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The Backpacker's Melbourne |
| Melbourne is widely regarded as one the most liveable cities on the planet. With its easy paced lifestyle and inner suburbs loaded with character, it is plain to see why it has earned this tag. One of Melbourne's most identifiable features is its willingness to embrace a wide variety of cultures, giving an already diverse city a distinctive multicultural flavour. |
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St Kilda |
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Melbourne's most famous seaside suburb should not be missed. Perhaps the best place to start is in one of the countless restaurants and cafes lining Fitzroy St, providing a good point from which to watch all the weird and wonderful local characters stroll by. Likewise, Acland Street houses classic cake shops and cafes to help you pass another few hours of absolute decadence. St Kilda is known also for its great band venues. The Esplanade Hotel or The Espy, as it is affectionately known, has a fabulous range of bands playing all week round, but often the music is secondary to several colourful patrons who are more than willing to talk the ear off friends and strangers alike. The Prince of Wales Hotel and The Palace both attract a high number of popular local and international acts, so the search for great music is never a long one. Sunday in St Kilda is market day and sees The Esplanade lined with stalls displaying the best of local arts and crafts. The quality is good and the prices aren't always cheap, but it is well worth the effort. The second week in February is home to the St Kilda Festival, providing visitors and locals with great and free live entertainment down by the beach and various stalls, giving people just another reason to come and soak up the atmosphere of one of Melbourne's favourite suburbs. |
South Yarra, Toorak, Prahran |
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Fashion, style, beautiful people and a chic atmosphere are synonymous with Melbourne's most renowned nightlife district. Particularly in Toorak, the high priced mansions are something to behold. In Toorak road you can feel the money in the air, but despite the obvious affluence of the area, there are still plenty of eateries well within the average price range in which to relax. Chapel Street, Prahran is the place to be seen for a large number of Melburnians. It's a great place to go celebrity spotting (cast members from ÎNeighbours' can often be seen walking the streets), or shop in any of the seemingly infinite clothing boutiques, housing the very latest in fashion. Chapel Street is on the cutting edge for fashion and style, and the odds are that if it's being worn in Prahran, then it's being worn around much of Melbourne. Threaded in between the big name stores are some of the best op-shops in Melbourne, where many a great bargain can be had. It's when the sun goes down that this area of Melbourne really comes alive. Chasers, Bridie O'Reilly's, Revolver and Frost Bites are just a few of the big name nightspots along Chapel Street that draw consistently big crowds, and it's never far to walk to get to the next watering hole. Commercial Road is home to some of Melbourne's best gay venues, and there's never any question about whether it will be rocking, it's more a question of how much! Greville Street is an absolute must. Crossing Chapel Street, it has a funky style all of its own, with many groovy clothing and jewellery stores and perhaps most importantly, The Continental, which provides an intimate atmosphere in which to have a fine meal, listen to some exceptional live music, or both. The Chapel Street Festival takes over on the first weekend in November, when the street is closed off and it's party time! Fine food, street theatre, live music and great fun! Carlton Carlton is called home by a large number of university students, mostly attending the prestigious University of Melbourne. Rathdowne Street and Lygon Street in particular boast a monstrous range of Italian restaurants to choose from, and as such, competition is fierce. Expect to be confronted by many spruikers outside the restaurants, trying to convince everyone that their food and service is the finest in town. Most of Melbourne's Italian community comes together in October for The Lygon Street Festa, giving one of the city's busiest dining strips a real carnival atmosphere. |
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Fitzroy |
| Next door to Carlton lies Fitzroy, which possesses a feel and attitude
all of its own. The centrepiece of the suburb is Brunswick St. The street
is lined with a fantastic variety of dark, atmospheric pubs which regularly
play host to some of Melbourne's best musicians, jewellery stores, bookshops,
clothing stores, furniture shops........it really has something for everyone.
The most amazing aspect of Brunswick Street is the number of fine restaurants
and cafes offering exceptional food at extremely reasonable prices. The
most frustrating part of visiting this part of town is trying to decide
where to eat!
But the charm of Fitzroy does not end with Brunswick Street. Tucked away throughout the surrounding backstreets are even more great local pubs and wholesale clothing outlets. If it's a wild party you're after, then look no further than the Fringe Festival, when Brunswick Street is closed off to traffic and the street is lost in a sea of people dancing, drinking, taking in live music and basically just partying the day and night away. It generally shares the last weekend in September with the AFL Grand Final. When visiting Fitzroy, you should not forget about Johnston Street, Melbourne's Spanish quarter. There are many great bars in which to indulge in some serious dancing or simply sink into a barstool with a tequila, and November is home to the Hispanic Festival, which is an extraordinary cultural experience. |
Richmond |
| When we talk of cultural diversity in Melbourne, it is hard to go past
Richmond. It is widely believed that outside Athens, Melbourne is called
home by more Greeks than any other city in the world. Hence the abundance
of Greek restaurants scattered throughout the suburb. Greek restaurants
of course now appear in most suburbs, but there are none better than those
in Richmond.
Likewise, Richmond's Victoria Street is at the centre of the Vietnamese quarter. There is an enormous number of quality restaurants to choose from. The food is always of a high standard and the prices are low. Like Lygon Street in Carlton, it is often difficult to walk more than a few steps around dinner time before being accosted by a spruiker trying to usher you into his or her restaurant. It is no use becoming annoyed with such tactics, as it is a part of the attraction of Victoria Street. Live music is a feature of Richmond, and with stand out venues such as the Corner Hotel and The Central Club regularly featuring big name bands, it provides Melbourne with a scope of live entertainment unequalled anywhere in Australia. Many people flock to Bridge Road for the shopping. Bargain hunters and opportunists swarm through the many factory outlets and big label warehouses regularly, so it pays to get an early start if you want to get a truly great deal. |
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