Melbourne info wanted

RCOH

RCOH

Eats Squid
Hey All,

I am going to Melbourne for the first time in a couple of weeks & need to book some accomodation.

I would like to know where the best areas in Melbourne are, where all these "cool" bars/pubs are located, good places to see live local music, good restaurants etc.

I will only be there for one night & want to make the most of it!

Thanks in advance. :) :)
 
the espy down in st kilda for bands. 4 sure
if you want to travel to the other side of the city, you can try a variety of pubs/bars on Brunswick street, wide range and real nice, you can even go say hello to the boys at Brunswick Street Cycles.

food: there are so many places that i really can't comment on which one and i always forget names.
 
If you are here for one night, stay in the city. That way, wherever you go, its a quick tram ride.

For bars, either try Brunswick St, or check out some of the joints in the laneways pretty much anywhere around the city. Check out the link below, cause some of them can be pretty hard to find. http://www.barfinder.com.au/

Food-wise, Lygon St is good for Italian and atmosphere, China Town is good for Chinese (funny that). Victoria St is great for Vietnamese. There is some decent places down in Federation square as well.

If your'e looking for live music, get your hands on a copy of Beat which is a free street magazine you can find around cafes, bars, etc.

Hope that helps and have a good time in Melbourne.
 
victoria hotel little collins street ... sorta dodge but right in the centre of it all and CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP

oh and RCOH you will love the Cherry Bar right on ACDC lane ... a few streets up from Swanston
 
Some good suggestions there, but the problem with most of them is that they are really suggesting A particular bar rather than the "cool" area that RCOH was asking about.

The "espy" in St Kilda is good if you like LOUD music (you'd want to check who's playing when etc) and beer under foot (sticky carpet pubs sh&t me up the wall nowadays) and nearby you have Fitzroy st and Acland sts St Kilda if you like expensive yuppie atmosphere. St Kilda is probably at least 30 minutes from the city though (depending on time and traffic etc)

Even more yuppified is Chapel St Prahran (sp). Don't even THINK of going there unless you are the Paris Hilton type. Lotsa dollars... even more wank... and 20-30 minutes from the city.

Brunswick Street, Nth Fitzroy is probably the best combination of bars, pubs, live music and eateries (EVERYTHING you could imagine and at both ends of the "cost" scale). Book shops, music shops, clothes shops, pawn shops, hippy shops, "rave" shops, 2nd hand shops and "whacky" shops (is Polyester still there?) and until last week the best damned ice cream in the world (I can't believe Charmaine's closed down :(). I can highly recommend ANY meal at a place called "The Fitz".

It's also a 10 minute tram ride into the centre of city (pfft... grab a cab) and from there you've got SouthBank (on the south side of the river... der), Crown and the casino.

Enjoy my city... it's a ripper :D
 
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What day/night are you down there? There's awesome "alternative" electronic music (mainly breakcore/noisey stuff) happening all the day, I'll look on other forums for you if that's what you want ;)
 
Grip said:
Enjoy my city... it's a ripper :D
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You're city?

pfft, you dont even live in Melbourne!:p well hardly....

You do offer good suggestions though.


RCOH - are you there with your family? or just a one night single bender? Because theres heaps of hostels and cheaper options in the CBD if your are purely looking for somewhere to hug the throne the next day.

If it were me, id grab a hostel in the city, grab a tram down to stKilda for lunch at Ackland St, followed by a few beers at the espy. Come dusk id head up to brunswick St for dinner then zig-zag my way down from bar to bar checking out the bands on offer, once i was suitably pissed id be straight in cab to the CBD getting out around Lonsadale St, promptly seeking a hotdog stand - preferably one with loads of chilli sauce on offer - grab 2, then just go hard for till sunrise. There are seriously sooo many freakin bars and clubs in the CBD it would be too hard to reccommend going to a select few. As much as I hate it, i always seem to end my night with a failed attempt at entering the Goldfingers, closely followed by some last beers at Crown Casino...

Which ever way to choose to take it, just try to hit up Stkilda, Brunswick St and the CBD.

Have fun!
 
Rik said:
What day/night are you down there? There's awesome "alternative" electronic music (mainly breakcore/noisey stuff) happening all the day, I'll look on other forums for you if that's what you want ;)
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Jesus, Rik... he said "cool" :p

ajay said:
You're city?

pfft, you dont even live in Melbourne!:p well hardly....
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:eek:Well sometimes me and the missus pack a lunch and trek into the big smoke to see how city folk live. :eek:
 
I am going with my girlfriend, and will be there on the 3/4 of November. So an actual room, rather than a dorm or hostel is preferred, but seeing it is Spring Carnival we may have to take what we can get.


