After visiting in January, Melbourne is now confidently my favourite spot in Australia and the lifestyle has me even considering moving there.

This Australian paradise, 714 km south of Sydney, had slid through my plans in previous Australian adventures but finally the time came for me to explore.

In the 5 days I had allocated for Melbourne, I witnessed only a handful of what this city come beach destination has to offer and i was truly gutted to be leaving by the end of it.

As you may well already know, my favourite way to explore a city is by bike.

Although not every city allows you to do so, not at ease anyway, due to layout and infrastructure. Melbourne however is super ‘bike-friendly’ and this most likely was a factor that contributed to the love I found for it.

It’s funny actually, the two places i’m considering setting myself up in are Amsterdam and Melbourne. The two most ‘bike friendly’ cities i’ve yet ventured through.

Anyway… During my 5 days in Melbourne, I obviously hired a biked and headed out to explore the coast.

I hired my bike from St. Kilda Cycles for the day which was just round the corner from my hostel and cost just $40 for a whole day or $70 for a tandem if there’s two of you.

Included in this price you get a lock, key, helmet and bike.

See more information on their website here.

I actually set out on this ride without an itinerary {shock}, just the intention to follow the coast for as long as my legs would carry me.

Melbourne’s coastline {from St.Kilda anyway} is made for cycling and along pretty much all of the route I took there were designated cycle lanes to ride within. If you’re looking to take young children on this ride or you generally worry about safety and sharing the road with cars, fear not, there are cycle lanes.

Here is my itinerary should you be looking for a great cycle route covering reasonable distance with plenty of stop off options for daydreaming, ocean dips and refreshments along the way…

You may be alarmed by the distance I cycled {14km one way}, just as I was when I just mapped it out haha. The coastal route is pretty flat the whole way though, so the ride itself is a breeze and you cruise through the distance quicker than you think.

{click on the red points to see the POI and check the blue tracking for the route I took}