If in the summer you decide to stay in central Melbourne, we can almost guarantee that after a couple of days, you will wish you had stayed in St Kilda – so, we are here to make sure you don’t make that mistake! With the St. Kilda Film Festival at the end of May, there’s even more reason to make your way here. Ryan, our local man-in-the-know, lived and worked in the area for 8 years and shares his favorite old haunts.
Overview
Just a 20 minute tram ride from Melbourne, St. Kilda is perhaps the most picturesque of the bayside neighborhoods. A large part of Melbourne’s music, club and art scene can be found here so you get the best of both worlds: culture and nightlife beside the beach. Luna Park has something of New York’s old Coney Island feel about it with the world’s oldest operating rollercoaster. The bakeries and cake shops along Acland Street mean the budget traveler can get by on beach picnics or lazing under the palms at the botanical gardens. For those of you who fancy cycling along the waterfront, the Ritz for Backpackers Hostel offers free bike hire!
Getting there
The easiest option is to take a 20 minute tram ride. The #96 leaves from Bourke or Spencer Street via South Melbourne, Albert Park and Aquatic Centre. Alternatively, catch the hourly ferry from Williamstown across the bay to the St. Kilda Pier between 11:30am-15:30pm.
Where to stay

Ritz for Backpackers
You remember, traipsing back home after school for your daily dramatic dosage of Erinsborough. Well, every week at the Ritz for Backpackers bar you can meet some of your ‘should have known better’ childhood heroes at the original ‘Neighbours Night’. If that’s not enough cheese for you, try the free cheese and wine night or the free pancake breakfast and free bike hire. They are located in St. Kilda and offer private rooms for €23 a night or €16 for a dorm beds.
Your social life sorted…
Habitat HQ
In-house event guru Molly will make sure you taste some of Melbourne’s best coffee, team up for the soccer tournament and rock your stuff at the air guitar championships – all in a day’s work at Habitat HQ in St. Kilda. And for those of you hoping to pick up some work out here, they even have a job opportunities board.

BASE ST Kilda
This place has to be one of the hippest hostels in the world, it has certainly won design awards to prove it. The place is stylish and they have a great bar with stuff going on in the evening. Aside from all the usual modern facilities, they offer a ‘Santuary’ dorm just for girls with free champagne 6pm-7pm daily, hairdryers, straightners and tea and coffee in bed on weekends. There are free airport transfers for those staying 3 nights or more. You are 400m from the beach and shops, cafes and bars are even closer.

Victoria Hall Accommodation
If you do decide to stay in central Melbourne you have Victoria Hall Accommodation next to the Carlton Gardens. With iPod docking stations, flat screen TVs, gym and rooftop courtyard complete with stunning view, it’s not surprising this place was in the top 3 of HostelBookers Awards for Excellence in Oceania. The hostel has great transport links to the rest of the city and they offer all newly renovated private, dorm or family rooms.
Drink
The Melbourne Wine Room
This old Victorian building is part of the George Hotel on Fitzroy Street. A good spot for innovative drinks and nibbles with daily specials chalked up on giant mirrors.
Open: Tues-Thurs, 3pm-11pm; Fri-Sun, Noon-11pm
125 Fitzroy Street
Big Mouth
A rather nice Art Deco building set over 2 floors, you get a mixture of locals, suites and tourists. DJs play at weekends.
168 Acland Street
Eat

A big beautiful open-plan cafe with some of the best bay views. No menu, just fresh seasonal dishes with a creative twist. $8.5 to $19.5.
Open: 7 days a week, noon-late
St Kilda Sea Baths (upstairs), Jacka Boulevard
Lentil as Anything_St. Kilda
You pay what you think the food is worth at this vegetarian experiment. If you enjoy your Sri Lankan pumpkin curry or Moroccan hot pot, the contributory profit goes towards crisis assistance, people with disabilities and the unemployed.
Open: 9am -9pm
41 Blessington St
Live-Music and Clubs
The Vineyard
A cafe, live-music venue, restaurant and bar all rolled into one. Thursdays after 11:30pm is live funk/jazz, anything that gets the crowd going ’til the early hours but the Sunday session is my choice – more popular so expect to queue for a bit. The interior is like a cellar, rustic floorboards and some reasonably priced food at dinner by candlelight.
71a Acland St
The Espy
Also the Esplanade Hotel, this place is an iconic St. Kilda pub. Hip hop, dance, metal it does the lot and has been a premier live music venue since the 1800s. Previous acts include De La Soul, Jet, Gomez, DJ Yoda.
Open: Mon-Wed Noon-1am; Thurs-Friday Noon 3am; Saturday 8am-3am; Sunday noon-1am
11 The Esplanade
The Prince of Wales (The Prince)
Something of a cornerstone in St Kilda’s live-music scene, the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Jack Johnson, Scissor Sisters, Ben Harper and Coldplay all trekked from the city centre to drum and strum their stuff on the Prince Bandroom stage.
Tickets available on Ticketmaster or from the Prince of Wales public bar.
29 Fitzroy Street
The Palais Theatre
The largest theatre in Australia and one of the finest examples of Art deco architecture in the country. Live music international and national bands, comedy, films, and TV broadcasts, ballet and it also hosts the St. Kilda Film Festival. Tickets available on Ticketmaster.
Lower Esplanade
Enjoy this? Read our 10 things to to in Melbourne, Australia’s Great Ocean Road, and the Ned Kelly experience.
Thanks to Looking Glass, penreyes, timparkinson and © Photography By CalvinCropley for the images off Flickr!




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