AN AUTISTIC TRAVEL GUIDE TO MELBOURNE
So you’ve decided to travel to Melbourne, you’ve checked all the travel comparison websites, clicked on deal after deal then once you’ve made that decision you’ve done the same rigmarole with hotels.
After a long nap to get over the stress of clicking, booking, typing in your credit card details its then time to sit back with a big glass of wine and pat yourself on the back because what you thought would only take an hour tops to complete has taken half the day.
Why?
Did you get stuck in a time vortex?
It’s only a holiday booking that you are making after all, it’s not as if you’re trying to solve a big mathematical or science problem under the duress of being in front of a crowd of academic peers whilst the sweat begins to form and trickle down your forehead.
Hoping that you’ll crack, cry and run of the stage admitting that you don’t know what X equals and you don’t care about the press article that’s being written about you as you stomp off the stage and that there’s a video of your antics that is currently being uploaded to YouTube for eternity but it’s taking its time due to the slow NBN. And now you want to run back home and wipe that white board clean and weep in your bed.
Anyway I digress.
This blog article is about what I did when I went to Melbourne once I disembarked from the airplane and into Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne.
Coming out of the airport and after collecting your luggage you have various travel options available to you.
The cheapest one and one that I used was the sky bus.
A ticket costs $19.00 and this took me in the city and stopped at Southern Cross Train Station. From there it was only another $11 to my hotel via a taxi.
Here is a copy of the current time table which is correct at the time of this article being published
https://www.skybus.com.au/melbourne-city-express/timetable/
The hotel which I stayed at was the IBIS hotel. I opted for an apartment room. Whereby I had a kitchen, a fridge and a microwave. I also put in a request for a hot plate which was ready and waiting for me inside my room.
Tip
If you join the Accor loyalty program
https://www.accorhotels.com/leclub/join-loyalty-program/index.en.shtml
you can then join their free WI-FI network. You can get free WI-FI because you have become a loyalty card member.
On your phone or tablet, you simply select IBIS hotel from the WI-FI network it will then take you to a screen where you simply enter your hotel room number and your name and hey presto you now have free WI-FI for the duration of your stay.
SUPERMARKETS
From where I was staying there was an Aldi at the following address
501 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Hours:
Saturday 8:30am–8pm
Sunday 8:30am–8pm
Monday 8:30am–8pm
Tuesday 8:30am–8pm
Wednesday 8:30am–8pm
Thursday 8:30am–8pm
Friday 8:30am–8pm
Just around the corner there was a Woolworths Metro at the following address and which opened longer hours
160 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Hours:
Saturday 7am–12am
Sunday 8am–10pm
Monday 6am–12am
Tuesday 6am–12am
Wednesday 6am–12am
Thursday 6am–12am
Friday 6am–12am
Located directly opposite me where the famous
QUEEN VICTORIA MARKETS
MELBOURNE LANEWAYS AND ARCADES
Melbourne is also known for its food laneways and shopping arcades here is a comprehensive list of the places to visit
https://theculturetrip.com/pacific/australia/articles/a-guide-to-melbournes-arcades-and-laneways/
MELBOURNE TRAMS
To get around Melbourne you can always hop on the free city tram which travels around in a circle. If you want to travel on other trams where there is a cost, then you can purchase what they call a MYKI and more information can be found here
https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/tickets/myki
Here is the current time table up until the 31st of December 2018
EATING OUT
Eating out I chose to eat here now to find this place, here to Bourke Street Mall and find the H & M and it’s just down the side of it. I had a great pizza there which was divine.
CADEVIN
Melbourne GPO, 350 Bourke St,
Melbourne VIC 3000
(03) 9654 3639
When I went to St Kilda (via a tram) I had a burger meal and a beer for $19!
The place was called
95 Espresso Bar
Their address is 95 Acland St, St Kilda VIC 3182
Phone: (03) 9972 7123
Saturday 8am–1am
Sunday 8am–11pm
Monday 7:30am–11pm
Tuesday 7:30am–11pm
Wednesday 7:30am–11pm
Thursday 7:30am–11pm
Friday 7:30am–1am
One thing that I did discover is that dotted around the CBD are volunteers who are armed with maps and information and they wear red are very easy to spot!
They look like this
Check out this link for more info on what Melbourne has to offer
https://whatson.melbourne.vic.gov.au/visitors/Pages/VisitorInfo.aspx
Or you can check out the Melbourne Visitor Centre located at
Federation Square, 2 Swanston Street, Melbourne City VIC 3000 other services that they can offer can be found here
https://whatson.melbourne.vic.gov.au/visitors/services/Pages/Visitorservices.aspx
or you can check out the Visitor Hub
Location
Melbourne Town Hall
90-130 Swanston Street
Corner Little Collins and Swanston streets
Melbourne 3000
Operating hours
Open daily from 9am to 6pm
Good Friday 10am to 5pm
Closed Christmas Day
Telephone 03 9658 9658 (Monday to Friday only)
Email: visitor@melbourne.vic.gov.au for tourism related enquiries
Carry on the Conversation
What are your thoughts? Do you have anything to add to my list of places to go and visit whilst in Melbourne?
Let me know in the comments below.
As always, I can also be found on Twitter: @AutisticNick9 and at my email autisticnick9@gmail.com
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Thank you for reading and I will see you next time for more thoughts from across the spectrum.
Autistic Nick 
[…] 6. Holidaying alone! Yes! I took a big step forward and booked a holiday for myself in Melbourne. I had help from my sister to locate and book the hotel and flights and for the week that I would be staying there. https://autisticnick.com/2018/09/24/an-autistic-travel-guide-to-melbourne […]
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[…] If you can cast your minds back to September 2018, I had just gotten back from a week’s holiday in Melbourne you can read about my travel guide to Melbourne here https://autisticnick.com/2018/09/24/an-autistic-travel-guide-to-melbourne/ […]
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