Must see attractions & activities in Melbourne

Hi Robyn

All of the above plus......

Definitely run around "The Tan" (aka The Botanical Gardens) its a popular 3.8km running track. A run along St Kilda Pier is pretty good too, you can actually run to St Kilda from South Melbourne along the foreshore - its only 6km and super easy to catch the 96 tram back to the city.  

South Melbourne has markets which are pretty good, best Dim Sims in Australia, just look for the enourmous line out the front. Prahran Markets are cool too (my old local ones) if you can head down on a saturday morning, heaps of food tastings to temp you...especially the sausages in the meat section..totally gourmet!  Prahran Market are located just behind Chapel St, which has great shopping. There's also Queen Victoria Market in the city, which has an awesome food market. 

The laneways in Melbourne are A-mazing with lots of hidden shops, bars and cafes. My personal favs are Flinders Lane, Degraves St and Centreway, The Block Arcade is lovely, make sure you get a hot chocolate from Koko Black. Hardware Lane in the West End of the city is cool too, if you like macarons, head to La Belle Miette.   

My favourite bar - if you can find it - is Berlin Bar, its not far from the popular bar Croft Institute, both are very quirky with great themes and just a few metres away from Shark Fin House which is my favourite Yum Cha restaurant. I also like Section 8, its an outdoor bar made purely out of shipping containers and pallets. Melbourne also has the best rooftop bars, I recommend Madame Brussels, Emerald Peacock (its above Section 8) and Rooftop Bar & Cinema which is part of Cookie, Cookie have fantastic Thai food. 

I hope you like coffee as Melbourne has the best in the world, and its taken VERY seriously, loads of hole in the wall baristas around the place.

Brunswick St is too-cool-for-school, lots of great fashion and retro stores. Lygon St is great for Italian however try and avoid the tourist ones, although they are entertaining with the guys out the front trying to entice you in, the food is a bit meh! The popular local restaurants are north of Gratton St, also dont miss Brunetti, BEST.PATISSERIE.EVER. Its on Faraday St, just off Lygon, you'll see French Connection on the corner, its right next to that. My favourite Greek Restaurant is located in North Lygon St, its called Hellenic Republic, owned by one of the Masterchef hosts/judges. its sensational, lots of great fresh produce and a 9 dish set menu for around $60. 

I love heading to Sydney Road, lots of cool bars at night, but what I love most is the Middle Eastern influences, lots of great cheap Lebanese patisseries and bakeries, especially Bala's..its to.die.for!! 

Enjoy!! 

Suggested Activities for Melbourne

1. Walking/jogging along the Yarra River

2. Visit to the The Botanical Gardens - see if there are any outdoor performances there in November, have a picnic while watching a play perhaps

3. If you like art, visit the National Gallery of Victoria and art shops in small lanes like Flinders Lane (where you will also find nice coffee bistros)

4. Eureka Tower Skydeck for birdeye view of city

5. Acland Street, St Kilda, Esplanade and St Kilda Beach, or a little further, Brighton Beach

6. Federation Square - Southbank (also Yarra River cruise)

7. Queen Victoria Market, South Yarra

8. Docklands

Suggested Activities for outside of Melbourne

1. Puffing Billy, Dandenong Ranges National Park

2. Great Ocean Road, Lorne, Apollo Bay (start early!)

3. Frankston - Sorento - Mornington Peninsula

4. Wine region in the north east - Rutherglen, Beechworth, Glenrowan, King Valley and Alpine Valleys.

5. Healesville - Daylesford (day spa)

Eats in Melbourne

1. Cafes everywhere - Flinders Lane, Smith Street, Toorak Road, Acland Street

2. Yum cha in Chinatown

3. Vietnamese in Richmond

4. Italian on Lygon Street 

5. Greek, japanese etc etc etc 

Hi,

A few active tourist things to do include:

Heading south from the city to visit the great ocean road, you might want to stay over a night in Lorne and try your hand at a few surfing lessons. At a minimum this is a full day tour to take.

Heading north towards the wine region of the Yarra Valley to check out the beautiful scenery, take a hot air balloon ride and sample the amazing food and wines from the region.

Cheers

If you're into surfing go straight to Bells Beach at  Torquay it is home to some of the best surf competitions in the world including the Rip Curl Pro.

Also Check out  Healesville Sanctuary or  Melbourne Zoo for Australian Wildlife

Hardware Lane and  Lygon Street in Melbourne city are a pretty kool experience for food

Great Ocean Rd is a beautiful drive.  

There is also some pretty great nightlife here as well but too many to list.

Hope this helps  :)