Cheap & Free Melbourne Entertainment
A Guide to a Good Evening / Night in Melbourne for those on a Budget
Sep 24, 2009
Boasting Australia's most vibrant nightlife, Melbourne's entertainment scene is lively to say the least. There are countless bars scattered throughout the city and its suburbs and, from slick city bars to low-key local pubs, there's a good night to be had for party people of all budgets. Follow the top tips below for an entertaining night out in Melbourne on the cheap.
Do Cheap Eats, Hit the Cinema on Discount Days & Catch a Thrifty Comedy Gig in Melbourne City
Melbourne is full of cheap eats and scouting them out will save you big time. Cheap restaurants are particularly numerous for vegetarians. Try 'Lentil as Anything' in bayside St Kilda for great pay-what-you-want vegetarian dishes. The 'Lucky Coq' in Prahran/ Windsor is one of the most popular spots for a pizza and drink with all pizzas a mere $4 (Mon - Fri, 12-4pm, 7-11pm and all day Sunday).
To really make a night of it with dinner and drinks, the best thing to do is to seek out an inexpensive restaurant with a Bring Your Own (BYO) policy. An Australian phenomenon that unfortunately has failed to catch on in most other countries, BYO restaurants allow customers to bring their own alcohol (generally wine only), charging just a dollar or two corkage fee – a much cheaper alternative to buying wine with your meal. Buy a cheap bottle in the supermarket (Coles / Safeway) or try discount liquor store Dan Murphy's. BYO-friendly restaurants are plentiful and range in price from the budget to the exclusive.
With Melbourne's famous four-seasons-in-one-day, indoor activities are generally safest, making the flicks the entertainment of choice for many Melburnians. While cinema tickets are generally quite expensive (between $15-18), they're quite the bargain on 'Tight Ass Tuesdays.' In most major cities across Australia, this phenomenon sees the mainstream cinemas reduce their tickets to a mere $10.
Popular mainstream cinemas in Melbourne include 'Hoyt's' in Melbourne Central shopping mall (corner of Swanston St & La Trobe St) and the Village Cinema's 'Jam Factory' (Crown Casino, Southbank or Chapel St, South Yarra). For a less commercial cinema experience, Carlton's quality art-house movie house 'Cinema Nova' (380 Lygon St) screens the latest in art-house, documentary and foreign films in a more atmospheric environment. A bargain spot on Monday's, all tickets before 4pm are a mere $6 and after 4pm, $8.
Melbourne prides itself on its reputation as the home of Australia's best comedy. A healthy stand-up comedy circuit has been established over the last few decades in Melbourne, securing the Victorian capital as the Australian location for the International Comedy Festival every year. Details of upcoming comedy gigs can be found in the Entertainment Guide ('EG') of Melbourne newspaper 'The Age' and the gigs are often affordable. For permanent good value though, hit 'Comics Lounge' (26 Errol St) in North Melbourne. The only haunt with daily stand-up performances in the city, here a set of comedians can be enjoyed every day and all for about $10.
Scout out Melbourne's Happy Hours for Cheap Drinks & Catch a Free Live Music Gig
Between its funky city bars and laid-back lane way drinking dens, Melbourne has a famously vibrant bar scene. While beer usually costs $3-4 and wine $5-7, drink deals are on offer in many of Melbourne's bars during the week. Happy hour usually runs between 5-8pm but varies with each establishment. The more casual, grungier neighbour of Prahran, Windsor is home to a long strip of cool bars, making it a great place for a bar crawl. Come here Mon - Fri and the happy hour ads are unavoidable, with drinks reduced to as little as $2.50.
For those partial to something more sophisticated, cheap cocktails are also on offer in this neck of the woods. Further down Chapel St in Prahran / South Yarra, hit Angelucci's (500 Chapel St) anytime on Mondays or Tuesdays when all of their sumptuous cocktails (usually $12.90) are half-price. Tucked away is the small but seductive Revellers Bar (274 Chapel St) in Prahran which also does half-price cocktails – here, it's every Thursday night for one hour (11pm-midnight). Although more expensive ($16/18) to begin with than the aforementioned Angelucci's, their strawberry liquor milkshake-style melange is to die for. There's also free live music here to get the crowd going.
Speaking of live performances, music gigs take place every night in Melbourne, the country's rock capital. While they can cos up to $30, most decent local acts cost about $10-15. For info on upcoming gigs in the city, check the 'EG' in The Age paper.
Better yet are the free gigs about town. Already mentioned above is Revellers Bar which do covers of well-known tracks but for something more original by local artists, St Kilda's iconic 'Esplanade Hotel' (a.k.a.'The Espy') is the place to be for free live music nightly.
For more info on sights and attractions in Melbourne, have a look at Top Sights & Attractions in Melbourne, Australia.
For shopping hotspots in the city, read Melbourne's Best Popular Shopping Malls or for discount fashion, read Best Factory Outlets Shopping in Melbourne.
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