Under $100: Melbourne

Australia can be an expensive city to visit, and with an exchange rate of 1.14 Australian dollars to U.S. dollars, $114 isn’t much to work with. That being said, there are a lot of budget-friendly things to do around Melbourne that are fun and leave you with extra cash to buy another round of Cooper’s. Cheers mate!

Melbourne is known for being a great cycling city with plenty of bike lanes. Melbourne Bike Share has stations around the entire city, so you are sure to get cheap transport wherever you are. If you need to get somewhere quick, a day pass costs $2.80 and your first 30 minutes are free; $17 will get you up to two hours of ride time (that is time between checking out your bike and checking it into another station), with $10 charged for every extra half hour, so be careful to plan your route and itinerary to save on cash.

Hopping on a bike is a great way to check out Melbourne’s vibrant street art scene that has gotten international recognition and a mixture of pride and scorn from the city’s government. Hosier is one of the most famous graffiti destinations in the world, located in Melbourne’s city center. Other popular sites include Centre Place and Canada Lane in Carlton, as well as the neighborhoods of Abbotsford, Prahran and South Yarra.

For lunch, stop by Café Hoboken, tucked away in the middle of Hosier Lane. Covered in a mural, one might not even know there is a café inside, and the interior resembles a room for a high-school art class. The menu is a little pricey, with coffee at $4 and meals ranging from $15–20, but the quality is great. There is an American-style burger made from organic beef patty and served on a biodynamic brioche bun. “The Balls” are another local favorite: meatballs, rice and beans served in a spicy tomato sauce and Bulgarian feta. If you can work it into your budget, Café Hoboken is the perfect place to relax for a meal and admire the surrounding art.

The nearby Federation Square is great place for travelers on a budget. Melbourne’s city square is a public space that hosts festivals, entertainment and a number of cultural sites like ACMI, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image which features exhibits related to art and media. There are also a number of bars and restaurants around the square, in addition to several beer awards and tastings held throughout the year.

If you are looking to get some sun, head down to Brighton Beach and take a picture with their iconic bathing boxes. These colorful huts are a holdover from Victorian England, and became popular with the working class as a sort of vacation home in the early 20^th century. Passed down from generation to generation, these huts can now go for more than $200,000.