One of my main goals for 2020 was to more travelling around Melbourne and the rest of Australia. So, when I found out me and my friends all had a day off at the same time last Saturday, I started to look for Melbourne day trips that we could do without a car.
We ended up deciding on Williamstown, Melbourne’s first port settlement, located just a short distance away from the city across the bay.
There are a number of ways that you can get there without driving. The easiest and cheapest way being to get the train from Flinders Street station, changing at Newport. However, as we wanted to make more of a day out of it, we decided to take a Yarra river cruise on the way there.
This was something that myself and my friend had wanted to do for a while and if you’ve never seen Melbourne’s skyline from the water then it’s something I’d recommend doing. We went with Melbourne River cruises, for which you can buy tickets for on the day from the stall near Federation Square. The boat journey along the Yarra River to Williamstown takes around an hour and it costs $24 AUD one way ($18 for students).
When you get there
Williamstown itself is really pretty and it has a nice stretch by the port with pretty colonial buildings and a handful of restaurants, bars and cafes. There’s also a botanical gardens nearby. However, what we really went for was the beach. Williamstown beach is just the other side of the bay (so you just need to walk inland once you arrive at the port). The beach itself is really pretty and it makes a nice change from spending the day at St Kilda.
I’d stopped off at the Queen Vic Market in the morning and picked up a good spread for a picnic; one of my favourite kind of meals. The sea was perfect for swimming in and the whole day trip was just an ideal break from being in the busy city.
Where to eat and drink
After the beach, we grabbed a quick drink at Sebastian, a chilled beach bar just on the sand. The bar itself was really busy and it had fantastic views out on to the ocean. We didn’t eat there but the food looked good too. I’ve also heard that Mascalzone Pizzeria Osteria Atrigiana does fantastic pizzas. Also, the Pelicans Landing Bar by the harbour is supposed to be a nice spot for a drink.
I hope you all had a lovely long weekend too. Stay tuned for more, easy Melbourne day trips without a car, blog posts soon. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog by email so that you don’t miss any posts.
Passport Please 