Melbourne has plenty of amazing attractions that are just waiting to be explored. However, if you feel like you want to experience something a little different in the city, it is also home to some alternative and stranger sights. Here is a guide for getting the best out of your trip in Melbourne if you are an alternative kind of traveller.
Car Park at Melbourne University
When someone suggests to you to visit a car park on your holiday, you may be slightly puzzled. However, at the end of Professor Walk on the lawns of Melbourne University, you will encounter the most extravagant car park you will ever see.
The car park site is actually listed with the National Trust and the vaulted gothic interior was actually used as a setting for one of the most famous car chase scenes in the movie Mad Max.
The Old Morgue, Williamstown
Located on Ann Street in Williamstown, this old morgue looks fairly nondescript on the outside, but it has a fairly gruesome history. It was the original morgue for the city and was opened due to the customers at local pubs who would have to endure autopsies while they were trying to have a drink.
After complaints continued to arise, the morgue was opened on the end of the Gem Pier, but tourists would also begin to complain about. Eventually, it was moved out of sight of the general population but is well worth a visit to check out the exhibits on its history.
City Tours
You can take some alternative tours around the CBD of Melbourne, which will see you wander around the winding laneways and arcades where you will see plenty of great street art and find some hidden gems such as bars and restaurants. Many of the tours start from Exhibition Square on Flinders Street and are free, so check the timetables for the tours and start exploring the brilliant city. Be sure to book your place in the tour groups before they set off, otherwise you might find yourself missing out.
Living Legends
Australians take their horse racing very seriously and especially so in Melbourne where you will get the chance to witness the enormous event of the Melbourne Cup. When the racing horse’s career has finished, they have an extremely posh retirement ‘village’ for them at the Woodlands Historic Park Homestead, near to the Tullamarine Airport, which also happens to be extremely handy for international flights.
If you are big on your horse racing, you will see many old legends there such as Rogan Josh and Fields of Omar.
Fitzroy Gardens
During the war, the city of Melbourne sent thousands of food parcels over to the English while they were in middle of the German bombing raids. As a thank you, the children of South London created the Fairy Tree which is now found in Fitzroy Gardens, next to a Model Tudor Village. It is widely known around the city by the locals and is quite a strange site in the gardens that are filled with some beautiful fauna.