australia travel

Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne is now one of my favorite cities in the world. I absolutely loved exploring the different neighborhoods and the chill vibes of the city. Highly recommend!

City by the Bay Tips: 

  • If you are flying into Melbourne from abroad, prepare yourself for the easiest customs ever. I was so impressed with the systems in place, shout out to the Australian government, the rest of the world could learn a lot from their entry processes.

  • Depending on where you are staying in the city, the Skybus from the airport might make sense for you. It drops off in the CBD, the Southbank, St Kilda, and some of the city’s suburbs. It is quick and easy to use.

  • The city’s public transportation is great! The trams and buses are super easy to use. Get a Myaki card from a station and utilize it for both trams and buses. If you are running low on funds you can top up online, at stations, or at 7-Elevens around the city.

  • When you order a beer they are going to ask if you want a pint or a pot—a pint is 20 ounces, a pot is 10 ounces

  • Check out my Sydney recommendations here!

Adventures & Ales Top Melbourne Recommendations: ​

  • Stomping Ground Brewery: This was my favorite brewery in Melbourne, it is a very cool space, with tons of plants, a full food menu, a plethora of beers on tap, and a retractable roof. Snag a table first if you plan on ordering food so you know your table number for your order. Their sour series is great, especially the Watermelon Gose.

  • Carlton Gardens: Gorgeous park to spend some time relaxing in. This is where the Melbourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Building are located as well.

  • Fixation Brewing Co.: They are fixated on IPAs! Their entire tap list is IPAs—West Coast, New England, Milkshake, you name it. It is a bright, airy space to hang out in with a couple of sidewalk tables as well. If you are hungry you can get pizza delivered from next door.

  • Moon Dog Craft Brewery: A very eclectic taproom with tropical vibes. They have pizza, free popcorn, and couches to lounge on, plus a secret door that leads to their event space. Lots of delicious beers here!

  • Mountain Goat Brewing: A large industrial space with fun vibes. They also have pizza and delicious beers!

    • Pop down from here to walk along the Main Yarra Trail to soak in some river views

      • If you walk along the trail to where you see the highway you can pop out directly to Burnley Brewing

  • Burnley Brewing: More restaurant vibes than brewery vibes, but they’ve still got good beers. They have board games, a DJ on Sundays, and a full food menu

  • Take a day trip down The Great Ocean Road! Check out my blog post with recommendations here!

Stomping Ground Brewery

  • The Mill Brewing Co.: A small spot in Collingwood with an outdoor patio as well. The beers are delicious and the atmosphere is chill. They have a permanent onsite pizza van run with Fatboy's Food Trucks.

  • Eat Italian food on Lygon Street—namely at Zia Teresa, you won’t regret it!

  • Wander the Fitzroy Neighborhood, namely Brunswick Street. My favorite spots:

    • Slowpoke Espresso: Delicious food and coffee, plus a small back patio

    • Grub Fitzroy: An airstream turned restaurant with a cute indoor/outdoor space

    • Black Cat: A cozy coffee shop with a nice outdoor space

  • Tallboy & Moose: A brewery with an extremely colorful space, good beers, a nice patio, and a full kitchen

  • 3 Ravens Brewery: This one is definitely off the beaten path but it is a cool converted space with really good beer. Worth the hike if you’ve got extra time!

  • Temple Brewing: This is located right off Lygon Street. It is a popular spot with a nice outdoor space. They’ve also got a full food menu and their nachos are delicious!

Brighton Bathing Boxes

Brighton Bathing Boxes

  • The Kettle Black: An adorable coffee shop in South Melbourne, near The Shrine of Remembrance.

  • Ponyfish Island: A bar in the middle of the Yarra River! You access it via the pedestrian bridge. Surprisingly good prices for being right on the water. Great views of the city.

  • Henry Street Brewhouse: a cool neighborhood spot with indoor and outdoor seating. In Kensington. Lots of pale ales

  • Higher Ground Cafe: Another super pretty cafe, be sure to get here early, it fills up quickly. Located in the CBD.

