With a week and a half to go before our family arrive from Sweden, I am trying to put together what I think is a list of must see places around Melbourne, both food and non food related. Problem I am having at the moment is I keep getting stuck on making Melbourne food lists... There has to be more to Melbourne than good food.
So my question to anyone who happens to stumble across this post in the next couple of weeks is this - If you were a visitor to Melbourne, where would you wish someone would take you? If you have any must see places around the city or suburbs, or any can't be missed Melbourne dining experiences, please leave a comment below, keeping in mind 3 of our 6 visiting guests are under 18, so no bar and pub crawls...
Whilst I think St Kilda is totally over rated, I enjoy taking people to St Kilda pier. If it's an overcast day, or dawn/dusk, and you're quiet, sometimes you can spot penguins hanging out in the rocks. I always worry about those penguins, though. I hope they're not distressed by all the people.
ReplyDeleteAlso I recommend NGV, and the immigration museum is interesting for those of us who wrote theses in migration patterns. :o)
ReplyDeletehealesville sanctuary! like the zoo, but actually helping animals rather than just holding them captive. also, the melbourne museum is pretty good - especially for kids.
ReplyDeletequeen victoria market, brighton beach boxes, botanical gardens, the dandenongs (hiking and then miss marples), wandering the laneways and arcades in the cbd.
ReplyDeleteplaces which are a bit further out (ie day trips) include a drive down the great ocean road, the mornington peninsula (wineries, fruit picking, beaches), the yarra valley (wineries and cheese!), and philip island to see the fairy penguins and some koalas?
happy planning!
I agree with Steph about st kilda pier or catch ferrie from williamstown to st kilda or cbd. There always something to see or do at fed square. Queen vic night market is pretty cool too
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite places to take people from out of town is Monsalvat in Elthan (as long as you have a car to get there) - it is just so beautiful and interesting - visitors are always impressed
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestions everyone, really really appreciated :)
ReplyDeleteSteph - I had thought I would take them to Soul Mamas (for the view that visitors all love, definately not the food...)but I hadn't thought of going to the pier to spot penguins. I didn't even realise we had them here, I would have thought all the boat and jet ski nuts would have scared them off :( We will definately check it out.
Museums and the sanctuary are great ideas too. One of our visitors is a major elephant fan so I get the feeling they will be visiting the melbourne zoo as well.
Mcmugg - I had fogotten about the dandenongs, thanks :) Embarassing as it is to admit, in the 12 years since I moved to Melbourne from Gippsland, I have never been to the dandenongs... The day trip ideas are great too! I've been wanting to take them to Lakes Entrance where I grew up, but have been wondering if that might be a little too far. The peninsula or philip island sound like much more doable options :)
K - I haven't been to the night markets for years, I didn't realise they still did these! If Fed square are still running the Abba museum maybe I should take them there :P
Johanna - I'd never heard of Montsalvat before. I just googled it and found some pictures. All I can say is WOW! This is the perfect place to take our visitors. Agnetta, my fiance's sister has done an amazing job restoring an 100+ year old Swedish farm house. This this is just the kind of place she would love. Thank you :D