Things to Do in Melbourne

After spending about 5 months in Melbourne, here are some things that I recommend doing!

 Shopping 

Queen Victoria Market

The Queen Victoria Market is a great place do go to eat and buy produce or Australian souvenirs. It’s a huge tourist spot, but many locals also frequent the market for its cheap produce. The market is massive, with vendors after vendors after vendors selling local produce or cheap Australian souvenirs.

Camberwell Market

The Camberwell Market is a free flea market that opens every Sunday. It’s a great spot to go to go for vintage clothing, used clothing, housewares, books, and other knick knacks. The market’s hours are 6:30 am to 12:30 pm, so I wouldn’t try to go after a big Saturday night out! It also gets super busy around 10:30-11:30 am, so I’d try to get there earlier. I went once around 11 am and it was kind of difficult to browse anything because there were so many people. It’s still something worth visiting though!

 

Eating

Empress of China and Shanghai Village in Chinatown

There are often long lines at Empress of China and Shanghai Village at night and especially on the weekends. These two restaurants are well known for their cheap dumplings and are perfect for a university student on a budget. Added bonus: they are also BYOB restaurants.

Holy Moly in Hawthorn

Holy Moly is a five-minute walk from campus and has $5 pizzas from 11:30 am – 4 pm and all day on Sundays. And they’re quite tasty; they are by far better than Pizza Hut’s $5 pizzas.

Liar Liar in Hawthorn

The coffee in Melbourne is outstanding. It doesn’t compare at all to the coffee in the states. The matcha latte at Liar Liar in Hawthorn is one of my favorite things to get.

 

Neighborhoods to Visit

 

 

St. Kilda

My friends and I spent a day walking around St. Kilda. You can take a tram to St. Kilda straight from Flinder’s Street. We went in June (their Winter) so there weren’t that many people there. However, in the Summer, you will find St. Kilda packed with people as it is a very popular beach destination. It’s a fun neighborhood to explore in the winter as well. You can take a stroll along the beach and walk on the pier. If you walk far enough on the pier, you will reach the penguin viewing area! St. Kilda is a great place to view penguins if you don’t want to venture to Phillip Island. Luna Park is also close by. The rides are kind of expensive but it’s a nice place to walk around!

Abbotsford

You can reach Abbotsford by train. It’s not too far away and it is a pretty fun area to explore. My friends and I went to a restaurant called Lentil As Anything located in the Abbotsford Convent. Lentil As Anything is a pay what you wish restaurant that serves vegetarian and vegan food. After we ate at Lentil As Anything, we walked around the convent and found ourselves on the Main Yarra Trail, which is a trail that follows the Yarra River. There are lots of lush green spaces on this trail, which also makes it a terrific place to have a picnic. We also passed by a farm and lots of animals like horses, sheep, and goats.