  • South of Johnston: Sojo as the cool kids call it, is another great cafe. They’ve got $5 mimosas on Sundays

    • Gertrude Street around the corner is full of bars and restaurants to explore

Milk The Cow St. Kilda

Top Touristy Spots in Melbourne Actually Worth Visiting: ​

  • Brighton Bathing Boxes: These colorful beach huts are every Instagrammers dream. They are super cute, but prepare yourself to see a ridiculous amount of people and a ridiculous amount of photo shoots happening.

    • The sand here is a little rough, St Kilda is softer if you want to soak up some rays.

    • There is a nice trail connecting the beaches that I recommend walking (Brighton to Elwood to St Kilda)

      • Keep your eyes peeled for the Brighton Dog Park if you are a dog lover, it is filled with pups enjoying their off-leash beach time.

  • Watch the sunset from St Kilda Beach, and don’t miss the penguins at the end of the pier.

    • St Kilda also has lots of bars and restaurants down Fitzroy Street. I HIGHLY recommend Milk the Cow. They have got awesome flights of cheese, wine, beer, cider, gin, you name it.

  • Immigration Museum: Interesting and informative museum on the history of immigration and immigration policy in Australia. $15 AUD to enter, worth it.

  • Fitzroy Gardens: A huge public park that is a popular spot to stroll through or picnic. I would say skip Captain Cook’s House unless you are right near it or extremely interested. It’s your typical old shack that you have to pay to tour one bedroom.

Fixation Brewing

  • Flinders Street Station/St Paul Cathedral/Federation Square: These are all in one area along the river, you’ll want to wander by at some point. The station is incredibly old and beautiful from the outside, but otherwise it’s just a train station. The Cathedral is gorgeous. The Square is essentially a public park with some cool architecture.

  • Hosier Lane: A trendy graffiti-filled street

  • People will tell you to go to the Block Arcade—it’s essentially just a pretty mall. I did not find it at all interesting or worthwhile, but perhaps you will enjoy the old architecture.

  • Similarly, people will tell you to go to the State Library. The dome of the library is pretty, but it is not impressive enough to make it a worthwhile visit. It is just a library, nothing special.

  • Queen Victoria Market: A massive market with so. many. stalls. It is relatively organized which was a nice surprise compared to most markets. Go earlier in the day for the best experience!

  • Melbourne Museum: I didn’t love the Melbourne Museum personally. I expected it to be more informative specifically about Melbourne and Australia, but most of the museum was not related to either. There is one exhibit on the history of the city that was interesting, but the remainder of the exhibits were about unrelated topics.

The Great Ocean Road

Other Melbourne Things To Do:​​

  • Explore the Thornbury Neighborhood, namely High Street

    • Welcome to Thornbury: Fun bar with food trucks. Lots of outdoor space, inside there are arcade games

  • Hopscotch Melbourne: An urban beer bar near the river with retractable doors for indoor and outdoor seating

  • Thunder Road Brewing: Located right off of Lygon Street, this brewery has a fun outside space, permanent food truck onsite, and average beers.

  • Westside Ale Works: Located in Southwest Melbourne, this brewery has got a tonnn of beers on tap. It is a pretty small spot overall, but they are moving across the street soon to larger space. They have pizza, lots of IPAs, board games, and even a brewery pup!

  • Degraves Street: A pedestrian-only street with many bars and restaurants. It’s pretty touristy but worth venturing down.

    • Little Cupcakes: Adorable little cupcakes… oh did you see that coming from the name?! Yummy cupcakes right at the Flinders Street side of the street

    • Walk through Degraves Street north to Centre Place, another street with the same concept. Very European-style street seating

  • Hardware Lane is another pedestrian-only street filled with bars and restaurants

    • PSA the happy hour at Claypots Barbarossa starts earlier than the other restaurants and has great deals

  • Rooftop Bar: Yes that’s the name of it. A little tricky to locate—it’s inside the Curtain House, take the elevator to level 6, then take the stairs up to level 7. Overall a cool spot, but the chainlink fence kills the vibes a bit. They’ve got a burger shack onsite.