A friend is getting me cheap tix (just have to pay taxes) so i thought it would be a good opportunity to check the city out. By "cool" I meant I wanted to check out the shit that Melbourne has that Sydney doesn't, ie decent drinking establishment that aren't overrun by pokies!

Thanks for the tips so far, I would to check out the bar Konasaurus recommended purely because konasaurus recommended it.

St Kilda & Brunswick st seems to be the go so will check out places to stay around there.

Thanks again & keep the advice coming!
 
Really, if it's just for one night yer best finding a spot in or close to the city, having maybe a drink or two there then heading out for either St Kilda (30 min south) or down Brunswick St (20 min north), Brunswick St (and the whole Fitzroy, Collingwood, area has a rep for being a bit 'bohemian studenty' - Cat Empire/John Butler country to be honest. A lot of good cafes to sit and sip on a long black whilst indulging in a chapter or two of Sartre but the boozing isn't what it used to be (Northcote and Brunswick seems to be drawing in the bands a lot more now) Still, there's a shiteload of easy drinking establishments left so you won't find it too hard to avoid sobriety.

The other popular option is St Kilda, which despite the reputation of increasing yuppification still manages to keep things 'traditional' with the presence of The George Public Bar, The Prince Of Wales, The Espy and the feistiest tramps this side of Martin Scorcese's celluloid New York.

Chapel St's not really worth it unless you're heading out clubbing till the early afternoon. The South Yarra end seems to alternate between pretentious It- Girl types and annoying suburban teens whilst Prahran's got a few good bars and some great clubs you've really got to know where to look or else all you'll end up doing is stumbling into gay bar after gay bar.

As mentioned before the City's also quite a good option - Cherry Bar (on AC/DC lane no-less) is tops, as is St Jeromes. The only thing is you'll need a decent guide as most of the city bars are hidden down back alleys and are often rarely signposted. City drinking can also be quite pricey at times with cocktail bars being the most dominant form of life.

Personally I've always been biased towards South of the river as it's my 'hood (get back there next week. WOOHOO!) but it's all good, really. I might actually be in town for a while so give me a shout if you need a tour guide.

(Oh, check out this thread - http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=74160&highlight=pubs theres quite a few melbourne bars listed there...)
 
RCOH said:
I am going with my girlfriend, and will be there on the 3/4 of November. So an actual room, rather than a dorm or hostel is preferred, but seeing it is Spring Carnival we may have to take what we can get.
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Accommodation wise South Melbourne is quite good although the travel-lodges and big hotels around SouthBank could be jam-packed for the racing. There are a few small joints in the area. best use a site like thatsmelbourne.com.au or similar to see what's available. North Melbourne's got a few small hotels and quite a few hostels but it's close proximity to Flemington racecourse means it'll be over-run with suited-up yobs and pissed tarts in stupid hats on their way to and from the races...
 
/ spark in head:

Thailia Thai on lygon. almost all the way till the end. - gotta ask tram driver.
the best thai food i've ever had. place is run by thais- obviously, get in before 6, because you might end up waiting 45 to get served.

Shanghai Dumpling house - forgot the name of the lane, but look for Section 8 bar which is a cool place to drink as well. good food, smells dodgy but it isn't. off Londsdale st.

Northcote Social Club - absolutely awesome. a bit far..

highly advisable bar - Black Pearl on Brunswick. fancy cocktails for the missus and superb exotic beers for you

anyway, stay in the north end of town, by far the bestest.

southbank is ok, but similar to that Quay/wharf thing down in sydney.

Cookie for the widest range of Tap beer ever in melbourne - right in the between londsdale & Lt Bourke on swanston. right in front of The Lounge which is also an awesome pub. a bit younger though.

as far as accomodation goes, try to look into serviced apartments down in South Yarra, there are some cool places that within reach of the city.
 
Grip said:
Some good suggestions there, but the problem with most of them is that they are really suggesting A particular bar rather than the "cool" area that RCOH was asking about.

