Melbourne

2024/2026

It’s fair to say that this is one of my favourite cities in the world. Has some special energy, it’s super save to live, offers a lot of cultural events, is proud of its street art, rooftop bars and hipsters neighbourhoods. Has the best coffee in the world, hands down! The food scene is amazing, great, high quality cuisine from all over the world. Best opt shops in Australia, Victorian architecture, just best vibes. The only two drawbacks are the constantly changing weather (everybody says you can experience 4 seasons during one day) and lack of pretty ocean side.

Basics

There are two airports in Melbourne, the international Tullamarine and domestic Avalon. My advice is to avoid Avalon, it’s located 1,5hrs away from the city, too much trouble.

Transportation

To travel from the airport to the city the easiest way is via SkyBus (around 30$) that will take you to Southern Cross Station (30/40min). For the budget friendly trip you can hop on the public bus 901 from Melbourne Airport/Grants Rd stop to the Broadmeadows station and change to the City Loop train heading towards Flinders Station or Melbourne Central. This will cost you two single tickets (11$ in total) but will take more than one hour.

Hostels

Be prepared that hostels in Melbourne and basically in whole Australia are disappointing, especially Europa Hostel and City Backpackers. My favourite is YHA, it’s actually clean, have curtains attached to the bed and big kitchen. Has a very good location, in CBD, very close to both Southern Cross Station and Flinders Station.

Things to do in Shibuya

  1. Shibuya crossing, of course. You can get a pretty good view from the Starbucks right there. But just from the street is good enough. Caution, it’s crowded every time of the day.

  2. Hachiko statue, just next to the station exit

  3. Shibuya Sky: open-air observation deck at the rooftop of a Shibuya Scramble Square. Need to book in advance, recommend to use Klook website.

  4. Don Quijote: incredible, huge store with every type of souvenirs, snacks, toys, beauty products, etc

  5. Cosicosi is a cute souvenir shop with really nice postcards and gifts that are not cringe

  6. Omotesando: very pretty and kind of fancy district with low-rise, more traditional buildings. Definitely walk along Cat Street

    • food recommendations later in the Foodie section

Shinjuku

Also, very busy district, popular with tourists, shopping, bars. It is definitely the spot for nightlife.

Things to do in Shinjuku

  • Golden-gai: very climatic narrow lane with small bars and pubs called izakaya

  • Godzilla head in Kabukicho area

  • Omote Yokocho: narrow alleyways full of food stalls and tiny restaurants (prepare yourself and take some cash)

  • Yoyogi Park: huge park, where you can wander around, enjoy the greenery and visit the beautiful temple Menji-Jingu

Asakusa

  • beautiful temple Senso-Ji, is incredible during sunset

  • there is a terrace in the tourist information building, great view there

  • many second hand stores

Stores and what is worth buying

  • 7eleven and Family Mart are the coolest convenience stores, snacks and instants noodles are incredible (more in foodie section)

  • Uniqlo: the original Japanese clothing store, it’s popular worldwide and thankfully in Japan the prices are most affordable

  • Don Quijote, mentioned above

  • Journal standard: another clothing store that collects global brands

  • Daiso: love this store, for beauty products, snacks, useful items for travelling or just cute things

  • BicCamera for games and electronics

  • Vintage shops in Harajuku or Asakusa

  • Tax free above 5000 yen ⭐️

Akinabara

  • Akinabara is a dream place for anime and manga lovers, here you can shop in countless stores

  • It’s also a gaming paradise, arcades everywhere

  • It’s the spot for electronics and tech gadgets too (you can get tax free items)

  • Don Quijote

  • Pokémon store

Things to do in Tokyo other locations

  • Imperial Palace

  • Ueno Park

  • Hamarikyu Gardens

  • Tokyo Tower

  • Tokyo sky tree

  • Yanaka: old neighbourhood

  • Koishikawa Gardens

  • Yayoi Kusama Museum: dedicated to unique contemporary artist : Kusama, she’s incredible

  • Other art museums: Mori, The Sumida Hokusai, Edo-Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan

  • Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum

  • Free Walking Tours: plenty of them, always a great experience (Guru Walk, FreeTour)

Mt Fuji

I went there for just one day, mainly to see the area and stunning views from the temple.

To get there you can take Shinkansen or if you like more budget friendly version, the bus.