  • Bonehead Brewing: A pretty small brewery with solid beers. They frequently have food trucks for your hunger needs. The industrial space has a retractable door and wood burning fire pit. Located in the Kensington neighborhood.

  • Aunty Peg’s: If you are really into coffee, this is a super unique spot for specialty pours

Sydney, Australia

Sydney is an awesome city made even better by the surrounding neighborhoods and beach towns. It’s clearly a must when visiting Australia!

The Harbour City Tips: 

  • Take the train to and from the airport into the city, it’s super easy to use and quick—Just snag an Opal card at the airport train station. The Opal card works on the buses as well as the trains in the CBD and the neighboring beach towns.

  • Definitely plan to spend some time at the various beaches surrounding the city. The sand is soft and the water is relatively warm year-round.

    • I preferred the city scene of Melbourne over that of Sydney, but Sydney’s beaches > Melbourne’s beaches

  • The sun is strong, don’t mess around! No one wants a sunburn to ruin their vacation so plan for success

  • Check out my Melbourne recommendations here!

Adventures & Ales Top Sydney Recommendations: ​

  • Spit to Manly Walk: An awesome scenic walk that I highly recommend! Check out my full guide to the walk here!

  • Manly Beach: North of Sydney, this was my favorite beach in the Sydney area.

    • 4 Pines Manly: A brewery with an outdoor balcony and frequent live music. Overall a cool spot.

    • Manly Beach: You’re at the beach so…go to the beach. Admire the surfers and be on the lookout for Jaws (it is Australia after all)

    • Manly Wine: SO adorable. Beach views, awesome vibes, a great Happy Hour, and plus they have cheese plates!

    • Take the ferry back to the City Center at the end of your time at Manly. I would recommend you time it with sunset for the best views of the Harbour Bridge, Opera House, and CBD. Sit outside in the front for the best views but beware of sea splash!

  • Take a day trip to The Blue Mountains! Check out my full guide here for recommendations on how to plan your adventure!

  • All Hands Brewing House: Located right on King Street Wharf so you can gaze at the boats from their abundance of outdoor seating. They’ve also got a full food menu.

  • Redoak Beer Boutique: Restaurant on one side, brewery bar on the other. They’ve got good Happy Hour deals and are located right in the City Center. It’s a cute spot and their beer wins tons of awards.

  • Wayward Brewing: Located in the Camperdown neighborhood, this brewery is definitely off the beaten path, but it’s a cool spot. It exudes ‘local bar’ vibes in the garage-style set-up. They’ve got free popcorn, occasional food trucks, guest taps, and good beer.

  • Yulli’s Brews: In the industrial section of the Alexandria neighborhood, this garage-style brewery makes some delicious beers! They’ve got a full kitchen and really friendly staff!

Spit to Manly Walk

  • Coogee to Bondi Walk: Another great coastal walk! This one is definitely more 'traditional beach walk’ and you follow the coastline the the whole route. Overall it is about two miles from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach.

    • Start your day with breakfast at The Diver Cafe at Coogee Beach—it is delicious!

    • End your walk at The Bucket List Bar on Bondi a great place to sip a beer and watch the surfers!

  • The Marrickville Neighborhood Brewery Hub:

    • Batch Brewing: Solid beers, food trucks every night, chill vibes, good prices

    • Stockade Brew Co.: Some of the best beer in Sydney. A cute taproom with a burger food truck that lives onsite

      • Note that it is quite literally a one minute walk between Batch and Stockade so be sure to plan to visit both because why not?

    • Sauce Brewing: A really nice outside area/beer garden and lots of good IPAs

    • The Grifter Brewing Co.: A very interesting space in a dark basement with old school vibes. but the beer is good!

