Travel Story: A Weekend of Theatre in Melbourne

Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia, it also holds the title as the home of theatre in Australia and its no wonder as they have over 20 theatres throughout the central city with many of them having shows on simultaneously year round. Melbourne also has an amazing food scene with many cafe's and hole in the wall restaurants hidden in its CBD laneways and arcades which we couldn't wait to explore. Virgin Australia has multiple daily flights to Melbourne from Gold Coast and as we are platinum velocity members we decided we would use our points to fly business down to Melbourne to enjoy a weekend of good theatre and food.

View North East From Our Club Room on Level 49 of The Sofitel Melbourne On Collins

Day 1: Arrival, Check In At The Sofitel & Muriels Wedding

After our excellent business class flight with Virgin Australia from Gold Coast to Melbourne we arrived at our hotel the Sofitel Melbourne on Collins. We choose to stay at the Sofitel as they are a Velocity Frequent Flyer partner so we would earn points on our stay, you can read more about the hotel in our review here. Once at the hotel the friendly club lounge staff checked us in and we headed up to our club room on level 49. The Sofitel hotel occupies levels 35-50 of the building with the Club Lounge, Atrium Bar & No35 Restaurant on Level 35 as well as the lobby down on level 1. Once inside we were impressed with the size of the club room and especially the view which faces north east overlooking Parliament House, the Melbourne Museum and St Patricks Cathedral. The room has a large marble bathroom with a bathtub shower combination as well a a minibar and nespresso machine in the bedroom. After getting unpacked we headed to the Club Lounge for Champagne and Canapés which is complimentary for all club rooms and suites between 5:30pm and 7:30pm. Following on from that we headed to see our first show Muriels Wedding at Her Majesties Theatre, the show was amazing and we would recommend anyone who loves the movie to go and see the show. After the show we headed to the Sofitel's cocktail lounge The Atrium on Level 35 for a nightcap, they do great cocktails so even if your not staying in the hotel it's worth a visit for the drinks and the amazing views.

Day 2: Day Spa, Laneway Dining & Barnum

On our second day in Melbourne we decided in the morning to head to the You Day Spa for a massage which is located next door to the hotel, the hotel does not have an onsite day spa so we found this day spa through google reviews. The massage was excellent, if your in Melbourne CBD we would highly recommend this day spa. After the day spa we decided to go and explore some of Melbourne's hidden laneways and have some lunch, we headed across town to Hardware Lane which is filled with many small restaurants and bars. We decided on Kirk's Wine Bar which is a little wine bar located on the corner of Hardware Lane and Little Bourke Street, it's set up just like a French corner bistro with tables under awnings facing out so you can people watch while you eat and drink. We had a charcuterie plate and cheese plate washed down with some local rose, the food and wine were both excellent and we will definitely be returning to Kirk's Wine Bar next time we're in town. In the evening we visited the Club Lounge again for Champagne and Canapés and then headed to the Comedy Theatre to see Barnum The Circus Musical. The show was very entertaining with circus acrobats, opera singers and Todd McKenney playing PT Barnum, after the show we visited the Atrium Lounge back at the Sofitel for a nightcap.

Day 3: Laneway Exploration & Harry Potter

On our last day in Melbourne we decided to spend the morning exploring more of Melbourne's hidden laneways, we first headed to Centre Place and Degraves Street which were both filled with little hole in the wall cafe's and they were all filled with people so get in early if you want to eat here! After that we headed to Hosier Lane and AC/DC Lane which are both filled with graffiti murals, if your passing in the middle of the day as we were you can see the artists at work, the murals were very colourful and unique. In the afternoon we headed to the Princess Theatre to see the first part of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child followed by Champagne and Canapés back at The Club Lounge then in the evening the second part of the show followed by a nightcap at the Atrium Bar. The show was excellent and anyone who has seen the movies should make the effort to see the show, it follows on from the movies with Harry being a father and his sons going through Hogwarts. Cant say much more about the show as it would ruin it for those wishing to see it but it's filled with lots of illusions and we would highly recommend it. After a nightcap and a good nights sleep we headed to the airport the next day to catch our return flight with Virgin Australia. It was an amazing weekend away filled with lots of fun, food and theatrical entertainment, hopefully we've shown you another side of Melbourne and that this may inspire you to have your own weekend escape to Melbourne one day soon. So that ends this travel story, if you have any questions about this trip feel free to comment on the blog, Until next time!

Want More Information?

For more information about the Sofitel Melbourne on Collins you can read our review here or visit their website www.sofitel-melbourne.com.au

For more information about Virgin Australia's services you can visit their website www.virginaustralia.com

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About The Author

Rob has been passionate about cruise ship holidays and exploring the world since the first cruise he went on when he was only seven years old. Since then Rob who is a Photographer and his partner Mike of 18 years have travelled the world on over 25 cruises with over 10 different cruise lines visiting every continent across the globe as well as many remote tropical islands along the way. In addition to cruise holidays they enjoy relaxing at beach side holiday resorts and first/business class air travel as well as transcontinental rail journeys. Between them both Robert and Michael have worked out the best way to maximise frequent flyer reward points allowing them to travel first/business class at economy class prices or in some cases travelling first/business class for free.