5 Must-do Things in Melbourne

1. Wine Tasting!

For wine drinkers, do visit the Yarra Valley Region where wines are fermented and bottled. So you can get “fresh” wine at reasonable prices.

One fantastic winery to visit is Oakridge where they let you taste the different varieties of grapes. There’s a huge winery called Chandon. It’s a beautiful place to take pictures at but I won’t recommend wine tasting there because you would have to pay $10 to taste up to 5 types of wines. Although it is deductible if you buy a bottle of wine from them, I feel the prices there are on the higher side as it has become more of a tourist attraction. When I was there, there were about 2-3 tour buses there.

After rounds of wine tasting/drinking, you would be hungry. A great place to have lunch at is Zonzo. Their pizzas are freshly baked and absolutely delicious. Pair it up with their apple or pear cidars or beers.

2.   Shopping at Victoria Market 

One must visit shopping destination is Queen Victoria Market. The Market is a major Melbourne tourist destination, offering a variety of fruit and vegetables, meat, poultry and seafood, gourmet and delicatessen foods as well as specialty delicacies. You can buy meat, freeze them and mail them back to your country. Of course, they have clothing, accessories and handmade arts and crafts.
There’s a lot of mini stalls you could eat at whiles you shop. Do remember to try their famous jam donuts.
The Market is open every day of the week except Mondays and Wednesdays. On Wednesday evenings in the summer months, there is a night market which offers dining, bars, live entertainment and a variety of other stalls.

3.     Gambling!

Just across the bridge at the Yarra River, lies Crown Casino. Drop by the casino to try your luck! If you look young, remember to bring you passport. I got checked by the security guard. I laughed and told him that I’m way past age limit and he replied “It wouldn’t be funny if you aren’t” So fierce…. Anyways, tried my luck at roulette and managed to win A$300. Afterwhich, I stopped as I felt my luck was running out. Haha.

4.     Melbourne’s Little Paris

Of course, shopping at Collins Street where are the branded boutiques are. Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada etc. My cousin bought an LV bag, he told me it was cheaper here than in New Zealand.

5.     Visit Hosier Lane

What is there to do? Just take pictures! For those Fashion guru/ bloggers, it’s the prefect place for picture taking. The entire stretch is full of amazing Graffiti!