      • There are a few more breweries in this neighborhood that I didn’t get to visit but they are in this same hub:

      • While in this area Enmore Road is a lively street with lots of bars and restaurants

The Opera House from the ferry

Top Touristy Spots in Sydney Actually Worth Visiting: ​

  • Ms. Macquaire’s Chair: The chair isn’t what you’re here for, it is the gorgeous views! If you walk up from the east side of the peninsula it is a gorgeous walk along the water, then you can soak in the views from the tip of the peninsula, then walk south through the The Royal Botanic Garden. Follow the water’s edge around the peninsula to the Opera House

    • There are lots of runners here, don’t get run over yo

  • Sydney Opera House: The Sydney classic. It is quite expensive to tour, so unless you’re really into opera just soak in the views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge

    • Keep your eyes peeled for the ‘Seagull Patrol’ at the restaurant right next to the Opera House. The ‘patrol’ is an adorable dog running around scaring the seagulls away from the patrons

  • The Rocks Neighborhood: A historic neighborhood just North of the city center. There are tons of bars and restaurants in this area to check out

  • Walk the Harbour Bridge: Take in cool views of the Opera House, Harbour, and CBD. It’s nothing Earth-shattering but it’s something you’ve got to do!

    • You can also climb the bridge if you’re feeling adventurous, but that does come at a steep price

  • Sydney Town Hall: Pop by and check out the gorgeous architecture

The Blue Mountains

Other Things To Do in Sydney:​​

  • John Mantagu Cafe: A cute coffee shop in the Woolloomooloo neighborhood (yes that’s a real name). A good starting point to walk up to Ms. Macquaire’s Chair if you want to take in the wharf and full peninsula. The cheddar and sage toastie is simple but delicious!

  • Rocks Brewing: This brewery has a nice outdoor space and a full food menu. Heads up it is located in a weird industrial complex in the Alexandria neighborhood, so when you walk/drive up don’t be discouraged

  • Sydney Brewery Surry Hills: Kinda weird vibes because it’s technically a hotel bar. Solid beers but nothing out of this world

  • Glider Cafe: A cute coffee shop right near Kings Cross Station in the Potts Point neighborhood

  • Observatory Hill Park: A quick stop on the way to the Harbour Bridge walk. Just a different perspective of the bay and Bridge

  • Darling Harbour: A touristy area with restaurants and shops, not super impressed

  • Frenchie’s Bistro and Brewery: Located inside The Cannery Rosebery, this brewery is a small spot with food and average beers. I would recommend you go during the day so the other shops are open, it’s got weird vibes at night because it’s empty

A Day Trip to the Blue Mountains

The view from Echo Point

The view from Echo Point

So you want to explore the Blue Mountains but you’re not sure where to start? Check out my guide below to plan your perfect day trip from Sydney!

Which option is best for you?

There are a few different ways you can explore the Blue Mountains from Sydney:

  • On your own via car

  • On your own via train

  • With a tour group

Personally, I despise tour groups, so I knew I wanted to do this adventure on my own. I also have absolutely no interest in renting a car in a foreign country, let alone a foreign country that drives on the opposite side of the road than I am used to, so I was thrilled to discover that you can easily get to the Blue Mountains from Sydney via train!

I highly recommend this option, even if you have a rental car, because the trails don’t loop back to their original spot, so you would have to walk back to your car from wherever you end your hike, which is just plain inconvenient.

Check out all of my Sydney recommendations here!

The Three Sisters

The Three Sisters

Part of the luscious trail of the Prince Henry Cliff Walk

Part of the luscious trail of the Prince Henry Cliff Walk

Getting from Sydney to the Blue Mountains via Train

The journey is so much easier than you would expect! Take the train from Sydney Central Station to Katoomba Station. It’s two hours from one to the other, or an hour and forty-five minutes if you hop on the express train.

It’s only a 15 minute difference, but for the timing worked out for me so I went for the express.

To take the train you will need an Opal card, you can get one at any train station and reload it at stations, wharves, most convenience stores, or on the Opal app.

The train leaves from Sydney Central every hour, so you can be flexible with your plans for whenever you prefer to start your adventure.

I hopped on the 8:42AM Express to Katoomba & the 3:24PM non-express back to Sydney Central, which to me was the perfect amount of time.

