A weekend in Melbourne

I'm just back from a weekend in Melbourne with my friend Cill. It was only a quick trip but we managed to pack a lot in! I received some great suggestions on where to go, eat and shop from everyone on Instagram before I went so I thought I would share them all on a post here in case you were interested....

We caught an early morning flight from Sydney on Saturday morning and landed in a windy Melbourne. That plane landing is one I will remember, it felt like a rollercoaster and was a bit scary!

Everyone warned us to dress warmly and we were glad we had our coats on as it was pretty chilly.

We hit the ground running! After catching the Skybus from the airport to Southern Cross Station we had a quick browse around the outlet shops located above the station then caught a tram to our hotel on Flinders St. We stayed at the Double Tree Hilton which was in a great central location.

We walked along the Yarra and had lunch and then jumped on a tram and got lost as we headed out of the city. Those trams are tricky to work out! We found our way back to the CBD and Bourke St where we wandered the shops, checked out the graffiti laneways and marvelled at all of the cute little coffee shops and boutiques in other laneways.

Our hotel lobby - (photo by @cillandruby)

After our early start we were feeling a little bit weary from all of our walking and decided to head back to the hotel for a rest before changing and heading out to dinner.  We found a lovely restaurant on the water "Waterfront" and enjoyed a cocktail and dinner. I can recommend the Lycheetini!

The Melbourne lights were sparkling and the city was looking very pretty :)

The next morning we had a sleep in due to the room's black out curtains and enjoyed a delicious buffet breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Check out was 12pm so it was great to be able to have a leisurely start to the morning. We left our bags at the hotel and caught a tram out to St Kilda for a look around. We finally worked the trams out and it was so much easier than the day before! ;)

We browsed the markets, walked along the water and wandered down Acland Street. There were so many amazing cake shops all in a row making it a perfect spot to stop for morning or afternoon tea.

We then caught a tram back into the city and headed for the outlet stores at South Wharf. Lot of bargains to be had there. I stocked up for a teens birthday next week at the Calvin Klein store.

We had a quick bite to eat then it was time to head back to the hotel to pick up our bags and catch the bus to the airport.

(photo by @cillandruby)

It was a whirlwind trip and we didn't get around to doing all that we wanted but I know I'll be back in the future to use some of the wonderful suggestions below....

Restaurants/Cafes

Kettle Black - breakfast

Grain Store

Lucy Liu - modern Asian/great cocktails

Ginger Boy - dinner

Union Electric Bar- drinks

Supernormal - dinner - CBD

Cumulus Inc- brunch or dinner

Chin Chin - lunch or dinner ( go early as it gets super busy)

Hardware Société

Donut and coffee shop - Fitzroy Street

Tonka - CBD

Brunswick Mess Hall

Ichy Ni - Brunswick St

Mr Miyagi - Chapel St

Hawker Hall - Chapel St

Gazi - Greek food

Naked for Satan - drinks - rooftop view + cocktails

Longrain

Cicciolinas- pasta - Acland St

Movida

Magic Mountain

Brunettis - coffee and sweet treats

Humble Rays - Carlton

Higher Ground

Tinker - Northcote- breakfast/lunch

Lygon St - Carlton - pizza, Italian food

Crown Casino

Gradi- pizza

Stokehouse - St Kilda

Mr Wolf -pizza- St Kilda

Top Paddock - Richmond - breakfast

Arbory

Hardware Lane

Beatrix - morning tea

Shops

Emporium - CBD

Chadstone

Chapel St

Gertrude St - Fitzroy

How was your weekend? What's your favourite thing to do / place in Melbourne?