang out, no worse than Flinders St station or CBD. The awesome shops, restaurants, cafes on Smith street outweigh that. It's really been gentrified in the past few years.
awesome shops, restaurants, cafes on Smith street
Im going to have to agree with you on that, there is quite a nice cafe culture,
also probably should mention that seperate to the cafe hub and nowhere near the "Safeway" there is at the other end of the street a good factory outlet type precinct with many well known brands having stores selling stock much cheaper than what you would find in a major shopping centres
went to werribee mansion. nice place if you have a car.
mornington hot springs
some horseback riding if interested
Check out some of the entertainment book vouchers for Melb. Plenty of 2 for 1's for attractions and of course come and try the great Melbourne restaurants :)
If you go to the tourist info at Fed Square, they have a booklet called Melbourne in Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter. They tend to have a page of vouchers in the middle. Typically these include some 2 for one vouchers for things like:
* Cruise on the Yarra
* Eureka Skydeck
* Cooks Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens
There's the botanic garden at Cranbourne if they're into that sort of thing. I think there IS usually a small charge, but I don't know what it is.