Once you arrive at Katoomba Station you will walk one mile straight down Katoomba Street from the station, turn left at the large sign for Echo Point, and BAM! that’s it! You made it to the Blue Mountains National Park!

See, I told you it was easy!

Pro Tip: Stop at one of the grocery stores on your walk down Katoomba Street for snacks and water!

The Blue Mountains

Okay so you’re at the Blue Mountains, now what?

Your adventure begins at Echo Point, where you have sweeping views of the Blue Mountains and the Three Sisters to the left. Follow the path to the right to pop down to Elizabeth Lookout for a slightly better view of the Three Sisters.

You’re standing there soaking in these gorgeous views and then seven million tourists and selfie-sticks are pushing you to the brink of craziness and you’re thinking ‘what did I get myself into?!” but don’t fret. The tour bus crowds are generally only an issue at Echo Point. The deeper you go on the trail the less people you encounter.

Once you’re ready to start your hike, I recommend heading east along the Prince Henry Cliff Walk. You can also go west towards Scenic World, which has great options for kids or those who don’t want to hike.

You are going to essentially follow the Prince Henry Cliff Walk your entire hike, so don’t fret about getting lost or making a wrong turn!

When you begin your journey it is a paved trail to The Three Sisters, where you can walk down and get up close to the legendary monument.

From here, you continue along the Prince Henry Cliff Walk where the trail becomes dirt and you leave the crowds behind. There are stunning views along the way via various lookouts, but unless you are really determined, you do not need to stop at each one, the view does not change that drastically within a couple of minutes. I would recommend Lady Carrington Lookout, which has nice views.

Burrabarroo Lookout is the perfect spot for a snack/lunch break, but be sure to go all the way deep into it. At first glance it appears like there is no view, but you need to climb over the rocks all the way to the fenced space for a great view.

Leura Cascades

Leura Cascades

Not long after Burrabarroo you have to pop up onto the road for about two minutes, then you walk down the steps on your right. Quickly after this you are at the Bridal Veil Lookout, where you can see Bridal Veil Falls.

On your walk from the lookout to Bridal Veil Falls there are a lot of steps down, some of which are a bit slick, as a heads up.

Just past Bridal Veil Falls you will hit the Leura Cascades, a small waterfall with steps along the right that lead up to a picnic area. There are bathrooms here, the only ones along the hike, so take advantage!

From the picnic area you will head to Bridal Veil View. It’s not the most impressive waterfall set against the large mountain, but it’s still cool to see.

From here you will walk up quite a few stairs to Tarpeian Rock Lookout, where you can soak in the majestic views and take a rest on a bench if you need to after all those steps up!

Just past Tarpeian Rock is Elysian Rock Lookout, which is also great! You can decide from here if you want to walk up to Leura or venture just a bit further to Gordon Falls. I was not impressed with Gordon Falls whatsoever. Maybe after a heavy rainfall it would be better, but overall it was disappointing.

From here you will walk into the town of Leura. Take Olympian Parade to Leura Mall, and the train station is at the end of Leura Mall. In the town of Leura there are a few restaurants and coffee shops if you need to refuel before hopping on the train back to Sydney.

Hiking in my Founders Brewing shirt!

Hiking in my Founders Brewing shirt!

Key information for planning your Blue Mountains trip:

I spent 3.5 hours in the National Park & a half an hour on each end walking through Katoomba and Leura to/from the train stations—so overall it was 4.5 hours. I walk quickly in general, but I also stopped to take a lot of pictures, so I would say overall it was an average pace.

If you follow the route I described it is ~8.5 miles overall.

You don’t need to pack hiking boots for this—I love my Merrills, but my Nike tennis shoes were just fine for this hike.

Be sure to bring snacks and water! There are no options along the way if you get hungry/thirsty.

Keep your eyes peeled for animals on your hike, you are in a National Park in Australia where everything can kill you (just kidding but really). I saw lots of gorgeous birds, lizards, and a snake—that I straight up sprinted away from.

What questions do you have?! Let me know in the comments!