Things to do in Mt Fuji area

  • I booked a bus online (kosokubus), the station I was leaving from was Tokyo Station, Yaesu (Tekko Building 1F Bus Stop) and I arrived at Mt Fuji station, the journey lasts about 2hrs.

  • You can take the retro train from Mt Fuji Station and hop off at the second stop to get to the hill with pagoda (in the below mentioned park).

  • Arakurayama Sengen Park, wonderful view of the mountain from the hill with the iconic Chureito Pagoda in the foreground.

  • If you have more time, explore the Fuji Five Lakes region or the hot springs in Hakone or the historic starting point for climbing the mountain: Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine.

Foodie

Must-try

Melb is a foodie heaven

  • Here you can drink the best coffee in Australia, I’m even dared to say, best coffee in the world💛

  • Every possible cuisine can be found here, Asian, European, American, African, you name it. The restaurants are the top quality! And importantly, many places are or serve vegetarian food.

  • Relative closeness to Asia makes Melb a great place for tasting milk teas or matchas.

  • Below is my list of some of the best foodie and drink places, enjoy, cause you will!

Coffee

  • Patricia Coffee Brewers

    My personal favourite, their filter coffee is just perfect!

  • Path

    Cute little shop with great batch brew

  • Market Lane Coffee

    Beautiful coffee, what’s more, they roast their beans and you can buy different types from every shop.

  • Okonomiyaki

    Pancake made with flour, eggs, water and shredded cabbage. Could have some other ingredients like green onion, seafood, tempura scraps. It’s always topped with thick okonomiyaki sauce, kewpie mayonnaise and dried seaweed (sometimes bonito flakes : tuna).

  • Soba noodles

    Thin noodles made from buckwheat, I had them served cold with dipping sauce and grated egg. Fantastic!

  • Takoyaki

    Round balls filled with octopus, cooked on a special metal pan with circle holes. Served with some sauce, mayo and green seaweed flakes or bonito flakes

  • Udon

    Thick noodles served hot in a broth or stir fried.

    photo source: Pinterest

  • Onigiri

    Triangle shaped rice wrapped in nori with different savoury fillings: tuna, salmon, meat or veggies.

    *the one from the photo is in Taiwan, but they both look exactly the same

  • Tamago sando

    Thick, white bread sandwich with egg paste filling.

  • Monjayaki

    Okonomiyaki cousin, with much runnier consistency.

  • Sake

    Sake

    Traditional alcoholic beverage, made from fermented rice. Has 15-20% of alcohol content.

  • Taiyaki

    Fish- shaped cake filled with sweet red bean paste (Anko), chocolate or custard.

  • Dango

    Small, round rice flour dumplings served on a stick, glazed with soy sauce.

  • Daifuku

    Round mochi filled with sweet paste or/and a fruit.

    photo source: Pinterest

  • Dorayaki

    Two small pancakes wrapped around sweet filling like red bean paste.

  • Fluffy pancakes

    Viral dessert, tall, fluffy made by whipping egg whites. Served with some sweet sauce and fruit, or just sugar powder.

  • Miso soup

    Salty soup made from fermented soybean paste, can find it everywhere and anytime.

    photo source: Pinterest

  • Tempura

    Fish or veggies coated in a egg and flour batter and deep fried.

    photo source: Pinterest

  • Bento

    Classic Japanese takeaway lunch box.

    photo source: Pinterest

  • Gyoza

    Pan fried dumpling, often as a side dish, can be found in vegetarian version.

    photo source: Pinterest

  • Mount Blanc dessert

    Tik tok famous, it’s a fluffy cheesecake topped with ice cream and then the ‘Mount Blanc’; spaghetti looking like bean paste.

    photo source: Pinterest

Tokyo foodie places

  • Bakeries: Centre the bakery, Sandwich Koko

  • Dinner: Kura sushi or Uobei (sushi train restaurant ), Kameya Shinjuku (soba), every restaurant in Omoide Yokocho is a nice choice, Tsukijgindako (takoyaki), Afuri Karakunrenai (must for yuzu ramen), Ponta or Ponpoko Hachibe (for okonomiyaki), Ichiran (ramen),

  • Dessert: A happy pancake (for fluffy pancakes), The Matcha Tokyo (for matcha ice-cream)

  • Coffee: Good coffee farms, Double Tall Coffee Bar, Nagi Ueno

  • Matcha: The Matcha Tokyo

  • Evening: Shinjuku area

Thanks for visiting

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