"What to do and see i ..." a Port Melbourne Travel Page by lesaandbill

If you're only visiting Melbourne for a few days...Port Melbourne is an easy place to get to from the CBD..and a great place to experience a bit of the Melbourne life.

We think Melbourne has some of the best shopping, restaurants and cafes...and the Bays/Peninsula has some of the best views.

When there is so much to see and do...you rely on the locals to give you a good idea on their city. We're from Texas...and have lived here in Port Melbourne for 2 years. We've explored a ton since we've been here...and love it.

We hope to give others a few ideas and things we've discovered along the way. Although...the bottom line? You can't go wrong in this city or state...or ...this entire country! Enjoy!

A great way to spend a day in Melbourne..would be to rent out a bike.

One of the best trails is right along the Port Phillip Bay.

If you take the 79 tram down to St Kilda...there are bikes for rent. St Kilda Cycles, 11 Carlisle St (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 10am-4pm; tel 03/9534 3074; full day $20USD), or the stand next to the cycle path near St Kilda Pier, which rents out bicycles on weekends, and daily during the summer holidays.

There is 100k worth of Bike Trails... If you ride to the West...15K will end up in Port Melbourne...or to the East...10K will end you up in Brighton or you can extend all the way down the peninsula for another 90K! There are plenty of places to stop and eat or drink along the way.

There are over #2000 bike trails throughout the city if you have more time to explore... www.visitvictoria.com or www.bv.com.au or www.bikepaths.com.au is a good one...and a great book to buy.

A few of our favorite places in Melbourne:

*St Kilda- funky, cool spot to shop, eat or enjoy the beach...SoulMama, Locos Burritos, Donovans and Stokehouse are the best...

*Fitzroy/Carlton-artsy, fun way to chill at an outdoor cafe...Tiamo2 is our favorite

*Prahran/Toorak-best place to shop...and enjoy suave cafes...like Cafe e Cucina

*CBD-Taxi or Transport in FedSquare is a top place to visit

*Port Melbourne-for a classy place to enjoy a great meal..Waterfront is our favorite...

*Southbank-a cheeky but great place at night to see the firelights every hour...Kokos is one of the best japanese in melbourne...ask for a table overlooking the water...and you'll see the fireshow from above...

If you want to know the latest on what's going on in melbourne or victoria...www.visitvictoria.com is a great sight...and www.melbourne.citysearch.com ...choose the Our Picks...and they've always been spot-on for us...

If you have more than a few days to explore the area:

*Port Phillip Island is neat...especially for kids...the penguins come out from the wild and walk right past you to their home for the night...

*Yarra Valley...is a great place to do wine tasting... Mt Rael is one of our favorite places to eat and drink and over look the entire valley. It's even a place where you could go and stay...and enjoy a spa...

*Grampians...one of the best national park we've seen in australia...a great trip would be to drive here from melbourne...then down to the great ocean road...back over to melbourne... even if you rushed it...you could do it in a 3-4 day trip.....

*Great Ocean Road...the #1 thing to see outside of Melbourne...it's similar to the Highway 1 in California...with many different little towns to stop along the way....it's great during anytime of year...the sights are spectacular....