Melbourne is a great center for shopping, especially if you plan to go with a friend. It might get lonely there, so I would recommend that you go with a friend or relative. It’s beautiful and clean, but things are expensive, albeit not as expensive as Sydney or elsewhere in Australia. You get good food - Indian, Chinese, American, Italian, etc. There are many big shopping malls and they stock goods which may not be available in your own country.
One such store I went to was The Dunn’s Store in Camberwell. It had a mini-chandelier, a mini cookie jar, etc. Novelties are also available at and inside the Box Hill Centro Shopping Center. It has got the best bargain stores and discount centers for tourists. One such store is the ’’SupaBargains’’, where you get beautiful stuff for a lesser price and you could actually bargain for it. The Box Hill Centro also houses an Indian market from where you could purchase spices, rice, and other Indian food supplies that have been exported to Melbourne.
There is a lot of cool stuff available. You get good chocolates for a low price and there are many wonderful stores in the City area, but you could get duped if you or your friend or relative do not know the place very well. The store managers might dump a bad product on you. Of course, you might immediately get a refund when you report to some store-managers, but not in all places.
This is if you are going independently. If you are going through a travel agent, it would be much better. The Melbourne Royal Park Zoo is beautiful, but the thought of seeing the animals and birds in cages would be naturally irritating for anyone. The Melbourne Zoo is also home to cute-looking baby elephants, butterflies, giraffes, and much more. One must definitely visit the Great Ocean Road and Philip Islands to see the baby penguins. One must also go to Ballarat to travel by the hot-air balloon and to see the crocodiles and the various other beautiful creatures. Melbourne is a multi-cultural place, i.e. it welcomes people from all the cultures. In fact, it has an Immigration Museum and a beautiful information center at the city center that makes visitors feel truly welcome.
St. Kilda beach is a beautiful beach, but one has to be a bit careful not to wander too far. The transportation available in Melbourne are the trams and buses and even trains (silver in color). These require one to buy a common ticket or one would be caught or penalized for not carrying a ticket.
The ticket, which is common for all 3, is called the ’’MetCard’’ and information about this is available on https://metlinkmelbourne.com.au. There are no public call offices here as such, but there are definitely phone booths, which are mostly coin-operated. Everything is done with the help of machines here and some things are done manually. For shoppers, VISA and MasterCards are accepted everywhere here. The rules for traffic, etc. are very strict in Melbourne. Shops are neatly decorated and kept clean most of the time.
There are good book-stores and music stores and also great restaurants, but most of them are faraway. If one plans to stay there for long, one has to purchase converters for electrical goods from outside Australia. Melbourne is a beautiful city....If you happen to visit it, do not forget to take your camera in order to capture the beauties of this place. Like in any city abroad, this city is lowly populated in suburban areas, whereas it is very highly populated in the city.
People are very friendly in Melbourne and if you happen to ask for help, they would try their best to help you. Also, try visiting Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (when there are cricket matches). Discounts apply for senior citizens and students and for children, either it is subsidized or free. Other attractions in Melbourne are the ’’Yarra’’ river and ’’Geelong’’ area. They are really beautiful. Also, cycle trips could be a wonderful way to see Melbourne, as it has many cycle paths, but be careful not to wander off too far.
Melbourne also has Rip-Curl duty-free shopping malls in the city for tourists and many currency exchange bureaus. Melbourne is also known for its pastries and cream cakes. They are indeed very tasty. Melbourne has got many facilities and it’s a dream place for all those who like new ideas put to practice.
That’s Melbourne in my experience. Make your’s memorable too.