The "espy" in St Kilda is good if you like LOUD music (you'd want to check who's playing when etc) and beer under foot (sticky carpet pubs sh&t me up the wall nowadays) and nearby you have Fitzroy st and Acland sts St Kilda if you like expensive yuppie atmosphere. St Kilda is probably at least 30 minutes from the city though (depending on time and traffic etc)

Even more yuppified is Chapel St Prahran (sp). Don't even THINK of going there unless you are the Paris Hilton type. Lotsa dollars... even more wank... and 20-30 minutes from the city.

Brunswick Street, Nth Fitzroy is probably the best combination of bars, pubs, live music and eateries (EVERYTHING you could imagine and at both ends of the "cost" scale). Book shops, music shops, clothes shops, pawn shops, hippy shops, "rave" shops, 2nd hand shops and "whacky" shops (is Polyester still there?) and until last week the best damned ice cream in the world (I can't believe Charmaine's closed down :(). I can highly recommend ANY meal at a place called "The Fitz".

It's also a 10 minute tram ride into the centre of city (pfft... grab a cab) and from there you've got SouthBank (on the south side of the river... der), Crown and the casino.

Enjoy my city... it's a ripper :D
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hey! exactly what he said! Pretty clued in for an old fella :p

Espy is a definite must, the rest of fitzroy st. + acland st. is sub par IMO, bar a handful, such as the Prince of Wales hotel and its awesomely unstereotypical gay bar. St Kilda foreshore is cool during the day.
 
Mo said:
/ spark in head:

Thailia Thai on lygon. almost all the way till the end. - gotta ask tram driver.
the best thai food i've ever had. place is run by thais- obviously, get in before 6, because you might end up waiting 45 to get served.

Shanghai Dumpling house - forgot the name of the lane, but look for Section 8 bar which is a cool place to drink as well. good food, smells dodgy but it isn't. off Londsdale st.

Northcote Social Club - absolutely awesome. a bit far..

highly advisable bar - Black Pearl on Brunswick. fancy cocktails for the missus and superb exotic beers for you

anyway, stay in the north end of town, by far the bestest.

southbank is ok, but similar to that Quay/wharf thing down in sydney.

Cookie for the widest range of Tap beer ever in melbourne - right in the between londsdale & Lt Bourke on swanston. right in front of The Lounge which is also an awesome pub. a bit younger though.

as far as accomodation goes, try to look into serviced apartments down in South Yarra, there are some cool places that within reach of the city.
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DON'T bother spending the day at southbank, unless you want an experience that's so damn pleasant you'll want to slash yourself. Also, just give Crown a miss. There are far more exciting things to do.

Oh and St. Kilda and Brunswick St. are on opposite sides of the city. (Brunswick Directly North, and runs north southish, St Kilda on the beach, past albert park)
 
danv said:
DON'T bother spending the day at southbank, unless you want an experience that's so damn pleasant you'll want to slash yourself. Also, just give Crown a miss. There are far more exciting things to do.

Oh and St. Kilda and Brunswick St. are on opposite sides of the city. (Brunswick Directly North, and runs north southish, St Kilda on the beach, past albert park)
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what i dont get it, crown is realistically for posers with no talent

and thw whole of southgate is just so overrated. its really for tourists with no clue.
 
As someone who lives at the Prahran/Windsor end of chapel street I can say you should go to Brunswick street. You'll be spoilt for choice and its all on the one street. There are a heap of great places up my end of Chapel and heading into East Stkilda but you have to know where to look. If you hit chapel street up the Windsor end theres a crop of cool little bars but you wont have the options you have in Brunswick street without going off the beaten track. As a former StKilda resident I would steer clear of it these days, especially if the weather is good, thats when they turn on the dick head magnet.
 
Theres also the Arthouse if you want to catch some punk bands or need cheapish accomodation:http://www.thearthouse.com/ Awesome joint that always has a great selection of live music. Its close to the city but theres not much else going on around it.
 
I normally stay in St Kilda in the Quest serviced apartments. It's close enough to be convenient, but far enough from the main area to be quiet enough.

Really, I'm not all that keen on St Kilda itself, but the one thing I have to do when I'm there is to buy a vanilla slice from each of the fabulous cake shops on Acland Street and run a comparative evaluation.

Last time I was there for work I had to stay in Glen Waverly, which is suburban hell compared to St Kilda/ Fitzroy etc, but had the most fantastic Vietnamese restaurant near the hotel, which would make me think about staying there again. It's a bit far out from the CBD, but on a train line.
 
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